#(tangential)

(modern AU genderbends 🙃)

First though, a few notes:

Ao no Flag was published by the Shonen Jump team in Jump+ (digital manga platform). This makes the context around the editors and serialisation an interesting insight into their process. Obviously the creators here would be given more freedom than in the main property, but it shows they are NOT averse to telling diverse stories.

Kaito is a male mangaka, just like Horikoshi, and also previously had manga serialised in the main Weekly Shonen Jump. Just like Horikoshi, his previous manga did not have queer themes.

The series started in 2017 and ended in 2020. It was not advertised/tagged as an lgbtq+ manga, and weekly readers were left guessing who the ‘endgame’ pairings would be. Throughout the serialisation, it became increasingly clear that this was a—at least one-sided—mlm love story.

Kaito worked with the Shonen Jump team to integrate themes of diversity and homosexuality into the manga. MHA certainly shares the theme of diversity.

Finally, he makes it clear that once the manga was serialised, he had the freedom to ‘do whatever’ he wanted, and that the production team were pleased and congratulatory when the manga went viral as soon as Toma’s actual love interest started to become clear. Having people talk about your story is good marketing, it’s good business sense.

Anyway, it’s a great read—a little verbose at times but very thoughtful and truly makes you reconsider your assumptions about the roles certain characters play in popular media. I just wish the final chapter had been expanded to let us really absorb it.

comic - et[title redacted] - deux valses pour deux pianos

by dirgje