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My problem with the BL industry -part 2-

The decrease of media literacy and understanding of intent.

"Who cares? Its all fiction anyways." Is a statement seen a lot when encountering discourse on the ethics of some media. This statement is seen as a fixed all for some people when defending their interests and characters or media that can be considered quite questionable. But is it really true? Is all fiction safe from criticism on their morals or showcasing of sensitive topics? Well in my opinion no, and ill be yapping about how massive this problem is on the BL industry and fanbase.

This is when media literacy comes into play and show how important it is to understand it. A lot of the time when this is needed is to understand the intent of the creator. The intent of the creator seems hard to pin point but we can get a pretty good idea by how they showcase these scenes and situations. In a lot of criticism towards some of the top BLs in the recent years is that it romanticizes abuse and toxic relationships. Of course the issue we most have is not that these stories showcase these real issues, its that there is no real consequence on the abuse, the stories are written with a "happy ending". The abuser gets the victim in the end most of the time after a "redemption arc", so what does the intent tell the reader? When you see these types of relationships you root for the redemption arc of the person at fault? Victims should just get used to it because their toxic partner is attractive? It might seem like a stretch and dramatic when I say it like this but I invite people to always question what intent is being portrayed in the story.

Of course just because something bad is shown, it doesn't mean it is supporting it. That's why media literacy is very important when consuming any type of media, its about understanding what message is being portrayed under that intent. Whether it was the creator's intention or not, it is important to bring up these criticisms specially when its media consumed by so many types of people. Another example I wanna share is not only the intent in the writing but also in the art of the work. I'm gonna use Painter of the Night and Killing Stalking as examples, both show situations of kidnapping, of course one leans more towards horror than the other but that just earns it even more criticism. Both somehow showcase something in similar way, the intimate scenes, long and detailed intimate scenes. Multiple angles, frames and poses, reminiscent of media that is made to be enjoyed. Its not only the fact that these scenes were drawn but how, what was the intent on showcasing these characters in difficult situations but still drawn the exact same way as the media created to be enjoyed. Of course both of these stories had different endings but I think the intent interpreted by how they were drawn can be reflected on the type of fandom that has been attracted.

There are more examples that you see once you start to question the intent that is being shown in these stories. People interpret these differently and shape it to their liking, that's why I think there is quite a big problem with media literacy lately. Again, I myself have been a BL consumer for many years and this is all my personal opinion so take what I say with a grain of salt.

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LGBTQ+ Manga recs from my own collection

The Bride was a Boy

Autobiographical manga about the life of a Japanese transgender woman, her transition and how she became a bride.

10 Dance

A Latin dancer and a standard ballroom dancer train to learn each other’s specialties for the big competition “10-dance”. Things get complicated as their relationship starts becoming something else.

Boys run the riot

Short story of how a transman teen uses his love for art and fashion to show his identity.

I think our son is gay

A beautiful story from the pov of a young mother who supports and cares for her son that she thinks might be gay.

Last gender

All types of queer people gather at a certain bar. We follow the stories of some of these characters and how do they deal with their identities.

Until I meet my husband

Manga adaptation of an autobiographical essay done by a gay activist in Japan. Here we follow how he traveled his sexuality and relationships in his life.

HAPPY PRIDE!!

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Apothecary diaries is a hidden gem!

A short and quick summary plus me being obsessed with it.

The story involves Maomao an apothecary raised in the red light district, she then gets kidnapped and made to work as a maid in the imperial court. Her intelligence and talent are later recognized and she starts being asked to solve various strange things happening in that side of the castle. There are many secrets and conspiracies going around involving people or varios position and powers. This is based on historical Chinese period may I add which is very important to remember since it ask a lot of context.

Ok I know it was very superficial but I want people to give it a chance. This story is something I dint thought I’ll love so much but it truly is an amazing story. At first the anime was marketed kind of like a Shoujo? At least from the previews I saw before which couldn’t be farther from the truth. Contrary to the artstyle and colors, this is not a rose colored shoujo! This story covers real issues involving sex work, social classes, how woman are treated in history overall. Jinshi, the male lead, is someone who supports the main character well and is not there only for the tension. This is a drama mystery that can seem pretty simple at the start but it unfolds beautifully into more lore that just grabs at you and you can’t look away.

Now I may be biased because I love and consume other historical Chinese media like MXTX novels but I would say that I had absolutely no expectations for this series when I started it. In fact I only did start it because of a friend convincing me to watch it with them and I couldn’t be more glad we did. If you are someone who is into Josei or pretty realistic mysteries I think you would enjoy this story.

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Sorry for the sudden disappearance all of my free time has been going to bg3 since it came out and I’ve been with my love Astarion 😌

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My problem with the BL industry -part 1-

Where do we draw the line?

I want to start this by saying I myself have been a BL fan for many years, I just want to share my thoughts on the issues cultivated by this industry in the eyes of a queer man. I want to focus on the sexualization of “toxic” more so abusive relationships that are portrayed. Because the manwha Jinx is one of the most popular BLs at the moment and it fits as an example of my point, I’ll be speaking a little bit about it.

What was the purpose of the BL genre? Well for women it was a media that served as escapism since most mature media was very much male oriented. Women could not feel connected to the characters portrayed only to please men’s disturbing fantasies. Between the impossible body standards and the clear lack of regard for the woman autonomy it isn’t a surprise that women felt quite disconnected from 18+ media. That’s when an adult genre came to fruition, 18+ media for women by women but no woman was portrayed in these stories in fact the main focus was relationships between 2 men. The disconnect from societal pressures helped woman enjoy 18+ content without feeling guilt or disgust. But how a genre created to disconnect toxic attributes in media became just that but for another demographic? Now the people on the other end of this discomfort are queer people, not only gay men. Romanticizing dangerous power dynamics, dubious consent, sexualizing toxic stereotypes,infantilization ect. The list goes on of all real life issues that the queer community deal with but are nothing but entertainment within this genre.

Not all BLs are bad! Im very aware since again I am quite the fan of some but this is more me criticizing the industry per se. The problem is that toxicity sells, what companies want is to sell and that opens the doors for people to make more toxicity for whatever their reasons. All that moves us to where we are today were we have one the most popular current themes being Stockholm syndrome and how it is hot. I’ve been seeing myself how I have been dropping more series than I have finished, I kept getting hit with more and more of this toxic clichés. It was like I was playing bingo and hoping I didn’t win, I would get so excited for stories that did the bare minimum and yet those were hard to find which has made my current experience quite exhausting. Of course I’m no longer the teen who would let anything pass because “hot characters” and even more hot scenes but now as an adult that just doesn’t cut it anymore. Showing toxic situations in media on its own is not the problem but it is the context in which they are shown, these are not cautionary tales but “love stories” the intent is for you to root for those characters. Not only is the relationships an issue but the way they portray queer people overall, the disrespect for bisexual people, trans people and lesbians in some of these stories is quite appalling since these are suppose to be queer stories. I think this says a lot about the industry and some of the artists involved, before it could maybe be used as an excuse the lack of knowledge but to me that no longer holds in the age of the internet.

Now I’ll like to mention one of the stories I’ve personally been a little tired of seeing, Jinx. I was quite interested in the manwha when it was announced, as I’ve mentioned before I’m all about the visuals and seeing the improvement of the artist was endearing. I’m aware the BL is still ongoing but I have read BJ Alex which can add a little context on how the artist manages their stories. This is not a personal diss on the artist or those who are reading the story, I just think with all these kinds of popular stories we gotta ask ourselves, Where do we draw the line? Jinx is your typical story of the protagonist being someone that went thru trauma and has to spent their whole life trying to pay some insane debt, then comes the romantic interest being a famous rich person with an unchecked personality disorder that takes advantage of the power dynamic and uses the protagonist to his convenience. It is quite an overdone premise and in this story we see it as a black listed physical therapist and a famous athlete, the protagonist Dan appears to act like an Angel while Jaekyung keeps bullying him and using him for other acts. The story so far has been quite literally only this, and you see in the comments people hoping for a redemption arc for Jaekyung, at some point in this story readers have to realize that a good ending would be Dan leaving this situation but unfortunately I don’t have much hope for that. Jinx is not the only story doing this but it is one of the most popular at the moment, we also have stories like Painter Of The Night which is literally the love story between a kidnapper and his victim.

BL is a genre that can be enjoyed by anyone yet it seems like lately it can become queer stories but not for queer people but more so toxic fantasies put onto another group of people that also have to fight for their own respect. It’s perfectly fine to enjoy good ol 18+ media that is morally grey or maybe somewhat toxic but when an industry gains so much money on portraying real issues as unserious fantasies so continuously, I think it’s time we ask ourselves as the readers; When is it too much? When does it get disrespectful to the people it’s portraying? Where do we draw the line?

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My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought review

As we are getting closer to the spooky season which is my favorite. I’m feeling like sharing some good horror and psychological horror media.

My Dearest self with malice aforethought is a psychological horror mystery manga that centers mental illnesses such as DID (dissociate identity disorder). I would like to give a huge TW since this story covers sensitive content like abuse, gore, violent scenes, and themes on mental health some might find triggering.

Protagonist Eiji Urashima is a college student trying to live his life as ordinary as possible while he carries the weight of his family’s reputation of being evil. Eiji’s known as the son of a serial killer and that image had him deal with all sorts of difficulties. Even so he was able to hide it and live as a normal college student, drinking with friends and trying to get a girlfriend. Things seem to be normal until Eiji’s starts noticing that days have passed since he was conscious but by his friends statements he’s been going to class and living normally. Not only that but Eiji somehow in that time got a girlfriend who said he did things he never had a memory of. This story covers how Eiji tries to solve this mystery and by trying aspects of his life start to spiral.

I purposely tried to give as little detail as possible since this story’s plot is mainly carried by its surprise element. I wasn’t sure what to expect of this story at first and honestly I wasn’t that exited to read it. The summary I had read was a plot I had seen before and one that many creators can’t seem to work well but once the story was gaining momentum, I couldn’t stop reading. The mystery and the anxiety of not knowing if what we saw or read was true, how the artstyle helped carry that suspense.

It was quite interesting how mental illness was portrayed in this manga, truthfully I tend to be skeptical because of how bad mental illness are portrayed in manga/ other media. Of course I wouldn’t say that it’s perfect but if you are someone tired of crime mysteries that misuse mental illness you might like this read. The plot twists were really enjoyable and the storytelling was thrilling. The explanation at the end really ties it all together so the ending was satisfactory.

All together I give this manga a 8.5/10 and it has my recommendation stamp.👍🏽

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life and death companions ⚠️ wip

hello orv fans

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Blue Flag

A beautiful story ruined by publishers?

Blue Flag is a manga series that started publishing in 2017 and ended in 2020. It is marketed as a shounen manga and it was published by shounen jump.(this info places part on my point) The story follows the lives of 4 high school students who go thru the motions on their identity and who they will be as adults. This story includes themes on queerness, misogyny, expectations to succeed, burnout etc. Pretty much a coming of age story, as you can tell this series is more related to the Josei genre but it is in fact marketed as a shounen meaning the publishers thought the main readers were gonna be boys. Have in mind I don’t think this story is perfect and I won’t take full fault off the mangaka, this more so an example on why I don’t like the manga marketing business. SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE ENDING!!

One of the main plots of this story is how 2 of the 4 main characters know that they are queer and how they try to manage their crushes on their friends, not only that but how to survive in the type of society that we live in. The story beautifully demonstrate what is like to be a queer teen and as a reader you end up rooting for both ships. After all the ups and downs, all the crying from reading, all the details on the psychological effects on pressure, all the fleshed out characters, we suddenly get to the end.

As a reader you are suddenly confused, the ending chapter is completely on first person view and it barely has any details or info which is quite the opposite on how the story had been running. The ending is a very poorly done time skip on the teens being now adults and we are now seeing one of the girls is getting married. Not only do we find out the one girl who never cared about men ended up marrying a man who looks exactly like her crush who is the wife in the wedding they are attending. The story goes too fast and we only end up with an insinuation of the main character ending up with his male best friend. Truly bittersweet and disappointing end to the readers, it almost felt like disrespectful with how the story was portrayed before.

Now a lot of viewers were upset, I’ll say me included. Why the sudden change and ending? Well like I mentioned before, this manga is published by Shounen jump, a company very well known for only taking on series that follow the company’s formula. This makes it quite confusing on why they took this series, there are in fact mentions on how the mangaka had to fight the editors a lot because they wanted to change too much and cut a lot. This obviously makes sense because of how manga publishing companies work and are marketed. (I’ll make a later post that goes more into this topic) Even though this manga is on Shounen Jump+ it having such openness on queerness is a problem for the company. Now it is believed that the mangaka was forced to change the ending because it was “too much”, I believe that myself since it would not be surprising. Again I won’t take fault off the mangaka but at the same time, I believed she also tried her best to pass the line and show a true beautiful queer story that also went thru very real problems teens go thru.

Unfortunately the ending din’t lived up to the rest of the story but I still believe this is a worth read. Blue flag is not the only manga that has had this problem with publishing companies, that is why a lot of mangas also end up getting canceled. I would’ve loved to have read a beautiful ending of this story but thanks to bigotry and capitalism, this is just the result we get..

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5 Josei Recommendations

1. shouwa genroku rakugo shinjuu

Anime: Season 1 (13 eps) Season 2 (12 eps)

Manga: Completed 10 vols, 31 chap

2.Helter Skelter

Manga: Completed 1 vol, 9 chap

(TW: covers self harm, addiction, 18+ scenes)

3. Kids on the slope

Anime: 1 season (12 eps)

Manga: Completed 9 vols (45 chap)

4. Paradise Kiss

Anime: 1 season (12 eps)

Manga: Completed 5 vols (48 chaps)

5. princess jellyfish

Anime: 1 season (11 eps)

Manga: Completed 17 vols (93 chap)

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Why I think Josei is one of the best genres

Josei is one of my personal favorite genres in both manga and anime, unfortunately, it's quite unpopular for marketers in the industry. What does Josei mean? well, that depends on who you ask since it's a broad genre, mostly known as the "romance" genre for older girls. Just like there is Seinen and Shonen there is Josei and Shojo. But Josei is much more than that, many series in this genre barely have any romance. When I'm asked what Josei is I always describe it as the genre that shows the bittersweetness of life. Many of these stories tend to portray more realistic personalities and stories and that's why many don't end on a good or bad note but a bittersweet one. Don't be fooled by comments saying this genre is too "girly" just because not all stories are pure action. If you would like to experience a good story that will leave you just sitting there analyzing the story when you're done then I completely recommend you look into this genre.

After this ill post my Top Josei series for those who are interested.

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The Beauty of Innocent and it’s Queer undertones

This isn’t the first time I talk about this manga and it won’t be the last, I would be lying if I said my opinion isn’t biased since this is one of my personal favorites. I want to focus on the use of queer coding on the story and how doing so adds layers to said story. Innocent is not a queer story have that in mind, it is a tragic story involving a time period and history we are familiar with.

The main character of this story is Charles Sanson, next in line to be the head of the family and the executioner of Paris. Charles is always shown as a man who only knew how to live by his family rules, in every aspect of his life Charles never knew what he really was without the weight of his position. Does this include his sexuality? In my opinion yes, Charles is seen various times in the story fawning and falling for other boys but it always ended up the same, he was “cursed” so nobody wanted to be involved with a cursed boy and family. Because of this misfortune Charles truly believed he’ll never be loved and just ended up marrying a woman who joined into the Sanson curse. This story has many layers so it’s hard to mention all details but I think this aspect of his repressed sexuality makes his end more impactful since it was yet another layer to his fake identity.

Marie Sanson is Charles’ little sister, someone who wanted to be an executioner which was a job only for “men”. Marie dint care tho, she was always someone who lived by her own rules. She ends up dressing as a man and fighting for her right to be an executioner and not only that but bear her family name as one. Even after she gets her goal, Marie keeps dressing the same, she dint care if she was confused as a man sometimes, Marie is Marie. This is the main focus of the second part of Innocent: Innocent Rouge. Marie was never interested in men, the only reason she got married was because it was the only way to keep working and living how she wanted so she picked her own husband, her cousin who couldn’t move from his own bed. It is pointed at times how women fond over her and how she doesn’t mind at all. Of course Marie’s first love Alain is a man but one does not need to be one extreme or the other, Marie is just Marie.

There are some queer scenes involving the nobles which I found interesting since homosexuality involving non nobles was “dirty” but when the nobles did, it was fun 🤷🏽‍♂️

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Hello! Just wanted to say that I made this blog to share my thoughts on media I like. It would mostly be anime/manga but I will also talk about other things. Please have in mind this is all just for fun and my personal opinion so don’t take what I say too seriously, my first language is not English sorry for the misspelling. I will be happy if there are people that find my rambling somewhat interesting