[Serious] Would it feel different if the story had been between a girl and a boy?

hahahaaa homophobe thread got locked

@lordgaara Just commenting to say you are extremely based. Keep up the good fight.

For me, i think no, reasons being

1) The romantic subtext is pretty obvious from ep. 1 (and very obvious from ep. 2)

2) You can have a friendship dynamic between boy and girl too

3) If a story is well written it'll work with any character, boy + boy, girl + boy, girl + girl, maybe with some minor differences, but not enough to change the whole story or vibe, the gender of the MC doesn't contribute to the writing quality (or lack of)

yoshiki being gay is very important the the story and the story wouldn't work if one of them a girl
please read the damn manga

yoshiki being gay is very important the the story and the story wouldn't work if one of them a girl
please read the damn manga

Yes, however because the story takes place in "real world" and homophobia (and general ultraconservatism) is clearly shown to be present in the village, it does impact the way a character goes about those feelings...

Not telling your crush how you feel about them is kinda different with the context of being closeted in a small bigoted town. So I think it is important, that the main characters are of the same sex.

Yes i'm very sure it does, reason i mentioned, if you change the characters, there'll be minor changes in the story as well, so instead of homophobia there could be racism, classism, relegion, the list goes on, there's many things that can work within a story set in a town full of closed minded ignorant people

@DigiCat Well, I'd not consider such a change a minor change. All of the issues you listed have their own peculiarities that would make it fundamentally different story if it was about them instead. They could very well be also well written, but they would not be the same (yes, I know you disagree about the well written part, it is what it is)

It's not possible to switch it like it's nothing xD To me, portraying such serious issues that affect many people in real life in a way that blends in well with the rest of the story, is a quality of good writing. It's because it shows that the writer treats it seriously and considers exactly how that specific issue would affect that specific kind of character, whose experiences often at least partially reflect those of people who grew up in similar circumstances. Heck, sometimes it gets even more personal if those issues are drawn from the authors own experiences (not saying that's the case here, I genuinely don't know)

Also I just realized that you're the same user I was talking to few days ago on another topic, hello again!

But also, didn't I just unintentionally spoil to you part of EP4, again? xD

Look, I know you technically dropped the show at EP3, so maybe it's not that big of a deal to you. But if you're thinking of picking the show up again at some point, then sticking around forum you're definitely gonna get spoiled on the plot of the show, and it's already on EP5 now

@lordgaara my best friend was gay but I don't prefer watching a show with gay guys in it. That doesn't make me homophobic.

Also this is a comment forum, it doesn't say anywhere that people can only comment if they have something positive to say. They can express things they don't enjoy, Thats the whole reason it exists.

Quit being ignorant and accusing people just because they don't happen to prefer watching the exact same things as you do, and Stop trying to shove your narrative down other people's throat.

You like it, good for you, Sombody else doesn't, good. Stop being a moron

@FireSalamander Well hello again :)

I in fact didn't say the story would be exactly the same, each situation does have it's peculiarities, hence i said with each situation there would be minor changes, what i think wouldn't change would be the core of the story, which is from what i understand living in an enviroment of intollerance and ignorance

And yes i know i risk getting spoiled if i hang around the forum, but sometimes if a spoiler of something i dropped catches my eye it might morivate me to pick it up again ;)

@Imi_wakannai I feel very Sorry for your friend, then. Because the person he called best friend, was someone WHO calls him friend, but rejects his sexuality, which IS a Very Big part of him, to the point tô curse and says "eww" for an anime who represents people like him. And IS not "force into someone s throat. We exist. So, STOP ERASING OUR EXISTENCE, AND PRETENDING WE DON T EXIST.

@Imi_wakannai I feel very Sorry for your friend, then. Because the person he called best friend, was someone WHO calls him friend, but rejects his sexuality, which IS a Very Big part of him, to the point tô curse and says "eww" for an anime who represents people like him. And IS not "force into someone s throat. We exist. So, STOP ERASING OUR EXISTENCE, AND PRETENDING WE DON T EXIST.

@Luisito14 having a friend that's gay doesnt mean we both have to like the same things and dislike the same things. Its sad to think all you gen z think that it does..

@Luisito14 he can like whoever he wants. I dont tell him how to live his life, idc. Just like you can't tell me what I'm allowed to like and dislike,

you need to look up what exactly homophobia is in a dictionary then buddy. No straight person "enjoys" watching gay stories.NONE.

Quit shoving your perspective down other people's throat. If I don't enjoy something I have a right to say I don't enjoy it. Just like others have a right to say they do enjoy something.

Realize the world isnt just going to bow down to what you deem is acceptable and unacceptable. That doesn't mean anyone is erasing anything. That means you like what you like I like what I like. Stop judging me because I don't prefer watching gay love interests interact with each other.

@lordgaara oh I forgot your the only one that's allowed to "be loud" and comment huh. GTFO. If sombodys looking into an anime and they don't know what its about they can comment and ask if its about gay people all they want. And can say they don't like it all they want. Its a good thing your not in charge of running fourms or EVERYTHING would be censored to fit your narrative huh.

Haha good to know, I hope what I wrote so far was more motivating than discouraging then
On that we mostly agree, but I have a different reading of the core of the story. I think it's more detailed than that general theme. At it's core this story is also about types of love, personal identity, grief... Which is why I don't think it can be separated to leave the general theme of intolerance and replace the subject of that intolerance, in this case, who you love, who you're attracted to, who you are inside.

Again, that's why I don't think it would be a minor change but a major one.

I sort of skirt around the topic of what the character of "Hikaru" is really all about, because I really can't say anything concrete without like, heavy spoilers (I'll leave that analysis for the end of first season) But I just wanted to say that some of themes I mentioned are, in a certain way, important to understanding both of the main characters. I think the peculiar connection that forms between them requires the story to be exactly what it is now.

EDIT: I though I would add that the show does also portray other types of intolerance like for example Yoshiki's mother being sorta ostracized because she's from Tokyo therefore an outsider, and the villagers blame everything they notice they don't like about their family situation (especially Kaoru's upbringing) on her bringing in "big city ideas" that in their mind go against the values of the village. Not realizing that maybe it's none of their business and also forgetting that Kaoru has two parents. And as seen in EP1 dad kinda washes his hands of this whole thing (which is part of why the arguments happen). But I think that's another type of intolerance that's specific to the circumstances and kinda difficult to replace with something else storywise

@Imi_wakannai I feel very Sorry for your friend, then. Because the person he called best friend, was someone WHO calls him friend, but rejects his sexuality, which IS a Very Big part of him, to the point tô curse and says "eww" for an anime who represents people like him. And IS not "force into someone s throat. We exist. So, STOP ERASING OUR EXISTENCE, AND PRETENDING WE DON T EXIST.

@Luisito14 What the heck? Since when does not liking BL/GL = to rejecting people's sexuality irl??

@FireSalamander That's interesting that the story delves into different aspect of the closed-minded small town way of thinking thru different character's experiences, i do tend to like stories that follow differnet points of view rather than focusing soley on things thru the lens of one character, you are peaking my interest

That explains quite a lot about your initial reaction to the story actually, since this beginning portion of the story does focus quite heavily on Yoshiki's perspective and mostly just follows Yoshiki and "Hikaru". Many of the characters in the anime are actually introduced significantly earlier than in the manga (especially Tanaka who is introduced in EP1 in the anime but CH9 of the manga) Most of their plots haven't fully kicked off yet in the anime. The full perspective of "Hikaru" is also withheld for now for the mystery aspect of the story, since there is a lot of uncertainty about what exactly is he. He is slowly getting more and more character introspection though.

Taking that into the account, I think that if you do warm up to the story, you're probably gonna like it a lot more from around the middle of the first season onward.

Only the audience perspective would be different. This is twofold. On one hand, you have people who are overreacting to the fact that the MC is gay and refusing to watch substantially great horror content because of that on its own. On the other hand, you have people fujo-ing and overly celebrating/fetishizing the gay element and keeping conversations centered solely on that. Both of these groups of people are wrong, distracted, and distant from the point of this story. It is not romantic. It is not a celebration.

Therefore, as part of the story? Yeah. Part of how the story operates is our MC being secretive, and the pain of something forbidden and psychologically uncomfortable. The forbidden element is really what marries his constitution thematically to the horror of the lurking monster in a small, isolated town. I do think if it were heterosexual it would have to be reworked for its horror to rely on the forbidden interactions with a monster on that basis alone. A more socially acceptable "relationship" on the surface but more sinister and threatening, for some narrative reason, just below.