thebackcatalogue's reviews
18 reviews

Is Love the Answer? by Uta Isaki

Go to review page

medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Information
Genre: Contemporary-Drama
Demographic: Older Teen (16+)
Length: Standard (256 pages)
Content Advisory:
Moderate: Ace/Aro-phobia, Sexual Assault and Sexual Harrasment
Published by Kodansha in the US and available digitally and physically in comic shops and bookstores internationally.

Review
Received as an ARC from Netgalley and Kodansha
A poignant coming-of-age contemporary drama that is a celebration and affirmation of asexual and aromantic identities.
Is Love the Answer? is a coming-of-age contemporary drama about a young woman named Chika who after some disastrous experiences dating in high school - including sexual assault - decides to go to university in Tokyo to study psychology to understand "normal" humans. As an Autistic Ace Chika very much gives off Autistic Ace vibes - the author only confirms that Chika is Ace and X-Gender - because it is not just that Chika doesn't experience sexual and romantic attraction it is that she does not fundamentally understand the "normative" human experience even in comparison to other Asexuals depicted in the work. Social "rules" like "if a guy invites you over to his house of course he wants sex" - it goes without saying that this is wrong - which her peers seem to intrinsically understand Chika doesn't understand. Which leads to her feeling alienated from her peers.



In her desperation to understand what "Everyone says is 'Normal'" Chika decides to study psychology in Tokyo where she meets Professor Shinobu Ishii the author of her favourite book "The Dawn of Modern Psychology." Eventually moving in with her and her roommate Mitsuru Umezaki (Ume-chan) as she begins to explore and learn about her own Ace identity in a safe and affirming environment.
The work depicts multiple Aspec characters who are confirmed, questioning or ambiguous in the text. Professor Ishii is ace married to another Aspec professor Miya - this queerplatonic relationship is mutually beneficial even though they hold no romantic or sexual feelings for each other because of the legal protection it provides them to make decisions on each other’s behalf in case of emergencies. There is a die-hard Fujoshi who wants romance someday but not now who could be read as Fictosexual. And finally, Ume-chan whose ace identity isn't revealed later in the book gives Chika guidance as navigates her difficult emotions surrounding all this new information she is learning. Through Chika's interactions with aspec/arospec and allonormative characters, Chika begins to grow and understand her own Aspec identity better. Including a wonderful exploration of the fluidity of sexuality when Chika begins to feel confined by the label of Asexual feeling as though she doesn't meet all the checkboxes.

However, I will note that while I overall found the book a wonderful exploration of the Asexual and Aromantic spectrum it does at times feel like a book that is very much Ace/Aro Identities 101 for both Allosexual/Alloromantic people and those just discovering their own Ace or Aro identities. It is a perfect distils that information in a way that doesn't detract from the fictional story it is telling and is greatly affirming to new Aspec/Arospec people. However, if you are an Aspec/Arospec person with a very mature sense of their identity you might find this work a bit lacking.
Is Love the Answer? is a work that celebrates, explores, and affirms Aspec and Arospec identities with a heavy focus on discovering and understanding one's own identity. Beautifully written it is a work perfect for those wanting to learn about these identities. I highly recommend you pick up this work if you haven't already.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Mine-kun is Asexual by Uta Isaki

Go to review page

medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Information

Genre: Contemporary-Drama
Demographic: Adult (General)
Length: Short (45 pages)
Content Advisory:
Moderate: Ace/Aro-phobia
Note: Irodori Comics who publishes this work in English is an 18+ comics distributor purchasing this comic or accessing their site if you are under the age of 18 is against Irodori's terms of service.

Review
Mine-Kun is Asexual is the perfect companion piece to Is Love the Answer? While Is Love the Answer? focuses on exploring the asexual experience from an asexual person's point of view Mine-Kun is Asexual is about the difficulties of an Allosexual and an Asexual being in a relationship from the perspective of an Allosexual - Murai. It is one of the most compassionate works on the topic I have seen while acknowledging that these two people want different things in a relationship. The ultimate conclusion of this work is that two people can love each other and be compatible in other ways, but that doesn't make them the right people to be in a relationship together. Mine is simply unable to give Murai the type of love she needs and continuing the relationship would be selfish and ultimately harm them both.
Despite being such a short work Mine-Kun is Asexual acknowledges the complexities of an Allosexual / Asexual romantic dynamic, compassionately acknowledging at least for Murai and Mine-Kun their relationship was not meant to be. I highly recommend it if you adored Uta Isaki's Is Love the Answer? you pick this up afterwards.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong (Novel) Vol. 1 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Scum Villian’s Self Saving System (SVSSS) is an entertaining danmei1 that provides a meta-commentary on the Stallion2 genre. However, the readability of the English translation is brought down by simple translation mistakes and wording and sentence choices that are better suited to a direct Chinese translation than a smooth and comprehendible English translation.

Read the full review @ thebackcatalogue.substack.com
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Realm of the Blue Mist by Amy Kim Kibuishi

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The return of a much-beloved webcomic series from the mid-aughts in a brand new iteration. Rema is a portal fantasy adventure with a dash of mystery, following a loveable cast of characters. Perfect for fans of shojo fantasy.

Read the Full Review @ thebackcatalogue.substack.com
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Warrior by Stephen Aryan

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Unlike The Coward, whose bleakness has a thread of hope throughout, The Warrior brings our band of characters to their lowest points and breaks them with the inevitability and cruelty of their circumstances.

Read the Full Review @ thebackcatalogue.substack.com
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
To Strip the Flesh by Oto Toda

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

To Strip The Flesh is an evocative horror-driven short story collection. Of which the title story recounts the experiences of a transman coming out to his hunter father. It also includes the stories I Just Love My Fave, David in Love, Hot Watermelon, and a collection of two-page mangas done by the author during their time studying. Each story masterful showcases Oto Toda's skill in both the narrative and illustrative fields. Making Toda a name to look out for.

Read the Full Review @ thebackcatalogue.substack.com
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

Go to review page

emotional mysterious reflective tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This Is How You Lose The Time War is an “objectively” brilliant novel full of lush prose but often drags in places because of its slow-burn nature.

read the full review @ thebackcatalogue.substack.com
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti

Go to review page

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Across A Field of Starlight delivers a slow-burn romance and a brilliant deconstruction of the Empire vs. Rebels trope packed into a high-stakes sci-fi adventure.

Read the full review @ thebackcatalogue.substack.com
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Red: A History of the Redhead by Jacky Colliss Harvey

Go to review page

2.0

While starting strong, Red often uncritically repeats white supremacists, eugenics, racist, and sexist talking points. Harvey often co-opting narratives of oppression that don’t belong to her as a white woman in order to illustrate to the reader the “exotic” and “empowering” nature of redheads. — Full Review on thebackcatalogue.substack.com
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovern

Go to review page

Did not finish book. Stopped at 60%.
Bloodlust and Bonnets meanders through its plot failing to grab attention. With characters that fail to grow substantial and a plot that cycles around a single location. I gave up after 120 pages. — Full Review on thebackcatalogue.substack.com
Expand filter menu Content Warnings