Sasaki and Miyano

by Shou Harusono

Breakdown

Genre: Slice of life | Shojo Manga | BL Romance

Age Group: 14+ / YA

Single/Series: Ongoing series: Vol1-9 only

Personal Rating: 8/10

Plot

The story follows two high school boys as their unexpected friendship grows to become something that both characters deeply care for. Miyano and Sasaki attend an all-boys school; Miyano, a quiet to-himself fudanshi enjoys indulging in BL books, determined that he doesn't want to have a real life BL experience, whilst Sasaki, Miyano's Senpai/upper-classman, is a kindhearted delinquent who becomes intensely interested in Miyano after their first encounter. Their relationship blossoms when Sasaki finds himself borrowing Miyano's manga and sharing in Miyano's love and passion for BL stories.

"Despite all the hard stuff the protagonist went through, he resolved himself in a really cool way and moved through his burdens. I really liked that story." - Sasaki [about a manga Miyano lent him, but also foreshadowing their own journey]

Breaking the BL Tropes

Sasaki and Miyano has become one of my all time favourite mangas, and romance is a genre which I don't invest too much of my time into. The plot itself is very thin, following a basic journey of two high school students sharing precious time together and both realising, in their own times, how important the other is to them. The lack of depth and layers in the plot makes room for the voluminous character and relationship developments; complimenting each other in this slice of life world. A fun, fulfilling and wholesome journey. However, what makes Sasaki and Miyano stand out above so many BLs, and shojo manga in general, is the way it unapologetically rejects the toxic tropes of BL.

Like any shojo manga, you see the appearance of the usual beloved characters...

• Romantic interests 1&2: Sasaki and Miyano

• The wise beyond their age: Hanzawa (Chairman)

• The interferer: Hirano

• The comedic ditz: Tashiro

• The hopeless romantic: Kuresawa

... which bulks up the series with familiarity and fluff, whilst making us fall hopelessly in love with every single one of them, even if some of the characters can be horrendously implausible and borderline farce-like.

So what are some of the negative tropes we see pop up in too many BL/yaoi mangas?

Heteronormative Representations Even though BL, 'boy's love' is all about gay romance, when it comes to the design of the characters, there will always be the very masculine guy and a guy with a lot of femininity who is shown as being weaker, vulnerable, emotional and the "uke" of the couple.

[uke = character who is less dominant | seme = dominant half who takes control/lead]

Their physical designs too are a recapitulation of toxic masculinity and feminine hypersexuality but within a gay relationship. This reoccurring representation becomes tiresome and devalues the queer relationship with this unrealistic heterosexual influence.

Questionable Consent This is a trope that I find personally upsetting. In almost every BL I have read/watched it seems that sexual assault and harassment isn't a concern but a plot tool (because there isn't a female involved and because it's a man it's supposedly okay to molest?) and it makes it extremely uncomfortable to read. A prime example you see this in is Dakaichi: I'm being Harassed by the Sexiest Man of the Year where one character literally has non consensual sex with the protagonist and whilst this character is clearly traumatized by this event, and even after openly saying as much the incident is brushed under the carpet and allowed to continue until the protagonist ends up unable to live without him, and falling in love. Another series, The World's Greatest First Love beautifully depicts the idea of "questionable consent" as the uke character openly says "no" and "stop" to the seme, however the readers are fully aware that the uke actually likes it and secretly wants to be with the seme, which almost sugar coats the fact that it was verbally a non consensual intimate interaction.

Age gap

This is a surprising trope in BL, one that I haven't divulged into at all because it makes me extremely uncomfortable - now we're talking Junjou Romantica where the main characters age difference are 10 years, and Super Lovers where not only is the age gap of 8 years but it deals with the characters/lovers as adoptive brothers starting the series with the characters 8yo and 16yo and later 14yo and 22yo. Yes. Completely underage.

Sasaki and Miyano break all the above tropes in this beautiful series, making what I think is the biggest revolution in not only BL, but manga. Even though Miyano struggles with his "feminine features" (note - not femininity), a trait which initially attracts Sasaki to Miyano, this concept is further developed throughout the story so that Miyano not only overcomes this insecurity but Harusono explores the development of Miyano's masculinity and how Sasaki opens up to Miyano's fears and reassures him that "[he's] crazy about all of [him], not just [his] face". I just love how it feels like a slap in the face to that heterosexual trope.

Sasaki: "Maybe you will get taller than me. Maybe you won't look even a little bit like you do now, Mya-chan. But I'm pretty sure I'll still like you even if you do. So take as much time as you need to figure out your answer."

Their relationship is simply so wholesome and honest, no matter how much Sasaki wants to touch Miyano, to even just hug him or hold his hand he resists the temptation, giving reason that Miyano hasn't yet given him his answer to his confession. Not once are either of the characters cornered or forced into any situation that could be considered potentially non consensual. One part of the book that really stood out to me was when Miyano was lying at his desk, asleep, wearing a face mask and Sasaki is looking after him. Only the day before they had been discussing a cute scene in a BL they read where the characters kiss through a face mask...

Sasaki:"If it's over his mask... maybe he'd let me do it. What was it he said? That it was a classic trope? But I can't right? It'd definitely be the wrong move."

Even though there is only a mere year difference in their ages, Sasaki and Miyano journey through the challenges of being in a relationship with someone of a different age, such as Sasaki graduating and going to college before Miyano and how he would have a whole year at school without him. It's small and may seem insignificant, but to them, and in some respect relatable to many people, it was a big bridge they had to cross with their relationship. It not only makes for some brilliant empathetic moments but again did a fantastic job of both breaking and flipping off the uncomfortable, huge age-gap BL trope

My read

This series is heart warming with precious moments and a beautiful journey - it is simply a slice of life. The characters of Sasaki and Miyano are really refreshing as well, defying the conformity of their character-types and whilst they may appear to fall into that seme and uke BL relationship roles, when they interact with each other the clear-cut "allocations" become ambiguous and that distinct line is blurred, leaving you to question if there is a seme and uke in their relationship. Trust me, you will be asking that at the end, but only because Miyano is so invested in that topic!

Miyano's growth as a character and his found confidence is a breath of fresh air, and is one of my favourite things about the series. It's so wonderful to see moments when he chooses to make the first move, or to stand up for himself, and it's all thanks to the appearance of Sasaki in his life. Likewise, Miyano manages to break down Sasaki's walls, and what I find so brilliant about this is that unlike the moments that show Miyano's new confidence, that are precious and heartwarming, how Harusono shows Sasaki's walls breaking, is through comedic juxtaposing interactions with Miyano and Sasaki's friend Ogasawara where he'll snap at Ogasawara but speak gently with Miyano all within nearly one sentence.

"If this isn't love... then what is?" - Miyano

The lack of toxic BL tropes, the wonderful characters, wholesome moments and lack of intense intimate scenes made for one of the most enjoyable shojo manga reads ever and allowed for small shifts and developments between Sasaki and Miyano to be that more outstanding and powerful whilst also being immensely heart warming.

Just be very prepared for lots of fluff and badump moments.

If you enjoy this series I would suggest trying Given by Natsuki Kizu