It would be easy to make fun of this, but it’s actually a solid topic that I wish people would think about rather than post competitive discourse on.
The dissertation (which anyone can read for themselves through the above link) is really focused on Japan and Japanese culture, pointing out that the 1990s were the first time there was a publicly visible lesbian scene there. The writer connects her finding her own queer sexuality in the 1980s to the bishounen manga she read in the 1970s, the only place she found queer rep in fiction. She talks about yaoi being the first genre in Japanese fiction that really catered to women’s desires, and also about the financial support given by women to other women in purchasing their yaoi fiction/manga. There’s a lot about, as usual for academic explorations on this subject, women being able to “engage female sexuality and desire without being oppressed and censored”. Fascinatingly, she uses the concept of “virtual lesbians” to highlight the fact that female yaoi fans, by sharing and explicitly discussing porn with each other, are kind of sexually engaging with each other at a remove. It’s from 2008 and I think it’s a bit dated in its assumptions about the straightness of yaoi fans who don’t actively identify as lesbians (and there doesn’t appear to be any exploration of trans fans, either), but that’s what I’d expect for 2008.
This is very much about Japanese yaoi culture specifically, but it has a resonance for western slash fandom. My social networks centered on m/m are incredibly affirming on a personal level, with some of the best friends I’ve ever made online and socializing that goes well beyond obsessing over fictional couples. We care about each other and we care for each other.
And it’s like, I get how this could seem funny or contradictory, but ultimately it’s only funny or contradictory if you are in the trap of treating characters like people and people like characters. Women talking about male characters with other women, purchasing fiction written by other women, reading and commenting on things written by other women, and most importantly forming friendships with other women are supporting actual human women. They aren’t subject to some kind of RL Bechdel test. I don’t really give a fuck about whether or not someone is fixating on female characters. (Not that being an m/m fan even says anything at all about one’s stance toward female characters … other people are three-dimensional human beings, not caricatures.) You can have the most morally upright stance toward imperfect or complex female characters ever, but if you spend a significant amount of time expressing contempt for other women for their fictional tastes, you’re not being a “good feminist”, and certainly not being a “better feminist” than women who are actively supporting each other as people.
I think I should start bragging about my adopted son’s achievements when people around me start bragging about their kids. Ooooh your child can count to 10 in mandarin? Well, my child found 110 landmines! And he’s only 6 years old!
Send this post to anyone who needs it to understand why the Viz translation is actually really good.
I can’t believe this page is leading to the third time I’ve had to do this (first with the “Swiss cheese” thing and then with the “biggest grand slam/one closest to Izuku Midoriya” thing).
Let’s talk about the very intentionally bad slang and author’s footnotes for Camie in chapter 380.
Context: Camie is a gag character who speaks in gyaru slang. Her use of slang is so heavy that all the other characters often find her speech incomprehensible. The cringe slang is the gag. This gag is emphasized in chapter 380 by her speech being so incomprehensible that even the author writing her speech doesn’t quite understand her. He leaves notes in the margins explaining all her slang for the benefit of the audience, but with each note he gets progressively more confused about what she’s saying and ultimately gives up on the explanation. THAT’S THE JOKE.
For comparison purposes, here is the original Japanese scan and the Viz official translation. Note how both have footnotes in the margins.
Here is what she says in Japanese (katakana is represented as capital letters):
te yuu ka KAN’ICHI! ※1 ROOTO ※2 no RENMEN ※3 KOru ※4 toka chou SHAKOTAN ※5 da shi
If I were to translate this literally into English, first of all I wouldn’t be able to, because there aren’t literal translations of slang, but my best attempt would be:
I mean, close shave! ※1 A Rohto ※2 hottie ※3 passing away ※4 would be like a super shakotan ※5 or something
Note that I’ve got no good translation at all for “shakotan.” That’s because shakotan is a type of car that’s been modified to ride low to the ground. It’s from bousouzoku subculture and seems to be popular in the yankii subculture too. I’m not gonna act like I know what the hell I’m talking about with this slang. The best I had when I did my initial translation of the chapter was “low-rider,” but it’s really not the same thing at all; Shakotan has more to do with drag racing and such.
But even if I had a good translation for shakotan, the rest of the sentence is nigh incomprehensible given how much of it is slang. Here are the footnotes Horikoshi left translated into English:
※1 Abbreviation for “a hair’s breadth.”
※2 Rohto Pharmaceutical. Eye drops. Good for the eyes. It means “eye-pleasing.”
※3 A romantically desirable man
※4 Belated (deceased). It means “to pass away.” Probably.
※5 When a vehicle’s height is lowered. Dunno.
Yes, Horikoshi literally wrote “probably” and “dunno” in there. That’s the joke. The footnotes are part of the joke.
So I think (but have absolutely no confidence in saying) the message she’s trying to convey is that letting a sexy dude like Hawks die would be like taking a perfectly good car and cutting it down into a super super low car. Maybe. (I’m honestly just as confused as Horikoshi on this one.)
This means that in order to preserve and translate the joke into English, the translator had to find a balance between relevant English slang that is incomprehensible but also just comprehensible enough for the audience to get what’s going on–oh, and slang that also works with the joke continued in the original footnotes.
I feel really proud of my “close shave” translation for slang that comes from “a hair’s breadth,” but another translator could easily decide that “close shave” isn’t slangy enough or isn’t incomprehensible enough. Rohto is a hard one to translate by itself, but the renmen word (short for ren’ai ikemen) easily refers to a sexy man, so “hottie” is one of the better translation options by far (sorry, but “twink” doesn’t mean what some of y’all think it means–it’s a bad translation here). The slang for “passing away” is a difficult one and the one I was most interested in seeing how the translator would handle. We don’t have many words in English that are slang for dying but maintain a tone of respect like you’re sad or don’t want the person to die. In my opinion, “unalive” is a pretty good attempt.
But then the translator also needed some slang that he could maintain Horikoshi’s jokes for footnotes #4 and #5, namely his “probably” and “dunno.” There was no way shakotan would make the cut. The translator chose “fetch” and “no cap” as the solution. They’re cringey enough slang that walk the line between incomprehensible and just comprehensible enough AND allow for a literal description in the footnote to joke about how the writer just gave up on understanding. Maybe you think you could come up with better slang the translator could use, but remember one does have to consider the entire reading audience and what slang they’ll be able to understand. All in all, the translator did the best they could in these circumstances. Whether or not a joke like this would land very well in English versus in Japanese isn’t really the point, as the translator’s job is just to translate the joke that’s there. What’s funny in another culture isn’t always funny in your own.
That said, I love me some meta jokes, so I did enjoy this one.
What is this BULLSHIT now. Go back to sleep Suwon. Personal resentment my ass. We are NOT forgetting about what Il has been doing to the country. We are NOT forgetting about him allowing people to die from hunger and men to sex traffic women and young girls. We are NOT doing this Suwon, go back to sleep.
By making Soo-Won say all these BS, Kusa not only undermined Soo-Won’s noble motives to protect his ppl but also undermined the sufferings of the ppl under Il's cursed reign....so everything was justified in the end huh? The dragon warriors thousand years of suffering, the pain inflicted on the descendants (oh my they didn't even get any mention in the end forget abt any apologies), how ppl suffered bcz of that PoS Il....by making Soo-Won apologize for killing Il, Kusa literally dumped all blame on Soo-Won....hilarious!!! When I was reading these cursed panels, it's screaming in my mind: "oh Soo-Won you see u r the big bad guy till the end, that's why u got the punishment u deserved, look at Yona, the embodiment of righteousness!! She is getting everything in the end"
Plsss I had to close the tab right after reading this, couldn't care to read till the end for my sanity
Look i can unironically even past look prophecy to a degree no matter how ridiculous it is because Any has always been a character and their relationships type of series. Fantasy was never the focus nor its strong point. That being said this is exactly why, i think it is genuinely impressive how Any somehow manages to frame Soowon as the evil demonic bad guy who got the punishment he deserves while Yona is the heroic main character that hasn't even done anything heroic for like 100 chapters which takes half of the story and still gets the "happy" ending she deserves after all the suffering. It is like Soowon wasn't his own character but only served a cartoonish purpose to put Yona under the good light after some point. We all knew that Yona was going to be the ruler at the end of the story but using Soowon's character to serve a purpose like that...which is even more ironic considering Yona implies she wanted everyone to go their own paths, have their own way of living without being chained down to her.
Exactly. I thought ok screw the plot failure, maybe at least the character arcs will be closed up in a satisfying way since this story was pretty outstanding at it.
But not even my worst nightmares could prepare me for this bullshit. Even Yona becoming queen is ridiculous to me, it was nothing certain because Yona never showed any desire to sit in the throne. On contrary the whole palace arc showed how being in the palace is a cage for her, how she missed her freedom. Plus those visions she had about being queen were literal nightmares for her, she wanted none of that future.
She called Soo-won selfish when he named her a successor behind his back! But suddenly now when she is told by him directly “you’re going to be queen in 4 days”, she doesn’t even argue, just takes it as if it’s all according to her plan. What? How does this makes sense?
The way Soo-won was treated is beyond my comprehension, I’m so angry and heartbroken right now. He said only a couple chapters ago that he doesn’t regret killing Il, how tf did he swap opinions this fast and what was the reason? Of course only to make Yona the right one.
Any somehow manages to frame Soowon as the evil demonic bad guy who got the punishment he deserves while Yona is the heroic main character that hasn't even done anything heroic for like 100 chapters which takes half of the story and still gets the "happy" ending she deserves after all the suffering. It is like Soowon wasn't his own character but only served a cartoonish purpose to put Yona under the good light after some point. We all knew that Yona was going to be the ruler at the end of the story but using Soowon's character to serve a purpose like tha
In the end, AnY was indeed a revenge story no? At the end, he's guilty, alone, even crippled!!! He couldn't have gotten any worse punishment now can he? He sacrificed so so much, suffered the most out of the trio, did everything he could to protect his kingdom...but in the end, not a single person showed a shred of gratitude towards him!! NOT A SINGLE ONE!!!
Warning: my very very unfiltered and messy thoughts on YoTD's ending that i MAY delete if my opinion changes
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honestly, i am very happy to see that someone feels clueless and lost after everything that happened. the way a lot of people who have just gone back to smiling and being happy after witnessing such an event always felt off to me😭😭
So true, Kyeshuk!
I love whatever genre of suwon fanservice this is♡
OH SO YOU REMEMBERED THIS MANGA IS ALSO ABOUT GEOPOLITICS, HUH, FINALLY.
How do we feel coz i feel like i'm dying out of laughter. congrats redditors i hope suwon's redeemed himself now??
I don't have any issue with yona becoming the new ruler coz let's be real, all of us knew this would happen. but like.. it would have been better if suwon passed the throne to her because he genuinely believed that yona is what the kingdom needs now. she has something that he cannot offer to them anymore. but the fact that it's "i am the usurper and you are the rightful heir" is just..??😭😭 funny to me!? i don't know because.. okay, you were not the designated heir (even tho if we are really going down this route then il himself is the first wrongful heir but whatever) but still can you look us in the eye and say that what you did that night was completely and entirely unneeded? that yona deserved the throne at that point simply because it was her birthright? is it right for the people she'll rule over? i may be babbling nonsense right now because this seems meh to me, but like.. wow.
And the "it had simply been out of my personal resentment".. okay. even if it was, what of it? at the moment, i genuinely think this line:
oversimplifies suwon's actions.. like he has been very nuanced ever since the beginning. can the two motives not coexist?
it's just giving.. "oh you killed someone so you bad" when il legitimately left everything for the crimson dragon to improve😭🙏 like bro the people were dying, the kingdom was in chaos, and il didn't give a damn about anything AND NEITHER DID MY WIND TRIBE GENERAL HAK TBH.
I know i sound very confusing, but what i want to say is that this reasoning just feels like a walmart version of "forgive me father, for i have sinned". if suwon wants to give the responsibility of an entire country trying to recover from war to someone, he should have a better reason for it than "i killed someone so i evil and you good". it feels like it's oversimplifying a lot of things+ wants to make the mc appear flawless.
I may be wrong coz i am tired.. but rn, this is what i feel..
Can't express how badly I was hurt by each of his words....well congrats to those Soo-Won haters, they finally got what their heart's desired...cheers!!
Kusa really opened my eyes to tell me why it's called "Akatsuki no Yona" while her super strong MC was absolutely useless in the final arc (I don't wanna go how she's also nothing compared to Soo-Won when it comes to rule a whole country)
250+ chapters worth of writing and development down the drain bc why not..
like.. nuance and complexity is suddenly illegal in akayona universe ig.. sensei heard our "suwon was not meant for this manga" and proved us wrong in the worst way possible.
I’m realizing now that despite growing up with emotional constipation from my parents shaming my emotions, I’ve developed the introspectiveness and emotional fluency to psychoanalyze myself on the root cause of why I’m upset over certain things, especially in the social realm (which begs the question: am I on the autism spectrum or not?). This is especially useful because I tend to be permissive and tolerant—until one day, something happens and certain fears and feelings come up, and I take time to dissect apart those things, digging deeper and deeper until BAM! A small event that I brushed off turns out to actually be significant in the grand scheme of how I felt mistreated by someone. Crazy how that works.
Also it feeds my theory that I am indeed a 46*9* tritype and not a 46*1* because there has GOT to be a positive outlook type (2,7,or 9) in there somewhere, or I wouldn’t suppress things so well or look for the good in people so easily, my 4 and 6 would get in the way:
Sorry to break it to you but you literally have to face your fears and slaughter them. Otherwise you will live a small life that you do not want. You literally have to view your biggest fears and attack them head on. You have to fall into the abyss to find your way out. The easy path does not exist. There is no get out of jail free card. You have to allow yourself to die a spiritual death over and over again in order to reinvent yourself into the person you are actually supposed to be. And you have to be painfully honest with yourself and the people around you. It’s horrible but it’s truly the only way.
In case you don't want to be spoiled, but you are going crazy...
I offer you this stunning image of Yashiro as tribute.
Everyone else... below the cut please!
I won't go too heavy because the spoilers of what happened are already there. But I have said it so many times before, that the spoiler-folk always leave out important things that we of the fandom NEED to know.
Like, Yashiro has a hot bartender!
From the official teasers we have already learned that Yashiro is messed up by Doumeki's confusing display of affection.
Misumi comes to see Yashiro to talk about what happened. And to tell him to stay away from Doumeki. Yashiro says that Misumi didn't need to visit in person for that, if that's all he came for.
Misumi discusses how Okuyama is proving to be problematic, and if he joins the Kokusekai (I think that's the one; they all sound the same), then it will cause Misumi to lose face with his executive board. When Misumi talks about how Yashiro handled the Yamakawa issue and how he basically lied to Tsunakawa, Yashiro grins.
Yashiro is proud of himself.
Misumi can't be the one to handle the dirty stuff, so he wants Yashiro to do it. He asks Yashiro again if he still doesn't want his own group. Yashiro confirms that he doesn't, so Misumi gives him a side quest to find the gunman and bring him something to appease the executive board.
Yashiro is watching Misumi leave… and realizes that he is just a pet. This scene looks like a parallel to Chapter 1!! (Right before Doumeki saved the day.) Nanahara calls him to say that Kamiya came to the hospital with Doumeki, who has a high fever. When Yashiro asked if he was there with Kageyama, Nanahara replied that Kage got angry and yelled at Kamiya, saying he's not a Yakuza doctor and there are no beds available. So he sent Doumeki home.
Nanahara says he'll do some investigating about Kai and Yashiro says he'll poke around too.
Kamiya takes Doumeki home and is complaining about how heavy Doumeki is and that he should try to walk and help him out. LOL! He sees Izumi-mama standing at Doumeki's door because she heard about the shooting. Kamiya demands she help him with Doumeki. LOL!
They put Doumeki to bed and Kamiya is surprised when Izumi-mama says she hasn't been to Doumeki's apartment before, and he asks her why because aren't they dating?
This is rare sight to see. They start talking about what happened and how Doumeki screwed up by saving Yashiro instead of Tsunakawa.
Kamiya left Doumeki's door open and Yashiro overhears them talking.
Yashiro comes in and Kamiya says he's surprised to see someone like Yashiro at Doumeki's place and Yashiro says he heard from Nanahara that Doumeki had a fever.
Yashiro says he's sorry for intruding and he was going to go home. Kamiya says "Already? I thought you came to say thank you."
Izumi-mama is about to ask Yashiro to stay, but Doumeki wakes up at the sound of Yashiro's voice and bolts up out of bed so fast to stop Yashiro from leaving. Yashiro turns around and sees Doumeki's incredibly troubled face, and the look on Yashiro's face when Doumeki says, "Wait... please don't go home."
Doumeki sinks to the floor, very feverish but refuses to let go of Yashiro.
Izumi-mama collects Kamiya and tells him they are leaving. I love this page because I think Yashiro got what he needed to know about her. Her look and immediate actions say she's known all along, and she gracefully relinquishes Doumeki to Yashiro's care.
In the car, Izumi-mama tells Kamiya that she and Doumeki have never been a thing, and that she always thought there was someone else. But they chose to not tell the truth about their relationship because it was more convenient that way. She doesn't tell Kamiya that she was Doumeki's tattoo artist, we only see her in action. But she decides she's going to close the cabaret club and do something else... I'm thinking... tattoo artist? I wonder if she does pearlings, because Ryuuzaki will be needing some new ones when he gets out of prison and they might make a cute couple.
She is all of us.
Yoneda Kou is slated for the next issue out January 30th, which is YASHIRO'S BIRTHDAY!!!! I hope he gets a lovely chapter with some lovely confessions of love!
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