Request for info: Is "Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro" respectful of it's child characters?

While I've yet to finish the entire series, I've read the majority of it. I'd say it's not overtly filled with fan service, especially comparatively to some other titles, but it definitely exists. The volume covers give some examples of the "extreme end" of visual content I remember in the series (e.g. 13, 15, 16.) That is to say, nothing super sexually graphic is depicted but there is some nudity (no genitals) and sexualized outfits. As far as the writing goes, it's a romcom and includes plenty of the typical hijinx. It's mostly focused on the FMC teasing the MMC. I find the characters and their relationship very endearing but am definitely not as concerned about the issue you're asking about, so YMMV.

Since you seem pretty particular about this aspect of it, I'd probably recommend reading some previews or downloading rips of it to check it out before committing to buying the bundle unless you're fine with potentially spending $18+ on something you won't like. Alternatively, adjust the sliders on Humble to give the majority to charity and consider it a donation with a potential bonus if that suits you better morally.

As for the rips, I won't link them, but most English licensed digital manga is ripped and uploaded to nyaa, a popular, anime-focused, public torrent tracker. Many of them include direct download links in the descriptions as well.

edit: Also if anyone buys this or future Kodansha Humble Bundles, the PDFs usually offer significantly better image quality than the other download options. High quality images can be extracted from them using something like Xpdf (command line tools) and repackaged into a more versatile format (cbz being the standard.)

edit again: If you're interested in the teasing romance premise beyond the fact that it's deeply discounted right now, Teasing Master Takagi-san is less sexualized and may be worth a look. I think both series are pretty good, personally.

Some background: I have followed the author, Nanashi, for over a decade now (I checked my bookmarks and my oldest of his works dates back to 2013), way before he ever published any commercial manga. So I am, probably more than most, very intimate with his style, fetishes, and inclinations (in case you're unaware, he earned his fame/reputation as an independent hentai author).

My views on Nagatoro as a long-time follower are pretty simple: It's softcore femdom disguised as a romcom that slowly sheds off its femdom skin as it goes on.

First of all, it's adapted from a now defunct webcomic where Nagatoro, the main heroine, way more viciously bullied the protagonist. Lots of direct insults, kicking down, and only a very, very occasional blush/fluster from the heroine. It wasn't explicitly sexual even back then, but the presentation (it's basically a POV manga) was all about putting the reader in the shoes of the protagonist to kinda arouse them via the verbal and physical abuse. This web comic version has been almost entirely purged from the author's social media pages after he made the commercial version, likely to avoid "tainting" the Nagatoro character so to speak (Nagotoro herself is a veeeery old Nanashi OC, dating back to the early 2010s)

This is not surprising since one of Nanashi's most famous works before going mainstream, his 2nd ever doujinshi, is a lolicon femdom hentai that features a main character who makes the exact same eye expression Nagatoro would later make, which became the author's signature stare that everyone now knows him from. Nagatoro the character is older than this doujinshi, but I remember she only started making this very specific eye expression after it became kind of the author's hallmark thanks to this one doujinshi.

So right out of the gate, the formula was always to have this bully character entice the reader. In fact you can see traces of this more mean-spirited origin in the first few chapters of Nagatoro, before it's toned way, way down to just light teasing that's appropriate for a romcom. There was speculation earlier on that this came about due to editorial intervention and I'm inclined to agree because if that intense teasing from the first few chapters had stayed the same the manga probably wouldn't have lasted as long as it did.

So as far as sexualization goes, yes it's sexualized to an extent, because it quite literally puts the characters in very common femdom situations, just with no nudity or explicit dialogue (though there is partial nudity in some cases, the typical stuff you see in anime) because that would get an 18+ label. It's all about having female characters mock the protagonist and being superior to him.

Of course, as the series goes on, it begins deviating from this premise more and more and becomes way less in-your-face with the femdom, but that was the purpose of it and the driving force behind it early on, and certainly what a big part of the readership sought out.

Overall, I don't think what I said puts this manga outside of suggestive romcoms with similar themes. After all, lots of works do this thing where they lean into common fetish tropes/culture but then make it safe for work so the manga can sell to a broader audience. It's kind of a cliche by now.

But since you're particularly concerned about how the minors are treated in this work in particular, I would say they're treated suggestively, more so early on than later on, so if that's your primary issue then I'd skip this.

I tend to check out a the subreddit if Wikipedia's reception tab isn't informative. You can get an idea of what folks are getting out of it, what sort of fan service they find acceptable based on popular art, and if they're commonly fans of another thing you think is fine/too much.

Folks seem to say the sexual content is strong at the start but mellows out, though I get the impression it is still a repeating theme. Seems like you could pick up the first two for $1, check those out and if you like them, adjust for the rest and feel assured the fan service won't be more severe.

Apparently the mangaka has done some disturbing hentai, including loli content. Others have said Nanashi keeps it out of Nagatoro, but when the only not-hentai you've done is about a high schooler that looks especially young... I'm gonna be suspicious without confirmation from folks I know.

Can't speak for the manga as I've only watched the anime. The first episode was pretty brutal (coming from someone who was bullied a lot by girls in secondary school) and made me feel really bad for Naoto. But Nagatoro turns into less of a bully as the series goes on.

The story is basically Nagatoro teasing Naoto all the time, calling him gross and mocking him for being a virgin, but it's all a front because she's actually just as insecure as he is.

There is fanservice, but that's typical of most manga set in high school.