My Brother's Husband, Volume 1
Ratings42
Average rating4.4
At least in my admittedly limited experience, there's a surfeit of queer literature that is heavy or deep in emotional and political scope. My Brother's Husband, instead, focuses on the small things, the everyday interactions that come with being gay in a heteronormative world. I think it's particular interesting that at least in volume 1, we're mostly seeing Yaichi's perspective; Mike is a less developed character. It's not common that we get the internal monologues and worries and decisions and conflicts from the family member who is beginning to deal with and process having a gay brother-in-law. Tagame's writing and art does brilliantly in making these thoughts both poignant and heartwarming. It also succeeds in injecting some comedy, which made reading Kana's reactions in particular thoroughly enjoyable. In the end, I take the volume as a reminder not to catastrophise about these small interactions; that opening up can hurt but reaps its rewards.
Charming and delightful - and my first time ever reading manga. So glad I finally got around to reading this (hat tip to Sibyl!). I'm looking forward to checking out the next volume once it's translated to English.
This was a heartwarming story about family, prejudice, cultural differences, and acceptance. Yiachi has a hard time accepting the foreigner in his home, but his open minded daughter Kana loves her new found Uncle Mike and helps convince her dad that Mike is great and to stop seeing things in a bad way. He start to open his mind. I love Yaichi reflection on different scenes and understanding what it means to be gay. Absolutely adored this!
A graphic novel which is charming, thoughtful, touching, and perhaps challenging - especially for the Japanese culture in which/for which it was apparently written. Although I've read manga my teenage son likes (and therefore I know how to read it from right to left), I've not previously read a manga which so forthrightly addresses a social reality - in this case the reality of same-sex marriage. The art is simple, but expressive enough to get a strong sense of the characters and the internal and external struggles they face. After the relationship between the brother's husband of the title and the brother and his daughter is solidified, I like how the husband has a chance to support a young man who is struggling to come out within a traditional Japanese society. I am glad to see that the manga art form is being used not just to entertain but to teach and challenge in various ways.
My rating is not so much about the content and artwork but how the content made me feel. Let me clarify since it sounds like it's all the same. Words were used that just made me feel horrible and uncomfortable. However, I understand that those words, as harsh and ugly as they are, were needed to show the dramatic growth over time that takes place in the series.
This series brings forth the prejudices that Japanese culture has towards gay people and couples. Even though they are not always in your face many people understand that it is not openly acceptable. It's almost as if you can fall into a false sense of security because Japanese folks aren't outwardly rude and vocal about how they really feel about gay love. Yet, gay folks know not to come out to certain people.
The series is great. It's a safe space to come to terms with feelings and thoughts and grow and become a more accepting individual.
I believe this is the first official manga I've ever read, at least the only one I can remember. The message is strong and homophobia isn't danced around like it doesn't really happen. The characters face it head on. I loved how the naive questions and earnest acceptance of the daughter forces the father to challenge his own thoughts.
Greedily snapping up the next volume because I am not ready to leave these characters yet.
Edit: Review of both volumes here.