The new arc just ain't good so here is my SPOILER WARNING now.
First off the whole story is about fushi learning what it means to be human and to have human relationships. We can see this in the earlier arcs where he views march as his mother and how he comes to see gugu as his big brother. The next arc was him learning what it means to have friends and so on. The story should lead and continue this storyline to the point where he does find someone he likes and to have kids and deal with loss that way. I thought thats where they were leading the manga with Kahaku but they went for a more convoluted storyline instead with the revival of old characters.
Why I feel this new arc hurts to read is because it essentially ruins the older arcs by bringing back characters from the past. Fashion should be allowed to morn all those who have passed and move forward with his life you know, like a normal person would. Instead they bring back literally every important person in his life all the while adding a whole bunch of new characters. Why have gugu there? What point is there in the story for him to be around? This kid who fushi views as his brother is so not involved with the story he might as well not be there and this can be said for all of them. The sacrifices of these characters are basically voided out by letting them continue to live.
Also whatever the fuck they are doing with that little kid & the knocker as well as man in black is just so weird and out of place.
Anyways thats why I feel it sucks and if I had to guess it probably isn't the creators fault but possible editor influence. They probably wanted the series to be much longer than it is when they were planning to end it sooner than it is going to.
I don't think reviving the characters is 100% bad but the worst part is the newer characters since they don't fit into the theme of the story and are very generic or downright cringe(looking at you Mizuha )
also the introduction of those characters made the revived characters get sidelined
also all the conflicts are cringe especially that pedo brother
even the main character of this arc is cringe aka Mizuha who killed her non abusive mother for shit and giggles (yes people can be upset when they are stressed but under no circumstance should they kill their relatives or friends)
I was thinking the same thing. I liked how it was going, the way march sat by fushi's leg as he spread his roots all over earth and when 'peace' was finally established. The school arc really kinda ruined it for me too.
Its been a over a year since I've read this manga and now I got a lot of comments under the post I made. Some of my opinions have changed while others stand strong so I figured I'd make a new post talking about why I think this manga is bad representation and how it harms the LGBT movement.
First let's talk plot.
One of the things that rubbed me the wrong way that I couldn't articulate in my earlier comment was this "fairytale" characterization of the cast. The antagonist was very one dimensionally manipulative and how in the end she ended up being jealous of their relationship came off more like a "and we all clapped" at the end when our main couple left her crying only to go home and have intercourse. The villain was flat and the protagonist couple felt the same way.
The nonbinary character was easily the worst in the whole manga. They had no character other than getting mad at others for misgendering/mistaking their sexual orientation. The expectation for someone to a automatically know your gender can only lead to upset feelings and set up false expectations for the young audience who will read this. Overall the character was just bland and a cardboard cut out that could be replaced with any other character.
Now let's talk about the dysphoria issue
What I wasn't able to put into words in my review when I first read this was why the dysphoria in the manga didn't work and I need to touch on that. Makoto our main character was born male and was described as wanting to present female. However they didn't feel any sort of discomfort with their male body. The problem is with this type of description the interpretation of their identity could fall a multitude of ways. Makoto could easily be described as a cross dresser, mtf trans, or what was depicted in the manga bigender/gender fluid. Another think to note on going through and re-reading it a couple of times their use of pronouns for the character where either never depicted or used as he/him (even by the nonbinary character). And the idea of how their partner had all the answers on Makoto's gender depicted their emotions as simple and a "duh" moment like it is so obvious what they are when in reality finding your identity can be uncomfortable and complicated. People often go through many different labels before landing on the one that fits them best and to make it seem so simple doesn't show how difficult it can be.
The other issues
No we are not done. Upon rereading the manga i hate how they describe sexuality and say "I love xxx because they are xxx not because of their gender" and how thats how our couple describes their sexuallity throughout the entire manga. Sexuality is not something that can be changed and you are born liking whatever gender(s) no matter your gender identity so the way they describe it is equivalent to the way you see homosexual couples in yaoi as well. The narrative of "oh I'm not gay I just like xxx for xxx" is such a cop out and could've made the narrative for the story so much better.
Also the name of the manga being my girlfriend is a crossdresser doesnt help with representation.
In conclusion
Overall the manga has flat characters, inconsistent identities, and a romanticized view on gender and sexuality. If we want good representation in our media we shouldn't be afraid to call out the bad or mediocre. This manga is by no means the worst, however their is nothing exceptional or narratively interesting about it besides the notion that it talks about gender and sexuality. It was a 4/10 at best. All right ive talked enough
If you guys want better examples and representation imma leave a list.
http://www.mangago.me/read-manga/yuureitou/
http://www.mangago.me/read-manga/umareru_seibetsu_wo_machigaeta/
http://www.mangago.me/read-manga/bokura_no_hentai/
http://www.mangago.me/read-manga/shimanami_tasogare/
http://www.mangago.me/read-manga/hourou_musuko/
http://www.mangago.me/read-manga/is_otoko_demo_onna_demo_nai_sei/
can't sexuality be fluid though? i don't disagree with your other statements, and narratives that say "i'm not gay but..." are troubling, but sexuality is definitely something that can change over time (for some). it's not discovering what your "true" or "real" orientation is, it just can shift more to one side or the other. sexual fluidity does tend to be more common in biological women as well.
i just feel that the whole thing about liking someone because they're that person isn't such a bad thing to say :)
You are right regarding that sexuality can be fluid but thats really only true regarding those who like multiple genders. What makes it an issue is for those who are strictly homosexual and how this narrative can be used to say its a choice. When the LGBT community has been fighting so long about how they can't change how they were born it can actually harm the agenda which is why it bothers me so much. And on the other point I agree with its not wrong to like someone because they're who they are but for the most part this trope is used to condemn homosexuals. "I'm not gay but I like you" really undermines what its like to be LGBT and leans more fetishy to me. What they could've done instead that included a similar message is by stating how the character is either on the bi spectrum or how "out of everyone in the world i chose to be with you" signaling how they either already have that preference or how they came to know about there preference through that person. Again the work feels like I'm looking through rose colored glasses on the characters which when depicting someone who is LGBT and does have to struggle to find out who they are it can be troubling.
hate their hair but the stories solid so here i am lol ╮(￣▽￣)╭
Right Rita would look better if he just had his hair down like before but I mean Marie idk I think the hairstyle suites him since I didn’t see him with any other one
all I can see are those early 2000 emo kids with hair that doubles the size of their head
Lol
I like their hairstyle x) It's make them cute lol
but the hairstyle does make them a lil cute I. It’s on way
NONE OF THE CHARACTERS ARE WHITE. jeez. just like Naruto isn't white even tho he's blonde and blue eyed none of the characters in this comic are white, i mean the main guy has red eyes and one of the other gods has blue hair. none of their choices were done to make a character look white it was purely a design choice to make the characters stand out from one another.
and on the terms of being accurate the artist has done a decent amount of research and making some of the gods look just like how they were depicted, for example Osiris being shown with green skin.
you guys gotta understand that the person who made this comes from a country that doesn't have an issue with white washing like dude its Korea. chances are they didn't even think about what others might assume the gods races are when they chose the skin tones. they prob just wanted the gods to stand out from one another and since most of them have their faces covered one of the best ways to show them as different is the skin color.
so stop all this nonsense jeez youre reading yaoi calm down (づ￣ ³￣)づ
There’s a big difference. Naruto is set in a fictional country with a fictional culture, anything goes. Ennead is set in an existing mythology believed by an existing culture in an existing country. Yes the author can do what they want, but people are also allowed to criticise their choices, their ignorance, and their inaccuracy.
egyptian people had very diverse skin colors.
Okay then what about bleach? Main boy has orange hair. It literally doesnt matter what show you point out I mean look back at ramna 1/2 the chinese girl has purple hair. I get what you mean but there are plenty of examples of this being done elsewhere. And just like the other comment said the diversity in Egypt is amazing even back in the day where this story would have taken place. And egypt considers itself a middle eastern country which middle eastern people have such diverse skin color from dark to the palest of pale. You can 100% disagree with me and the way the comic presents itself but on the other hand I can do the same and defend its artist right of creative freedom.
Except Bleach and Ranma BOTH do not use an existing mythology from an existing culture believed again by an existing group of people? Soul Society is made up, the ponds that change people in Ranma is made up, and Ichigo’s hair is already pointed out as strange in-canon already.
I’m saying that this work wants to use an existing mythology, and by the way that the writing is going, it wants to be taken seriously. In that case, I will also criticize it seriously, and question its accuracy. Egypt is located in BOTH North Africa and in the Middle East, I question why then would a main character be so Caucasian-coded and NOT be of either descent instead (because yes there are fair skinned middle eastern men, but you can STILL tell a grown man from the middle east apart from a grown man from Europe). Why then would the Caucasian-coded man be the protagonist, and why was every single man who raped them in this series a big brown man. Sure an author can exercise their creative freedom, but I will criticize how they used their creative freedom to once again enforces the stereotype that big brown men are always aggressive, and that light-skinned people are in danger from them.
You do remember that our "caucasian" lead murders a bunch of people and assaulted another lead of brown skin color? He keeps the mother of his child locked up? Besides the one interaction, the main person who assaults the main guy has green skin. No one is a good guy in the story, everyone is fucked up.
Also they dont clearly look white, I cant believe you cant this through your head. If anything they look more Asian because this was made by someone asian. And if you wanna debate and this shit more just look up pictures of what tutankhamun would look like today or reference pictures of pale middle eastern because honestly I cant tell the difference between them and white people. It really ain't that different. Fyi the main dude has BLOOD RED HAIR and EYES! no one has that color naturally. He ain't white, it's just a style choice.
If this wasn’t a serious series talking about serious topics I wouldn’t give a fuck. But it is so I’ll point out its inaccuracies as loud as I want. You read him as Asian, I read him as Caucasian, but the point is he’s still inaccurate because either of those characteristics would be extremely rare for the region.
And don’t you think that Middle Eastern and North African people want to see a complicated morally gray protagonist that does bad things but can still be sympathetic because of the suffering they’ve endured in a story? This setting gave the author a chance to make a complicated story for someone that wasn’t light skinned for once, it would be INCREDIBLY easy too — they had enough sense to make other characters poc. But instead they specifically chose to make their morally-grey, complicated main character as a light-skinned dude, who gets raped by the big poc dudes to garner the fandom’s sympathy.
In so tired of this back in forth this shit is so stupid. Go argue with someone else about the skin color of a FICTIONAL CHARACTER who is a GOD of a dead religion. Also just because it's rare doesnt mean it isn't true. Look it up white people and asian folk have been in Egypt for a very long time. And if you're this upset about a book you need to reevaluate some things ok? It really ain't this serious no ones looking for representation in yaoi
A lot of yaoi don't take itself seriously, and usually that's the norm! But clearly this isn't one of those kinds of yaoi -- this one wants to be gritty, real, and raw, and has a very serious plot with complicated characters. So I will give it the respect it deserves as a written work, in that I give it kudos for writing things outside of most people's comfort zones and making interesting characters that I want to learn more about, but I will also criticize it accordingly because it wants to be taken seriously.
Seth is also the god of "FOREIGNERS", people... Look him up and you'll see it makes sense for him to look foreign!
ive always wondered which way a court case would sway with an underage person raping an adult. cause by law at least in the US a minor cant consent so it automatically is rape against the minor. i guess it goes case by case but its still a wild thing to think about
i think you’re forgetting that every country has a different age for consent. japan has one of the lowest consent ages being 13 but apparently 18 is the maximum. it really depends but in this case i think the student isn’t considered a minor
while that's true that the age of consent is different depending on which country I was mostly referring to if it happened in the US.
Dude I’m in shock!!! This explains soooo much!!! Now I know why there is so much kiddie stuff.. woooow is from NZ legal age is 16 here lmao but woooooooooow 13!? Really???
Oof *im from NZ. Not * wooow is from NZ lmao
the age of consent is 18 in japan. The federal law says 13, but all prefectures independently set their own age of consent as 18.
no no no. Adults cannot have sex with 13 year olds in japan. The federal gov set the age as 13, but all prefectures chose it to be 16-18. The same age of consent for countries such as England, NZ, and the U.S. Japan also doesn’t have any Romeo and Juliet laws.
So over all the legal age is 13 but each part of japan has set their own laws for legal age? Sorry I’m from a small country so one law fits all kinda thing I feel stupid asf rn lmao
no you’re not stupid, these laws would be very confusing if you’re used to only having federal law. Having different laws only makes sense to me bc i live in the US. We have different ages of consent here too. Japan uses very ambiguous words in their laws though. Sometimes teens can be arrested for being together, sometimes they can’t. I don’t get it, but i just know it’s illegal to have sex with someone below the age of 18 if you’re over 20.
Fuck that sounds like a headache i can’t imagine living one way then moving to another town and being arrested for something we’ve always done lmfao (I say town because we don’t have states/provinces) I can barely remember most of our laws nm having to remember what state allows what shit is crazy
haha yeah i guess so ╮(￣▽￣)╭. some laws even differ from county to county, but judges and police are usually more lenient to ppl that aren’t familiar with the law. Especially in small towns and stuff
sure I liked it at first and I found plenty of enjoyable characters to love but by the time I got to the end of the manga, everything was just a mess. the author lost track of where they wanted the story to go and you can tell when reading it and at what part. I'd say you could probably quit reading this halfway through and the story would be 10x greater. I honestly wanna know if anyone else agrees with me I feel like I'm the only one. also beneath this is my spoiler review so if you haven't read it all yet don't read below.
Spoilers!!!!
Seriously though after the main character got together with the main girl the story took a dumpster dive straight into the trash. after that point, it felt like the manga got popular so the author was forced to keep the story going but after the witches were gone he had to think of a way to make the story interesting only to end up writing them in again after like 5 chapters. also can we please not forget everyone kept getting amnesia so we had to repeat the painful reintroduction of our main character to the supernatural club again? like why repeat that storyline more than once? the only difference in those arcs was the new character we were getting introduced to but a huge portion of them never had their character arcs resolved. and they kept introducing more witches only to have the ceremony again and have them not be witches anymore and have different powers.
But the worst thing about this manga was hands down how they handled the romance. why keep introducing more girls that are in love with the main character if it's not going to have any relevance to the plot? it's not like this manga was a harem. and let's not forget the fact that the main dude we are supposed to be rooting for contemplates cheating on his girlfriend and its seen as a funny cute drag? like everyone is cool with our dude liking another chick while he's dating someone else but nah its chill he can do no wrong. but once that part of the story is over when the mc isn't sure which girl he likes more the story kinda just moves past that and sweeps it under the rug? then it tries introducing us to another mystery girlfriend and i literally rolled my eyes. the plot just keeps going around in circles losing plot lines and characters over the course of the manga but its cool cause they got married in the end yay! like ya, cute scene but I didn't feel the emotional impact because of how much of a mess the story got by the end.
but hey that's just my opinion and you can feel however you want about the story I just wanted to rant about it for a sec. (づ￣ ³￣)づ lemme know what you guys think im really curious now.
Did you skip any chapters, cause I am confused right now on the "but once that part of the story is over when the mc isn't sure which girl he likes more the story kinda just moves past that and sweeps it under the rug? then it tries introducing us to another mystery girlfriend and i literally rolled my eyes. "?
O believe I was referring to the part where the main guy is talking to his classmate with the big glasses and she refers to his old girlfriend which ended up being the main female character. It was after he was already thinking that the other girl and him might've dated before he had amnesia.
how and why
That's japan for you XD. Not like this is the first times they do something of this kind.
watch it turn out that the rose man is our home boy
Like if we all take a minute and step back there is just a lot of issues going on with the characters and there relationships that don't really reflect what the author is going for and I just need to rant for a second.
First let's talk about the main two dudes. They have no chemistry let alone any resemblance of a relationship. Up until this wedding they despised each other with the love interest being downright cruel to our main character. Then all of a sudden he gives him a ride holds his hand and flirts a little and im supposed to act like they are good now? The only explanation for his behavior we got was this self hatred bullshit that never ended up getting fully explained to the mc where he apologized before trying to get romantic with him. Like if someone who was mean to you your whole life suddenly flirts with you would that not be a huge turn off? And now after the latest chapter we see them kissing and wrapping their arms around each other all couple like and then suddenly the mc comes out and says this dude is confused??? THE WHOLE RELATIONSHIP IS CONFUSING! jeez and now we are probably gonna get the whole "but your not gay" plotline which doesn't work with the information given to the mc about the love interest being mean because he was represented. A big yikes from me dog.
And the girl where do I begin. First off she is seen as a sisterly character who falls on the more mature side as she's moving forward with her life and getting married however she is super immature and not a great friend in general. She let's her brother continually treat her friend like shit and expects them to suddenly get along cause she's getting married? Then one of her childhood friends ridicules the mc and almost kills him but its cool everything is fine cause he has his reasons and will suffer no consequences for his actions. And then there's the whole pregnancy scare where she tells everyone she's pregnant before even taking a pregnancy test???? And not just her best friend but her whole family??? And then we are supposed to believe this girl is responsible for raising a kid? She feels more like the authors self insert so that they can interact with the main couple and have an influence in their relationship.
Just overall the story is lacking and not very good but if you like it go off I guess.
hmmm facts no cap
It might not be great. But it makes you laugh depending on your sense of humor. It is mostly a dramatic story with a bad & good relationship.
By the way I am amaze as to your review. You took your time to write it and it is really well written. I appreciate the review.
Spill the truth, bruh. Every one of these characters are idiots, even Stefan is getting a little bit of that dumb character vibes. But? I love the people standing up for Char after she let her shit brother near her best friend and her Kuwabara-looking cousin to treat him like shit too. This comic is painfully bad.
Thank you, I don't get what's so great about Char. Yeah, she SAYS nice things, but it's all talk and no action. She relies on him and takes from him but doesn't seem to give much back. Friendship is give and take. I end up with this weird feeling that she's just taking advantage of him
agree 100% but i always keep reading these stories because i actually get invested
i completely agree, i’ve read the novel and some of the same issues remain but it covers the explanations and character development problems you pointed out much better than this adaptation. Since i read the novel right after reading the first few chapters, i just ignored some of the changes and holes that weren’t in the novel because I already know what happens and why, so it was easy to gloss over the things you covered. i still enjoy the comic a lot but yeah
yeah, well it's okay for fictional story, the thing that dont make sense is.. well, fictional. but if it's a real life event, it would be toxic especially for stefan skskskksks