I'm very used to writing walls of text that then nobody reads/replies to and honestly at this point I barely bother to post, because it feels like a waste of time, so I forgot to thank you in my previous post for proving to me yet again, that it indeed is just a waste of time. I hope you'll appreciate experiencing for yourself how it feels.
Talking only for the record I'd like to state I've read all of Eromancer's posts as well as yours and everyone else's, and I found the debate very interesting. I only wish civility would be a greater concern for all involved.
Agreed, very interesting conversations going on here, but then it turned to insults and low blows and it became less about the manga and more about being mean.
I am glad that a ten-year-old manga is getting such interesting discussions, though, and that people are still into the series.
I do want to speak to some of the certain points Eromancer is bringing up with a few quotes:
Nowadays, being "queer" is actually seen as kind of cool in American culture, especially among younger people. Despite what manga tells you, that is not generally true in Japan.
But the biggest reason I say it's unrealistic is that only a certain percentage of the population is gay (which is a more restrictive group than "doesn't quite fit into heteronormativity"). That percentage is growing, but it's almost entirely due to more people identifying as bisexual. So anyone who does care about realism (not saying anyone should) shouldn't be triggered by the idea of some characters being bisexual (I'm not directing this at you - someone else here seems to have a problem with it).
In this manga, I can count how many male characters there are on one hand. This happens a lot in yuri manga, where guys don't exist. This obviously isn't realistic. People can make unrealistic things and have an idealistic view of the world.
Also, I want a source for the increase in percentage for more people identifying as bisexual.
And, while manga should not and should never be taken as gospel for what happens in Japan, I think most people know that Queer people aren't accepted there. It sounds very condescending with how you worded it.
They don't shy away from intimate affection in the way men do - they can say "I love you" without having to suffix it with something like ", man ..." in order to make it clear that it's platonic. Granted, there is some scientific evidence that female sexuality is a bit more fluid (the old "college lesbian" trope) than for males, so a sexual thing here could still be somewhat plausible.
This depends largely on the people.
With my female friendships, I'm not a very touchy feely person. With someone I'm interested in, I am.
I would never say, "I love you," to one of my friends in the way Eli and Honoka do, though I do say, "I love you," to my immediate family members.
I don't like touching my female friends.
Women aren't a hive mind.
Well if she's asexual, then she's definitely not sexually attracted to her - although I imagine that by "asexual" you perhaps mean something more like demi-sexual in that she can only fall in love or experience sexual/romantic attraction with someone after getting to know them. And the problem with that is that Honoka clearly demonstrates arousal at the idea of sex between males.
This does not matter. People can be bisexual, which I think you mentioned. (I am not running on very many hours of sleep here. Please excuse the formatting if I messed up the quotes).
This seems to be a sticking point for many, that Honoka writes and is sexually attracted to male on male romance.
Sexuality is fluid.
Also, asexual people can fall in love and get into relationships with other people. Asexuality is on a spectrum.
That, and demisexuality. People can be bisexual and demisexual. So, Honoka could not have liked Eli that way when she was wearing a skimpy outfit and was still bisexual or a lesbian.
That, and lesbians can be interested and drool at BL relationships too. My friend is a lesbian and she loves reading BL manga and never reads yuri manga. She has a girlfriend.
Plus, it's also nice seeing gay people in real life. Representation. I mean, I would be excited seeing other gay people in real life. I think Honoka is the same way.
Personally, though, I think both Eli and Honoka are bisexual.
Also, dude, if someone is having a conversation with you on the Internet -I mean it's the Internet, so it's whatever- you should read all of it before quoting stuff.
last edited at Jul 13, 2022 1:46PM
