You're most welcome! Thanks for responding in like turn with a thoughtful response! :D
Actually, I would argue that those gay characteristics stem from the extensive history of flourishing homosexuality under samurai rule. I actually did my Honors research in how samurai traditions and practices of homosexuality influence current depictions of BL in modern anime and manga. :)
I see a lot of Kubo in Uryuu, but I have never heard of Kubo referencing himself as heterosexual nor as disliking BL ever, and in fact, every time I read an interview or discussion, he seemed to be leaning more toward homosexual. Where had you heard that? I have read a fair amount of interviews, looked extensively for any discussion of Kubo being heterosexual or involved with a woman, and the way he portrays his characters leads me to think very differently. In my personal opinion, there is no way his character Yumichika could be interpreted as anything but a BL character and I consider Bleach to be literally teeming with BL from the very beginning. Even if Kubo had said something to that affect, though I still don't trust many of the sources that appear (Wikipedia least of all), whereas I have previously watched Kishimoto's words be twisted and taken out of context, I have witnessed plenty of comments of that caliber made when the person saying them was in a denial of sorts. If he had said those things, there was intense reason for speculation. Given what I've read, there's more than speculation. XD
I know what you mean--I feel that way about some pairings as well, in that I see where they come from even if they don't float my boat, but I still can't see Orihime and Uryuu as more than a platonic friendship. All of the caring and concern makes for a beautiful friendship, but I find a very different variety of concern is shown for Ichigo, one that tends to illicit more intense and often barely disguised tender moments. ^__~ Actually, he says he still hasn't discovered what he wants to protect after he has protected Orihime, so I find a more powerful argument that he wants to stand by Ichigo's side and protect him, somewhat akin to Chad. I actually put Tatsuki with Orihime because I think it makes more sense than any of the couplings, particularly Tatsuki's combination of what Orihime needs and what she wants (Tatsuki is a lot like Ichigo).
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Date: 2007-04-21 05:42 pm (UTC)Actually, I would argue that those gay characteristics stem from the extensive history of flourishing homosexuality under samurai rule. I actually did my Honors research in how samurai traditions and practices of homosexuality influence current depictions of BL in modern anime and manga. :)
I see a lot of Kubo in Uryuu, but I have never heard of Kubo referencing himself as heterosexual nor as disliking BL ever, and in fact, every time I read an interview or discussion, he seemed to be leaning more toward homosexual. Where had you heard that? I have read a fair amount of interviews, looked extensively for any discussion of Kubo being heterosexual or involved with a woman, and the way he portrays his characters leads me to think very differently. In my personal opinion, there is no way his character Yumichika could be interpreted as anything but a BL character and I consider Bleach to be literally teeming with BL from the very beginning. Even if Kubo had said something to that affect, though I still don't trust many of the sources that appear (Wikipedia least of all), whereas I have previously watched Kishimoto's words be twisted and taken out of context, I have witnessed plenty of comments of that caliber made when the person saying them was in a denial of sorts. If he had said those things, there was intense reason for speculation. Given what I've read, there's more than speculation. XD
I know what you mean--I feel that way about some pairings as well, in that I see where they come from even if they don't float my boat, but I still can't see Orihime and Uryuu as more than a platonic friendship. All of the caring and concern makes for a beautiful friendship, but I find a very different variety of concern is shown for Ichigo, one that tends to illicit more intense and often barely disguised tender moments. ^__~ Actually, he says he still hasn't discovered what he wants to protect after he has protected Orihime, so I find a more powerful argument that he wants to stand by Ichigo's side and protect him, somewhat akin to Chad. I actually put Tatsuki with Orihime because I think it makes more sense than any of the couplings, particularly Tatsuki's combination of what Orihime needs and what she wants (Tatsuki is a lot like Ichigo).