The Husky and His White Cat Shizun vol. 1 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun [Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun]: Vol. 1 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou
I had some problems getting through this one.
Mo Ran, who made himself an evil emperor by slaughtering his way to prominence and taking revenge on anyone he felt wronged him, hit a point where he didn't want to live anymore, so he killed himself... but is reborn into his teenage body and life, back to being the disciple of Chu Wanning, the shizun he hated, captured, tortured, and sexually assaulted for years, who is also alive here and has yet to do the things that Mo Ran really, really hated him for. Mo Ran has a chance to relive and possibly better his life.
Given what an asshole and dumbass Mo Ran is, the second one may be unlikely.
This is a personal preference thing, a your-mileage-may-vary thing, but Mo Ran as the primary protagonist and POV sometimes made this volume difficult for me to read. He's an awful person, but not in a way I found interesting, fun, or sympathetic. He's just bad and often a moron. Why oh why does Chu Wanning snap at and discipline him? He only just breaks various rules and disrespects so many people and things.
Mo Ran often talks about his true, pure love for Shi Mei, who's barely presented as a person or given much to say or do in this volume. This may be the author making some kind of point, but that hasn't been proven yet. He becomes aware that he physically lusts after and is possessive of Chu Wanning but ignores people and life repeatedly striking him in the face with the fact that he has other feelings for him too.
Then there's Chu Wanning, whose tragedy is supposed to be that he actually has a kind heart no one knows about and is in love with Mo Ran but can't show it. Nobody knows he's kind or in love because he's too proud and stubborn and prone to blatantly losing his temper and whipping people for things he sees as infractions. He could do things about all of this, like, for example, learn to rein in his temper (like the cultivated immortal he is) or be nicer to people... or whip fewer people, but he won't. He'd be less misunderstood that way, though maybe he does enjoy whipping the hell out of people. History abounds with factual and fictional stories of people ruining their own lives through their known or unacknowledged faults but Chu Wanning's refusal to do any better makes me care less about him.
There are characters where I can say "you dumbass!" about them affectionately, but neither of these two fits that. Knowing that Mo Ran spent years (in Mo Ran's past, Chu Wanning's future) raping Chu Wanning doesn't help me root for them either.
I find this love story tragic, just not in the way the author probably intends me to.
I can feel bad for Chu Wanning over him falling helplessly in love with a selfish ass who constantly breaks rules and pushes his buttons, who is also his student and much younger than him, who is often talking about how much he loves one of Chu Wanning's other disciples. Love doesn't always look out for your best interests, and it can be really difficult to fall out of love.
I found some of the other parts of the story involving, though some sections dragged a bit. It ends on a cliffhanger that I want a resolution to enough that I'll borrow the next volume from the library when it becomes available, but I wouldn't be willing to pay money for it.
(Many trigger warnings, and there are many problematic things in here.)
I had some problems getting through this one.
Mo Ran, who made himself an evil emperor by slaughtering his way to prominence and taking revenge on anyone he felt wronged him, hit a point where he didn't want to live anymore, so he killed himself... but is reborn into his teenage body and life, back to being the disciple of Chu Wanning, the shizun he hated, captured, tortured, and sexually assaulted for years, who is also alive here and has yet to do the things that Mo Ran really, really hated him for. Mo Ran has a chance to relive and possibly better his life.
Given what an asshole and dumbass Mo Ran is, the second one may be unlikely.
This is a personal preference thing, a your-mileage-may-vary thing, but Mo Ran as the primary protagonist and POV sometimes made this volume difficult for me to read. He's an awful person, but not in a way I found interesting, fun, or sympathetic. He's just bad and often a moron. Why oh why does Chu Wanning snap at and discipline him? He only just breaks various rules and disrespects so many people and things.
Mo Ran often talks about his true, pure love for Shi Mei, who's barely presented as a person or given much to say or do in this volume. This may be the author making some kind of point, but that hasn't been proven yet. He becomes aware that he physically lusts after and is possessive of Chu Wanning but ignores people and life repeatedly striking him in the face with the fact that he has other feelings for him too.
Then there's Chu Wanning, whose tragedy is supposed to be that he actually has a kind heart no one knows about and is in love with Mo Ran but can't show it. Nobody knows he's kind or in love because he's too proud and stubborn and prone to blatantly losing his temper and whipping people for things he sees as infractions. He could do things about all of this, like, for example, learn to rein in his temper (like the cultivated immortal he is) or be nicer to people... or whip fewer people, but he won't. He'd be less misunderstood that way, though maybe he does enjoy whipping the hell out of people. History abounds with factual and fictional stories of people ruining their own lives through their known or unacknowledged faults but Chu Wanning's refusal to do any better makes me care less about him.
There are characters where I can say "you dumbass!" about them affectionately, but neither of these two fits that. Knowing that Mo Ran spent years (in Mo Ran's past, Chu Wanning's future) raping Chu Wanning doesn't help me root for them either.
I find this love story tragic, just not in the way the author probably intends me to.
I can feel bad for Chu Wanning over him falling helplessly in love with a selfish ass who constantly breaks rules and pushes his buttons, who is also his student and much younger than him, who is often talking about how much he loves one of Chu Wanning's other disciples. Love doesn't always look out for your best interests, and it can be really difficult to fall out of love.
I found some of the other parts of the story involving, though some sections dragged a bit. It ends on a cliffhanger that I want a resolution to enough that I'll borrow the next volume from the library when it becomes available, but I wouldn't be willing to pay money for it.
(Many trigger warnings, and there are many problematic things in here.)