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| Light novel series, The Guilty, |
| deals with cheating over an |
| arc that involves redemption. |
On Votaries I discuss a slimy adulterer who is nevertheless romantic.
I attempted to brainstorm a positive romantic adulterer in paperback fiction--one that readers/viewers root for despite the "erk" factor. I couldn't. (The film Age of Innocence based on Edith Wharton's novel was very popular when it came out, and I knew some viewers who saw it as romantic. But other viewers saw it as more critical. It's "literature" so...whatever.)
Sure, there are mean and ruthless and teasing romantic leads, but generally speaking, adulterous romantic protagonists are nearly impossible to find.
However, manga does have a few.
That is, there is no attempt to justify the adulterers' behavior. In fact, the implication of both manga series is that dealing with the adulterer is part of the plot/conflict. And things may never get better. (The Guilty, a light novel series, more directly tackles contrition and absolution.)
It also helps that both series have great titles:
Paul is honestly amoral. He is (happily) married with a wife and daughter whom he actually appears to adore. He is living a "gentleman's" existence, where he presents a face to the world, makes a decent income (at a university teaching job he got through nepotism), attends garden parties, and sneaks around behind his wife's back. She probably doesn't know. Eh. Maybe she does. After all, that's what people in his circle do.
Jonathan finds him utterly exasperating and is conflicted, especially when he actually meets the wife and daughter, who like him! He says he won't continue the affair but...
The manga ends on a wry note. I actually wrote an entire epilogue in my head that involved Paul leaving his "circle" after his wife's death to join Jonathan who is now a doctor in Chicago. Jonathan is one of the few people in the "know" who actually believes that Paul is devastated by losing his wife since Jonathan is one of the few people who understands that Paul was creating compartments for his life. In Paul's mind, he wasn't betraying anyone. Jonathan is also one of the few people who can handle Paul, who is actually quite biddable (though few people other than Jonathan operate at his level of witty unscrupulousness).
Otomo Kyoichi is handsome and approachable and never says, "No." He is, in fact, rather like Denny from Boston Legal, only younger, handsomer and somewhat more reserved. He is quite often the seduced rather than the seducer. Yet rather than feeling sorry for him, a number of characters point out that he adopts this pose on purpose.
That is, he never takes responsibility (in the moment). "Oops, I fell into bed with someone while married. Oops, I fell into bed with someone while living with someone else." He is a waffler who desires desperately to be loved by someone/anyone (he truly is a lot like Denny). He doesn't want to have to make clear choices. For him, it's always "she asked me" or "it wasn't my idea" or "I was there."
Even when he does start living (fairly permanently) with a gay guy, he keeps up the excuses: "He's stalking me" and "It's habit" and "It's convenient."
The excuses aren't because he wants to be an adulterous jerk. Or even because he is trying to keep his options open. Or because he is a Casanova. The mindset isn't that calculated. He is grasping for whatever appears to be a lifeline.
His cluelessness carries a kind of honesty within it, which makes him not exactly redeemable--but interesting.
(I read the series. I have no desire to watch the live action. I can only tolerate sliminess to a point.)
