NTR: Netsuzou Trap

Plot

Yuma, and Hotaru have been best friends since childhood where Yuma would protect her from things such as bullies, as such she made it her job to look after her. Now the two are second year high school students, but Hotaru is anything but innocent. Yuma gets her first boyfriend but is nervous about it, so a more experienced Hotaru suggests a "dress rehearsal" to help her out. The helping out later on leads to a deep kiss with Hotaru who says that Yuma now knows how to kiss a guy, this leaves her thinking though about how much better this one was then the one she had shared with her boyfriend. As time goes on, Yuma worries that her boyfriend will find out what is going on between her and Hotaru. She also cannot explain these "strange" feelings she has when she is with her.

Characters

Yuma Okasaki (岡崎由真, Okasaki Yuma)

Voiced by: Ai KakumaYuma is the main protagonist of the story, she is in her second year of high school along with her best friend Hotaru. When she finds her first boyfriend (Takeda) she is not sure how to react so she asks Hotaru for advice, but is surprised when it appears as if her friend is flirting with her. Yuma cannot explain the good feeling she gets when she French kisses Hotaru, among other things, and worries that Takeda will catch her in the act. In the second volume he decides that the two should take some space apart, and Yuma comes to terms that she is in fact cheating with Hotaru. Her feelings still remain conflicted though as she does not want to hurt him.

Hotaru Mizushina (水科ほたる, Mizushina Hotaru)

Voiced by: Hiromi IgarashiHotaru is Yuma's best friend since they were children. It is shown that early on Yuma would always protect her from things such as bullies at school, but over time she surpassed her in being bold. She eventually went out with many different boyfriends, but from Yuma's point of view she would never pay attention to any of them. She is shown to be aggressive with her feelings towards Yuma, making the first moves on more than one occasion. Yuma later senses though that there might be trouble between her, and Fujiwara despite Hotaru's strong attitude.

Takeda (武田)

Voiced by: Ryōta ŌsakaTakeda is a classmate and friend of Hotaru, and is Yuma's first boyfriend. In the story he comes across as a friendly understanding guy who is aware of his girlfriend's shyness, and does his best to remedy the situation. He is unaware of Hotaru's advances towards Yuma, but later senses that she doesn't hold enough affection for him. Takeda eventually ends their dating relationship and tells Yuma to find out what she wants for herself before they go any further.

Fujiwara (藤原)

Voiced by: Daisuke OnoFujiwara is Hotaru's boyfriend, and is friends with Takeda. Early on in the story he suspects that his girlfriend may not be committed to him but initially doesn't say anything. This changes later on though when he confirms his suspicion, and drops a hint to Yuma that he knows. It is suggested that he is physically abusive to Hotaru which causes concern for Yuma when she sees that she has a black eye. He has stated that he plans to use the knowledge of the secret relationship between the two girls to his advantage in the form of sexual favors.

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; three 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. 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, will air in July 2017. Words and Stereo and Yūichi Uchibori are writing the scripts.

Reception

The English version of NTR: Netsuzou Trap has received various reviews from manga critics. Rebecca Silverman from Anime News Network gave the series an overall C+ grade. She points out that it does not appear that Hotaru particularly loves Yuma, but this might be masked feelings due to past problems. She also goes on about how the nonconsensual romance might be a turnoff for some, and critiques the artwork of the character's upper bodies. Silverman did say though that unlike Hotaru, readers get a better feel for Yuma's character, and also praised the artwork involving the character's legs. Yuricon founder Erica Friedman described the story as "creeptastic", saying that it is about girls who get naked to do stuff with each another 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.