This post is part of the 30 Day Manga Challenge series. Day 6: A Manga You’re Embarrassed About Liking
We’ve all got that one manga that falls in the vein of “so bad it’s great.” Well, for me, that’s Blush-DC by Maya Miyazaki.
Like many ecchi titles, Blush-DC (Japanese title: /Blush-DC～秘♥蜜～) doesn’t seem like it’s got much going for it storywise at the beginning. One night, Wataru Akiyoshi, a sheltered cram school student, notices fellow classmate Ayane Iwashita walking alone. Concerned for her safety, Wataru follows her, quickly realizing they’re heading into the city’s red light district. Sure enough, Ayane is actually a sex worker at an image club. Wataru, bless his heart, has no idea what that is.
The club manager mistakes Wataru for a customer and ushers him into one of the rooms. Ayane is there, ready to work. But when she notices her client is Wataru, she cuts him a deal: if he doesn’t tell anyone at school what she does, then she’ll let him go all the way, something that’s forbidden at this particular club. Certain shenanigans ensue (this is an ecchi manga, after all). When all’s said and done, Wataru leaves, no longer a boy, but a man.
Meanwhile back at cram school, Wataru’s childhood friend, Motoka, realizes she’s fallen in love with our bumbling hero (what she sees in him is anyone’s guess). So when Wataru comes over after class, Motoka tries seducing him as he takes a bath. At first, Wataru resists, but he quickly changes his mind when he sees some breasts. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
From then on, the plot experiences some severe tonal shifts. We learn some really dark stuff about Ayane’s actual situation, including why she works at the image club. There are a few brutal moments of abuse, which clearly explain Ayane’s emotionally detached personality. Compared to the scenes written in Wataru’s innocent perspective, these are really well done.
Speaking of Wataru, I don’t think I’ve ever hated a character more than him. Wataru is such a naive little idiot that I don’t feel the slightest bit of sympathy for him whenever he fucks up his relationships with Ayane or Motoka (which happens almost every chapter). His scenes are so comically melodramatic that I actually laughed out loud reading quite a few times.
Reading Blush-DC is like watching a train wreck: you just can’t look away. If you’ve got a hankering for some good ‘ole schadenfreude, then Blush-DC is the manga for you.
Hakutaku 
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