A look back to a series I covered almost five years ago, and what it says about anime and those who watch it.
No.6 – A Kiss is Not Just a Kiss
A look back to a series I covered almost five years ago, and what it says about anime and those who watch it.
Yana Anastasova
December 24, 2015 at 5:42 pmThank you, thank you, THANK YOU for this post! I didn't know you or anything about you back when No.6 came out, but I remember I liked it more than I at first thought I "should have". I come from a relatively racist, sexist and homophobic family, as well as a VERY racist, sexist and homophobic country, so admitting to myself that I wanted to actively stand against these things, against all of this disgusting prejudice, hate and discrimination, was an extremely important step towards forming my own identity as someone who desperately desires a better world full of better people. I won't live long enough to see it, most likely, but I'm certainly glad I've lived long enough to encounter LiA — you've always seemed like a quite mature and open-minded person to me, and that is such an unfortunate rarity, both in regards to anime-related topics and life in general. So thank you again for sharing your thoughts, and for giving this show the recognition it deserves, however humble it may appear to be.
admin
December 24, 2015 at 6:01 pmWell, thank you. I really think this kind of thing is just common sense, but the world seems determined every day to prove that wrong.
Yana Anastasova
December 24, 2015 at 8:23 pmThat's exactly it. Sometimes I even get depressed because of it, you know? How do you deal with that personally, if you don't mind my asking (since I assume you are older than me, so you probably have more experience)? How can you just "brush off" all this stupid, negative mountains of bullshit when they surround you from all direction? Sorry if I've digressed too much, just genuinely curious.
admin
December 24, 2015 at 9:03 pmWell, who says I brush it off? I mean, if you watch the news from the U.S. how can you not be a little depressed? I think all you can do is try and make your voice heard in whatever way you can.
elianthos80
December 24, 2015 at 5:52 pmHmmm… I didn't watch no.6 but I was following some reviews and forums about it. This has brought to my mind a certain SSY episode (#8? #9? the 'bonobo conditioning' phase) you know. I'm not sure this series was covered on RC too but I do remember some not-so-nice online comments about the boy-on-boy kiss action vs the girl-on-girl moments. The more things and times change the more they stay the same?
admin
December 24, 2015 at 6:05 pmThere definitely was a similar reaction. But I think because the overall story in SSY was so much more compelling, the obsession with the romance was less over the top.
leongsh
December 24, 2015 at 9:25 pmThe hypocrisy is still as strong now as it was then. The male anime fans are still generally yuri-friendly/loving and abhor any shounen-ai. Some freak out more than others. Some anime fans even think that the addition of yuri improves any anime – whether it is tongue-in-cheek or serious – but totally flip if there's any hint of shounen-ai and avoid it or insult it to show how "manly" they are.
What has changed is that the production groups see that there's a large group of women who like shounen-ai not being catered for and have done some shounen-ai shows to cater for that untapped market.
I liked No. 6 for the science fiction story. For me, I'm fine with shounen-ai as it does not bother me. What I do find bothersome is where people dig deep to find or rationalise any hint of shoujo-ai or shounen-ai when characters with no romantic interest between them interact but because the shoujo-ai/shounen-ai fans wants to see them romantically inclined with each other.
pitchan
December 24, 2015 at 9:36 pmThank you for this post! I really liked it. Another anime which showcased the hypocrisy was Shin Sekai Yori I think…
On a side note there is a anime movie coming out sometime in 2016 I think(??). It's called Doukyuusei and its BL but its very much like a shounen ai (non explicit). I read the manga a LONG time ago but if I remember right it reads like a shoujo romance (in that the romance is nice and sweet). So there is representation in BL series coming up that isn't Junjou Romantica or its mangaka related…most the recent BL anime have been based on VN games. While that is fine it doesn't adapt well as an anime and a LOT of details are lost of glossed over so in the end it looks very shoddy and probably detracts from the original. Examples are Togainu no Chi and DRAMAtical Murder (though I hope the Gakuen Heaven 2 game gets an on screen adaptation. That was a really lovely sweet romance game).
Aniplex trailer for Doukyuusei: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8KZ9WOTU78
That Latin@ Chick
December 24, 2015 at 10:38 pmI also want to jump on the band wagon and thank enzo for providing a safe space to not only to have a free discussion, but a place where we can openly discuss racist, sexist, transphobic, homophobic, etc issues within both anime and the fandom. This community often does disappoints me because instead of addressing all these problematic issues most get all defensive and deny these genuine concerns with a malice that I didnt think I would see in this community.
I cant get over the whole event with Random Curiosity when fans attacked kairi in her other anime posts after she explained the reasons why she would not review Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso. As a result I have narrowed down the places I want to read anime reviews because not only do I want to have fun, but I will not tolerant shit like that. I havent checked out No. 6 yet, buts its on my list and I sincerely hope we can continue to have a worthy discussion and celebrate anime and manga that want to tell unique stories.
xellfish
December 24, 2015 at 10:42 pmI remember that series quite well, and I remember how much I cringed at that scene. I always do, just can't stand seeing it. Sad part is that I'm gay myself.
Growing up, I remember a safer sex ad in the cinema featuring a male same sex couple.. and having half the audience, including most my friends, booing at it.
I consider myself quite a cynical and unemotional person, but things like that just leave you uncomfortable in a way you can never quite shake off. To a point where you start avoiding content like that altogether.
I obviously understand people not being interested in content like that, just as I'm not really interested in lesbian content. But I wonder if we'll ever get to a point were people will stop being repulsed by it.
Seing people like you going out of their way to bring this up gives me some hope, though. Thank you for that. It really does mean something.
Antony Shepherd
December 24, 2015 at 11:58 pmGreat post, well written.
I liked "No. 6" a lot, and while I've not watched it for a while, two of the scenes I remember are Shion and Nezumi dancing – which I thought was quite wonderfully done especially the scenes of the wasteland – and of course the kiss. I seem to recall saying "Yes! About damn time!".
But yes. The amount of homophobia and hypocrisy in some parts of fandom (not just anime fandom) sickens me, and that's speaking as a cis het guy.
Yann
December 25, 2015 at 3:21 pmI totally agree but… Talking about hypocrisy… I can't help but remember how you shut me off when I brought up the subject of veganism on a Gin no Saji post. Racism and sexism are in the open, but I guess it will take a few more decades for speciesism to reach the same status…
admin
December 25, 2015 at 5:59 pmI certainly remember that conversation, and disagreement is not the same thing as "shutting off"…
Chrysostomus
December 25, 2015 at 3:57 pmWell, I hate to be the dissonant chord, but I think that what it does say about the anime fandom is that some of it is so obsessed with looking to find anything which validates their social politics that they become blind to any objective criticism that can be reasonably made.
Regarding No. 6, for example, it is a fact that its pacing tends to be overly rushed, and important plot points are left either vague or just not explained at all. The last two episodes exemplify this perfectly. Thankfully, this problem is not present in the manga, so anyone who enjoyed the anime will probably like it even more after reading it.
I feel that these basics flaws of storytelling are the first thing that should be mentioned in any review of anything, ever, not some castigation that the audience was too "________" to get this or that.
I like anime, and I don't want its enjoyment and its analysis to get too politicized by any social ideology currently in vogue. That's all I'm going to say about this.
Theresa Tong
December 26, 2015 at 11:52 amNo. 6 is a truckload of loose ends towards the end, especially the anime. I think the problem is actually too far in the other direction. Anyone who isn't a giant baby about the kiss were giving proper critiques about plot coherency or character actions but it was overwhelmingly drowned out by everyone who WAS a giant baby.
When your actual legitimate critiques are completely lost because everyone is too busy freaking out over a kiss or being homophobic or trying to assert masculinity or whatever the hell, you have an audience that "is too ____". You literally could not actually start a conversation about the series itself on most of the forums/review sites because it wouldn't get two steps in before someone derailed it with "EW KISSES" or something. That is an actual problem, so whatever basic flaws of storytelling you'd like to address, you'd have to fight your way out to get it heard.
Kamui
December 25, 2015 at 5:02 pmFor me it was a pretty mediocre series, and the "gay" part wasn't what made it like that. If my memory doesn't fails me, the romance between the two male leads is one of the few things this series got rigth.
As for "yuri" content, I don't know where did you find "more" series that treat the issue seriously. Sasameki Koto and Aoi Hana are the only ones that really did, everything else is just "good friends" that you need to "ship" or shameless "fanservice". On the other hand, Junjo Romantica has like 4 seasons, you have Loveless too, Blue Wolves, and even Love Stage for the " boy's love" camp.