A manga where space makes you gay has the LGBTQ+ community in tears
There have been some very wild scenarios that have played out in a setting where the straights are the oppressed ones, whereas the LGBTQ+ community reigns supreme. But we can’t lie: a manga about a society where space has made everyone gay, but follows the life of the one heterosexual woman who tearfully resents she’s in love with a guy, really does take the cake.
The manga in question is called My Secret Affection. It’s a 2021 manga from Fumi Mikami that’s recently been acquired by publishing group Seven Seas Entertainment, and from the get-go of its announcement, the LGBTQ+ community have been in tears. Mostly of laughter. It’s not hard to see why when the concept is that space has turned everyone living on Earth gay because space is just that powerful.
The full summary for My Secret Affection reads like so: “It’s been thirty years since meteorites from space turned everyone on the Earth gay. In a world where heterosexuality no longer exists, Takanashi Kazusa falls for her childhood friend Ayumu–a boy. Though she’s doing everything she can to act normal whenever they hang out, her love for Ayumu is growing stronger by the day. How much longer can she hide her secret feelings?”
As Autumn Wright from We Got This Covered explains, a few people do find the trope of ‘heterosexuality is banned, homosexuality reigns supreme’ more than a little offensive. After all, it’s a trope that is set up to try and make queer people empathize with heterosexuals because if there’s one thing the LGBTQ+ community knows about, it’s oppression at the hands of people who think you’re inhuman because of who you love. With that in mind, My Secret Affection is absolutely guilty of this trope.
However, it’s just so borderline ridiculous that to be mad at the manga would be a waste of energy. Something which, if the reception from the LGBTQ+ community is anything to go by, more than a handful of people seem to agree with.
That and come on, you can’t be mad when one of the first panels of this manga is the following.
Oh Kazusa, we’re sorry that you’re in a manga where gay meteorite from space hit Earth and you still ended up straight. We’re so, so sorry.
My Secret Affection Volume 1 will be available to purchase in January 2023 for both Print and Digital.
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