#uchi hiroki

[alinavgo]

Counting backwards.

[sol-em-gemeos]

[tanenigiri]

Review #23: I Think Our Son Is Gay (Volume 3)

Japanese title: うちの息子はたぶんゲイ (Uchi no Musuko wa Tabun Gay)

Story and art: Okura

English publisher: Square Enix

Number of volumes: 3 in English, 4 in Japanese (ongoing)

Expanding horizons.

(CW: Mentions of homophobic language)

(This review contains story spoilers.)

Out of the first three volumes of I Think Our Son Is Gay, I think Volume 3 is the one that can stand the most on its own. While it’s obviously best to have read this after the first two volumes, I say this because not only does the story take its time to reintroduce us to certain characters and plotlines, it also has one major storyline that starts and ends in this volume - a school choir competition.

Volume 2 ended with Hiroki revealing that since he and Daigo ended up not being in the same class for their second year in high school, they decided to join an after-school club together. This turns out to be the school choir, and Asumi, Hiroki’s neighbor, has also joined the same club (which is why we see the three of them together in the cover). There are a few chapters here that show Hiroki practicing hard for this competition and putting in the effort to get better at singing, and it’s nice to see that it doesn’t look like this is entirely motivated by his affection for Daigo. While that’s obviously a big factor, I always got the sense that Hiroki genuinely wanted to improve and do well in the competition when I was reading those chapters.

This arc does lead to an interesting facet of Hiroki’s character - his low self-esteem. While this is a pretty common character trait across many of the protagonists in the series I’m covering for this project - and I enjoy reading about all of them - this story tackles it quite uniquely in that we only get to see it from the point of view of Tomoko, who of course thinks the world of her son. This first shows itself in his singing, where despite Asumi and their other clubmates saying that he was doing a good job, the only feedback he listens to is Daigo’s, who tells him that he was off-key during their practice. While this could easily be attributed to Hiroki prioritizing Daigo’s opinions, I do think it’s supposed to be a nod at how Hiroki doesn’t think too highly of himself. (This is also how Yuri assesses the situation as well, once again proving that he’s the best character.)

However, this eventually manifests itself again when Akiyoshi, back home from his work, tells his son that Asumi used to have a massive crush on him when they were kids. Hiroki immediately shuts this down and says that it’s nothing like that now, adding that there are other guys in the choir who are much cooler than him. But it’s the line he says after this - “There’s no way she likes me. It’s just not possible!” - that elicits a reaction from Tomoko, saying that anything is possible when it comes to liking someone. I really like how she words this, as she was definitely making the connection that Hiroki had the same views about his crush on Daigo. Her reflection on this that ends this chapter is really sweet, too, as she surmises that as long as Hiroki actually believes that being together with someone is possible, then he can work toward it. And I definitely appreciate how the story doesn’t just limit this to Hiroki’s pining for Daigo as it also references Asumi’s pining for Hiroki.

The story revisits Hiroki’s low self-esteem one more time in a later chapter that sees Daigo having dinner with the Aoyama family. As it turns out, Daigo has picked up on Hiroki’s self-deprecation, and he’s made it a point to always remind Hiroki how much of a good guy he is. I initially found this scene primarily hilarious, thanks to the ridiculous reactions from Tomoko and Yuri after this, but after rereading, I actually found it more meaningful than anything. Since it’s shown earlier on that Hiroki values Daigo’s opinion more than anyone else’s, this could be just what he needs to have more confidence in himself. And while he has a hard time swallowing it, I definitely think this is a start of a change for his character, though unfortunately the volume is already wrapping up when this happens.

Turns out, Hiroki isn’t the only man in Tomoko’s life who’s pining for another man. We get confirmation from this volume that Mr. Tono, one of her workmates, is in fact in a relationship with another man, as it was only a rumor when it was brought up by one of the other employees in Volume 2. Mr. Tono mentions that he doesn’t really hide this fact about him, but he only brings it up when needed, and since nobody had asked him until that point, he kept details about his partner to himself. Tomoko is obviously floored by this revelation, but not for the same reasons that her workmates are - suddenly, she has someone reliable who can help her with how she deals with her son.

This leads to my favorite scene in the entire series so far, where Tomoko asks Mr. Tono for advice on how to best support her son. All Mr. Tono asks her is a simple question - would she want to change Hiroki if he turns out to be gay? It’s implied that Tomoko gives this question a bit of thought, but she surmises that she would want nothing more than for her son to be comfortable with himself. Mr. Tono then tells Tomoko that for him, this is already more than enough, and that she’s doing “just fine.”

I absolutely love this exchange as this is the first time that Tomoko gets the credit she deserves for being such an open-minded and understanding mother. It’s easy to forget that Tomoko is an anomaly - realistically, most parents act more like Akiyoshi when it comes to LGBT people, and even this series, wholesome as it is, doesn’t shy away from featuring more close-minded characters. I’m not surprised at all that she’s moved to tears by Mr. Tono’s words, and I really hope we get to see more of him soon - I think Hiroki meeting Mr. Tono would be a huge turning point for the former.

Her newfound confidence in herself is immediately put to the test in the following chapters, which sees Akiyoshi reacting quite awkwardly when Tomoko tells him about Mr. Tono, going as far as calling him a “fairy.” He brings up the term again in a conversation with Hiroki, where he wonders why he isn’t pursuing a girl and observes how he’s gotten quite close with Daigo. Unexpectedly, Hiroki doesn’t just stay silent about this and calls his father out on how ridiculous his expectations are, saying that it was quite unfair how he’s immediately labeled as a “fairy” just because he prefers focusing on his friendship with a guy instead of a relationship with a girl.

While this anger is surprising for the parents, this doesn’t come out of nowhere for the reader, as the chapter right before this is a Yuri-focused flashback, which shows Yuri’s classmates calling him a homophobic slur for hanging out with girls a lot. Yuri’s shown to not really be affected by this, but his brother ends up stepping in and defending him from these bullies. While Yuri admits that the bullying didn’t stop even after this confrontation, he does recognize that what Hiroki did must’ve taken a lot out of him, especially with the subject matter hitting quite close to home.

So Hiroki ends up treating the situation with his father in the same way that he treated the situation with Yuri’s bullies as they broach on the same topic, and he’s justifiably pissed off about it. Like I said above, both parents are surprised at this sudden outburst, but Akiyoshi rightfully muses that what he was saying about “fairies” must have been a sensitive topic for his son, and he ends up entertaining the idea that the label might also apply to him.

Tomoko, who definitely knows that her husband is nowhere near ready to handle that conversation, steers the topic away from it and instead focuses on how his words hurt his son’s feelings, even if Akiyoshi only treated them as jokes. She ends up making the connection with Yuri’s past bullies, which Akiyoshi finds eye-opening. I definitely think she made the right call here, as not only has she not even heard confirmation from Hiroki himself about his sexuality, but she still thinks that she’s on training wheels with regards to the situation, despite all the progress that she’s already made.

It’s an interesting note to end this volume of I Think Our Son Is Gay on - though there are two more chapters right after this scene that wrap up the school choir competition plot - as while it definitely shows that the entire Aoyama family has made a lot of progress in terms of how they each handle Hiroki’s issues about his identity, it also reminds us that all four of them have a long way to go before being able to comfortably talk about it. While Tomoko and Yuri may be a few levels ahead in terms of understanding, they know that they have to be patient in waiting for Hiroki and Akiyoshi to catch up.

Random thoughts I couldn’t fit elsewhere:

It pains me that I didn’t talk about Yuri much above, but the best character of the series actually has a lot more to do in this volume compared to the last. He gets a killer line in an early chapter where Tomoko urges him to get a haircut, and Hiroki suggests to have it cut short as he thinks having a short haircut is cool. Yuri then comes to the conclusion that his brother likes guys with short hair - and it takes a full beat before he corrects himself by saying that what he meant was he liked short hairstyles.

Another character who has a lot more to do in this volume compared to the previous one is Asumi, as like I mentioned above, she’s also part of the school choir. While she’s presented to be a very good friend to Hiroki - and it’s once again implied that she hasn’t really gotten over her childhood crush on him - what stands out to me here is how in quite a number of her appearances, it’s hinted that she’s caught on to how Hiroki feels about Daigo. This isn’t really confirmed, and we don’t really see any change in her behavior because of this revelation (if it’s even happened), but I’m very interested in how the story will end up dealing with this. I have a feeling that she does realize what’s going on but is still coming to terms with it in her own way.

Asumi also ends the Hiroki self-esteem plotline in a very positive note, as when asked by Tomoko, Asumi reveals that Hiroki is very well-liked by the people around him. And I don’t think this has anything to do with her crush on him, too, as her observations about Hiroki are quite close to what Daigo said about him in an earlier chapter. It’s nice to see that even if Hiroki doesn’t think highly of himself, the people around him in school do see him as a good friend.

Thanks for reading! You can read my review of the first two volumes of I Think Our Son Is Gay here. I’m really enjoying the series so far, as it has a lot of depth for something that I initially thought was just a light-hearted and goofy title. I’m definitely rooting for Hiroki to become more open about his identity, but I’m also content in celebrating the little victories that each of the Aoyama family members experiences throughout these volumes.

[chisaiyume]

NEWS [2003 – Present] -> Website

Koyama Keiichiro

Masuda Takahisa

Kato Shigeaki

Moriuchi Takahiro [former]

Uchi Hiroki [former]

Kusano Hironori [former]

Yamashita Tomohisa [former] -> Website - Twitter - Instagram - YouTube

Nishikido Ryo [former]

Tegoshi Yuya [former] -> Website - Twitter - Instagram - TikTok - YouTube

[takigimoekeri]

あなたはとても美しい絵を持っています。 私はあなたの作品が好きだった"内博貴"。 彼らがまだ彼のことを忘れていなかったことをうれしく思いました。 あなたは彼のキャラクターの任意のより多くの図面を持っていますか？ （私は翻訳者からこれをすべて翻訳しました）

Glad! It is supreme joy that the painting which I described with thought is evaluated! I was wondering whether to say, but, I'm sorry, the model of this picture is not Hiroki Uchi. I'm sorry! ！My ability that has been similar has a problem, I am very sorry!(I use translator,I may use strange phrases.sorry!)

[peridhot]

Uchi no musuko wa tabun gay / I Think Our Son is Gay by Okura

The manga follows Tomoko Aoyama and her eldest son Hiroki. Hiroki is secretly gay but is embarrassed to reveal his sexuality, unaware that his own mother already knows it. While Tomoko has accepted her son and supports him, she refuses to out her son as she wants Hiroki himself to admit his sexuality by his own accord. Other supporting characters including Yuri, Tomoko's younger son and Hiroki's brother, who despite having no interest in romance, has attracted many girls attention and is also aware of his brother's sexuality, Akiyoshi, Tomoko's husband and the boys father, who is constantly travelling for work who love his sons but sometimes unintentionally hurts Hiroki's feelings due to his negative and outdated views on homosexuality, Daigo, Hiroki's classmate and his secret crush and Asumi, Hiroki's childhood friend who develops feelings for Hiroki but is unaware of his sexuality.

Read through Chapter 103 (end?)

Very cute and charming! Absolutely precious story. My only complaint is that Hiroki never came out in the end, but that's also not a bad thing. After all, it's his choice to come out, even here in "the real world", and if he didn't want to come out for whatever reason, that's okay. Anyway, I thought it was a VERY sweet story, and I loved every minute of it. Would definitely read again.

[oshi-nakadapiroki]

Suehirogari live commentary (9/20)

akashi initially leaning on the truck? NICE

istg i lose my mind every time they come in on those trucks

oh to get blown a kiss by tomoe 🥺

akashi pon pon pon! 👉👉

hiroki looks so happy 🥺💖

otegine got the last zoom (good for him)

yikes what's up with the back dancer

HIT AND RUN UCHI NUITE

lol buzen dropped his towel

why did they give kogitsunemaru's new outfit a v-neck? i'm sorry but it makes his neck thing look like a bib

oodenta rly vibing to Starting Now

imanotsurugi holding oodenta's hand is giving flower shop/tattoo parlor au

kogitsunemaru in lost the memory! (AS HE SHOULD)

why are there so few in the audience 😭 the weather isn't even that bad

full body shot of akashi

suishinshi killed that note

kiyomaro: hey suishinshi. look. look. fuji-san 🙌

he go :|

~mofu mofu~

i wanna see akashi be part of a laughing corner

that fan got urashima up close and personal

akashi cheering with the 📣

omfg yasusada and ookanehira stop trying to talk over each other

otegine looks so tall and lanky when he spreads his arms and spin 😂

akashi on the main stage at the end of All For One!

daihannya is such a tease

*to the tune of ignition* yeah yeah yeah

i swear haru-chan says cool sweet swag unironically

hasebe getting close up to the camera

rui has managed the high notes in every performance so far??

daihannya showing some arm

i will admit i've been singing viva carnival these past few days (it's been growing on me like expected)

ame-san moving like oodenta

sorry but the belts holding the drums are so unattractive

AKASHI IS THAT YOU ON THE MINI STAGE BEHIND HIZEN??

TWITTER SAYS HE'S THERE

WHY IS THE CAMERA TEAM ROBBING US OF THIS FOOTAGE

tomoe holding hizen's jacket like he's stopping him from stripping

no kogitsunemaru in danzen this year

nagasone: 🫰🫰🫵🫰🫰

onimaru doesn't run

mr hori AGAIN

the sailor has a candied apple

he offered it to date-senpai!

he's actually holding it for the whole song 😂

the return of the aburaage

oh to be a koi being fed by oodenta's crumbs

HE'S FORCING EVERYONE TO START OVER LMAO

we love a man who's not afraid to admit he loves something

OMFG HORIKAWA BROUGHT KANE-SAN'S KIWAME BROMIDE

try finding someone who loves you more than hachisuka loves hachisuka

MASAKI AND RYUUJI???

YASUSADA LOOKING CONFUSED

IMANOTSURUGI ACTUALLY WENT OVER TO THEM IN THE AUDIENCE

urashima making his brothers shake hands

akashi looking surprised by onimaru

and exhausted lol

DID HE EVEN GET UP THE STAIRS IN TIME FOR THE WAVE

kogitsunemaru singing Endless Night 🥺 (was expecting Versus tbh)

AKASHI OTEGINE HYUUGA SINGING BRAVE SOUL

WHAT THE F UCK

THIS IS SO AGGRESSIVE I NEVER EXPECTED TO SEE THIS SIDE OF AKASHI

keep your shirt ON

hiroki do you even CARE about my ovaries

PLE A SE SIR MAY I HAVE SOME MORE

CHAOTIC ENERGY

WE ARE FIGHTING FOR THE WORLD

hyuuga's got SASS

i need oxygen

URASHIMA DOING DRIVE??

today's setlist is WILD

bless all the shots of akashi smiling when he's vibing on the truck

hiroki nose scrunch

yojiro is becoming like shougo whose speciality is giving fansa to the camera

ryousei giving us some shoulder food

urashima be Gulping that mineral sword water

i wouldn't wanna be taught manners by ookanehira just saying

oop there's the rain ☔️

hachisuka shielding his mic and onimaru not giving a shit

Secret Sign my beloved

UGH that shoulder roll

just seeing his foot in the corner and know he's got the Pose

(did hiroki think his line was a second earlier?)

nagasone don't YELL at him

TERETERE BOUZU

TAKABISHA POZU

utsuhige kuwana buzen

personally i don't think their voices mesh that well

rare yuuta voice break

sayonara tomoe yasusada

sasuga haru-chan with that soft note

more rain

(i just noticed tomoe and akashi wear the same design belt in their new outfits)

i haven't seen hanakage so i still don't know who the masked drum guy is

they zoomed in on one of the back dancers on the last kiss kiss kiss?

then they showed both hachisuka and hizen before the spotlight even came on in kemono

THE SLIT ON KOGITSUNEMARU'S SUEHIRO SHIRT??

ichigo looks possessed

AKASHI SAKEBE

kogitsunemaru comforting imanotsurugi during kimi no uta 😭

HUGS

we got a few shots of akashi during today's curtain call 🥹 thank

[graphicabyss]

Today Uchi participated int he press-conference for a new play “Doctor Blue”. At one point, he was asked if he heard about Kato-sensei’s nomination. He said: “To be honest, I want to honestly tell him “Congratulations!”” He further said “Can I be earnest? I’ve been so focused on this [play] I haven’t really watched the news. But when I heard the story, I felt wonderful, I felt happy. I am very happy and from the bottom of my heard I thought ‘Congratulations!’ Right now we’re walking different paths but he has his talent. I wish him to go on with it. We are both trying our best so it would be good if we supported each other.”

Honestly, I didn’t expect him to elaborate much but he sounds genuine and I found his words moving so I translated them. 

[janiizu]

a newish discord server for international johnny’s fandom. they chat about music, news, variety shows, share translations, live-viewings and anything related to johnny’s entertainment 8D they have channels for all groups and soloists, but there is also a server just for arashi and hsj. i’m posting this to promo for a friend but i barely have any followers so reblogs would be much appreciated

[mandraco]

[alinavgo]

They were so small...

I miss the old NewS.

[tanenigiri]

Review #17: I Think Our Son Is Gay (Volumes 1 and 2)

Japanese title: うちの息子はたぶんゲイ (Uchi no Musuko wa Tabun Gay)

Story and art: Okura

English publisher: Square Enix

Number of volumes: 3 in English, 4 in Japanese (ongoing)

The power of open-mindedness.

(This review contains story spoilers.)

Family is a pretty common source of conflict across the series I’m covering for this project. It’s often framed in the context of the main character not knowing how to come out to them, and this can get quite severe depending on the plot. There are cases where it turns out well, with the family accepting them for who they are, but there are also times where the family outright disowns the character because of their sexuality.

On the more optimistic side of the spectrum is I Think Our Son Is Gay, another series that doesn’t really fall under the BL genre in the traditional sense. As the title suggests, instead of the main character being the guy who’s pining another, the story focuses on the guy’s mother, Tomoko, who suspects that her eldest son, Hiroki, is gay. “Suspects” is a pretty generous term, though, as Hiroki is just about the worst person to keep his true feelings a secret. Most of the early parts of Volume 1 focuses on Hiroki letting his guard down and trying (but failing) to retract what he just said, though they’re mixed in with what is essentially the core of this story - how Tomoko learns to understand and accept her son’s situation, and even support and encourage him in being more honest about his sexuality.

Right off the bat, I found it an extremely fascinating premise, as not only does it bring a lot of good vibes - and the series delivers in that regard in spades, even when it gets to more serious topics - but it also makes for a fascinating character study with how different the approach is. Add on to that the story’s more laid back format - the chapters are very short and usually only cover one scene, almost like they’re vignettes - and it gives the series the space to slowly build both Hiroki and Tomoko’s characters and turn them into realistic, holistic, and very lovable people.

True to her wholesome and motherly character, each of these chapters ends with Tomoko’s introspections about what happened within them, usually a specific event about her son’s struggles with his sexuality or his swooning over his crush, Daigo. The series is quite on the nose with these being hard lessons for the reader to learn, and part of me does think that it got a bit monotonous with how often the “so the moral of the story is” line of thinking came up. I would’ve rather that the lessons be implicit in actual dialogue between characters rather than be directly addressed to the reader in the form of Toyoma’s thoughts.

At the same time, though, reading all of these “lessons” as ones that Tomoko aims to learn for herself makes them a really nice way to see how her character develops. The early chapters are pretty simple with these introspections - her suspicions about her son slowly evolve into certainties - but it’s very nice to see her slowly understanding her son’s situation and doing her best to make him feel more comfortable about it.

This is on full display when it involves her husband, Akiyoshi, who is pretty far behind Tomoko in terms of open-mindedness. There is already a sense of distance between the father and his sons as Akiyoshi is away for work most of the time, but his less than ideal views on gay relationships puts a pretty solid wall between him and Hiroki. Tomoko immediately picks up on this, though, and does double duty in breaking this wall down - she not only reassures Hiroshi that what he’s feeling is valid, even if he himself hasn’t admitted to them yet, but also tells Akiyoshi in her own indirect way that his views on love, marriage, and relationships could be more encompassing.

All this is even more admirable on Tomoko’s part once you get to the final chapter of the first volume, which shows a flashback of her finding her son’s browsing history on her laptop (which is just about as telling as you’d expect). Unlike her more nonchalant reactions to Hiroki’s slip-ups throughout the volume, this first instance is seen to very much worry her, and she finds it hard to comprehend and let alone accept that her son is gay. Unexpectedly, it’s a call to Akiyoshi that changes her mind, as his questions about whether or not Hiroki is doing fine leads her to answering normally and realizing that, even with this new development, he is still the son that he’s loved for all these years.

I think this chapter was really important in contextualizing Tomoko’s journey, as it shows that she herself had misgivings that she eventually overcame. As much as I wanted her to be this perfect, ever-accepting mother figure, having her own doubts makes her a lot more realistic, and it makes watching her growth all the more sweet to watch.

She isn’t alone in her journey to understand and accept her son though - she also has Yuri, Hiroki’s little brother and unquestionably my favorite character of the series. Unlike his brother’s over-the-top displays of emotion, Yuri is a lot more chill and level-headed about pretty much everything, always donning a straight face and being very observant about the things happening around him. This is a pretty obvious contrast to make between the two brothers, and their dynamic is just about as hilarious as you’d expect.

But what elevates Yuri for me is how he himself has his own journey of accepting and understanding Hiroki’s sexuality, though a lot of it seems to have happened off-screen. It’s hinted early on that Yuri already has a good idea of what his brother’s situation is about, and he even helps Hiroki out when dealing with their father’s awkward questions. He’s also seen using it against Hiroki from time to time, though it’s all in good fun - there was a never point where I thought Yuri was making fun of Hiroki for being gay, but rather he just makes fun of his brother for how ridiculous he acts about it.

And then we get Chapter 37 in Volume 2, which gives us a pretty good idea of why Yuri came to accept and support his brother. It was hinted earlier in the volume that Yuri is pretty popular with the girls in his class, but he hasn’t shown any interest in pursuing any of them and simply wants to be friends with them. This turned out to be an issue when he was younger, which shows him rejecting a girl and being ganged up on by other guys in his class. His reason for the rejection is because he doesn’t understand what love is, and he was more than content with maintaining friendships, but the other people in his class don’t see eye to eye with him in that regard.

It’s then revealed that Yuri ends up understanding more about love by observing his brother, who is seen openly pining for one of his friends back in middle school and now Daigo from his high school. We get a really sweet line from Yuri here - “the sight of [Hiroki] brings me comfort” - and I found it nice that Yuri’s support is anchored on this understanding. He might have a very murky idea of what love is, but seeing his brother’s feelings out in the open gives him a little more clarity each time - and for someone as attentive to details as Yuri, that’s a huge deal.

This whole family dynamic is what makes I Think Our Son Is Gay a worthwhile read for me. Not only is it just the sweetest thing ever, but it also gives a very holistic coming out story told in essentially three points of view - Tomoko’s, Yuri’s, and Hiroki’s. (I don’t know if we’ll get Akiyoshi’s point of view anytime soon, but I’d find it interesting as well, especially since he isn’t as supportive of the idea as Tomoko.) Seeing the story expand through these three characters’ eyes makes it all the more appealing, as even if the plotline’s pretty straightforward and is often played for laughs, there’s a lot of depth that readers can get out of it.

Random thoughts that I couldn’t fit elsewhere:

I very much appreciate that even if Tomoko is already pretty sure about her son’s sexuality, she never outright calls him “gay,” but rather “might be gay” or “probably gay.” I have no doubt that it’s because she’s waiting for Hiroki to tell her himself, and I thought I’d mention it since it’s a small detail that adds a lot to Tomoko’s character.

Both of these volumes have quite a few flashbacks, but Volume 1 has several that show Hiroki’s previous experiences with love. The one that stands out for me is the chapter focusing on Yuuta, which can be described as Hiroki’s first heartbreak. We don’t really know what happened between the two, and Tomoya herself could only speculate, but what we do know is that it had heavily affected Hiroki before but seems to have already gotten over it by the story’s present day. It’s kind-of nice to see that even with this setback, Hiroki is still openly pining for other men - he’s a lot more strong-willed than he looks.

There are two important minor characters introduced in Volume 2 who I didn’t mention above - Asumi, Hiroki’s childhood friend who looks like she has a crush on him, and Mr. Tono, one of Tomoko’s workmates who is speculated to be in a relationship with another man. They get more focus in Volume 3, so I’ll save my thoughts on both of them for my future review, but I do think that they’re nice additions to the cast.

Thanks for reading! I Think Our Son Is Gay is definitely one of the titles in this project that’s different in a lot of ways to the others, but its appeal is very much the same. It’s a sweet story about holistic characters that’s sure to leave your heart full. I have another review lined up for Volume 3, which I’ll post later this month.

[maddiesbookshelves]

Happy Pride Month everyone! Here's the first queer manga I'll be talking about this month:

I think our son is gay, by Okura

Original title: Uchi no Musuko wa tabun Gay / うちの息子はたぶんゲイ

Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy

Themes: Family, Homosexuality

Japanese volumes: 4 (ongoing)

Aoyama Tomoko is your typical housewife: while her husband spends most of his time in the office, she takes care of their two sons, Hiroki and his younger brother Yui. Tomoko's routine gets perturbed when she notices something peculiar about her eldest son: his slip of the tongue seem to indicate that he is gay. Not wanting to force Hiroki into admitting something he might not be ready to share, she decides to wait and silently make their home one of love and acceptance.

This is a very sweet and funny one, Hiroki is very obviously in love with one of his classmate and awkardly covers his slip ups in front of his family, which leads to a lot of funny moments.

Tomoko is an adorable mother and although she might not know a lot about gay people or the queer community, she's ready to learn for the sake of her son. She is not perfect, she's still learning after all, but she's a loving mother who just wants to understand her son better and make him feel accepted.

Hiroki's father isn't as observant as his wife and doesn't suspect a thing, so he does end up making homophobic jokes or saying homophobic things, but Tomoko (and even Yui, the younger brother) don't hesitate to discreetly correct him or call him out so that Hikori won't feel bad. It's the kind of casual homophobia that you find on TV and that people learn as a kids and keep in mind as adults because they've had no reason to unlearn it. But he does love his son and doesn't disregard his wife and son's remarks.

French version under the cut

Titre VF : Je crois que mon fils est gay

Titre original : Uchi no Musuko wa tabun Gay / うちの息子はたぶんゲイ

Genres : Slice of Life, Comédie

Thèmes : Famille, Homosexualité

Volumes VO : 4 (En cours)

Le quotidien de Mme Aoyama, mère au foyer, est bien chargé ! Et depuis quelque temps, elle a bien remarqué que Hiroki, son fils aîné, semble cacher quelque chose... Très observatrice, elle devine sans mal qu'il est gay, mais ce dernier ne semble pas encore prêt à le lui dire. Alors en attendant, elle veille sur lui en silence, tout en cherchant à créer un foyer aimant et ouvert.

Celui-là est absolument adorable et hilarant, Hiroki est clairement amoureux d'un de ses camarade de classe et se rattrape assez mal lorsqu'il laisse échapper certaines choses, ce qui entraine beaucoup de moments drôles.

Tomoko est une mère adorable et même si elle ne sait pas grand chose sur les gay ou la communauté queer, elle est prête à apprendre pour son fils. Elle n'est bien sûr pas parfaite, elle est encore en train d'apprendre, mais elle aime son fils et veut juste mieux le comprendre pour qu'il se sente accepté.

Le père de Hiroki n'est pas aussi observateur que sa femme et ne soupçonne rien, ce qui fait qu'il raconte des blagues homophobes ou dit des choses homophobes, mais Tomoko (et Yui, le petit frère) n'hésitent pas à le corriger ou le reprendre discrètement pour que Hiroki ne se sente pas mal. C'est le genre d'homophobie de tous les jours qu'on voit à la télé et que les gens intègrent en tant qu'enfants et gardent en grandissant parce qu'ils n'ont eu aucune raison d'apprendre autrement. Mais il aime vraiment son fils et prend en compte les remarques de sa femme et son fils.

[badmovieihave]

Bad movie I have  Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge  aka The Wallflower 2010

[omodrama]

“Miss...”