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boku-no-anime-phase · 3 months

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I've been in denial about it but I think it's time for me to finally face the truth:

Komi Can't Communicate is an adorable, hilarious, clever show that shot itself in the foot with its terrible handling of queer characters 😭

Like I love that show so much, I had so much fun watching it, I've seen it multiple times, but both the characters and the show itself mishandle its queer characters so badly.

Tadano's suspicion of Najimi (not letting them change in the girls' locker room, insisting that they're a boy etc) is played for laughs. It also feels like the show tries to justify it, given the fact that Najimi is pretty pervy from time to time and it's hard to know whether they're joking or if they're actually unsafe in some situations, since they regularly make jokes that make others uncomfortable. In the real world, the idea that transgender/nonbinary/intersex people are a danger to others is pervasive and extremely damaging, and I hate that it's something this show does. Najimi as a character is such a delight and I feel like the show does them very dirty. And it would've been so easy not to do that! We could've had mega-popular trans/nonbinary Najimi that the show loves and embraces without making jokes at their expense! But alas...

There's also the issue of Agari and Yamai, whose attraction to Komi is (in different ways) oversexualized, creepy af, and played for laughs. I really, really think there is a way to make a good comedy out of this without disrespecting wlw attraction that way.

I'm not sure how well the show lines up with the manga or anything, or if the manga grows out of that kind of behavior, but I just think it's SUCH a shame that the show does that. You hate to see bad queer rep in the 2020s :/

I still love Najimi so much tho 💕

#komi can't communicate #komi san wa komyushou desu #bnap rants #queerness in anime

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boku-no-anime-phase · 7 months

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Gender in Tomo-chan is a Girl!: a BNAP ramble/review(?)

Spoilers for the show... Obviously.

To be honest, I watched this show because I desperately wanted it to have a fulfilling queer reading. I'm a genderqueer person, often labeled a "tomboy", and I'm married to a man. There's a shocking lack of love stories about a complete tomboy and a man, where the tomboy doesn't have to change themself to be more feminine in order to get their love interest's attention. I really hoped this show would defy that trend and show us a boy falling in love with a gloriously boyish girl.

Other people might have different opinions, but in that sense I really felt like this show fell on its face.

The relationship the show has with Tomo's gender is fraught from the very beginning. She's very tomboyish, with boyish mannerisms and hobbies and a warm alto voice. Overall she is a delight as a character and seems happy with herself. The ONLY reason she seems to want to be "seen as a girl" is to get the attention of her love interest - Jun, a childhood friend who only sees her as a bro.

A show with more guts might have taken on the challenge of answering questions like, "what does getting your crush's attention look like without compromising who you are?" And "do you have to conform to gendered ideals in order to be noticed romantically?" But.... This show kind of dances past those questions without answering them.

Of course, given my own identity, I'm biased to read this as "Tomo doesn't actually care about being seen as a girl, she just wants to get Jun's attention," but even putting my reading aside, there are issues. The people around Tomo constantly invalidate her for who she says she is - a girl. Despite using feminine pronouns and repeatedly insisting that she is, in fact, a girl and wants to be seen as one, her friends and acquaintances call her a boy/man and say she has no femininity to speak of. That seems pretty cruel and, again reflecting on my own experience, even though I've had the opposite experience (people insisting I'm more feminine than I am), it sucked to watch because I've been there! And it doesn't feel good when others invalidate your gender, especially when you've explicitly communicated your feelings to them.

Now, disclaimer, I watched this show when it first aired and haven't been back to it since. My memory is fuzzy. What I do remember is being unsatisfied with the resolution. Even though everything "works out" and Jun admits to liking her "as she is", it feels like she did ultimately get his attention by trying to act like someone she's not. Or by showing off her... ahem... Assets. Which.... 😬 I probably don't need to explain why I don't feel good about that.

Additionally, the final episode being the old misogynistic classic, "fight for the right to date the girl," despite not being the most egregious version I've ever seen, still rubbed me wrong.

And on top of all of that, the show's canon queer character (Misuzu!) also doesn't really get a particularly satisfying arc either. Again, it's ok if you disagree with me, but I'm kind of tired of "queer character magnanimously helps her crush get with a guy" in media. Like, come on. It's 2023.

Overall, despite the things I liked about the show (Tomo as a person, Misuzu, the relationships between the 3 main girls), I was pretty disappointed with it. I love that gay and lesbian romances are becoming more popular, but there's room for much more queer and queer-resonant media even outside of that, when you start getting into gender. What could be more romantic than someone seeing you as you actually are and falling in love with you for it, despite not having normal gender roles as a blueprint? The possibilities are endless and I'm hungry for them. Unfortunately, for me, this show really didn't deliver.

#tomo chan is a girl!#tomo chan wa onnanoko #queer anime #queer anime analysis #anime review #bnap anime review #bnap rants

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