KakaIru Love-Love Tuesdays -4-

Race, Gender and Static Shock

Static Shock is back on TV. You can catch it on Disney XD Monday-Thursdays. Since its return, there has been a slight resurgence of art and fanfics for the fandom. I've also seen the reappearance of my least favorite slash pairing in the series: Hotstreak/Richie. I don't typically care who people slash, but this pairing has always rubbed me the wrong way. A few years ago I got in a discussion with someone over at the Live Journal Static Shock community The Gas Station about Hotstreak/Richie. Five years later I still agree with our analysis on how race and gender played a role in the creation of this pairing.

There are people who don't agree with this. One girl who slashed the two teens wrote that she did so because she liked the whole bully/geek pair. She somehow ignored the fact that Virgil is a total geek. They both are. Virgil more so than Richie. Great proof of this is the fact that Richie was able to run a successful campaign for president at his school (elections are always about popularity and geeks rank low on the popularity chart). With that argument blown out of the water, what other reason is there to pair Richie up with a character he hardly comes in contact with? Because it's safe and comfortable.

If you grow up seeing white people with white people, black people with black people, and so on and so on, you're going to probably stick with this pattern, especially if you grew up in the white community. Don't believe this? Go to Amazon.com and type in interracial and be amazed by the amount of books about black females in relationships with white men. Although this doesn't in any way mirror reality (black females are very unlikely to date outside their ethnic group) it's done for the same reason you see so many stories about lower class females being swept off their feet by upperclassmen. It's all about climbing that ladder, and marrying white is about marrying up.

So how does this relate to Static slash? Because you're going to have people who subconsciously (or consciously) follow the stay with your own kind rule. So Static, who interacts with Hotstreak more, and shares many slashy moments with him gets passed over. But it's not because there's anything wrong with the him. Fanfics and fan art will have you believe Richie is just more desirable. There are many a story that have Virgil lament over his friend and the narration tends to paint him as this blue eyed wonder (even though his eyes are as black as Virgil's). In fan art Richie tends to make very feminine poses. And lets not forget he is the notorious uke of the Staticverse. Why is that? Doesn't this kill my whole theory about white people having power if Richie takes on a more feminine rule? No, in fact, it strengthens it.

I bet if you look through the Static Shock fan fiction you'll find Richie paired with a variety of people: Ebon, Shiv, Hotstreak and of course Virgil. Look again, and this time focus on who Virgil is paired with. I bet you're noticing his pickings are pretty sparse because again and again he's with Richie. Richie is valuable, so everybody wants him. This goes right along with what I stated above about "moving up". No, these fanfics are not about characters trying to make it, no romance overtly is. But, the fact that Richie is wanted more than his friend shows that he is worth more. This is how things work in the world. If everybody wants an item it because valuable. And Richie, it would seem, is quite valuable.

But what about him being an uke? Doesn't that downgrade his status? No. This also relates to the monetary system. In our society, women carry value. Although, this is an old system that is slowly deteriorating (depending on your location), it still remains with us to this day. Endowing Richie with female traits also endows him with value. And although, this is pretty much how I deem this to work in the majority of seme/uke relationship, it becomes even more complicated when you throw race into the mix. What you have in Static Shock is a bunch of minority characters longing for something better. Richie represents that something better. Even in the case of Hotstreak who comes off as a lower class white male. Despite the fact he's getting his butt pounded, obtaining Richie is obtaining the ability to move up a bit in the world. Ever play monopoly with someone outside your family and the way they play is completely different then how you usually play? Well, the same goes for slash. Although Richie's role as the effeminate uke would usually carry negative connotations with it, when you change the players to a different ethnic group the rules change. All of a sudden his role is elevated.

This is getting a bit long, and my allergies are killing me, so I think I'll break this up. Next time I want to focus on how black males fit into the seme/uke spectrum and then finish off with why I slash Hotstreak/Static and why more people should follow suit (other than the simple fact that it's super hot).

KakaIru Love-Love Tuesdays -3-

Hijacked!

It's KakaIru Love-Love Tuesdays! But oh noes, it seems Shinobu and his Australian friend from Junjou Romantica have taken their place! Those jerks! XD

Remember how I said I probably wouldn't have my Friday free? Well, that's exactly what happened. My freedom Friday turned into a work day. So I'm still playing catch up. But, there will be a little sketch up tonight of our two favorite gay ninjas. And to make myself accountable, if there isn't a sketch up by midnight tonight the first person to comment on this post after midnight can request a fanart from me, even a Hetalia one (oooooh). So, it's on!

Review: Blue Sky

Author: Yuko Kuwabara
Pages: 200
Price: $12.95
Publisher: June Manga
Summary from back cover: At the Seiran boys' dormitory, there is a prophecy: the Chief Resident Assistant ALWAYS becomes romantically involved with his roommate during senior year. Wanting a little excitement in his life, Chief R.A. Ryoichiro Kihara rigs the room selection process and picks the beautiful Kyosuke Yoshimi to be his roommate. After all, what better way to test the prophecy than to see if it can work its magic on the cold and aloof Yoshimi, aptly named the "Beautiful Prince of Ice". But Kihara has a nickname too--the "Prince of Warm Sunshine". Can warm, spring sunshine melt the heart of the Prince of Ice? Will the prophecy hold true? Find out in this extremely popular manga by Yuko Kuwabara.

Review: This manga doesn't have much going for it. It's built on very old foundation that has propelled many a story forward, but Blue Sky doesn't do anything to expand upon such a solid base.

The prophecy, which could have been something new and different, is nothing more than a gimmick to make the story seem as if it is interesting. In the first and second chapter "the prophecy" is thrown into conversations for no other reason than to trick you into believe the manga actually has some semblance of a plot. Because the prophecy is so meaningless the relationship between Kihara and Kyosuke is just as meaningless. They don't know why they like each other, but they do. I've always disliked when this is used in stories and it's no different with Blue Sky. Give me a reason! And you know what, reasons make the story better (gasp, no way)!

Aside from Kihara and Kyosuke there are two other couples. Although their story lines are slightly better they suffer from the same disease that plagued the main romance, unoriginality. For example: Kyosuke's older brother is in a relationship with a nurse who isn't sure if he's loved for who he is, or because he resembles Kyosuke. This is actually a plot that is used in all genres of manga. Also, the big brother is identical to the seme in the third couple, Kaga and the nurse is Kyosuke's clone (so you do have a reason to worry, nursy). The lack of variation in the physical attributes of the characters confused me on many occasions. There were many a time I had to read parts over because I couldn't place who was who.

And what is up with these aggressive seme's? I don't mind a little roughness, but a lot of this behavior is borderline rape, and not the BL type, more like the Hot Gimmick type (I don't care if you like Hot Gimmick, a lot of what went on in there was just wrong). And no, Kyosuke's older brother, saying this to your lover is not romantic no matter the situation: I waited three whole years to get you--That's right, I waited! When actually...Back in high school, there were many times I just wanted to push you down on the infirmary bed and have you right there! But I held back! What, you want a prize for doing exactly what you're suppose to do?! Come on...But seriously, that language sounds suspiciously like shoujo manga. In fact, there are many incidents where I felt like I was reading a shoujo. And I'm sorry, if I wanted shoujo, I would have read a shoujo.

There are two things I will admit to: Kyosuke's brother makes some really sexy expressions and the third couple (?) doesn't have as bad of a storyline as the other two. But sexy expressions and a couple with a semi okay plot cannot save this manga. Go read Our Kingdom instead. I'd even recommend Gakuen Heaven over this, and I'm not even a fan of that series. But there is so much wrong with this manga, I cannot readily recommend anyone purchase it.

Because this isn't so horrible that I'd curse its very existence it gets a:

He Blinded Me With Sparkly Love

The latest chapter of Hajime no Ippo is up at One Manga. Go. Read. Now. I don't want to spoil anything for you fans, so I'll keep my mouth shut. I will say I am quite happy with this chapter. Ippo finally verbalizes why he maintains his crazy obsession with Miyata. He even shows signs of being a masochist (read page 12). This chapter is also successful in killing whatever yaoi-ish thoughts the anime impressed upon me. I'm not saying you can't slash Ippo and Miyata. Please, do, have at it! But I can't because Ippo's love, in my opinion, is too pure. I just can't see him ever crossing over to the land of sex with Miyata. But Sendo/Ippo, now that's something I can work with.

Also, sorry for the lack of updates. Right now there's a loll in my school work, so hopefully they will become a bit more frequent. I need to make up for all the KakaIru Love-Love Tuesdays I missed. If this Friday remains free (and with my current luck that is doubtful) I'll be able to catch up.

Catchin' up

So, it's been a few weeks since I've been able to update (yay, for midterms). A couple of things have happened in the world of BL since then.

First, DMP has launched a new line called Doki Doki which seems to be a mishmash of BL and shoujo. I like to call it transition manga. Those manga you read when you're between the ages of 13-17. Before you move onto josei and more mature BL. I'm hoping soft titles such as Sea View will be the type of manga published under this label.

Second, in Deux's most recent newsletter they announced a new contest for the month of March: For this month, we would like fans to submit a wallpaper, static banner, flash banner or original art of any of our feature titles. Submissions would be judged on creativity and design. The prize would be advance copies of our March release titles. Not having to purchase Future Lovers vol. 2 sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. I think I might submit something.

Right Stuf is currently having a sale on all TokyoPop titles, including their BLU line. This will be a great time to snatch up great titles such as Tea for Two and Love Pistols (I'll never get use to calling it anything other than Sex Pistols).

For something yaoi-ish, someone in the KakaIru community on livejournal linked to a page that Halco stored some of her more naughty KakaIru pics. Go here to check 'em out. Please respect the artist wishes and don't post them anywhere without her permission.

Lastly, I'm just gonna pimp a little comic I've been following over at Y! Gallery. It's called Do Aliens Dream of Green Sheep and it's a real cute story about a man receiving a little help in love from a very interesting source. Be sure to rummage through the rest of Ealynn's gallery because her art is fantastic.

Matt and Adan from the "Do Aliens Dream..." series.

See ya guys tomorrow (hopefully)!

March 2009 BL Manga Releases

Title: Hey! Class President vol. 1
Creator: Kaori Monchi
Publisher: 801 Media, Inc.
Pages: 176
Price: 15.95

Title: Future Lovers vol. 2
Creator: Saika Kunieda
Publisher: Deux Press
Pages: 192
Price: 12.95

Title: Naughty But Nice
Creator: Naduki Koujima
Publisher: Deux Press
Pages: 176
Price: 12.95

Title: Cut
Creator: Toko Kawai
Publisher: June Manga
Pages: 200
Price: 12.95

Title: Manhattan Love Story
Creator: Momoko Tenzen
Publisher: June Manga
Pages: 200
Price: 12.95

Title: Our Kingdom vol. 6
Creator: Naduki Koujima
Publisher: June Manga
Pages: 200
Price: 12.95