Jun 27, 2023
Hear me out: this is a very Japanese story.
I don't know what Bingo Morihashi's gender or sexuality is, but I think it's Western-centric and dismissive to write them off as a cisgender heterosexual man who doesn't know what they're doing. Kono Koi ni Mirai wa Nai is indeed a story where a transgender woman stays closeted and ultimately none of the characters get what they want. But it's important to understand what LGBTQ culture in Japan is like to really understand this manga for what it is.
Kono Koi ni Mirai wa Nai is a touching, sobering, and brutally realistic display of queer hope and apathy.
...
Things go your way, and then they don't. Characters continue living on with the middle ground, sometimes sacrificing what they want and other times being forced under certain lifestyles and comforting themselves under the guise that staying the same as before instead of being openly true to themself was "my choice". This is VERY common for queer people in Japan (and throughout Asia). Often they are relegated to lying, hiding, cross-dressing and wearing makeup in secret. They don't make radical changes like coming out. Most of the time, the people they like do not like them back and never will (hence the story's title), and the alienation and social backlash associated with coming out is enough that a majority lives with their own closeted sexualities and terrible gender dysphoria, suffering in relative silence. Even outside the trans main character's narrative, none of the cast is fully happy. They might find brief moments of respite or connection, but it is not cathartic. It is not long-term.
From an outsider's perspective, this story is rife with the Japanese concept of 'gaman', of weathering it through and toughing it out and being forced to bear with things. It is dense within this story. 'Shikata ga nai'. It can't be helped. A deeply engraved cultural norm wherein nobody has control and everyone is at society's whim, without noting that society is comprised of individuals who can all make their own choices. They are the ones who care what others think. They are the ones holding themselves back. And so they live on this way.
I can easily see Western audiences-- especially Western queer audiences-- feeling alienated by or angry at this story for portraying a transgender person this way. Westerners much prefer the individualistic story, where someone takes charge of their own life. Coming out is hard, but everyone should do it if it makes them happy in the long term! This mindset neglects to take into consideration that not all queer people have that level of self-acceptance, pride, or luxury to do so. I can also equally see Asian audiences finding this work relatable and comforting, of knowing that even if they are closeted, there are others who are like them. As an Asian-American queer person, I understand both these viewpoints and wanted to clear the air for anyone who might not have this type of cross-cultural insight.
Ultimately I didn't really like this manga, but it pushed my comfort zone and I think that's a good thing for literary works to do.
4/10 - it didn't leave me feeling positive, and I wouldn't reread it, but it wasn't a bad story either.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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