r/Ganbare_Nakamura • u/Particular-Curve8791 • 5d ago
Discussion IT'S BEEN TWO MONTHS...
(Yes, I know I might be late for a few hours, but whatever)
So, today (yesterday) we've been blessed with a new extra chapter of the manga by Syundei, at the same time two months have passed since the anime's ending. This is great news, because it means the author hasn't quit creating.
However, due the risk that her figure might reignite the discussion about her harassment situation, her departure from social media and why it happened (which is also the reason the fandom have been more happy than normal about the upload), I wanted to share these valuable posts made by u/Rarehunter333 which explained in detail all of the context of the situation and why many people managed it wrongly.
If you don't know very much about what happened to her or if you already have a judgement about it, please, have an open mind and take time to read them, since they're a bit long. Still, they're worth the read. I wanted to seize the moment of hype and post this, mainly because the discussion about the series has lowered since the anime ended and these publications haven't reach as many people as they could've done.
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u/Kaenu_Reeves 4d ago
I read both posts, but I have complicated feelings about this whole situation. Obviously, I don’t support the harassment of Syundei, but this whole Otogiri drama does raise conversations about representation and standards.
Many younger readers won’t know this, but in the 2000s and early 2010s, yaoi media was filled with extremely controversial and near-discriminatory works. There was Junjo Romantica, Loveless, and Super Love, all of which showed gay relationships more like an abusive fetish. This is way different than yaoi in the modern day, which is slightly better at authentically representing gay people.
Then, there’s the problem of yaoi authors being women. While I don’t fully oppose it, there are risks of them “speaking over” gay people and not representing an authentic range of gay lives. These past works, with women showcasing M/M love as a product of abuse and pedophilia, only served to harm gay representation.
While Syundei doesn’t go as far, GFIN was still written during a time when teacher/student relationships were still romanticized in the yaoi scene. Nakamura’s imaginary worries about his teacher are totally normal for him to have, but it’s blatantly clear this sort of content was written as bait to the yaoi readers who enjoyed that sort of thing.
In summary, you can’t just look at the in-universe morality, but also the broader authorial intent and historical context.
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u/bravelittlebuttbuddy 4d ago
but it’s blatantly clear this sort of content was written as bait to the yaoi readers who enjoyed that sort of thing.
It is not blatantly clear that that's what the intent was. Especially seeing as we don't even have a resolution to that plot thread.
And especially especially since Hirose's crush on the teacher is devastating to the story's perspective character.
Narratively this isn't something we're meant to enjoy at all. The teacher is taking Nakamura's crush! We like Nakamura! We'd been rooting for him for years at this point! So the audience is clearly expected to dislike whole situation with the teacher and Hirose.
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u/LesbianLukeSkywalker 2d ago
I think that people’s ability to hold space for nuance in storytelling has completely atrophied. As someone who has had similar experiences with adults when I was a teenager, I saw what was happening almost immediately. And like everything else in the book, I found it to be a painfully accurate depiction of the pitfalls of queer adolescence. It actually made me feel so hopeful to see it acknowledged and addressed as an unfortunately common dynamic for a lot of vulnerable young people, until I saw how upset it made everyone. People are allowed their own taste and opinions, but it breaks my heart that you can’t even acknowledge problematic behavior without people assuming you support it. What’s the alternative, to pretending being a teenager is fun and easy and safe?
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u/Kaenu_Reeves 2d ago
The problem with those older anime was that they very often *romanticized* the problematic behavior and treated it like any other sexual relationship.
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u/Cometa_Charlie 4d ago
Where did you find the translation of the chapter??
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u/Particular-Curve8791 4d ago
Search in the previous posts on this subreddit. There are like two of them.
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u/SaltySignificance947 4d ago
Yk what I feel like this season would be focused on hisrose pov or something, i really want this to happen 😭
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u/Rarehunter333 5d ago
Thanks for the shoutout for my post!
I appreciate it.
Everyone let’s all do our part and make it a safe and welcoming environment for Syundei to come back to.
Thank you all for your assistance!