I always found the synopsis of this book a bit strange, and wasn't sure if I wanted to read it, but I bought this copy at the rainbow film festival this year, signed by the author with a cute doodle of a bear. I was apprehensive about reading it in Japanese, but it turned out to be easy enough.

I think the target audience is straight people in Japan, intended to show them how gay people are normal. It sort of has an informative tone about it, especially in some interchapter sections where one of the characters explains something about gay history or culture (always accurate, never anything I got annoyed about).

It's also very cute, especially the young daughter. But the premise of the book is that a gay character has recently died - his Canadian widower then travels to Japan to meet his late husband's family and find out more about where he came from. I'm always saddened about gay characters having to die, in order for straight audiences to empathize with our Plight. I'd frankly rather see a story where they come over together, meet the family, and convince them of their love together.

Better than I thought, though. Nice art, good characterization. ( )

***after finishing***
The art is just what I like. The story felt like a 'How To' guide for Westerners. The translation felt off to me. But I don't know why exactly. It was so simple and based on reading his earlier works translated by amateurs it shouldn't? It has been some time so maybe I'm misremembering that. But maybe because it was translated by amateurs the flow of the conversations felt less sterile.

Really enjoyed myself with this one!

***before reading***
I've loved the artwork of Gengoroh Tagame for a long time. But apparently I still don't know what their family name is so I don't know if I have the right order.

As a teenager/begin twenty-one'er I read scanlations of yaoi but his work stood out and introduced me to the term 'bara'. Which is fascinating to learn about.

I'm really glad the dusk jacket included some personal information about him. I don't go looking for information about authors/artists so this was a suprise. It's good to know that he got an award in Japan for his work. But also that his work gets recognition beyond Japan. It was so nice to see 'normal' Booktubers picking up this manga and liking it.
We from the West have such a tendency to look at Japan (and other countries in Asia) with our own moral viewpoint and most of the time don't think they are making progress. Even me calling it progress feels weird.
It reminds me of someone who was gay in Russia. Before Americans expressed their outrage about the treatment of queer people living there, he was safe. After that it became a lot more dangerous for him to be 'out'. Before there was an understanding? An sort of acceptance that I can see in my own country in the older generation. It's not perfect, don't get me wrong, but it isn't our place to dictate how fast a culture has to change. Or how it has to change.

Anyhoo it's nice to have this story in a gorgeous hardcover. And I'll try to get some more by him. ( )

Honest and entertaining. Loved seeing a "bear" portrayed in a gay themed comic book. Ended somewhat abruptly but happy to see that volume 2 is on its way. ( )

I enjoyed this book, but I think it suffered from awkward translation.
Though I understand that Japanese is far more formal than English in most cases, the dialog often felt stilted and took away from the potential emotional impact of the story.
But it was still enjoyable and I will likely read Volume 2. ( )

Very sweet and heartwarming portrayal of a man dealing with the death of his brother, and his brother's sexuality. There's a sense of things being left unsaid between the brothers that is kind of sprinkled throughout the manga. Also interesting that the brother was a twin, I'm curious to see how that affects the brother and husband's relationship moving forward. ( )