Takatora is a transgender allegory. I’m dead serious. If it’s not obvious to other ppl here is what I mean:
The story starts with Takatora having his omega(feminine) body and sex/gender forced upon him despite having always exhibited the behaviors of an alpha(male) and having always felt like an alpha. To him, the worst thing he can be is an omega and he often takes that resentment out on omegas as a whole. (Worth noting he is more resentful of the biological elements of the omega experience rather than the societal treatment of omegas. It’s personal.) ALSO, literally the same day he discovers he’s an omega he gets a hysterectomy. It’s then mentioned this is not a surgery omega’s can typically get done unless they are sick. If u didn’t know, that is a very common issue irl for trans-masculine ppl. Takatora does pretty much everything he can to still feel like an alpha and have his masculinity reaffirmed, sometimes overcompensating in toxic ways just to have people perceive him as more masculine (I could go into the whole topping thing too but that’d take too long). Finally, HUGE obvious example to me was when he was having sex with Arisaka and realized he was wet, causing him to experience what I can genuinely only describe as gender dysphoria
I love this! Please go more into the topping aspect. I wonder if he'd ever switch for anyone (that first time with arisaka was not consensual at all).
Fucking phenomenonal analysis here.
To add, the manga makes it verrrry obvious that what omegas experience is very clearly just plain old sexism and misogyny but experienced by men. Yet, when other omega's talk about "omegaism" (femininism) and problems faced by omegas Taketora often positions himself as an outsider, rather than someone who can relate to those experiences (he doesn't want to acknowledge that he's also affected by these issues because then it means acknowledging that the world will not affirm how he perceives himself).
When Taketora faces the same issues as other omega's it probably hits doubly hard for him because outside the issue themselves there's also the added weight of dysphoria that comes from havig to experience it while trying to present as an alpha.
Oh I’d be happy to go more into this! Power dynamics and gender play a large role in sex for many people. It’s complicated with men as there is a societally perpetuated association between sexual dominance and masculinity. There a this odd notion (based in homophobic rhetoric and misogyny) that bottoming or being submissive is emasculating. This of course, is not actually true because obviously being gay or being a bottom or being sexually submissive does not make you less of a man. Takatora’s whole character is doing anything he can to assert his masculinity(alpha). For him, bottoming in sex feels like embracing the feminine(omega) parts of his body that he is ashamed of. Many trans men have dysphoria about the private parts of their bodies and as such, bottoming/receiving can cause dysphoria in the same way Takatora has seemed to feel. Everyone has different experiences ofc and also as time passes things change for people. Takatora might grow comfortable in his masculinity enough to try switching again and may even grow to like it! Ya never know!!
Ugh you get it!!! You see the vision! Absolutely agree with what u were saying about how he tries to position himself as someone not affected by omega issues because it means recognizing that he can still fall victim to the same treatment, despite his internal gender identity and presentation being different. I would go even further and say he won’t let himself sympathize/empathize with the omegas and omega issues because that would mean running the risk of becoming a target himself. There have been many cases of trans celebrities in power distancing themselves from the community or even actively turning against the community as soon as they pass.
EXACTLY! Like yes part of it's is internalized....(misogyny? Transphobia? Both?) something from his upbringing but also I completely agree that a lot of his behavior is a survival mechanism to try and protect himself from being the target of discrimination, "don't look at me I'm not like them".
The tragedy, as we see with the latest chapter, is that it doesn't work. It never will truly work. Respectability politics will not change the mind of someone who sees you as less than human.
OMG SO TRUE SO TRUE LIKE THATS WHAT I WAS THINKING THE WHOLE TIME WHILE READING AND IT IS SUCH A PITY
Is the manga on break or something? Or the translators are on break? Anyone know what’s the status on the next update?
Sorry the other person translating this with me cut me off randomly so I don"t think I can update :/
Oh no I’m so sorry about that! They don’t deserve you
I have no idea how to typeset, clean, or do anything else, and I've never tried translating, but I do have the N2 certification if all you need is help translating/quality checking (I've only edited college theses and final papers, but I'm quite confident in that skill).
I can help with cleaning and redrawing.
Wow yeah I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve ever seen drawn going inside of someone. He just stopped having organs or bones for a sec. I guess the trophy for biggest dick goes to
Anyone remember the name of this one bl manga with similar vibe? It had two childhood friends now adults. It was very short, maybe even a one shot. One of the friends was a corporate office worker with fluffy hair and tall. He would always crash at his friend’s place who was gay and I think worked from home. I think the office worker had a bad habit of taking his clothes off when he was asleep or slept drunk or something. The guy who worked from home was in love with him
omg i think i remember the one!! and his socks would always be behind the other guy’s couch right
That sounds right I think! Do u remember the name?
Try this? It fits some aspect of what you said, not sure about the socks though
Yume Yume Okirukoto Nakare
unfortunately i went thru all my read to try and find this and failed ╥﹏╥ i had so many that were similar but not quite the same ackkkk but joining this thread in case someone remembers
THIS IS IT!!! I think I was also thinking about another manga too since it’s been a while but this is the main one I was talking about!! Thank uuuu
You're welcome!
Also dropping the link here:
https://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/yume_yume_okirukoto_nakare/
Ugh this was SO peak for me!! Top 5 for sure. Only problem I have with it is it should be even longer. Give me more chapters I need to see them dating god damnit!! I wanna see them move in together and have saké with the work bestie and finding more excuses to see each other at work
I knew this was gonna end one of two ways:
-extremely tragically with them both dead
-unsatisfyingly with the zombie plot never fully hitting
But here I am sobbing like I didn’t know it was gonna happen. Wow this story was good but so strange and sad. Really effective in breaking away from tropes and showcasing queer love in a beautiful and non-fetishized way!! Also, the shot of them as zombies and Shu eating him…nauseating and bone-chilling. Ima be sick. Well fucking done, author!
Absolutely baffled as to how people thought Sys was gonna bottom. Like…have we been reading the same story? He’s BEEN dominating buff men since day one! I mean I can see him being a switch, but no matter what that’s a dom right there
Shu bro u can be one with him without eating him! Oh so u wanna eat him so bad it’s hard to wait until he’s dead??? Find other ways to be close to him in life then!!! Why it gotta be so all or nothing? He loves u so I’m sure u can figure somethin out
Why is this here?! All their Alien Stage comics can be read for free on their socials. And ppl translate it in the comments always
Y’all always talking about how u wanna see this guy pregnant or “why didn’t we get to see their babies” “awww I wanted them to have a kid!” but no one wanna see these kids raised
Why tf it delete the other half of my comment?
…Before they had epsilon, ppl were all “he gotta get shin pregnant! I wanna see their baby” but all I’ve heard this last season is “I hate her” “I wish she would go away” “enough about the kid” “they should have had a boy” “this season sucks too much about epsilon”. Like what did y'all expect?! You wanted them to have a baby and leave it with the maid? Send her off to boarding school?? Mr.Control Freak and King that usurped the throne were gonna leave the heir to the throne, future of the kingdom they rebuilt, to go what?fuck around??? Please be so fr. They did a damn good job raising that kid and she’ll make an incredible king