Boroboro no Elf-san wo Shiawase ni Suru Kusuriuri-san - Reviews

Certainly cute, but had some major flaws. 

The plot itself was cute, with nothing major going on. Most of it was just healing fluff. The ending was a little rushed, but since it's only about 20 actual full chapters, I'd say there wasn't much room to give it a proper ending. 

Also, I just couldn't shake the fetish elements. Amputation, blindness, teeth removal, these are all actual kinks, and since this is supposed to be a hurt/comfort manga about healing, it made me feel really uncomfortable. I know that her injuries are supposed to be horrible so it feels better when she's healed, but the combination of all 3 of those felt really off. 

Other than those issues, cute story, 8/10 would read again

Trigger warnings: s/a

Now this my friend is a Masterpiece, the romance will be amazing in the upcoming chapter the story is great as well, the art is beyond amazing, the character development is amazing as well, hoping the author doesn't ruin it even though it contains 1 panel per chapter...but it's a weekly release 

I once thrown away this series but something urged me to reread this and now I was regretting my choice of throwing it away, nothing major plot going on. Just some healing proccess, and emotional moment

As should be clear from my score, I did not personally find much within this manga to enjoy. The artwork is good, but that alone never makes something fully worthwhile. They do try to add some backstory and worldbuilding elements to it, but they never clicked quite right with me. Probably because it seemed obvious to me by that point that the author was more interested in creating a monetizable vibe than in telling a story. I'll explain what I mean by that in a second, but first let me set the stage a bit by describing some structural mundanity.

The first 49 "chapters" of this manga consist of a single page--almost always with a large central panel portraying the elf girl, with feir large breasts and cleavage as an obvious focal point, and with several texts boxes around the sides filled with an almost boring amount of words. From chapter 50 onward, there are actually a handful of multi-page installments interspersed between the one-pagers, though even then I think it's only the final chapter that ever goes above five. The artwork is done digitally, which allows for some nice splotchy shading techniques. The proportions are consistent and the character designs are solid (though if I were nitpicking, I would say that none of the characters really popped out at me as unique enough to become iconic). I like the details and linework in general, though I will say that some of the outlines can feel a bit too thin at times.

Now, on to the meat of my analysrant. There are two main ways that I can critique this manga. At first I thought, should I just focus on one? But no, I think I'll indulge and do both.

(1) First of all, there is such a thing known as selling pain or trauma. An example of where I've heard this sort of concept talked about is how stories about black trauma might sell more than stories about black hope. Movies about the brutalities of slavery can make a lot of money. And sometimes, there might be a thin line between bringing awareness to an issue or genuinely acknowledging the suffering of others and trying to monetize traumatic events because you know it'll sell. But, in my opinion, this manga here lands firmly on the latter side of things. For the first dozen or two "chapters," the author (possibly unintentionally) creates dissonance in the reader. Like, what emotions am I supposed to feel as I'm reading this? Presumably, I'm supposed to feel horrified and saddened at how utterly abused this elf was, but I'm also presumably supposed to feel turned on by feir bouncy boobs. Is the author trying to create a sense of guilt in the reader--for thinking of a rape victim in terms of feir sexuality? Perhaps, but I kinda doubt it. It makes more sense to me that the author knows that sex sells and also knows that trauma sells and decided to just combine the two, without really caring that it created a dissonant reading experience. Though I guess maybe it wouldn't be dissonant for readers who find brutalizing girls itself to be a turn-on...

(2) Which segues nicely into my second point of critique--good ol' misogyny. The guy is shown as good and filled with righteous anger--a true savior. Chivalry and the idea of a guy saving a girl are classic misogynistic tropes. Guys are the protectors. Girls are to be protected. The girl is initially completely helpless and infantilized. Fe is spoonfed and dressed up to look cute like a doll. In fact, the girl's clothes looking good are mentioned multiple times. Later in the manga, the girl does gain more autonomy, but the reason the girl expresses for wanting that basic autonomy is so fe can stand beside the guy. We don't see the girl rejecting the guy in any way, even ways that would make sense from a victim of brutal sexual abuse (like asking to be cared for by a woman instead of a man). Over the course of the manga, we see the girl go from being beaten down to being beautiful and then eventually to being a mother, which creates the implicit impression that fe has been restored to proper womanhood. Feir appearance is emphasized, which implies that beauty is part of what makes a woman a good woman. And of course...boobs.

And I guess as a brief bonus critique, I'll just say that I didn't appreciate the messaging that restoration from trauma is possible (as opposed to the truth that trauma will always be with you and you have to learn to let it flow through you or otherwise cope with it). It would've been very easy to go the better direction as well if the manga had ended with the elf still missing an arm and a leg and perhaps still getting flashbacks to the abuse periodically.

This is one of those mangas with only one page throughout the whole story with text sprouting out everywhere it fits. Though the story may not be particularly original or groundbreaking, it can be heartwarming for those who enjoy romantic content. There is no ecchi elements in the story since the elf character is completely useless, just a meat bag. The art style may be convoluted and the pages can feel heavy with too many elements going on. The characters are decent in the context of the story. Overall, this manga may not be to my personal taste, but it may appeal to others.