Just while I’m still angry about this, I’ll go out on a limb and list a few of the toxic tropes that this manga has, in hopes of scaring away future readers.
1. Extensive use of homophobic (and generally discriminatory) slurs to signify the bottom being detached from the “gay world” before being “turned gay” by the top.
2. An unwilling bottom is forcefully taken by the top, in an attempt to show that “anyone can be gay if it’s for the right person”
3. Jokes are often made about the bottom’s “fear” of homosexuality, pertaining to jokes about rape and molestation, thus perpetuating the idea that LGBTQ+ people are depraved sexual harassers.
4. A distinctive line is defined between the “straight world” and the “gay world”, implying that being gay is the same as being part of some obscure society full of freaks.
5. A scene where an unsuspecting bottom walks around a “gay area of town” where he is harassed by wandering gay men, implying, again, that all gay men are depraved people that live in a “secluded area of town full of other gay men”
6. Romanticising the idea of being mentally and emotionally abused by your lover, with the top being shown blushing whenever he makes the bottom cry.
7. Encouraging acts of unhealthy possessiveness, where the toxic manipulation and objectification of the bottom is seen as “manly” and“dominant”
8. Endorsing rape culture(!!) by showing the all-too-familiar trope of “no means yes” and that all “straight bottoms” are just tsunderes that don’t want to “give in” to their respective tops.
9. Introducing comic-relief characters and scenes to nullify the fact that NEARLY EVERY SENTENCE being said by the characters are either homophobic, endorsing abusive relationships, or completely void of substance in order to keep the story grounded in the topic of “oh no my boss is gay! And I (a homophobic character) am being forced to date him!”
10. Justifying the top being possessive and derogatory to the bottom for the sake of “love” while gaslighting, manipulating, abusing, harassing, and threatening the bottom.
11. Oh and let’s not forget the fact that it’s a “boss and subordinate” story where a power dynamic is immediately introduced in the first chapter.
13. FINALLY. The fact that this whole list goes into detail about “tops” and “bottoms” is already a HUGE RED FLAG, because relationships in general, regardless of sexual orientation, SHOULD NOT be defined by who plays which role in a sexual encounter. Characters SHOULD NOT ben modelled after arbitrary, degrading, and stereotypical roles of “tops” and “bottoms” which are also deeply rooted in sexist/misogynistic standards.
That was my rant. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. I know I will probably get downvoted to infinity, but I really felt that these concepts should be addressed. Of course, there’s A LOT more stuff that I didn’t get into, but trust me there’s a bunch of reasons as to why we should try to stop stories like this one from being made. They are toxic and unfortunately very popular. It is time that we start to encourage stories depicting more realistic (or at least healthy) relationships rather than continuously endorsing authors like Nekota Yonezou with their gross depictions of fetishised homosexual relationships.
Just while I’m still angry about this, I’ll go out on a limb and list a few of the toxic tropes that this manga has, in hopes of scaring away future readers.
1. Extensive use of homophobic (and generally discriminatory) slurs to signify the bottom being detached from the “gay world” before being “turned gay” by the top.
2. An unwilling bottom is forcefully taken by the top, in an attempt to show that “anyone can be gay if it’s for the right person”
3. Jokes are often made about the bottom’s “fear” of homosexuality, pertaining to jokes about rape and molestation, thus perpetuating the idea that LGBTQ+ people are depraved sexual harassers.
4. A distinctive line is defined between the “straight world” and the “gay world”, implying that being gay is the same as being part of some obscure society full of freaks.
5. A scene where an unsuspecting bottom walks around a “gay area of town” where he is harassed by wandering gay men, implying, again, that all gay men are depraved people that live in a “secluded area of town full of other gay men”
6. Romanticising the idea of being mentally and emotionally abused by your lover, with the top being shown blushing whenever he makes the bottom cry.
7. Encouraging acts of unhealthy possessiveness, where the toxic manipulation and objectification of the bottom is seen as “manly” and“dominant”
8. Endorsing rape culture(!!) by showing the all-too-familiar trope of “no means yes” and that all “straight bottoms” are just tsunderes that don’t want to “give in” to their respective tops.
9. Introducing comic-relief characters and scenes to nullify the fact that NEARLY EVERY SENTENCE being said by the characters are either homophobic, endorsing abusive relationships, or completely void of substance in order to keep the story grounded in the topic of “oh no my boss is gay! And I (a homophobic character) am being forced to date him!”
10. Justifying the top being possessive and derogatory to the bottom for the sake of “love” while gaslighting, manipulating, abusing, harassing, and threatening the bottom.
11. Oh and let’s not forget the fact that it’s a “boss and subordinate” story where a power dynamic is immediately introduced in the first chapter.
13. FINALLY. The fact that this whole list goes into detail about “tops” and “bottoms” is already a HUGE RED FLAG, because relationships in general, regardless of sexual orientation, SHOULD NOT be defined by who plays which role in a sexual encounter. Characters SHOULD NOT ben modelled after arbitrary, degrading, and stereotypical roles of “tops” and “bottoms” which are also deeply rooted in sexist/misogynistic standards.
That was my rant. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. I know I will probably get downvoted to infinity, but I really felt that these concepts should be addressed. Of course, there’s A LOT more stuff that I didn’t get into, but trust me there’s a bunch of reasons as to why we should try to stop stories like this one from being made. They are toxic and unfortunately very popular. It is time that we start to encourage stories depicting more realistic (or at least healthy) relationships rather than continuously endorsing authors like Nekota Yonezou with their gross depictions of fetishised homosexual relationships.