In dismissing the allegations of xenophobia, I see many commenters here claiming that the premise more closely resembles colonialism.
The issue I have with this interpretation is that, if you look at real world xenophobic rhetoric, you find that, to the xenophobe, it is the immigrant who is the true colonizer. That is, everything wrong with colonialism is instead attributed to immigration.
Real immigrants are not evil enough to conform to the xenophobe's beliefs, so the xenophobe must create a narrative in which the basis of immigration is malice: Immigration occurs as a concerted invasion, the end goal of which is the replacement of whatever group the xenophobe identifies with; the immigrants stealing their jobs and wealth; the destruction of their culture; and ultimately, the xenophobe-group becoming subservient to the immigrants if not outright exterminated.
Thus, we find that a narrative work that is an allegory for colonialism, written by someone who is anti-colonialism, and a work that is an allegory for immigration, written by and for xenophobes, are fundamentally indistinguishable.
The reason I find this work more likely to be xenophobic than anti-colonial lies in the facts that the main characters are seemingly the only humans who hate the aliens, and that they are, or believe that they would be, persecuted and ostracized even by their fellow humans for daring to say anything negative about the aliens.
These facts are clearly analogous, first to the belief of exceptionalism typical of conspiracy theorists ("I alone can see the secret truths that everyone else is blind to"), and second to the frequent xenophobic complaints about "cancel culture", or "political correctness", or whatever the word of the day is ("I can't call immigrants evil monsters without people treating me like I'M the asshole! What is the world coming to?")
I like the points you’re hitting and definitely see where you’re coming from. I also think that a lot of xenophobic rhetoric try to claim similar ideas in fear of being subservient to potential colonialism/in fear of these “invaders” to their home. However, if we are to apply this idea of “what happens in the real world” to this manga, I think it’s important to highlight a couple of things.
1) these aliens are not really assimilating to the human culture. They do not even try to learn human languages. Rather than adopting to human culture, they’re changing it to fit their needs. One small example is when the two neighbors of the MC were complaining that the apartments felt claustrophobic and they wanted to petition a change. This was probably because the aliens are a lot taller and bigger than most Japanese people and they wanted to change something (that didn’t benefit/wasn’t made for them) to something better for themselves. Immigrants in the real world have an insane pressure to assimilate and follow social norms- and the alien’s ability to avoid this pressure highlights an a large power imbalance (typically seen in colonizers not immigrants).
2) these aliens actually hold positions of power, wealth and influence in the human society- these are hallmarks of the colonial system. An external group which can impose their beliefs to shape another’s groups society to their will-> not typical among immigrants.
Simply put, xenophobia is viewed bad because it ultimately enables discrimination, perpetuates hatred and violence towards marginalized groups and minimizes diversity which countries need to build economic global power. However, in this story so far, it’s clear there’s a greater privilege and power given to these aliens in this society. If immigrants are now holding influence and control over someone else’s country->that sounds more geared towards colonialism.
I do get your last point, however, I don’t quite know if we can say anything yet. I thought the Mcs were feeling like they can’t say anything because it’s clear the aliens that they are speaking out against, are aliens who have a god-like status in the community and actually control the the media, economy, etc. We don’t know yet if people are not speaking out against the aliens because they don’t want to or because they can’t.
Ultimately, I think you brought up a lot of interesting points, but I also think in this story in particular-I don’t think these characters are in the wrong for hating these aliens. Particularly the black haired Mc? His family was killed by an alien but the alien had social and financial cushioning so it didn’t face repercussions. In fact the alien had the money and resources to just go back to his own planet after wrecking mc’s life. Most immigrants immigrate out of necessity- their country is unsafe for them, they had little opportunity or money, they want a better life for themselves and their kids, etc… To me it sounds like these aliens are on Earth for vacation and fun? If the black haired mc was hating on the aliens just because they’re different or foreign, yea textbook xenophobia. But, his struggles are tied to unequal and unfair treatment from systemic abuses of power.
TLDR: if the MCs are discriminatory and hateful to the aliens WHILE the story does not address the systemic power dynamics, it’s probably xenophobic. But, since the aliens actions are currently both oppressive and malicious, the story moreso seems to be critiquing this power and privilege and the possible dangers of being complicit.
Just wanna say both of you have really interesting points on this.
I lean more into the author having intended it as an anti-colonialism message but we have yet to see the full potential of the quality of writing regarding that aspect in my opinion.
I suppose we just have got to wait and see where the story is heading to before we jump into any cemented conclusions just yet.
In the end, it could be just a way of advertising and the end won't be so controversial.
and sometimes its really not that deep and we assign meaning and interpretation to creative work that wasn't meant to be intentional.
But we still have fun right? (づ￣ ³￣)づ
"a door leading to countless worlds, offering him a chance to adventure and train across the multiverse!" This sounds like the premise of fanfiction. Can someone confirm/deny for me?
"Police work is about pure animal instinct" "You can tell who's a criminal just by looking at them" "Can't possibly be them, they look like upright citizens" "Let's go harass those people until they give us an excuse to arrest them" This comic's depiction of police is frighteningly accurate.
For some reason her cleavage is censored. But what actually gets me is that the scanlators inserted their own name into the translation itself. I mean, you can't be serious.
Ignore the haters here. This is genuinely funny, a little introspective, and, weirdly enough, even a little heartwarming. Also, despite the premise and the presence of partial nudity, the characters aren't really sexuallized as you might expect.
ch 85 is missing text
Correction, every chapter from 85-97 is missing all text, and 90 also appears to be a repeat of 89.