mozaikmage

Happy new year! I continue to be on my bullshit.

So I Hear The Sunspot (and the sequel series Limit) by Yuki Fumino are really interesting as BL comics. They're very thoughtful, multifaceted explorations of the difficulties of being hearing impaired in a world of hearing people, neither fully deaf nor fully hearing, and about the relationship between two boys, the hearing impaired, beautiful Kouhei and the kind of clueless but well-meaning Taichi. And the first volume had this afterword.


This explains why the first volume didn't really feel like a romance to me: the author hadn't been intending to write it as a romance, and was fairly unfamiliar with the genre in general. This is obviously a massive failure on the part of the editor (who hires someone to write for a magazine without telling them what the magazine is about?!) but it's also something I'd expect to see corrected, over time?

And yet the story continues for another 20 chapters after that first volume afterword, with the relationship developments feeling deeply unconvincing in a way that surprised me because in BL comics the other way around is a lot more common (see: the Amish BL I discussed recently.)

They Seem To Be Very Good Friends.

Taichi and Kouhei seem to remember they're Dating (and not just best friends) approximately once a volume, presumably when an editor reminds Fumino that they are in fact Dating. They're not very physically affectionate with each other most of the time, and while they think about each other a lot, they don't seem to be attracted to each other at all. When they do end up doing something physical together, Kouhei plays the seme role (probably because he's taller?) but it feels both out of character and out of obligation, and not like something he genuinely wants to do.  Taichi does think about Kouhei, often. But he never spends any time thinking about his romantic feelings for Kouhei, or the nature of his love. He thinks a lot more about how he can help make life better for Kouhei and people like him, which is sweet and admirable but not romantic. 

Their relationship progresses weirdly irregularly: Kouhei confesses first, and then Taichi says he doesn't hate it, and then eventually Taichi admits he reciprocates Kouhei's feelings but it feels like a lot of time passes while other developments unfold around them. They don't feel like they're each other's top priority, which makes sense because they both have so much other stuff going on. But I wish they felt more important to each other, sometimes.

They're keeping the nature of their relationship a secret from everyone around them but not for any specifically stated reason. I get the feeling Fumino knows queer relationships are frowned upon, but isn't clear on how exactly that manifests or why, and so just... glosses over it.



I think this is a shame because if Fumino remembered that gay people are also an oppressed minority that the world isn't designed to cater to, that could tie into the themes of disability advocacy and make the story stronger.

I've always thought that writing a good romantic relationship was like writing a solid friendship with kissing, but I Hear The Sunspot shows that there is a difference. The amount of physical affection needs to ratchet up slowly as their intimacy increases, the characters should be shown to be attracted to each other, they can't just be very good friends! They need to kiss about it!

Or, like. Okay Yuri On Ice they kiss on screen ONCE (and it's censored so some people can pretend it's just a hug actually), but you can tell Victor and Yuuri are deeply in love from every frame of animation and how they talk about each other, and how they talk with each other. So much of I Hear The Sunspot is about hearing impairment in general that not enough is about how special Taichi and Kouhei are to each other in specific.

I dunno. Obviously this is all highly subjective, your mileage may vary, I know a lot of people really like this comic and I like it too! I just think this aspect of it could be better.

 WHY DOES DREAMWIDTH KEEP DOING THIS TO ME PERSONALLY. I HAD THIS WHOLE POST TYPED UP COMPLETELY AND IT VANISHED. WHY OH WHY.

(deep breath) anyway. let's try this again.

I've been watching the K-drama Light on Me on the recommendation of tumblr user absolutebl (who has really interesting meta sometimes even though I don't agree with all of her takes on everything, this masterpost on Thai BL and this exploration of where is the GL live action film and television media are particularly good) and it was great! It made me think about my musings on love triangles again, because Light on Me really, really pulls their love triangle off well.

The story is simple: loner with no friends or interests decides he should perhaps get some friends and interests, and ends up joining the student council because one (1) guy in said student council is nice to him one time. On the same day, another student council member declares his eternal hatred for the aforementioned loner over an awkward encounter. What Happens Next Will Surprise You!

So Light on Me works because up until the last episode I genuinely wasn't sure who Woo Taekyung was going to choose, compulsive people pleaser and student council president Shin Da-On, or known hater Noh Shin-woo. Both are presented as equals, both get development with Taekyung and independent character arcs, and all three of them grow significantly as people through their interactions together. The drama is so compelling because you want to watch them all grow and change together. Da-on learns to set boundaries, while Shin-woo learns to ask directly for things he wants. Taekyung is also an incredible protagonist, serious and straightforward while also not being afraid to tease or push back. He knows what he wants and states it clearly and often, and I love that! The communication in this show is off the charts!

It's also beautifully shot: clean, crisp, pretty, with tasteful sound direction. The supporting cast is fun and I like them. Big recommend from me if you want to see a love war triangle setup done well.

On the subject of love triangles not being done quite so well, the webtoon Nice to Meet You by Wishroomness started its second season with the announcement that supportive side character Wyn is actually in love with protagonist Mew, who has a thing going with established love interest Daze. This was... not foreshadowed in the first season at all. It feels like the author's going for a Type 4 kind of dynamic here, since Mew and Daze are obviously into each other, but maybe they're setting up an interesting subversion? I dunno, I was thrown by this development and also disappointed at the lack of Mew point of view so far in this season.

Another webtoon explicitly doing a Type 4 is Morangji's Odd Girl Out , my beloved. Chanyang pines for Nari as she and Seolha flirt with each other, and while I am sad for Chanyang, Nari and Seolha are super cute together and if Nari's happy I am happy. This works because it shows that feelings are complicated, high school sucks, and people aren't always gonna feel the same way about you as you feel about them. I don't think Chanyang and Seolha outright competing for Nari would work for Odd Girl Out because they're not on equal ground in terms of their relationship to Nari the way Shin-woo and Da-on are, as the most recent update really hammers home: Nari is attracted to and interested in Seolha and aware of it, while she thinks of Chanyang as just another friend. And that sucks, but, what can ya do?

Triangles! They sure are triangular!

Watch Light on Me on Viki or uh, you know. You know where.