Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Something Blue

 I just started a manga called Blue Flag, and I havent finished, I'm only on chapter 44 out of 53, but even still this one has to be one of the best informative manga I have read, and its main focus is on LGBT feelings and gender equality. Like the characters have serious philosophical conversations about these matters. The main character (ichinose) is probably straight, possibly bi, that remains to be seen, but his best friend (toma) is gay and it is evident from early on that Toma is smitten with him. Now Toma is the sort of guy (good looking, good at sports, kind, well built) that girls just seem to naturally fall for and well this tendency has put somewhat of a wedge between them thanks to the fact that ichinose is none of those things. But ichinose is totally oblivious to his friend's feelings because he has misunderstood Toma to be in love with a girl (his sister in law to be precise) and because ichinose is too busy crushing on the latest girl (kuse) to fall under his friend's spell. What I like about this manga. It uses its platform to preach love and acceptance in the form of debates the characters have. I like dialog heavy and philosophical shows a lot already and seeing one tackle this subject is... well it's already something close to my heart so it makes me happy. I also like the character design, unique characters that don't feel stereotypical, since that is so important with proper representation. It also shows both sides of the argument,  which can help sometimes when minds are closed by things like trauma or ignorance,  but not so much when they are closed by deep seated and learned prejudices. 

If there were anything I could find fault with it might be that despite tackling issues like gender inequality,  gender stereotypes,  and gender norms, it doesn't really talk about transgender individuals in a coherent or meaningful way. Well, not yet but I'm almost through the whole thing 53 chapters seems to be all that's available. 

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