I know, right? Hurts me even more when this is a manga written and illustrated by Japanese people; it essentially reveals that even when Japan "seems" to be more accepting of LGBTQ+; the manga is the reality for them.
I mean Japanese people are one of the most progressive asian countries when it comes to LGBT issues in the present. I remember seeing a street interview about LGBT people from a few years ago anda lot if them didn't even know what it was but in the latest videos, everyone knew about the community and had somewhat positive response like the belief that they have no right to judge gay people. (⌒▽⌒)
Mmmm, that's great to know! :) You're right on this, but what astonishes me the most is that even though Japan has closed its borders and have been wary and hostile towards foreigners a few centuries ago, they actually really are progressing.
I lived in Japan and spent a whole lot of time in queer circles and I can very much say that this manga captures the situation very well. I agree with you to some extend. They are quite open towards LGBT related issues compared to other Asian countries. However, first, a lot of Asian countries are blatantly homophobic, so obviously a country like Japan would be one of the best, very little chances of getting punched in the street by a bigot, even if they were very much homophobic. Second, while you won't face violent homophobia in there, you WILL get some concerned stares and this in itself shows that the situation is probably not progressive enough to completely accept the LGBT community. I would know, I have lived there with my girlfriend, and BOI did we get them wtf stares everytime we did things that were too romantic to be between friends in public, you would think we grew horns or something (triple the stares and the wth are those doing if it is a couple of gay men). Third, no gay marriage yet, if you truly believe in equality for the community, allowing people to get married should be the minimum. They are still highly conservative with several notions of the family structure, gender norms, biases based on cultural norms and so on and this is probably what keeps them from accepting it 100%.
The most LGBT friendly Asian country I've been to ? Taiwan fellow human ~
This is literally the best read I have ever read.
I just relate so much to everyone. Have you seen that character development ? How Tasuku was closened and in the blink of breakdown and how far he came ?
And the rest of the characters? I literally loved every single one of them.
The story hit so close to home I felt like sometimes they were directly talking to me.
Such a gem, a masterpiece like no other