#'what if I rewrote this with the aesthetics and themes typical of a 2010s BL'

[birdmenmanga]

it's so sad because you just KNOW bikke is a moto hagio (and specifically heart of thomas fan) just by reading senpai and ame nochi hare. senpai is LITERALLY just thomas no shinzou but in modern japan and also without the christian themes or the guilt or self-flagellation (so basically none of the things that made the heart of thomas the heart of thomas). hazuki LITERALLY sees touma at the top of of a staircase and when he introduces himself hazuki LITERALLY mishears it at "Thomas" like girl. we know. we know you love the heart of thomas. but also. it is painfully clear that you love a version of it that has been warped and distorted so heavily in your mind that I doubt you truly love the real thing at all. which is such a shame. bikke is literally SO close to seeing the light. to getting to that realization that would make all of their manga click. but they'll always be one step short of genuine greatness. sad, but happens to the best of us. sorry mate. try harder. I'll keep watching you.

#just thinking thoughts... #IT LITERALLY DRIVES ME SOOOO INSANE #LIKE AME NOCHI HARE WAS SOOOOO CLOSE TO OPENING BIKKE'S THIRD EYE ABOUT GENDER #the concept: 5 boys turn into girls when it rains. they learn about how to behave like girls #what it's like to be a girl in society and how it's different from being a boy #and it's like 'wow it's so different! crazy how that is! it just be like that I guess!' instead of going the literal ONE extra step of #'wait you mean it was arbitrary the whole time?' #IF I HELD A PHYSICAL COPY IN MY HANDS I'D CHUCK IT AGAINST THE WALL #YOU'RE SO CLOSE BESTIE. YOUR THIRD EYE MATE IT'S PUSHED RIGHT UP AGAINST A REVELATION BUT IT'S GLUED SHUT #senpai also LITERALLY drives me insane. she looked at the heart of thomas and went 'wow. I'm so compelled by this' #'what if I rewrote this with the aesthetics and themes typical of a 2010s BL' #'and purged all the more 'problematic' elements of the original like suicide or torture or smoking or a mother complex' #'and TOTALLY neglected the core story of finding yourself to be someone worthy of love despite your sins' #it's like uh. ok. did you even like the original. I'm going to kill you #if there's any redeeming quality about their manga well. I like the art.