okay so. i really like love through a prism (prism dono) so far, but some clichés definitely rub me the wrong way XD
the romanticised london of the early 1900s, completely detached from colonial reality, felt… unsettling. yes, anglo-japanese relations at the time were pragmatic and strategic rather than openly hostile, but still, presenting england as a purely enlightened cultural heaven while it was colonising half the world is a choice.
the bicycle scene especially annoyed me. england being framed as “more evolved” because women could ride bikes freely, while japan supposedly couldn’t, felt very white-colonial in tone. historically, yes, cycling became common earlier in england, including for women, while in japan it was rarer, expensive, and often socially frowned upon for women until later. but calling that “progress” while ignoring imperial violence is… meh.
same with the pants discourse. trousers were already standard for men in england, while women wearing them was rare and controversial, and japanese men were also increasingly adopting western trousers as part of modernisation. framing pants as inherently masculine and modern just reinforces a very eurocentric idea of progress.
so yeah, these little details really buy into white colonial narratives for me. that said, for the sake of entertainment, i’m choosing to close my eyes a bit and enjoy the art and characters. my brain just refuses to fully switch off when history is involved 😅
