Responses
I think it's even more realistic because the homophobic topic is still open. It shows that things aren't changing itself if the roots are very deep in a person. He lives 7 years together with a man and is still ashamed. That's sad but very realistic. He doesn't work on the problem in himself he works on a way to live with what makes him happy and what he thinks he should be. And because he's able to hold onto both he's most likely nug going to change. Or just very very slowly. I think it show's very well how the ideals you get to know as a child can stay against your life and you're still not able to let them go.
I first read this a couple years ago and just re-read it since my already reads are slowly popping back up and i didn’t remember this one, but my feelings are very much the same. From a realism perspective, this story has AMAZING bones, the idea of a couple being seven years into a relationship, along with their sex life being someone less exciting as it used to be, mixed with junku’s libido and ai’s internalized homophobia makes for a really interesting story, however, I feel like it was really underutilized.
The manga really could have benefitted with a couple more chapters or another vol. where Ai sort of ‘accepts’ himself and junku’s relationship, because although the intimacy issue might have been resolved to an extent, the main issue of their relationship is still prevalent. Ai is so consumed with his own internalized homophobia that it wrecks havoc on his and junku’s relationship. Ai won’t hold Junku’s hand, or kiss him in public, and they don’t have rings, all throngs which we see in the manga junku is explicitly upset about, he feels like a secret, something hidden. Just moving won’t fix those issues, especially since we see in the end that although Ai is willing to almost fight Kazama, he won’t hold Junku’s hand because that could label him as queer, it’s so sad, and would be such a interesting point that their relationship issue could never fully be resolved until Ai accepts himself and his and junku’s relationship, becuase without it junku will always feel like something Ai is ashamed of,
This manga really had the opportunity to explore an issue that ACTUALLY effects queer relationships in a realistic sense, something most yaoi’s don’t do, and I feel like it would have been a super refreshing realistic take on the situation, and I’m disappointed it didn’t go that way because it truly feels like a miss.