She Likes Gays, but Not Me

[aomine_daiki]

I never clicked faster on a title

 

[backupaccount]

What does it mean to create your own 'normal'?
You can live being not the norm by accepting yourself first and then respecting societies standards of what is normal.

 

[Frenzy07]

I thought this was gonna be wholesome manga.

How fucking wrong I am

 

[Ceiye]

This got long so I'm putting it under a spoiler. This doesn't actually spoil much outside the first chapter

Spoiler

Really this does put a light on how homosexuality is treated in English speaking vs Japanese society. Like, in the first chapter, the fujoshi seems almost proud that she knows the difference between sexuality and gender (which I learned recently is not a common thing, since the two words seem interchangeable in Japanese), but in the west, or at least around the people I know, that is common knowledge. And the title does straight up say "homos," which is apparently just an abbreviation in Japan, but is very uncomfortable for me to even write as an example. Also, just remember that just because Japan uses it doesn't mean we should. The connotations are more overt and I'd like to think we have moved past a point where discrimination, fetishization, and hand waving "but Japan doesn't mean it that way" were acceptable, though when I look around on the more degenerate parts of the internet, we apparently haven't. Wait am I still talking about the same word?

Anyways, it is a little weird after trying to convince the homophobes at home that homosexuality does not mean someone is an incestuous pedophile, and then turn around where that is exactly what half the gay characters here are. But I guess I wouldn't give this manga to someone homophobic in the first place. No, this seems more like a manga for the starry eyed fujoshi who might read this in a hardcore BL, but isn't very comfortable with the reality of homosexuality in Japan. While I might think it is a little exaggerated, it could be because I live somewhere that told me since I was young that it was okay to be LGBT+, and that even within my own country this crazy depressing scenario may be the experience someone has

There is a slight problem that I have that I feel that I need to voice because unlike the other things, I don't think the author is doing it intentionally, and maybe it will be addressed later on, but Freddie Mercury was bisexual. In a manga where they are discussing labels, it is kind of weird that they missed that Freddie Mercury said that he was bi but everyone called him gay. Like, I get that that does detract from the point of using Freddie Mercury as a theme, but knowing how bisexuals can be vilified by both homosexuals and heterosexuals makes me fear how this will be addressed, if at all

 

[Yabaibunni]

@Ceiye I appreciate everything you wrote. It means a lot when I find readers that dig deep into what this series is about because its a very important issue. But I need to clarify a few things;

Spoiler

This was not originally a manga, it's a novel (light novel and novel are different in Japan) targeted for a youth audience; it isn't labeled BL. The author themselves are homosexual and I believe his intent was simply to give people like him the power to face the questions with their sexuality. After all, sexuality is never black and white. As you mentioned, Freddie Mercury is a prime example. While some sources claim he was bisexual, the interviews where he said this was early on when he was trying to cover for a spiraling of emotions that lead up to his falling out with his ex-common-in-law wife, and they were very rarely stated. Moreover, being gay was seen as WORSE than being bisexual at this time. He had a career to protect. Though, I suppose the series is approachable enough for a fujoshi to get further educated if they wanted. The manga adaptation was put in the female section of ComicWalker for a reason.

While it is not confirmed and granted not my place to say with certainty whether he was bisexual or just gay, I will say it seemed that Freddie Mercury LOVED his wife, but may not have been satisfied with her SEXUALLY. Not at the fault of her but it seemed like Freddie was simply missing something based on his countless sexual affairs that were rumored to be mostly men. This can make people assume that his wife was simply the "exception" to his sexuality. Meanwhile his boyfriend, he was content with him and lived such until the end of his life. But even then, Freddie Mercury never gave him the same "love" as his ex-wife. After all, only she was given his ashes and told where to lay them to rest. This differentiation is what this series is exploring.

Also, fun fact, calling a gay person in Japan a Homo is equally insulting as it's in the West. After all, there is actual kanji for homosexuals, and then there is a loaned word for 'gay'. The latter being the most acceptable in Japan. Jun uses Homo to address himself more often than not because he has been shown to put down himself for his sexuality. Meanwhile, when he is addressing this sexuality to other people of a similar type (i.e Makoto in chapter 3) he uses gay.

Once again thank you for your throughout response ^^ Please take this just as a way to further expand the context surrounding this series!

 

[Bloop1234]

Dayummmmmmmmmm

 

[Dalgi-soju]

I am not sure if anything I have to say is a spoiler....but just in case.
EDIT: shout out to the translator. Just looked at the update excel work sheet. It was updated at 06:35 AM PST Sunday morning. I'm guessing local time.... That is serious dedication. Thanks for the mad work you are doing on this.

Spoiler

This has a lot to unpack but I respect this for the tone of reality. Aspects of the story I have seen in reality with friends, I have had situations reminiscent to some parts of the story. The decisions made, the situations, the underlying motivations....all read true to my lived experience and the experiences I have witnessed. It is easy to demand someone to be brave when there is no long term consequences to the advisor. The list of things to be afraid of is quite long.

The MC is motivated by a lot of raw, paralyzing fear. With the exception of the lesbian bar owner, there is no gay character in the story comfortably living in the open. The ones who are out are treated poorly. This kid is alone and scared, he desperately wants to connect with a community, feel loved and "okay" with being himself. (Miura was experiencing a similar situation). Importantly he lacks power and autonomy, specifically the societal acceptance and normalizing of discriminating against LGBT+ community, this severely skewed power dynamic creates a situation where he lacks options. As we saw with Mr. Fahrenheit, his lack of independent means, resulted in him being at the mercy of his unsupportive family.
The MC is fully aware of the relationship dynamics between him and his lover, they both need something and can provide it to the other. It is a utilitarian relationship.
The MC has a genuine affection for Miura and blundered into a mess he doesn't know how or have the life experience to handle. I think the author is trying to illustrate that this situation only arose because society has backed this kid into a corner and his options are either poor and worse, he picked both and is playing out the consequences. The reader gets to see this hot mess and hopefully learns a little humanity. If society allowed him to live freely, perhaps he would not be engaging in desperate measures. The author also excellently illustrates the huge amount of gray areas that exists in interpersonal relationships, how decisions that seem easy and obvious to an outsider is harder for someone living in that moment.
I would say that anyone who has dated someone they were friends with but later realized that it wasn't enough and ended up breaking up, is in the same situation, irrespective of gender or orientation.

 

[bitterwhiskey]

I thank you for translating, but I don't like this story at all lmao

 

[demifiend]

I watched some of the drama but it is not fully subbed so thanks for translating the manga! I felt like the drama is better at being grounded to reality but both are still a very interesting outlook on being gay in Japan. Also, Jun's relationship with Makoto in the drama looks much healthier imo

 

[TheRandomeer]

As someone who is queer and barely out of the closet, this is a really raw, powerful story that I love every page of.
Even the heart wrenching moments are so emotional and personal, I can't find any flaws in this.
Please keep up the great work!

 

[averageacat]

As a gay person who is open and proud about who I am. Seeong him go down this path hurts me and angers me all at the same time. I had to stop reading after thr confession chapter because he is doing nothing but hurting himself and that cute innocent girl. That shit passes me off more than anything. But it pains me to see how he has to deal with all that bullshit and fears to come out the closet to the world. I hate seeing people get milnipulated and lied to. But it pains me to see someone having to deal with such homophobia at everyturn in his social life. Had to drop this for my own sanity.

 

[DefinedNull]

I'm not a homo so I can't really say "oh hey this is relatable to my situation" or whatever but god this story is great.

 

[uvogin]

just a heads up for fellow lgbt thinking of picking this up (not an actual spoiler!) -

Spoiler

it’s a heavy story and it hurts a lot to read if you can relate to the environment the MC is in. there’s a lot of internalized and blatant homophobia prevalent in the plot. themes at play include compulsory heteronormativity; suicide; and there’s a sexual relationship between an adult + a highschooler. the story is a beautiful and complex representation of being a scared and closeted teen - but it can be triggering for some for the above reasons. it’s definitely not a light hearted read.

 

[CheerTheDead]

Japan really needs to learn the concept of classification and genre.

 

[qwertyke]

Spoiler

Is he going to die or just get injured???

Mod Note: Please use spoiler tags when talking about chapter-specific or future events.

 

[Bloop1234]

Wow, this story really is amazing 👏 THANK YOU FOR TRANSLATING THIS!!

 

[claptrap]

the TL note at the end of ch7 is weird to me.

Spoiler

'ono isn't homophobic!'
even if you dislike someone for reasons separate from their sexuality, outing them and calling them a disgusting fag to your whole class and trying to get the class to turn against them bc of their sexuality IS homophobic lol

 

[SomeGuy1]

*reads title* man, I like pureed chickpeas as much as the next guy, but that's ridiculous!

 

[Honk_mikan]

I can't give the slightest empathy to the mc cuz IMO he just mad at everyone and himself and just decide to go off at everybody
....

I wish i have a friend like ryohei

 

[elefantine97]

seeing as how there are quite a few low ratings right away, this series is very much realistic as ever