This is the point that truly angers me about yaoi and Yuri as a genre more so than hentai/ ecchi. I understand it is meant for straight women and straight men respectively to consume as “entertainment”, but it’s 2020 and many Asian cultures still are bigoted and homophobic in most media yet they fetishize and exploit lgbt+ narratives and experiences from literature all the way to their queer baiting boy bands. Yet lgbt are still second class citizens unable to live their authentic selves but see themselves defined by a status quo that continues to define and mold public opinion at the hands of ignorance. I know manga is not a place for accurate portrayals of lived experience but such little media representation of lgbt+ and various minority groups in a world that allows people to still be divided and oppressed by the color of the skin, the religion they may practice, residing in the wrong body, or even who they should lay their head beside, this shit hurts. It hurts real.
I always thought that one was born as they are (i.e., you are gay, straight, bi, etc. the moment you are born), but then I came across my friend's coworker's story, and it kinda blow my mind. So my friend's coworker identified herself as lesbian. She said she has always been attracted to females since she was little and has only dated girls before. However, she finds herself catching feeling for this one guy at work. I asked my friend if her coworker is bisexual. My friend said no bc she has never imagined herself with a guy or have sex with them except for this one guy. This is also the first time she ever feels this way.
When I read manga of this trope ("I'm straight, I just love him), I always wonder if it is possible for a person to only feels attracted to that one specific guy/girl, but not the whole gender itself?? Like my friend's coworker, "She is a lesbian, she just like one guy." Is it possible???
My friend's coworker still identifies herself as lesbian bc she believes "bisexual" doesn't accurately describe her since she still doesn't feel attracted to guys even after the incident. So to her, having feeling for one guy is not enough for her to be identified as "bisexual."
Welp! Honestly, it was pretty cute. I see a lot of hate towards Kei but I think he wasn't really that bad especially in the world of yaoi. I mean, that was a pretty mild blackmailing by yaoi standards. I also liked how Kei didn't back down when Ichi kept on clinging to his past. With that, Ichi was able to move past it (kinda wish he punched that homophobic dude tho. Such trash) As for the second couple, I just really don't like the incest or family related (even though not by blood) trope because it pains me what their family would feel.