Forum - View topicREVIEW: The Night Beyond the Tricorner Window GN 8
|
Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
musouka
Posts: 707 |
|
|||
|
I've really been enjoying these reviews, as they mirror a lot of my thoughts about the series. It's an emotionally complex, fascinating look at the supernatural that differentiates itself from so many manga of its ilk, and it's nice to see the volumes get the praise they deserve.
I just wish my excitement over seeing the series be enjoyed so much wasn't tempered by the persistent insistence on focusing on throwing BL as a label under the bus in order to try to sell it to others. The series is BL. Full stop. It was published in a BL magazine. The author refers to it as BL--and to the two leads as a romantic couple. I also think it deserves a wider audience, but not at the cost of trying to pretend it's something it's not, and then acting like it's some great praise that it's not like all those other (inferior) BL series out there in terms of target audience and intention. You might as well say, "hey, guys, don't worry, it's just a LITTLE bit gay" or "this is surprisingly good, considering it's written by a woman." I doubt the reviewer means to come across like that in the slightest, so I think the better action in the future when you're having a positive reaction to a work in a genre is reframe that reaction. "I've never read a BL series like this before" sounds a lot better than "this is BL in name only" with the implication directly afterwards that this is somehow the highest compliment that can possibly be paid to the series. |
||||
|
||||
|
daisicles
Posts: 28 Location: USA |
|
|||
Yes, this. I think it's important to note that the series is a very atypical bl, because its story and the nature of the relationship between the leads is potentially something that could disappoint bl fans who are looking for something more traditional, but at the same time, it very much is steeped in bl tropes and everything because that's what it is. BL as a genre is so broad, it would be nice to acknowledge that there's diversity in what's available and that many non-bl fans could find something to enjoy. |
||||
|
||||
|
SHD
Posts: 1752 |
|
|||
Thank you so much for this - I came to say the exact same thing but you phrased it so much better than I would have. Obviously I don't know the reviewer's personal attitudes and views. But speaking in general, I really don't appreciate the attitude that so many people seem to have, that BL is somehow an inferior thing, and if a manga doesn't have the unsavory "yaoi" tropes that a lot of people still seem to associate BL with then it is not BL but something "better". And in 2021 this is just ridiculous. Even if someone wants to dispel potential worries it's enough to just describe the ways a particular BL manga is not like what some might fear it is like, there's no need to say "it's like it's not BL" - it's like saying "well, Nobunaga Concerto is not shounen because it's not like Dragon Ball Z". Generally it would be nice to finally acknowledge that BL is not a genre like sci-fi or fantasy, it's a label that can, and does, belong to wildly diverse works. (For that matter, I see a similar attitude very often in connection with shoujo manga, when people refuse to apply the label to works that are not the stereotypical shoujo high-school romance melodramas.) |
||||
|
||||
|
musouka
Posts: 707 |
|
|||
The funniest thing about this is that "The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window" does have those "unsavory" tropes! The central conflict in the relationship between the two leads is a push and pull between the idea of selfish and selfless love, which manifests in possessiveness and sexual pushiness from Hiyakawa that a lot of people would flat out call sexual harassment. The fact that he has a better reason than most as to why he behaves this way doesn't mean that the behavior itself doesn't exist. |
||||
|
||||
|
SHD
Posts: 1752 |
|
|||
Yeah, I figured I wouldn't even go there because... yeah.  Again, I don't know if the reviewer just didn't recognize some of those for what they are, or just thought they were easier to rationalize/handwave away than in "lesser" works so they weren't as potentially problematic or whatever (again I won't even go there) but, well. Yeah.
|
||||
|
||||
|
Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2607 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
|
|||
|
Ha ha, time to explain myself, I guess.
I have zero problems with BL as a genre. I like it. What I have problems with is people refusing to pick up a series they might otherwise enjoy because it's BL, and I really, really think The Night Beyond the Tricorner Window could have a much wider readership than it does simply because people get scared off by the genre label. I didn't mean to belittle BL or BL fans; I just wanted to make people who normally wouldn't touch it with a 40-foot pole give it a chance. You're right, the unsavory elements are in there (more in earlier volumes than this one), but I find the way they're presented to be much more in line with so-called "Old School" romance novels rather than more contemporary BL. I mean, those tropes don't exist only in BL as a genre, and the way they're used is more like a Kathleen E. Woodiwiss novel than something like Finder. I do know it's serialized in a BL magazine. I'm aware that it's published under BL imprints in most, if not all, languages it's been translated into. But I also want potential non-readers to know that they're not getting into Dick Fight Island with this one. |
||||
|
||||
|
musouka
Posts: 707 |
|
|||
|
Yes, that’s what I assumed was the purpose of mentioning it in the review. I just also think the wording used makes it less about “everyone should read this” and more “set your mind at ease, this isn’t like those bad or dumb BL series you’re used to.”
Frankly, while it would be nice for other people that don’t usually read BL to read this series, I’m at the point where if people refuse to read a series that could be of interest to them because the word BL makes them think of “Dick Fight Island” in a negative way, then that’s a THEM problem. (As SHD brought up, there’s a whiff of a guy frantically pantomiming about how this shoujo series can totally be read by guys because it’s one of the good ones.) Or to put it simply, the frustration coming through the review seems to be aimed at the work for having the misfortune of daring to be published under such a supposedly limited label, rather than the people turning up their noses because of said label. |
||||
|
||||
|
Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 2607 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
|
|||
That's on me and I'm sorry. It's not what I intended at all, and when volume nine appears, and the anime airs, I will be more careful not to give that impression. But thank you for pointing it out - I really do appreciate it. |
||||
|
||||
|
musouka
Posts: 707 |
|
|||
|
No, thank you for being so open to criticism. I don’t want it to be lost that I DO think it’s a good review overall and I’m thrilled you’re enjoying the series so much. Here’s to hoping the anime does it justice!
|
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group