Which leads me to wonder: what role models do LGBTQ people have in Japan? It seems that there are not many individuals. Gengoroh Tagame, a gay manga artist, said: “For the gay audience, I want them to see that I`m obviously out. Everyone knows I`m gay and I do comics as a gay artist. I want gays, especially young gays, to see that it`s possible to be published in a straight magazine, to be completely outside and fearless. I want them to get some courage out of it. Project Out in Japan calls LGBTQ people an “invisible minority” and seeks to change that by showing 10,000 portraits of people identified as LBGT over five years. Not to be confused with the use of legal drugs in employment; Legal Drug is a product of CLAMP, a team of four manga creators: Nanase Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi, Satsuki Igarashi and Mokona. The story follows Kazahaya Kudo and Rikuo Himura, two young men with no children or parents who have found refuge in the green pharmacy. Owner Kakei offers the two boys jobs in the pharmacy and an apartment above – as well as lucrative after-work appearances. Kakei`s real business, it seems, is to retrieve supernatural objects for mysterious clients.
At one point, Rikuo calls it a “craft shop.” We don`t know why or how he is in this craft shop, or what Kakei`s tall, dark and handsome lover, Saiga, is doing in the store. These secrets have not yet been revealed! Other titles that got it right include: Yurikuma Arashi, a yuri anime about the love between a girl and a bear; What Did You Eat Yesterday?, a boy`s love manga that humanizes gay men and speaks openly about some of the challenges they face; Rutta in Kodama, which also includes male/female friendship; and Only Serious About You, which falls into some of the Yaoi tropics but is strong because the young daughter of one of the protagonists fully accepts her new male partner. Rikuo and Kazahaya appeared in xxxHolic; Watanuki is sent to buy a hangover remedy and enters the pharmacy where the two work. He sees ghostly images around them (Tsukiko and Kei) and observes that there is a strong bond between the two. Moreover, the high moon that Yūko Ichihara received from the “Anything Store” in Volume 5 is actually the same vase that Kazahaya and Rikuo found in Volume 2 of Legal Drug. In Volume 2, Kazahaya traverses the space between a telephone pole and a wall, just like Watanuki in xxxHolic. Watanuki, after inheriting Yuko`s store, appears as Kakei`s customer in Drug & Drop. Age: TBA Gender: Male voice: N/A (JP), N/A (EN) Kakeis lover who often hangs out at the pharmacy during the day; usually nap, smoke, or both. He always wears sunglasses, which he never takes off. Although he doesn`t seem to have any supernatural powers, he has proven to be extremely good at gathering souls, finding people, and even helping Rikuou find Tsuiko. He is proficient in domestic areas, such as sewing and cooking.
Cameos and appearances: CLAMP IN WONDERLAND2 Drug & Drop is a manga written and drawn by CLAMP. Originally titled Legal Drug when it began being serialized in Monthly Asuka in 2000, it took a break in 2003 and returned to Young Ace magazine in 2011 under the title Drug & Drop. And in 2013, he took a break again. There`s a lot to enjoy about Legal Drug and its follow-up series, Drug & Drop, though I`m pretty disappointed that the show isn`t really about marijuana. Come on, there`s a GM sheet in the show`s branding, and I really wanted to write about manga and legal pot – but hey, okay, well, I`m accepting a metaphorical journey instead. Interestingly, Japanese slang for gay men is “okama” (お釜), which translates to “pot or kettle”. (If you`re wondering about the connection between potty and gay men, click on the link.) I think it`s likely that CLAMP will stab us here. Drug & Drop revolves around a young boy named Kazahaya Kudo who is rescued by a mysterious young man named Rikuou Himura after collapsing in the snow and being close to death. Rikuou then takes him to a pharmacy, Green Drugstore, and Kazahaya gets a job and housing from Kakei, the store`s owner.
Their daily work is easy because they are treated and behave like regular pharmacy employees. But together, they are forced to do “odd jobs” for Kakei, often dealing with the supernatural and/or using their supernatural powers. Let`s get back to the heart of the matter: legal drugs. Why is LGBTQ representation problematic, you ask? After all, gay men are not the target group of love for boys or yaoi manga. Women (especially heterosexual women) are. Legal Drug was written by an all-female collective for female fans that uses socialized cues and gender roles that may not be applicable or even obvious to gay men. A campaign was conducted in Newtype magazine, with Kobato., to promote the series. This new “Drug and Drop” manga began with a new numbering in chapters, revealing Kazahaya and Rikuou`s past as well as what lies behind the “Green Drug”. Legal Drug (合法 ドラッグ, Hepburn: Gōhō Doraggu) is a manga by Clamp. [1] The main artist of this serialization is Tsubaki Nekoi, formerly Mick Nekoi.
It is published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten and is published in English by Tokyopop, which has currently published 3 volumes in 2005. The series is also known as Lawful Drugstore or Gouhou Drug in Japan. Since then, however, the license has expired and Dark Horse Comics acquired the publishing rights in 2014. [2] Written by Clamp, the chapters of Legal Drug appeared serially in the manga magazine Mystery DX from November 2000 to May 2001. In 2001, he resumed serialization in Shojo Teikoku from July to November; It was then transferred to Asuka, where it operated from June 2002 to September 2003. It was then paused. [8] Clamp, stylized CLAMP, is an all-female Japanese mangaka group formed in the mid-1980s. Many of the group`s manga series are often converted into anime after their release. It consists of their leader Nanase Ohkawa, who provides much of the plot and storyline of all his works and adaptations of these works, and three artists whose roles change for each series: Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi and Satsuki Igarashi.
By October 2007, nearly 100 million Clamp Tankōbon units had been sold worldwide. There are many yaoi and yuri that sexualize and objectify homosexual relationships, just as there are many manga that sexualize and objectify women and opposite-sex relationships. I`ve read and reviewed enough of these titles to easily feel scarred, so I`m not going to bring back bad memories listing some of them here. Take my word for it. Or do your own research. According to Manga News, the September issue of Kadokawa Shoten`s Monthly Newtype magazine announces next Wednesday that CLAMP will resume its manga series. read more Hey, and what about queer women who read yaoi (like me)? Where do we stand in this picture? Well, we`re here too! For me personally, I love Yaoi as much as I love Yuri (although Yaoi is much more available) because it is important for me to watch homosexual romances. WWAC employee Al Rosenberg describes it this way: “While worrying about my sexuality and identity as a young woman, I found it how easy and sexy it was to escape into the pages of the yaoi manga.
The handsome young men who fell in love were almost as good as the beautiful young men who fell in love with my mind, and I couldn`t get enough of it. First of all, although BL`s target audience in Japan is women, it`s not just women who read it. According to VIZ Media`s Leyla Aker, an average of 15% to 20% – and up to 50% for some titles – of readers of SuBLime Manga, an English-language BL manga publisher, are men. (By the way, you should read this article in its entirety if you want to know more about gay male manga. It`s great!) First of all, a starter! If you are familiar with the love of boys, the love of girls, yaoi, yuri, shonen-ai or shojo-ai, just skip this paragraph. For those of you who aren`t, know that boy`s love (aka BL), Yaoi and Shonen-ai all refer to manga with romance and/or male-male sex. Girl love, yuri and shojo-ai refer to manga with a romance and/or female sex. This article mainly focuses on the boy`s love, but also mentions the girl`s love. It is worth noting that the boy`s love is written mainly by and for women. [1] Boy`s Love comics aimed at gay men are considered a separate genre, sometimes referred to as “love of men.” Moreover, boy`s love is not a pure comic book genre, as it is also found in anime, games and more.
The series is licensed by Dark Horse Comics and available on BookWalker. [9] The series is also licensed in France by Editions Tonkam. [10] Legal Drug`s narrative of homosexuality and (thus fused) transgender like the others is too strong to be counteracted by its rather insignificant narratives (seen only a few times in the series, even in the less reactive Drug & Drop) of homosexuality and transgender as normal and accepted.