The problem with this manga, however, is that it’s far too long — one third of it would have been enough. On top of that, the main characters are irritating. The boy’s mother takes absolutely NO action to support him; they barely talk to each other. It’s basically a diary of her observations, but there’s no actual support shown and no honest conversation. Meanwhile, the main character, Hiroki, spends the entire manga getting embarrassed whenever any queer topic comes up and denying how masculine he is, etc.
My issue is that this is unhealthy, and nobody reacts to it. In the entire manga, there is only one healthy parental response to the son’s words, and it doesn’t appear until the second-to-last chapter! Individual chapters could work well as a starting point for further discussion with a teenager or with the parent of a gay teenager, but beyond that, I don’t see it as suitable reading for, for example, a parent of a queer person. In my opinion, this is not a supportive manga.
Still — hidden support and acceptance are better than criticism and intolerance, but… why don’t these characters talk to each other?
