デスラバ

DESU RABA

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
8
RELEASE
April 18, 2020
CHAPTERS
110

DESCRIPTION

Long ago, Fujishiro Kosuke promised his love to his childhood friend, Sayaka-chan. But his pledge to save his first sexual experience for her takes a shocking turn when he’s suddenly abducted and thrown into a secret prison–run by beautiful, terrifying women in fetish gear. His seductive kidnappers claim to have a higher purpose but are after one thing: Kosuke’s virginity, and they’re willing to employ every kink at their disposal. Who are these women, and why are they trying to break Kosuke’s promise to Sayaka-chan? In this darkly erotic thriller about fear and desire, one man is about to face a sexual gauntlet like no other.

(Source: Seven Seas Entertainment)

Note: Includes six extra chapters.

CAST

Kosuke Fujishiro
Sayaka Ibu
Ena Nakabuchi
Mitsuko Uchikawa
Erina Kirishima
Ayami Ebihara
Shunta Kazamatsuri
Sawa Yamamoto
Kazuchika Irabu
Miho Iida
Aina Kashiwazaki
Misaki Ogawara
Dan no Otoko
Takashi Harada
Chika Oba
Kiyoshi Sukekawa
Youko Sakaguchi
Yoshihisa Kamata

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO DESU RABA

MANGA DramaDestiny Lovers

REVIEWS

weeaboology
77/100
When it comes to masturbation, I'm the fastest there is!!
DISCLAIMER: I am ONLY reading this because of Anicord's Fall 2024 Contracts: Trash Special. Unfortunately Shirenn decided to make us suffer, so now I have to read it too.

So to preface this review, I have never fully sat down and read manga before. I once started reading a bit of Oroboros while on vacation at a friend’s suggestion, but never got far. I’ve really only recently started light novels as well, because I was gifted a new Kobo e-reader and figured SAO Progressive would be a solid first choice. So imagine my surprise when I entered the trash special lottery and not only was given a manga, but what looked to be a bad one at that. Now I am no stranger to trash, because as a seasonals-warrior, I’ve seen my fair share of generic garbage. But then try to imagine that it’s not just a bad manga, but a giga-degenerate manga that is more or less essentially hentai. Now, rack your brain and for a second try to imagine that this manga is actually, maybe, so bad it’s low-key good.

So the ratings I’ll be giving each category here (since not only is this my first manga review, but a degen one at that) are based on the premise that I find this so bad that it’s actually somewhat entertaining. I also have zero experience reviewing anything “R-Rated” in any medium so bare with me.

Plot (8.2/10)

So somewhat ironically, this is not the first piece of Japanese media I’ve seen who’s plot hedges on the virginity of a small group of men and how it relates to saving the world. This is also not the first piece of Japanese media I’ve seen where a group of guys is locked up by a group of girls and ecchi antics ensue. So by combining the two, you technically are left with something unique right? Right. The only difference between Destiny Lovers and the former though, is the fact that the characters here know something is obviously wrong, while in World’s End Harem the men act like nothing is amiss for the most part. The difference between this and the latter, is that Prison School is actually trying to be funny while I don’t think this actually is trying to be?

World/Setting (7.8/10)

As previously mentioned, I am a veteran to animanga with men in prison being tormented by women (kinda wish I wasn’t) so the setting isn’t super unique to me. BUT, the world itself is still somewhat of a mystery to me. Because I unfortunately was only required to read 3 volumes, there has been almost no unraveling of the mystery of the outside world up to this point. Only that something is obviously going on out there, and our main characters want to find out what it is.

Characters (7/10)

So this is probably the lowest part of the series for me. Basically every character is based on a somewhat obvious trope that you can find in (somewhat interestingly) typical shonen, and other genres of animanga. Our MC Fujishiro for example, just feels like if you changed Blue Lock from a soccer prison into a strip club and kept Isagi as the MC. You’ve got the smart guy, the delinquent, the femboy, and comically big but down horrendous dude, as well as the somewhat mysterious ikemen. And from the girls team you’ve got the strong and independent boss, a big tiddie onee-san, the impish girl, Miku Nakano clone, and the angry militant type. Honestly seems like the author just cast a wide net to cover every type possible. None of them really have much depth from what I’ve seen so far though.

~~Plot~~ Visuals (8/10)

Ok so… I don’t really know how to discuss this. I guess If I am looking at this manga objectively, the visuals are good. Maybe even great? It feels weird saying that, but objectively I don’t have any complaints. The author does a rather good job depicting quite literally every detail in the scenes that matter, honestly more so than I expected. It was quite jarring at first coming to the realization that someone, somewhere literally drew a storyboard for this, then drew a manuscript, got suggestions from the editor akin to:

“maybe show more nipple”

then he re-drew it, then submitted a final copy. Honestly no real complaints from me.

Enjoyment (7.7/10)

So as I said, this shit is so bad it’s lowkey good. I could plainly see the almost “shonen-esqe” tropes the author played around with, which made this even funnier. I’ll post some examples below. Spoiler warning if for whatever reason you actually plan on reading this:

And my absolute favorite:

These kind of one liners and stupid anime tropes kept me thoroughly entertained the entire time I was reading this. They were almost enough to quell the embarrassment I felt when I tried to explain to my girlfriend that this was “required reading” because someone I met on the internet gave me a “contract”. I was honestly kinda pissed at you Shirenn for picking something as devious as this but this could have been worse. It could have been smut that was bad but also boring.

Score (7.7/10)
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starzie
100/100
★ destiny lovers review !!
spoiler-free

entries in the ecchi genre are usually similar in demeanor at their core, basing themselves on well-known and widely used tropes. differences between each show lie primarily in how interesting the premise is. "destiny lovers" bet on reversing the usual approach to virginity; here, the aim is to preserve it, not to lose it. each of the guys has a different reason as to why they have remained virgins, typically related to their idea that their first time should be special, shared with a person whom they love. putting aside the whole concept of virginity and whether they're right or not in their belief, i find their resolve to live up to their ideals commendable. and, especially later in the series, this sparks up a debate of how much one's ideals are worth amidst a greater danger, how much an individual's freedom is worth, and whether it should be maintained when preserving it comes at the cost of others's. the topic of virginity is an interesting one on its own, as it heavily relates to conservatism and promiscuity, and, especially in recent years, more people are vocal about it. "destiny lovers," however, remains monotonal in this discourse, never giving enough of a contrast to create a forum for worthy debate in or outside the manga's scope.

the male cast, while appearing diverse on the outside, is a combination of stereotypes running in the genre and offers no depth outside of what the eye can see. in a sense, this makes it seem as though they solely exist as a plot device—a way for the writer to easily create conflicts, and not as real people with memories and goals outside of what the plot requires. the female cast, paired with the one-dimensionality of the male cast, shares virtually one body type. one has to wonder then why any of the girls would be more appealing than another, considering that there's so little to their personalities. for the majority of the series, there's simply not enough diversity, neither in personalities nor bodies, for the entire cast to be deemed interesting. with a cast this bland, none of the characters stick out; one can even say that instead they blend with each other. but the place in which "destiny lovers" fails the most is in its eroticism, or lack thereof. for a manga revolving around sex, virginity, and sexual tension between the males and females, none of it is enticing. the images here are sterile and uninviting; even the taboo kinks presented are unappealing. this creates an ongoing disconnect between how the story tries to portray itself and what the reader actually sees. "destiny lovers" is a picture thoroughly devoid of love, eroticism without the eros.
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