#aroace media

[chriswasoffline]

If you really think about it all characters are aroace until proven otherwise.

[yannig]

Thought I'd add some real ace content for reprieve in the middle of this bot war

So let me tell you about my current favorite show:

Koisenu Futari / Two people who can't fall in love

It's a Japanese show centered around two AroAce characters who try to make a life together and support each other in the face of society's expectations!

It's 4 hours long (8 ep - 30 minutes each)

You can find it on Dailymotion (here) or Myasiantv.ac (here). The English subtitles aren't perfect (mostly a lot of gender mix-up between he/she, boyfriend/girlfriend, ...) but they do the job well enough!

I'm halfway through ep 2 and I fucking love it, this show is so good!!!!

I love both protagonists so much, and they feel so lively! Witnessing Sakuko discover the AroAce label brought me to tears from sheer joy and relief for her!

Any aspec media is really hard to find, but it's especially the first time I see a story centered around two AroAce characters and I'm so happy!!!

Anyway go watch it, it's worth it!

(content warning just to be sure: they face a lot of amatonormativity. That's basically the point of the show, so it happens often. Nothing violent, just the usual pressure and expectations from literally anyone around them.)

[foundfamilynonsense]

Am I the only one who hates this

[latter-ace-saint]

So lately I've been watching the anime series The Disastrous Life of Saiki K, (on Netflix in the US, at least) because people have said the title character is basically aroace, and it's a positive portrayal. And from the first 13 episodes I've watched so far, I would completely agree.

If he were a side character, he would seem like another example of the robotlike, cold, emotionless asexual. Fortunately, we hear his thoughts and can see that it's not true. He maintains an unflappable exterior with an expressionless look, but inside his head, he's got lots of emotions, he just likes to be left alone. And there is a part of him (a part that he's embarrassed by) that has platonic love for his parents and friends.

Anyway, it's a great show, it's very funny (I've lold many times, which is rare for me when watching a show), and it has a great aroace-coded main character.

[yannig]

I love the color coding in Koisenu Futari

Let it be said that I am a complete novice on anything regarding colors coding; but I've learned a few things from @respectthepetty and I have opinion on colors in Koisenu Futari.

Quick context just in case: Koisenu Futari is a Japanese show about two AroAce characters, Sakuko and Takahashi, trying to make a life together and navigate society's expectations.

First off: the contrasts between Sakuko and Takahashi

Takahashi is a blue boy (loyal, steady, and reliable but a bit passive and depressive) who also likes green a lot ; it's almost the only two colors he wears, beside neutrals.

The only warm color he wears is the store’s red apron, which is notably a uniform that he doesn’t choose to wear.

Sakuko is less strict about her colors. I’d argue the first thing you’re supposed to get from her clothing is that she's expressive and a bit eccentric: she wears patterns, bright colors, colorful jewelry, that kind of things.

Overall though, she’s a red rascal. She definitely is spontaneous (if not straight out impulsive), energetic and passionate, and she gets this beautiful red coat at the end of ep 3 that she wears every time she’s out afterwards.

It serves really well to contrast them with each other; it makes sens, they certainly have contrasting personalities. Sakuko is impulsive and demonstrative where Takahashi is more reserved and steady.

But it also makes them a perfect Purple Pair, which I'd argue is another romantic trope they float right through (just like they couldn't care less about the meet-cute they had in the first episode).

Kazu-kun

The first bit of color coding I actually noticed in this show was about Kazu-kun, and how he spends almost the entirety of ep 4 completely standing out in the decor.

Since they spent almost the whole episode in the house, neither Sakuko nor Takahashi wear their signature coat, and Takahashi being on bed rest means he can't wear his green apron either. They are striped of their colors like Kazu-kun is stripping them of their privacy and agency by imposing himself in their home.

And imposing he is. Beyond the fact that I want to punch him every time I watch this episode, even the camera doesn't like him being there. While Sakuko and Takahashi spends most of the ep in neutral colors, Kazu-kun never once loses his signature orange.

(Kazu-kun is, of course, a Yellow/Orange Oddity, optimistic and creative but impatient and careless with other's feelings.)

Which means he completely stands out in the decor.

He begins to stand out a bit less as the episode progress and he starts to learn; when he cooks diner, the decor warms up to him a bit, but Sakuko and Takahashi are still wearing neutrals.

And once he's learned his lesson and accepted Sakuko is AroAce and is never going to love him, that's when he stops standing out.

Here he is in ep 5 in neutral colors to match Sakuko and Takahashi inside of their home:

And then all 3 of them out on vacation a bit later in the same ep, this time all wearing their respective color:

Now that Kazu-kun has learnt his lesson, now that he understand them, he fits. He's stopped being an intruder.

I had other things to say, but this is long enough as is, and I need to go to sleep. So the rest will need to wait for another post!

In the mean-time, I've got other posts about this show!

[yannig]

C'est le jour des langues aujourd'hui donc vous avez droit à un poste en français

Et je vais continuer à parler de Koisenu Futari (une série japonaise centrée sur deux personnages AroAce, mon premier poste ici) parce que cette série est mon coup de cœur du moment. <3

Je ne suis généralement pas très bonne à repérer les éléments de language visuel - mais il y a un détail de cette série qui me fait sourire à chaque fois qu'il est dans le plan.

Quand Sakuko se prépare à s'installer avec sa meilleure amie, elle achète une lampe colorée très fun.

Et c'est évident dès l'épisode 1 qu'elle va bien s'entendre avec Takahashi, parce qu'au delà d'être tous deux AroAce, ils partagent un amour des lampes colorées.

Voilà la première lampe que Takahashi allume la première fois qu'on découvre sa maison :

Il allume cette lampe en premier, avant même le plafonnier. Je vous jure que c'est fait exprès ! Elle est parfaitement centrée dans le cadre !

Je pense qu'elle sert aussi à annoncer le côté... disons maximaliste, de la maison. Il y a beaucoup de choses, partout, tout le temps, mais ça donne un côté très chaleureux au décor.

(en opposition à l'appart moderne et lumineux mais entièrement vide que Sakuko a visité avec sa meilleure amie quelques scènes plus tôt)

(Oui je tire beaucoup d'un unique arrêt-sur-image, et alors. Quand la cinématographie est bien faite il y a beaucoup a interpréter.)

Et comme elle est installée en plein milieu de la pièce à vivre, cette lampe est régulièrement à l'écran, et elle me fait sourire à chaque fois.

La revoilà dans l'épisode 4 :

Même éteinte elle est souvent présente :

Et finalement au premier plan dans la dernière scène de l'épisode :

Cette lampe est clairement un choix de décore délibéré et je l'adore ! C'est quasiment un personnage à ce stade.

D'ailleurs ce n'est pas la seule lampe à fleurs de la maison, il y en a plusieurs rien que dans le salon, et au moins une dans la chambre de Sakuko.