Manga Review: I Think Our Son Is Gay
Sep. 23rd, 2023 01:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I THINK OUR SON IS GAY - 2018-2023 (Japan)/2021 - continuing (US)
Amount read: 3 volumes of 4 currently available in English (5 total in Japanese)
Official description: From MyAnimeList: "A doting mother and her two beloved sons, one of whom she thinks is probably gay, go about their daily lives in this hilarious and heartwarming LGBTQIA+-friendly family comedy!
Despite belonging to a family of four, the Aoyama residence is typically home to three due to father Akiyoshi's job. While he's away at work, mom Tomoko and her two beloved sons Hiroki and Yuri go about their everyday lives--going to school, making dinner, doing homework, etc. But now that Hiroki's in his first year of high school, his thoughts are turning ever so slightly to sex and romance...and his mom can't help but notice his slips of the tongue when he's talking about who he likes. Supportive Tomoko has an inkling Hiroki might be gay, but she's going to let him figure it out for himself. Unfortunately, Hiroki has little talent for keeping his "secret," so he might die of embarrassment before all is said and done!"
Weeb rating: 6/10. Some of it's the specific framing of gender and sexuality - not gonna lie, I am super curious what word the English translation renders as 'fairy,' because I feel like that's one of those things that doesn't exactly exist in Japanese? And some of it is the usual, casual unexplained day-to-day - food! Class presidents in high school! After-school clubs and how importantly people take them!
Ass rating: 2/10. Hiroki moons over the occasional topless athlete in a magazine or on TV, and we see him examining his own body in a towel, but for a manga that's all about figuring out (someone else's) sexuality, it's very All Ages. No sex scenes, not even any kissing beyond a flashback to wee!Hiroki, who apparently believed in kissing absolutely everyone on the lips.
Shit rating: 1/10. It's quiet, it's sweet, it's gentle - no flailing angst here, just teenagers figuring themselves out, and mom trying to figure her teenager out.
Violence rating: 1/10. There's a couple confrontations with bullies, or punches being thrown because the younger brother turned down a girl's love confession, but this is a slice-of-life series, not Jujutsu Kaisen.
Crack rating: 1/10 - this was created by a gay Japanese man, so maybe there's some wish fulfillment at work, but otherwise no.
Actual opinion: In my review for Kubo, I said that I need more soft fluff in my life. This absolutely fills the bill. As of volume 3, there hasn't been any love confessions or dramatic confrontations: it's just high schoolers muddling around, maybe having a crush, maybe being in love, and either way it doesn't make much of a difference. Part of it's undoubtedly that we're seeing this from his mother's POV, so the stakes are only as high as 'can she persuade her husband to maybe not continually ask his possibly-gay son about theoretical girlfriends that might never exist'. I'm sure that if we were in Hiroki's viewpoint, the stakes would read as much higher.
Either way: it's adorable, and absolutely a comfort read. No matter how easy your coming out might be, there's always this dream in the back of every queer person's mind that someone else will have it easier, and this fulfills that. (Will Hiroki manage to come out by the end of Volume 5? Who knows, but I'm absolutely gonna suggest that my library get the rest of the series.)
Amount read: 3 volumes of 4 currently available in English (5 total in Japanese)
Official description: From MyAnimeList: "A doting mother and her two beloved sons, one of whom she thinks is probably gay, go about their daily lives in this hilarious and heartwarming LGBTQIA+-friendly family comedy!
Despite belonging to a family of four, the Aoyama residence is typically home to three due to father Akiyoshi's job. While he's away at work, mom Tomoko and her two beloved sons Hiroki and Yuri go about their everyday lives--going to school, making dinner, doing homework, etc. But now that Hiroki's in his first year of high school, his thoughts are turning ever so slightly to sex and romance...and his mom can't help but notice his slips of the tongue when he's talking about who he likes. Supportive Tomoko has an inkling Hiroki might be gay, but she's going to let him figure it out for himself. Unfortunately, Hiroki has little talent for keeping his "secret," so he might die of embarrassment before all is said and done!"
Weeb rating: 6/10. Some of it's the specific framing of gender and sexuality - not gonna lie, I am super curious what word the English translation renders as 'fairy,' because I feel like that's one of those things that doesn't exactly exist in Japanese? And some of it is the usual, casual unexplained day-to-day - food! Class presidents in high school! After-school clubs and how importantly people take them!
Ass rating: 2/10. Hiroki moons over the occasional topless athlete in a magazine or on TV, and we see him examining his own body in a towel, but for a manga that's all about figuring out (someone else's) sexuality, it's very All Ages. No sex scenes, not even any kissing beyond a flashback to wee!Hiroki, who apparently believed in kissing absolutely everyone on the lips.
Shit rating: 1/10. It's quiet, it's sweet, it's gentle - no flailing angst here, just teenagers figuring themselves out, and mom trying to figure her teenager out.
Violence rating: 1/10. There's a couple confrontations with bullies, or punches being thrown because the younger brother turned down a girl's love confession, but this is a slice-of-life series, not Jujutsu Kaisen.
Crack rating: 1/10 - this was created by a gay Japanese man, so maybe there's some wish fulfillment at work, but otherwise no.
Actual opinion: In my review for Kubo, I said that I need more soft fluff in my life. This absolutely fills the bill. As of volume 3, there hasn't been any love confessions or dramatic confrontations: it's just high schoolers muddling around, maybe having a crush, maybe being in love, and either way it doesn't make much of a difference. Part of it's undoubtedly that we're seeing this from his mother's POV, so the stakes are only as high as 'can she persuade her husband to maybe not continually ask his possibly-gay son about theoretical girlfriends that might never exist'. I'm sure that if we were in Hiroki's viewpoint, the stakes would read as much higher.
Either way: it's adorable, and absolutely a comfort read. No matter how easy your coming out might be, there's always this dream in the back of every queer person's mind that someone else will have it easier, and this fulfills that. (Will Hiroki manage to come out by the end of Volume 5? Who knows, but I'm absolutely gonna suggest that my library get the rest of the series.)