What I Think Of “She Likes Homos, Not Me”

Cause i saw a question asking people to read it and i’ve also seen a lot of fujos praise this manga, I decided to read it and give my input. And I just have to say-

Dog water manga. This manga tries to bite off more than it can chew. The author clearly wanted to portray the reality of what it’s like to be a homosexual. but the only thing it gives us is a selfish fujoshi who coerces Jun (our MC) into kissing her publicly, a pedophile and a gay teen with with internalized homophobia who confides in a 20 year old gay man whom he’d met online.

I was put off by the title, and rightfully so. Authors who attempt to approach the yaoi genre with a sense of realism either fail terribly or succeed wonderfully. I’m sure you can guess where this manga falls. 「She Likes Homos, Not Me」follows Jun, a closeted 18 year old homosexual with compulsory heterosexuality who’s also in a relationship with the aforementioned pedophile who’s middle aged, has a wife and wants to fuck his son, but can’t, so he uses Jun as a replacement. Nice, right?

First attempt at realism miserably failed. It feels like the author want’s to educate readers on LGBT issues, however, i’m failing to see how incorporating an uncomfortable relationship between a dingy old man and a gay boy does anything. You’d think the author would shy away from pedophilia due to the existing stereotypes that paint homosexual men as pedophiles who want to dick down your 5 year old son. But nooooo.

Jun is desperately trying to fit in with heterosexuals, but it’s only when he meets Miura, a fujoshi who goes to his school, that he realizes he can’t keep trying to conform to societies idea of a “normal” relationship while being interested in men. Honestly that doesn’t sound so bad at first, and I do think Juns insecurities and the issues he’s dealing with *are* realistic and, to an extent, I could relate. But this entire manga is just a mix of realism and fiction. It brings fourth conflict, but then fails to follow up with anything remotely realistic.

Jun was desperate to conform to societies idea of the ideal relationship. He was so hell bent on marrying a woman, having a family and being “normal,” that he begins to date Miura despite being a homosexual. Deep down, Miura is aware that there’s a distance between her and Jun that can never be closed but it is when they try to have sex, but Jun is unable to get hard, that their relationship falls apart more rapidly.

Miura then catches Jun and his middle aged lover frenching and, like a normal person, she throws her phone at Jun. Their relationship falls apart. Jun had taken after his pedophilic lover and deceived Miura. He hurt her. Broke her heart. Any normal person, especially a fujoshi who had, in earlier chapters, attempted to show her support for gays and boasted her knowledge about gay terminology, would have realized that Jun’s circumstances *are* an excuse for his actions.

Second attempt at realism failed. Even after finding out Jun is gay and that their relationship was just a front, she refuses to let go of Jun and continues to pursue him. She confronts him in school (of all the places) however, instead of being accepting and letting go of their relationship, instead of commenting on the fact that the man he was caught sucking faces with was an old ass man, she’s so focused on trying to reassemble her already broken relationship. Neglecting the fact that Jun was being abused by this old man, neglecting the pain he was going through trying to pass as something he’s not, she just didn’t stop pushing.

Of course, Ono, a classmate overheard Miura and Jun’s discussion and Jun finds out he’s been outed to his class by Ono the next day. Jun then attempts suicide due to the comments being made by his classmates, and fails (Why do half of these “realistic” gay stories have to incorporate a gay guy slitting his wrists or trying to off himself?) Jun then comes back to school after recovering, as if he didn’t just attempt to kill himself.

Third attempt at realism failed. Why would you include such a heavy subject if you’re not going to give any realistic follow up? Jun attempts suicide yet we’re not given any signs that he’s receiving help to help better his unstable mental state. You can’t just have a character try to off himself and then let him go back to daily life as if nothing happened. Suicidal people don’t just magically go back to being in a healthy mental state after a failed attempt.

It’s later revealed that their class had a lecture while Jun was in recovery, so while he wasn’t being publicly shunned, he was being silently judged. Miura then gives a speech in front of the entire school and, in detail, she explained their relationship. She turned a speech, that *should* have been about Jun’s hardships as a homosexual trying to live as a straight man, a speech that *should* have been conveying Jun’s struggles to the school, into a speech about her and her fucking broken heart.

Jun was then pushed on stage with Miura where she asks him to kiss her! Even after her speech, where she at least acknowledged the fact that Jun was gay and hurting while pretending to be something he wasn’t, she asks him to kiss her because she still couldn’t let go. And, under the pressure of the crowd, he does it. Biggest fucking facepalm I’ve ever witnessed.

The same students that were, just earlier that day, poking fun at Jun’s sexuality, all seemed to have forgot about their biases and started cheering him on. And, if things couldn’t get any worse, the kid who outed him, who caused him to attempt suicide, offers him a half assed apology... and Jun accepts it.

Fourth attempt at realism failed. As someone who’s been outed before, I find it so bizarre that a manga that attempts to give representation to gay men would treat outing as such a trivial matter. Ono had brought Jun down so low he felt the need to attempt to take his own life, yet Jun forgives a half-assed apology and moves on. Outing is a serious thing and, as this manga show’s us, it could potentially put people in danger. Even though the manga acknowledges this fact, outing is still treated as an unimportant matter.

Well, things couldn’t get *any* worse, right? Right? Wrong. The previously mentioned 20 year old man, who called himself Mr. Fahrenheit, whom Jun confided in, had ended his own life. Before doing so, he sent a message to Jun explaining everything. Mr. Fahrenheit wasn’t actually a 20 year old man, but a 15 year old boy who had contracted HIV from his adult lover. Who was his cousin.

Jun goes to visit the grave of his friend. This situation is not treated at all how it should have been. And, ironically, Miura, who had come along with Jun, makes a comment on the relationship between Mr. Fahrenheit and his cousin about how it was immoral and disgusting for an adult to do something like that. If only she had the same mindset when finding out Jun was being groomed by a man 30 years older than him.

And, and, as if this manga couldn’t be more appalling, Jun says he is in no position to comment on Mr. Fahrenheit’s relationship with an older man because he, himself was dating a man 30 years his senior. He even goes as far as to say he could sympathize with the older man who had preyed on Fahrenheit. According to Jun, because it’s difficult finding love as a gay man, that justifies Fahrenheit’s cousin engaging in a sexual relationship with him and abusing a power dynamic.

Is- is the author trying to *explain* the “gay men are predators” stereotype? Are we just helpless losers who can’t find love unless we’re preying on a child 20 years our junior?

Every instance of pedophilia in this manga is not taken seriously. Jun’s abuser isn’t treated as a predator, rather, he’s seen as a loving partner by both Jun and Miura. Fahrenheit’s cousin isn’t treated as a predator. He’s being sympathized with because apparently gay men can’t find love unless we’re preying on little kids. Attention is never brought to the fact that these relationships are abusive and instances of grooming, these older men are seen as loving lovers by the characters.

This manga tries to tackle so many themes yet fails to do so realistically. Every time it introduces a new topic, you’re let down over and over. Pedophilia? excusable. Suicide? Well, suicide survivors don’t seek or need professional help according to this manga. Incest? Ahh, who cares.

Nothing in this manga gives representation to gay men, aside from the internal homophobia Jun faces. The relationships that are severely inappropriate, Jun’s excusing the age gap and implying that gay men are unable to find love easily so that excuses child grooming and pedophilia (feeding into stereotypes), the way such heavy themes are taken so lightly... none of it gives proper representation to gay men.

And, can we just talk about how this manga tries to make it seem like fujos struggle just because they’re fujos? Miuras only struggle was being a literal asshole who didn’t actually give two shits about gay men. The way she acted like an ally who was trying to inform herself, but then coerced Jun into kissing her in front of the entire school despite knowing he’s gay and practically outing him with her speech is inexcusable.

I’d just like to sit down with the author and ask what the fuck they thought they were doing. Did they really think they had something here??

Absolute dog shit manga.