NTR: Netsuzou Trap

NTR: Netsuzou TRap (捏造トラップ-NTR-) is a yuri shōjo manga series by Kodama Naoko. The series started in November 2014, and appears as an ongoing serial in the monthly manga magazine Comic Yuri Hime.

An anime television series adaptation by Creators in Pack began airing in July 2017 and is being simulcast with subtitles by Crunchyroll. Outside of Japan, the series is published in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. The English version of the manga has received mixed reviews from critics that range from talking about the artwork, to intended audiences.

Plot

 * The story centers around two high school girls, named Yuma and Hotaru, who each have a boyfriend but secretly cheat with each other. Yuma cannot explain the feeling she gets around Hotaru, which eventually leads her to believe that their relationship may be more than just a friendship.

Manga

 * NTR: Net­su­zou Trap was first se­ri­al­ized in the manga mag­a­zine Comic Yuri Hime in No­vem­ber 2014. The chap­ters were col­lected into tankōbon vol­umes start­ing on June 18, 2015 when the first vol­ume was released; five vol­umes have been re­leased so far. Seven Seas En­ter­tain­ment li­censed the manga in North Amer­ica, and re­leased the first vol­ume on Sep­tem­ber 20, 2016. Seven Seas founder Jason DeAn­ge­lis had said that read­ers were re­quest­ing more yuri ti­tles for re­lease, and com­pared the se­ries to Cit­rus in terms of po­ten­tial enjoyment.


 * Ko­dama was orig­i­nally con­sid­er­ing a story be­tween two brides, but thought that the char­ac­ters seemed too old. She then had the two main char­ac­ters aged down so that they were ju­niors in high school and liked the "sappy soap opera" results. The NTR in the title stands for ne­torare, which trans­lates to "cheat­ing" in Japanese. While the term is sim­i­lar to cuck­old ("hus­band of an adul­ter­ous wife") the cou­ples in­volved here are not in a mar­i­tal af­fair. In the story, the two girls cheat on their boyfriends by doing things with each other.

Anime

 * An anime television series adaptation, directed by Hisayoshi Hirasawa and produced by Creators in Pack, began airing in Japan from July 5, 2017 and is being simulcast by Crunchyroll. Words in Stereo and Yūichi Uchibori wrote the scripts, and Masaru Kawashima designed the characters. The opening theme is "Blue Bud Blue" by Haruka Tōjō while the ending theme is "Virginal lily" by Akira Aikase.

Reception

 * The English version of NTR: Netsuzou Trap has received mixed reviews from manga critics. Rebecca Silverman from Anime News Network gave the series an overall C+ grade. She felt that it is a "fairly unusual yuri story", similar to what is seen in yaoi, because of the sexually aggressive nature of the romance. Silverman stated there is a strong indication that Hotaru is using boys to get over Yuma, and that Hotaru not appearing to particularly love Yuma might be masked feelings due to past problems. Although Silverman felt that it is good that the series offers variety for those who like this kind of story, and that, unlike with Hotaru, readers get a better feel for Yuma's character, she felt that the story's "less consensual romance" is uncomfortable, and critiqued the artwork of the character's upper bodies; she did, however, praise the artwork involving the character's legs. Transgender activist Kat Callahan agreed with Silverman on the series not being a typical example of a yuri series. She writes in her review that the series deals with the cycle of abuse when it comes to Hotaru, and that Yuma is also a victim as a result.


 * Yuricon founder Erica Friedman described the story as "creeptastic," saying that it is about girls who get naked to do stuff with each other while their boyfriends are "conveniently not in the room with them". Sean Gaffney from Manga Bookshelf wrote that the first volume is not for its intended audience, but recommends it instead for guys over 18 who think that girl on girl action is attractive.