I remember this insane wave of shonen-ai centric plots in shoujo mangas emerging around 2018s. Faded first love was one of them and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It is surprisingly ahead of its time? or maybe the time was just right for it? I love how the author deals with this subject with such grace, thoughtfulness and sensitivity. I don't typically see that in mangas especially the ones centered around a gay relationship. Most of them are so obnoxiously, in-your-face, stereotypical. I read kamisama no ekohiiki (same genre) around the same time as faded first love, and the former was vastly inferior in retrospect.
ekohiiki and other mangas/hwas have shit like 'wow im super into woman but i also like you but im repulsed by men' and the whole time they just go 'how does kissing between two guys work?? we cant go on dates cause that would look weird' like the drama.....that's just a man not a nuclear reactor-- you can kiss him normally lmao. these questions aren't at all harmful! they're absolutely valid if written correctly, for the purpose of exploring sexuality/orientation/romantic feelings. but bl authors make it so perfunctory; it is what it is-- who cares lets have sex. it's so steeped in stereotypes that it becomes indirectly discriminatory.
I appreciate Faded First love a lot more because it never delved into any of that bullshit. It was really just teenagers questioning and navigating their feelings. Sure the story is a little idealistic (glad they called out the homophobe though) but hey the heart was in the right place; i'd love nothing more than for the author to write more extras in the near future because this story feels like a warm embrace
I remember this insane wave of shonen-ai centric plots in shoujo mangas emerging around 2018s. Faded first love was one of them and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It is surprisingly ahead of its time? or maybe the time was just right for it? I love how the author deals with this subject with such grace, thoughtfulness and sensitivity. I don't typically see that in mangas especially the ones centered around a gay relationship. Most of them are so obnoxiously, in-your-face, stereotypical. I read kamisama no ekohiiki (same genre) around the same time as faded first love, and the former was vastly inferior in retrospect.
ekohiiki and other mangas/hwas have shit like 'wow im super into woman but i also like you but im repulsed by men' and the whole time they just go 'how does kissing between two guys work?? we cant go on dates cause that would look weird' like the drama.....that's just a man not a nuclear reactor-- you can kiss him normally lmao. these questions aren't at all harmful! they're absolutely valid if written correctly, for the purpose of exploring sexuality/orientation/romantic feelings. but bl authors make it so perfunctory; it is what it is-- who cares lets have sex. it's so steeped in stereotypes that it becomes indirectly discriminatory.
I appreciate Faded First love a lot more because it never delved into any of that bullshit. It was really just teenagers questioning and navigating their feelings. Sure the story is a little idealistic (glad they called out the homophobe though) but hey the heart was in the right place; i'd love nothing more than for the author to write more extras in the near future because this story feels like a warm embrace