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Sweet Apartment in Paradise by Sakana Tojo
Japanese title:
楽園性スウィートルーム
Rakuensei Sweet Room
Links:
Sakana Tojo Twitter
Junet (Publisher) Twitter
As I’ve probably made very clear from past blog posts, I’m a massive fan of Sakana Tojo. I’ve already written an artist introduction for her, and also review her works whenever I’m given the chance. There’s something about her manga that slots so perfectly into my preferences—whether it’s the art or character designs or their personalities and relationships, or just the VIBE of her stories. To me, they’re the perfect after-work (or, in this case, during work…) comfort of something simple, sweet, sexy, and cute.
This story is actually a slight step away from many of Sakana Tojo’s previous works, but I’d argue it still holds onto her characteristic sensuality and softness. Sweet Apartment in Paradise follows the story of Sui, a beautiful young man sold off to an “owner” at a young age, and the “Demon” who saves him. The “Demon”—later given the name “Angel” by Sui—is an assassin who hunts evil, bad men. In this world, the human trade is allowed and accepted so long as those who’re bought are treated with dignity and respect. However, there are many horrible people—often very powerful and wealthy men—who exploit this system and treat those they buy as objects for their own satisfaction. Sui’s previous owner, who he called “father,” was one such man. He bought Sui to be used for sex, dressing him up in strange costumes, drugging him to stunt his body’s development, training him to only respond to sexual advances, convincing him his only worth is in how well he can provide pleasure, and hiding him away from the world.
When Angel saves Sui, he’s surprised by just how traumatized the boy is. He’s used to seeing the horrifying results of human trafficking, but something about Sui touches him enough that he offers to home Sui to see him through his recovery. He teaches Sui how to do things on his own and creates a comfortable space for Sui to grow and heal—marking every “safe” thing in the apartment with little bunny doodles (Sui’s favorite animal) to make sure Sui’s trauma doesn’t get severely triggered. He replaces Sui’s shackles with cute accessories, and offers Sui the warmth of his body to show human affection doesn’t always need to be sexual or transactional.
Sui did spend his entire life as a sex slave, however, so the unfortunate reality is that he has many trained responses to certain stimuli. Being in bed with another person makes him believe it’s time to service his “father” and his body responds in kind. Hugging almost always leads to Sui expecting something sexual, and Sui can’t even fall asleep until he sees his owner—of which Angel is now a stand-in—is satisfied. Angel has no choice in these moments but to “relieve” Sui from his discomfort, but he does it with as much care and tact as he possibly can when sexual trauma is involved.
Anyone who finds the first three paragraphs uncomfortable or potentially triggering should probably be careful with this manga, as Sakana Tojo embraces the sexual aspect of Sui’s trauma wholly. He’s still very beautiful and specifically trained for pleasure and titillation, so it’s hard for Angel to resist—especially as he slowly develops a deep, loving bond with Sui. However, I really appreciated Sakana Tojo taking care to show, while still plenty sensual, there’s still a distance Angel keeps until he can finally be sure Sui wants him and isn’t just using sex as a way to feel necessary, comfortable, and safe.
There’s also a really wonderful scene where Sui is triggered by the act and starts behaving the way he would with his previous master, going so far as to actually refer to Angel as “father.” Angel, noticing this, comforts and calms Sui down, reassuring him that that sex does not have to be a performance and it’s supposed to be a pleasurable bonding experience for both parties.
Of course, this is all done with Sakana Tojo’s very characteristic sweet, soft smuttiness. As I said above, she doesn’t shy away from the fact that Sui’s trauma is highly sexual, and he is shown in a very sexual way. This book, while still touching heavily on trauma, is still intended to be quite dirty. Sui is in line with many of Sakana Tojo’s past uke characters—very cute, very sweet, and very ready to get down and dirty at all times. Even after he’s worked through his trauma, all he still wants to do is spend his time (outside helping Angel save children from being trafficked) cuddled up to Angel and making out.
I should probably touch on Angel a bit as well. Similar to Sui, his past is also trauma-filled and incredibly painful (thus all the scars covering his body). For Angel, however, he channeled his bitterness and rage into killing his assailants and escaping, then going on to work with others in the underworld to track and kill the type of men who hurt him. A common refrain from Angel is “he was a bad man, so he deserved it,” showcasing just how morally gray Angel is as a character.
In the afterword, Sakana Tojo notes that she’s really interested in these kinds of relationships—ones where there’s a certain darkness and disregard for the rest of the world, where they only have and want each other. And I think Sui and Angel are a perfect example of that: it’s them against the world, and they don’t really care so long as they’re together.
While, like I said, this Sakana Tojo book still very much holds her lighthearted, sexy tone, some might find the darker themes in the plot potentially uncomfortable. I personally really loved it, though—it was a really interesting change from her usual adorable あまキュン schoolboys, and I was really intrigued by how she embraced the sexuality inherent in Sui’s trauma and turned an honest-to-god porn story into a narrative about healing and overcoming and using your past to create a better world.
I noticed the series doesn’t have any reviews yet, perhaps because it’s still quite new. For those who’ve read it, though, I’d love to hear other people’s opinions. For lovers of Sakana Tojo, did this feel like a departure for you from her usual intensely smutty fluff? Or, similar to me, did you find the vibe in line with her previous works? Those who haven’t read it yet, if you think you can handle the darker themes, I honestly really recommend this title. Sui is adorable, Angel is really interesting, and it’s just dramatic enough to feel quite plotty while being smutty enough to not feel too heavy for a wonderful before-bed read.
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