Corporate secretary Shirotani suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder in this doctor-patient romance fraught with compulsion Corporate secretary Shirotani suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. One day he meets Kurose, a therapist who offers to take him through a ten-step program to cure him of his compulsion. As the two go through each of the ten steps, Shirotani's attraction to his counselor grows. Shirotani and Kurose continue to grow ever closer as a couple. One day, while out on a date with Kurose, Shirotani runs into Ueda, the woman responsible for triggering his germophobia. The encounter causes emotions Shirotani has long buried to surface. Will this be the catalyst that drives Shirotani to once and for all allow number ten on his list?
4.5* stars.
Kurose and Shirotani deal with difficult memories and some final road bumps before they can feel truly committed in their relationship, particularly with the woman who triggered Shirotani's germophobia to begin with. With all the trouble, and closure on the horizon, will the boys be able to cross number ten off of Shirotani's list?
I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong. Looking at the series with more mature eyes, I do see how Kurose's behavior is more than just a giant red flag with how he gaslights Shirotani and his overall sadistic nature. Kurose ultimately may help Shirotani overcome symptoms of his disease, his methods are unethical, and while he may have had a rough childhood, that doesn't give him the right to almost torture Shirotani into becoming "better" by doing things to him that he finds exasperating and completely intolerable, then telling him, "You really want this."
While Kurose's actions can be vexing, I can overlook someone's bad personality for the whole story, which I still love. The spice in this series is delectable, and while their relationship is not great, the relationship as a whole I feel is on the good side of things, (for a fictional story.)
I would be careful who this should be recommended to, as it could be triggering. However, as a general yaoi, for someone who is not easily triggered, this would be one of my top picks.
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