Watching Sengoku Basara movie Last Party again. I always have so much fun watching this series. I suddenly remembered some fangirl's post on Tumblr about Sengoku Basara being so much "manly awesomeness".
I wonder if we girls have to hide behind some fujoshi fascination with Shonen genre series, the same way some guys have to hide behind the sexy female character designs in Shonen-Romance series. o.o? I know that some people just want to always take their minds into the gutter, and quite frankly, we all occasionally get that mood at times. But do these Shonen genre themes and motifs of Fighting Spirit, struggle, and rivalry, really have to be explained through a yaoi lens for it to become an acceptable fandom for girls? Platonic rivalry (without reference to yaoi or girls competing over a guy) and struggle against obstacles, doubt, and wavering resolve, are all universal issues. And I love anything that inspires me to deal with those issues well. I get annoyed when people think I'm into Shonen genre series only because the casts are mostly men, and I must want some "hot guys" to oggle. ~.~;;; But try to argue that there's more to you than a gender stereotype. It's a tedious, exhaustive, pain in the ass...and hardly ever really successful. In fact, it's usually a lot of disbelief and humiliation. ~_~; I am reminded of all the Shonen-Romance genre series that comprise the majority of my brother's collection, and how fake he sounds, when he must defend his collection by shallowly talking about the cute female character designs. (Not that they aren't cute. Even I think they're cute.) But I also know that he likes anything cute; it's not just all "girls, girls, girls" in his brain. So I know he's into Shonen-Romance series for the drama as well. Afterall, he was the one always choosing romance movies for rental night, when we were kids, while I always went for action/fantasy. But I imagine that must be hard to explain AND defend your dignity as a guy; just as difficult as it is to convince people that it's not always just "yaoi, shonen ai, BL" going on in your fujoshi brain.
But I always respected my brother for being the big, former football linebacker who's unapologetic about liking Cute. Whether Pokemon, little kids, or frilly Mahou Shoujo. Once, I told him I was hesitant to bring a favorite manga with me (maybe even a cutesy, adorable manga), to read outside the house, because it would stir up a clash against the image people have of adults, and the assumptions people have against comics. When he realized I was apprehensive about being ridiculed for "reading comics at my age" or of a certain genre, he gave the best advice: "Screw those people! Do what you like!" And that's the best advice I could ever pass on. ^___^
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