Manga Thoughts: Go For It, Nakamura!
Aug. 18th, 2018 04:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
krpalmerI read a lot of the "girls' love" manga released over here, but it just might be that each volume read is another nudge towards facing how I've sidestepped what might seem a related category in "boys' love." "The heterosexual male who takes a voyeur's interest in representations of lesbianism (however exploitatively distant from realism) but recoils from the mere thought of male homoeroticism" does seem a cliche.
Eventually, though, I did get to thinking that even if I've got my hangups I could surely face something not explicit, on one side of the line between "boys' love" and "yaoi," perhaps. I couldn't suppose it would signal any sort of virtue or shift me much more in any direction, but it would be something. One title among many did catch my attention somehow as presumably not explicit and perhaps even talked up a bit, and I ordered it and a follow-up online. They were part of a considerable bundle of other things that wouldn't be assembled for a while, though, and as I was waiting (and just happened to read the second volume of "Wotakoi," where the secondary main character Hanako finally needles her uptight boyfriend Taro into sampling some "boys' love" manga), the cover illustration heading one "Pick of the Week" on the Manga Bookshelf site caught my eye. Following up on that, I looked at Sean Gaffney's review of the manga, which led off with "I try not to be one of those 'girl on girl is hot, but guys ew!' fans," and that did get my attention as well. When I did see it in the area bookstore, I bought a copy of "Go For It, Nakamura!"
Hearing there was something old-fashioned about the look of the manga also sounded a bit interesting, even if I hadn't quite taken on at the time the titles Gaffney mentioned and had sort of let a somewhat recent trip through the latest reissue of Ranma 1/2 peter out. Too, hearing the manga was a light comedy with the titular Nakamura struggling to catch the attention of his fellow student Hirose did have me thinking of two anime series from the previous decade where one secondary female character apiece was presented as lusting after the female main character, but with "not a chance" firmly established for the audience.
With Nakamura the main character, though, things did feel different somehow. The chapters of the manga could feel short as well, but that could have helped the humour come across faster. So far as "something old-fashioned" goes, however, I did notice some girls eventually showing up who seem to view all the interactions among males in their class with fujoshi eyes.
The manga closed with a somewhat extended final chapter, seeming to resolve a concern Nakamura had developed (that had made me realise I'd been misreading the back cover illustration entirely) and leaving space for imagination to run as far as it wants (although I did get to thinking that just because there wasn't a volume number on this manga, that didn't mean there couldn't be a follow-up). As I'd said, this may not amount to anything in the long run. The more serious title I'd noticed in the first place ("I Hear the Sunspot") has shipped; on the other hand, I also bought a "girls' love anthology" in the same trip to the bookstore I saw "Go For It, Nakamura!"
Eventually, though, I did get to thinking that even if I've got my hangups I could surely face something not explicit, on one side of the line between "boys' love" and "yaoi," perhaps. I couldn't suppose it would signal any sort of virtue or shift me much more in any direction, but it would be something. One title among many did catch my attention somehow as presumably not explicit and perhaps even talked up a bit, and I ordered it and a follow-up online. They were part of a considerable bundle of other things that wouldn't be assembled for a while, though, and as I was waiting (and just happened to read the second volume of "Wotakoi," where the secondary main character Hanako finally needles her uptight boyfriend Taro into sampling some "boys' love" manga), the cover illustration heading one "Pick of the Week" on the Manga Bookshelf site caught my eye. Following up on that, I looked at Sean Gaffney's review of the manga, which led off with "I try not to be one of those 'girl on girl is hot, but guys ew!' fans," and that did get my attention as well. When I did see it in the area bookstore, I bought a copy of "Go For It, Nakamura!"
Hearing there was something old-fashioned about the look of the manga also sounded a bit interesting, even if I hadn't quite taken on at the time the titles Gaffney mentioned and had sort of let a somewhat recent trip through the latest reissue of Ranma 1/2 peter out. Too, hearing the manga was a light comedy with the titular Nakamura struggling to catch the attention of his fellow student Hirose did have me thinking of two anime series from the previous decade where one secondary female character apiece was presented as lusting after the female main character, but with "not a chance" firmly established for the audience.
With Nakamura the main character, though, things did feel different somehow. The chapters of the manga could feel short as well, but that could have helped the humour come across faster. So far as "something old-fashioned" goes, however, I did notice some girls eventually showing up who seem to view all the interactions among males in their class with fujoshi eyes.
The manga closed with a somewhat extended final chapter, seeming to resolve a concern Nakamura had developed (that had made me realise I'd been misreading the back cover illustration entirely) and leaving space for imagination to run as far as it wants (although I did get to thinking that just because there wasn't a volume number on this manga, that didn't mean there couldn't be a follow-up). As I'd said, this may not amount to anything in the long run. The more serious title I'd noticed in the first place ("I Hear the Sunspot") has shipped; on the other hand, I also bought a "girls' love anthology" in the same trip to the bookstore I saw "Go For It, Nakamura!"