So glad you enjoyed it! Man, isn’t Ichinoe-San just… as the kids say “a mood”? I found myself often geling with her headspace as well. You’ve also nailed pretty much everything I love so much about this manga, especially the compare and contrast between the protagonists!
There is a genuine feeling of subtlety I’ve found to manga like this (extending also into most Queer and LGBTQ manga as well) that is just super refreshing and engaging. It feels very personal, very nuanced, part of it I think comes down to Japanese cultural experiences and the general high focus on the comfort of others, the whole or “the nail gets pounded down” or however that one saying goes.
Perhaps why it jives so well is because for many of us we still remember a time when this was the case in the states. It still very much is so in some places and social change is slow, but the relative freedoms we have in everything from moving about the world as being visibly queer to being “nerds” or into “niche hobbies” that are becoming more accepted into the main stream, these things are now the reality for younger people and is also the flavor being adopted by newer (western) media of a similar ilk, but we still remember when it wasn’t and how it isn’t 100% yet, so maybe that’s why manga like this just hits different? Don’t mind me getting off topic i rewatched Otaku no Video last night so been thinking a lot about this haha!
Man I loved that throw away line too, incredibly relatable. A sort of genuine affection for one’s ocs and creations that can be hard to see sometimes in professional manga, but is very present in doujin circles or doujin-like professional mangaka who embrace or capitalize on those roots by kinda doing whatever the fuck they want (CLAMP and Kaishaku especially come to mind).
no subject
So glad you enjoyed it! Man, isn’t Ichinoe-San just… as the kids say “a mood”? I found myself often geling with her headspace as well. You’ve also nailed pretty much everything I love so much about this manga, especially the compare and contrast between the protagonists!
There is a genuine feeling of subtlety I’ve found to manga like this (extending also into most Queer and LGBTQ manga as well) that is just super refreshing and engaging. It feels very personal, very nuanced, part of it I think comes down to Japanese cultural experiences and the general high focus on the comfort of others, the whole or “the nail gets pounded down” or however that one saying goes.
Perhaps why it jives so well is because for many of us we still remember a time when this was the case in the states. It still very much is so in some places and social change is slow, but the relative freedoms we have in everything from moving about the world as being visibly queer to being “nerds” or into “niche hobbies” that are becoming more accepted into the main stream, these things are now the reality for younger people and is also the flavor being adopted by newer (western) media of a similar ilk, but we still remember when it wasn’t and how it isn’t 100% yet, so maybe that’s why manga like this just hits different? Don’t mind me getting off topic i rewatched Otaku no Video last night so been thinking a lot about this haha!
Man I loved that throw away line too, incredibly relatable. A sort of genuine affection for one’s ocs and creations that can be hard to see sometimes in professional manga, but is very present in doujin circles or doujin-like professional mangaka who embrace or capitalize on those roots by kinda doing whatever the fuck they want (CLAMP and Kaishaku especially come to mind).