I'm here for the gay (the LGBTQ+ anime/manga discussion thread)

[Starletka]

Remember when I said we could watch it on Saturday? I lied.

No you didn't. We could have. We just didn't.

 

[Starletka]

Dunno how I got there, but I noticed the Junjou Romantica manga is still a thing in this day and age, so I browsed through the newest chapters, and ... look I'm not saying I expected it to get better or anything (although the art improved immensely), but I expected at least some sort of evolution when it comes to the relationships, at least a little bit. Nope. None. Usagi and Misaki have been dating for at least 5 years now, but Misaki still acts as if their 3000th sexytime-time is their first, so that it still holds that special super romantic rape-y feeling.

 

[HasseRovdjur]

No you didn't. We could have. We just didn't.

Yes, I decided to dump you and watch Knives Out instead.

Dunno how I got there, but I noticed the Junjou Romantica manga is still a thing in this day and age, so I browsed through the newest chapters, and ... look I'm not saying I expected it to get better or anything (although the art improved immensely), but I expected at least some sort of evolution when it comes to the relationships, at least a little bit. Nope. None. Usagi and Misaki have been dating for at least 5 years now, but Misaki still acts as if their 3000th sexytime-time is their first, so that it still holds that special super romantic rape-y feeling.

Hawt.

 

[daisicles]

Dunno how I got there, but I noticed the Junjou Romantica manga is still a thing in this day and age, so I browsed through the newest chapters, and ... look I'm not saying I expected it to get better or anything (although the art improved immensely), but I expected at least some sort of evolution when it comes to the relationships, at least a little bit. Nope. None. Usagi and Misaki have been dating for at least 5 years now, but Misaki still acts as if their 3000th sexytime-time is their first, so that it still holds that special super romantic rape-y feeling.

Not only is it still a thing, enough people keep begging Sublime to rescue the English license (even though they've said flat out a zillion times that they aren't doing it) that it's the center square on the manga licensing comments bingo card I keep threatening to make. Sekaiichi Hatsukoi is still running too and it's exactly the same thing and available in English, so you'd think people could be happy with that, but no.

I do feel sorry for Sublime's editor bc she's starting to sound increasingly exhausted with Sekaiichi, but they won't drop it.

 

[UsagiDandere]

I don't know what specific manga it's from - it's not from any of her licensed work - but that's definitely Sakae Kusama's art. Probably a newer title, given the lines.

Yeup seems to be Akegata ni yamu ame.
Edit: Oop didn't notice you found it already but I was cry laughing reading the reverse Google image search results so my time wasn't wasted

 

[Akishima]

No you didn't. We could have. We just didn't.

Sorry to jump in here, but you guys didn't miss much. The first story, "Happy" is rather adorable and worth watching but the rest is kind of garbage. I just randomly watched it today since I saw it featured on HiDive.

 

[Gens]

Was reading this short yuri classic again and it's still funny to me:

https://www.anime-planet.com/manga/love-death

We've had tsundere/tsundere in anime, Kuudere/kuudere pairing is coming up but no yandere and yandere pairing lol

 

[Akishima]

Somehow, I couldn't wait for the anime to air, and started reading The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window. This is kind of bad news, because I rarely overlap my manga reading and anime watching. According to my personal reading list I had actually read some of it before, but I literally couldn't remember a single thing about it, which is weird. Anyway, I'm enjoying it pretty well, but it brings up a few gripes I have about bl/gl- why the heck do they seem intent on always making one character bi or only gay for one guy or just plain aromantic? It's annoying. Why can't both characters be interested in the same gender? We really don't need the added drama of one person being attracted to the opposite sex, or being unaware of their own sexuality.

Spoiler: actual manga spoilers

Also, I was digging the main duo until the one went all possessive psycho on the other, and now I'm feeling conflicted, because the medium dude seems like a better guy, but I like our main pair best- thing is, even if Hiyakawa has a Freudian excuse for his actions, that still doesn't justify the way he treats his partner, and I can't condone it. Even if he learns to be a better person, how can you ever forgive that kind of violation? Just because Mikado lets him do it and it's not actual sex doesn't make it right. Why does abuse have to be so damned common in bl? And the whole binding contract thing was done without Mikado's full knowledge of what it meant- so that was entirely without consent. Just, ugh.

I mean, if Hiyakawa turns out to be a yandere psycho who was warped by his abilities as a child and can't have normal relationships with people, I can see that- there are moments when he seems really sociopathic. But this being a bl, I assume he's meant to be with Mikado, and they're not going to go upsetting expectations by having Mikado leave him, as he should have from the beginning. It's just really disturbing. I mean, Mikado gets something out of it too I guess, but he mostly seems like he's being massively taken advantage of. I don't like it.

And, while I really like the supernatural plot the whole way the psychic connection thing is portrayed it's hard to tell if Mikado is terrified or turned on or both and it's kinda weird. It'll be interesting how they translate that to the anime, because in the manga, at least to me, I am not making a connection to what's happening. A scene will end, and I'll be like- well, I guess they exorcised the ghost, and I guess Mikado got off on it, but he honestly looked terrified and about to pass out to me.

I am nowhere near the end of the manga though, and it does still interest me despite my issues with it. Still much better than most of the genre. And if I consider it a horror rather than a romance (maybe that's what it's supposed to be- I went in with zero knowledge of it), then it's actually pretty good. A shoutout to @daisicles for the rec.

 

[daisicles]

Spoiler: actual manga spoilers

Also, I was digging the main duo until the one went all possessive psycho on the other, and now I'm feeling conflicted, because the medium dude seems like a better guy, but I like our main pair best- thing is, even if Hiyakawa has a Freudian excuse for his actions, that still doesn't justify the way he treats his partner, and I can't condone it. Even if he learns to be a better person, how can you ever forgive that kind of violation? Just because Mikado lets him do it and it's not actual sex doesn't make it right. Why does abuse have to be so damned common in bl? And the whole binding contract thing was done without Mikado's full knowledge of what it meant- so that was entirely without consent. Just, ugh.

I don't know how far in you are, but -

Spoiler

you're absolutely supposed to find that binding contract thing scary and wrong. Mikado lets a lot of things happen because of his longing to be with someone who understands all the scary shit he's been dealing with his whole life, but everyone around the two of them is going "soooo, you know what he's doing isn't okay, right?" Even Erika says as much, though she words it in a creepier way. Consent and boundaries are a big part of the story (and not just with Hiyakawa and Mikado), which becomes clearer and more explicitly spelled out in dialogue the farther in you get - the manga plays around with a lot of bl tropes and at first most of it is for humor, but it gets darker. For me, the contract is the big turning point, even though Mikado doesn't remember it properly, because it's so clearly drawn in a menacing way. It's not sexy and it's not supposed to be, it's very obviously wrong and something is very obviously wrong with Hiyakawa for doing the binding.

Like, part of me wants Hiyakawa and Mikado to hook up but with each new volume, something happens that makes me go "okay, we're gonna need at least two more volumes' worth of time before anything happens" because most of me doesn't want them to hook up without Mikado being the one fully taking the lead and Hiyakawa respecting that. Going by the number of Japanese readers going "wait, this was a bl?" leads me to believe that nothing happens on the page at all in the series and I'm fine with that. This isn't a romantic story, not really.

ETA:

And if I consider it a horror rather than a romance (maybe that's what it's supposed to be- I went in with zero knowledge of it), then it's actually pretty good.

Oh, it's definitely supposed to be a horror and not a romance. The ghosts are kinda scary and all, but people are the scariest, always. And there's gonna be some very disappointed anime-only watchers because it's not romance.

 

[Akishima]

I don't know how far in you are, but -

Spoiler

you're absolutely supposed to find that binding contract thing scary and wrong. Mikado lets a lot of things happen because of his longing to be with someone who understands all the scary shit he's been dealing with his whole life, but everyone around the two of them is going "soooo, you know what he's doing isn't okay, right?" Even Erika says as much, though she words it in a creepier way. Consent and boundaries are a big part of the story (and not just with Hiyakawa and Mikado), which becomes clearer and more explicitly spelled out in dialogue the farther in you get - the manga plays around with a lot of bl tropes and at first most of it is for humor, but it gets darker. For me, the contract is the big turning point, even though Mikado doesn't remember it properly, because it's so clearly drawn in a menacing way. It's not sexy and it's not supposed to be, it's very obviously wrong and something is very obviously wrong with Hiyakawa for doing the binding.

Like, part of me wants Hiyakawa and Mikado to hook up but with each new volume, something happens that makes me go "okay, we're gonna need at least two more volumes' worth of time before anything happens" because most of me doesn't want them to hook up without Mikado being the one fully taking the lead and Hiyakawa respecting that. Going by the number of Japanese readers going "wait, this was a bl?" leads me to believe that nothing happens on the page at all in the series and I'm fine with that. This isn't a romantic story, not really.

ETA:


Oh, it's definitely supposed to be a horror and not a romance. The ghosts are kinda scary and all, but people are the scariest, always. And there's gonna be some very disappointed anime-only watchers because it's not romance.

Oh, I'm so relieved to hear this.

Spoiler

Yes, I am far enough along that I've seen both Mukae and Erika going "what's wrong with you, Mikado, this isn't right!" which was reassuring, but with me thinking it was bl, I felt like it would somehow be twisted to be romantic or handwaved later on- really glad to hear that's not what happens. Also, it's great to hear some people didn't even consider it bl, because so far, I've not found it to be romantic or sexy at all, and I was wondering if I was just really dense.

I totally love the close-partners trope, so this makes me happy- just, Hiyakawa needs to stop taking advantage of Mikado, because there's a serious power difference here. With the latest chapters I'm reading though, I'm glad to see Mikado learning to stand on his own- the damsel in distress trope gets old quick, and I was happily surprised to see that Hiyakawa seemed happy about this new-found independence rather than jealous.

 

[daisicles]

Oh, I'm so relieved to hear this.

Spoiler

Yes, I am far enough along that I've seen both Mukae and Erika going "what's wrong with you, Mikado, this isn't right!" which was reassuring, but with me thinking it was bl, I felt like it would somehow be twisted to be romantic or handwaved later on- really glad to hear that's not what happens. Also, it's great to hear some people didn't even consider it bl, because so far, I've not found it to be romantic or sexy at all, and I was wondering if I was just really dense.

I totally love the close-partners trope, so this makes me happy- just, Hiyakawa needs to stop taking advantage of Mikado, because there's a serious power difference here. With the latest chapters I'm reading though, I'm glad to see Mikado learning to stand on his own- the damsel in distress trope gets old quick, and I was happily surprised to see that Hiyakawa seemed happy about this new-found independence rather than jealous.

You're definitely not dense - the jpn publisher marketed it as shoujo (or maybe josei, I'm a little unclear on it) even though it ran in a bl mag because it's that much of a not-bl kinda bl. The anime marketing teases more, but they don't say bl outright the way it gets said in English marketing. I do think it's a great light horror series that's heavily grounded in bl, but a great many people are coming in to the anime with the wrong set of expectations from that label. Not romantic! Which is, tbh, a very good thing!

Spoiler

Hiyakawa's whole deal makes so much sense once his full backstory comes out - it doesn't excuse what he does, but it sure does explain why he thinks it's okay. But what I really think is great is that Mikado is able to understand how Hiyakawa is flawed and to sorta come into his own despite all his fears that way, just because he wants to be a support the way his weird new bunch of friends have been a kind of support for him.

 

[Akishima]

You're definitely not dense - the jpn publisher marketed it as shoujo (or maybe josei, I'm a little unclear on it) even though it ran in a bl mag because it's that much of a not-bl kinda bl. The anime marketing teases more, but they don't say bl outright the way it gets said in English marketing. I do think it's a great light horror series that's heavily grounded in bl, but a great many people are coming in to the anime with the wrong set of expectations from that label. Not romantic! Which is, tbh, a very good thing!

Spoiler

Hiyakawa's whole deal makes so much sense once his full backstory comes out - it doesn't excuse what he does, but it sure does explain why he thinks it's okay. But what I really think is great is that Mikado is able to understand how Hiyakawa is flawed and to sorta come into his own despite all his fears that way, just because he wants to be a support the way his weird new bunch of friends have been a kind of support for him.

Yeah, I gotta say, both the description and the tags on here are highly misleading. I'm actually hoping that with this not being quite so closely-tied with the bl thing in Japan, we'll actually get a decent anime out of it. Anime doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to either bl or horror, so it has some barriers to cross here.

 

[daisicles]

A group of yuri artists are crowdfunding to translate their butch/butch anthology into English and I am so incredibly here for it. Please, give me the butch lesbians, I need them. I will buy your translated doujinshi for the prospect of two women in suits making out, please.

 

[randomredneck]

A group of yuri artists are crowdfunding to translate their butch/butch anthology into English and I am so incredibly here for it. Please, give me the butch lesbians, I need them. I will buy your translated doujinshi for the prospect of two women in suits making out, please.

Well, they already passed their goal. Good for them.

 

[Akishima]

A group of yuri artists are crowdfunding to translate their butch/butch anthology into English and I am so incredibly here for it. Please, give me the butch lesbians, I need them. I will buy your translated doujinshi for the prospect of two women in suits making out, please.

Ooh, I would probably buy this. Short-haired tomboy women, yes please.

 

[Akishima]

It’s easily the most underrated anime of the season to me and Hiyakawa’s got to be the most interesting protagonist I’ve seen in a BL anime. It kind of reminds me how jealous I am that BL is willing to go to some pretty dark places that GL isn’t willing to usually go to. I need some more dark psychological GL anime.

It's unfortunate that so long as GL anime is mostly pandering to men who want cute fluffy virginal high-school handholding, having disturbing relationships with yandere girls or consent issues and actual women being codependent or abusive to each other is unthinkable. There was Otherside Picnic, which I guess kinda fell into that category, but it both disturbed and bore me simultaneously so I don't actually know if it followed through on anything.

Also, I know I'm repeating myself, but, we need more interesting lady couples who actually have careers and stuff.

 

[daisicles]

It's unfortunate that so long as GL anime is mostly pandering to men who want cute fluffy virginal high-school handholding, having disturbing relationships with yandere girls or consent issues and actual women being codependent or abusive to each other is unthinkable.

Though it's not anime, I did find a yuri title that Seven Seas recently announced interesting - apparently there's a lot of angry sex? The cover has the couple beat all to shit glaring at each other. Will it get an anime? There's no freaking way. Am I still glad it exists? Yes. I'm so, so tired of the cute fluff and the handholding. I want angry women, I want physicality beyond softness.

(I also want some of those bl authors who like to draw sexy women to write some yuri. C'mon, do us a solid.)

 

[Akishima]

Though it's not anime, I did find a yuri title that Seven Seas recently announced interesting - apparently there's a lot of angry sex? The cover has the couple beat all to shit glaring at each other. Will it get an anime? There's no freaking way. Am I still glad it exists? Yes. I'm so, so tired of the cute fluff and the handholding. I want angry women, I want physicality beyond softness.

(I also want some of those bl authors who like to draw sexy women to write some yuri. C'mon, do us a solid.)

I just want real women, you know? I can't describe how much I appreciated Eizouken for making the girls realistic. Watching Asakusa plonk herself onto a chair cross-legged every episode was the most satisfying thing I never knew I needed. The super-ladylike, overly girly stereotype just needs to die in a fire. Most women aren't yamato nadeshiko or ladies in the original high-class meaning of the word. We're often not graceful, we wear blue-jeans and boots, and we have emotions and opinions which we express with slang. We don't don't always look like we came from a salon and we get dirty.

I still need to check out that manga I think it was @daisicles linked that had two office ladies in a relationship. Looked fun.

 

[Gens]

Though it's not anime, I did find a yuri title that Seven Seas recently announced interesting - apparently there's a lot of angry sex? The cover has the couple beat all to shit glaring at each other. Will it get an anime? There's no freaking way. Am I still glad it exists? Yes. I'm so, so tired of the cute fluff and the handholding. I want angry women, I want physicality beyond softness.

(I also want some of those bl authors who like to draw sexy women to write some yuri. C'mon, do us a solid.)

Yeah, I saw that. Sal Jiang's based as hell, her doujins are great so I'm really looking forward to it. Nothing better than a good old hate fuck:

 

[daisicles]

I just want real women, you know? I can't describe how much I appreciated Eizouken for making the girls realistic. Watching Asakusa plonk herself onto a chair cross-legged every episode was the most satisfying thing I never knew I needed. The super-ladylike, overly girly stereotype just needs to die in a fire. Most women aren't yamato nadeshiko or ladies in the original high-class meaning of the word. We're often not graceful, we wear blue-jeans and boots, and we have emotions and opinions which we express with slang. We don't don't always look like we came from a salon and we get dirty.

YES. The girls in Eizouken felt so much like all the awkward nerdy girls I've ever known, just plonking down places and sprawling and all kinds of things. It's ridiculous how rare it is to find that, period.

Though you know where it is easier to find different kinds of women? In josei. But of course, josei manga doesn't get anime and josei manga doesn't get licensed in English, so good luck finding it sometimes. I do have a couple of titles on my shelf with adult female leads that are allowed to get ugly and fall apart and I appreciate the hell out of them.