A Mysterious Place: Haruka/Kantarou [tactics]

[nekokoban]

Title: A Mysterious Place
Author: WhiteCat (nekokoban)
Pairing: Haruka/Kantarou
Spoilers: Throughout the anime and the manga
Notes: Screencaps provided by sjen♥ I am wibbly LIEK WHOA for this pairing, so much thanks for harukami for bullying me till I broke down and watched the series. XD

i. Introduction



Tactics is an ongoing series by Kinoshita Sakura and Higashiyama Kazuko, with a twenty-five episode anime and a handful of dramas to add to the universe. It's the story of Ichinomiya Kantarou (human), Haruka (tengu), and Youko (kitsune "youko") and their wacky misadventures -- most of which center around Haruka's past, and the relationship that should/should not exist between humans and youkai.

In essence, any youkai named by a human becomes beholden to that human, forced to do anything that's made into a direct command with the use of that name [and, we've seen in later chapters, to the eventual deterioriation of the youkai's health/power]. Since I tend to always fall in the gray area between anime and manga for any series I follow, SPOILERS abound for all episodes of the anime and all seven volumes of the manga [quotes come from the manga, by the by, 'cos that's easier for me to reference].

--Ichinomiya Kantarou--
"What you see is a man who became strong by learning to live alone."



First and formost, Kantarou is a brat. Bullied as a child both for the color of his eyes and his love of youkai -- and the subsequent inability to stop talking about them -- he compensated by growing up to become, on the surface, sly, self-serving, and lazy; he would far rather slack on his legitimate job (writing articles on folklore) to go to meet new and interesting youkai. Injured by an oni sometime in his youth before he met Haruka, the scar still pains him whenever he gets near an oni -- a stabbing pain at first, which continuously gets worse the longer he's around the oni. Despite that, though, he's a great fan of all youkai, and is a self-claimed "champion" for their cause.

Kantarou is certainly not above using others for his own monetary gain, and a coward -- he would rather run away from confrontation and anticipated emotional pain than face up to it, and accepts the blame and anger from others without argument. On the flip side, however, he's a very kind person who's willing to sacrifice a lot to help others. There's usually at least one or two aces up his sleeve and he rarely does anything without ulterior motives, both selfless and selfish.

--Haruka--
"Who I am now is not who I was long ago."



The legendary tengu that is "oni yori haruka ni tsuyoi" -- far stronger than any oni, the strongest of all youkai; most of his fellows seem to instinctively recognize his power and fear him. He appears as a man in his mid-twenties (though it's been stated he's over a thousand years old), and was sealed away at some unknown point before the series began, eventually found, freed, and bound by Kantarou.

Aloof and proud, Haruka is initially disdainful of his life as a named youkai, annoyed by Kantarou's attitude and flippancy. He almost seems like your tpical boring stoic -- deadpan in voice and face and always a little dismissive of those around him. But he's got a bird's weakness for shiny objects (he's got a whole collection of glass treasures) and a battered rice bowl that he loves dearly, and he's not above using his good looks to get food or information out of ladies smitten by him. It's better to say that he's the "straight man" of the trio of the thre main characters most of the time -- though he's got his spazzy moments too.

The more "human" aspect of Haruka's nature is kind to those he cares for, though often clumsy in expressing his feelings -- he tolerates Youko's mothering (and bullying) with tolerant grace, eventually warms up to Kantarou's advances of friendship, and displays random acts of kindness to the numerous little girls who develop crushes on him. Contrasted to the Oni-Eating Tengu, wild and out of control, existing mostly -- if not only -- for the fight and the kill, Haruka is a character in flux, though recently he has accepted his existence as "Haruka" over the Oni-Eater.

ii. Canon/Subtext

When you get right down to it, tactics is a story about relationships -- ultimately, it's about the bonds that tie humans and youkai together, and how it affects both sides of the equation. "Humans and youkai aren't meant to be partners" is a common phrase in the series, but despite this, Kantarou manages to maintain a (mostly) peaceful and happy lifestyle with his two youkai companions.

From earliest childhood, estimated five or six, Kantarou has admired and searched for the Oni-Eating Tengu; from the first time he hears about this legendary tengu, it becomes his life obsession to find and unseal the Oni-Eater -- a task he ultimately succeeds in, not because of strength of will or spell, but by the simple expenditure of *naming* him "Haruka." Upon their first meeting, Haruka tells Kantarou to be honored to be the one to break the seal; Kantarou, on the other hand, is entirely overwhelmed by a dream come true. "I've always admired you," he says. "I thought if I met you, I could become strong as well ... I'm so happy to meet you, Haruka!"



We know Kantarou is also pleasantly surprised at how handsome Haruka actually is -- after seeing Haruka dressed in modern clothes for the first time, he comments, "I thought, since you ate oni, you would look a little more monstrous, but ... that's not the case at all!" (Of course, then he goes on to decide that the kanji for Haruka's name will be, literally, "Spring Flowers," but that's just another example of Kantarou being bratty.) It's obvious that the childhood admiration hasn't been damaged by meeting the real thing; if anything, Kantarou's hero-worship has grown into genuine fondness and regard for Haruka as a person (youkai) versus an ideal.

When a job takes Haruka and Kantarou to Kantarou's old hometown, Kantarou insists on going all over the place and sightseeing with Haruka, who eventually gets fed up and asks why. Kantarou tells him he's always admired the strength of the Oni-Eating Tengu, and now that he has the chance, he wants to go walking around the city with Haruka, like a dream come true. When they encounter Kantarou's old childhood friend (Yakko in the manga, name lengthened to Yumeyakko in the anime), she ends up asking Haruka directly if he's the Oni-Eating Tengu.

"Because I saw him so happily emotionally attatched to you ... I thought that [you were the Oni-Eating Tengu], somehow. 'Did the Oni-Eating Tengu really appear before that boy?' or something."

The last place Kantarou takes Haruka, before leaving his hometown, is a tiny crude shrine, hidden in the forest. "It's a shrine to the Oni-Eating Tengu," he says. "I built it when I was little. Every day I would come down here and talk to you."

Haruka, looking away, tells Kantarou that the rock he was sealed in was narrow and he couldn't move very easily in it ... so a place like that would probably have suited him (much to Kantarou's amusement). It's the first admission of many where we begin to see that Haruka is more bemused by his master than harboring any outright distaste for him; when Sugino (another tengu and an old friend of Haruka's) tries to tell Kantarou that naming a youkai will hurt Haruka, Haruka simply shrugs and looks away, saying that he's grown a little fond of "it" (whether it's the name or Kantarou himself is uncertain), so he doesn't mind.

As the series progresses, we see the friendship between Haruka and Kantarou deepen; in volume four of the manga (which episode 12 of the anime follows to an extent, with some details changed), while moonwatching and drinking sake, Kantarou asks Haruka if he's ever fallen in love with a human.

Haruka: "All of a sudden ... why?"
Kantarou: "Hm? Haruka never says anything ... so I thought I'd ask."

Haruka goes on to say how humans and youkai aren't compatible (an idea that gets repeated often during the series by different characters); they have different values and lifespans, and the gap between them is too wide. He then goes on to ask why Kantarou is so attatched to him -- after all, he's very changed from the famous Oni-Eating Tengu that Kantarou has alwasy read about. "I am not who I used to be."

Kantarou doesn't seem put off by this. "I don't really know a reason. The past and the present, they don't mean anything to me. Haruka is my friend. Naturally I thought I would want to be friends and get along. Right?"

Haruka seems more pensive about this than anything else, and announces he's going for a walk.

Kantarou: "Did I make you angry?"
Haruka: "No. Who I am now ... I may be relying too much on you."

After he leaves, Kantarou looks down at a feather that has fallen into his sake, and simply says, "Haruka, you're my hope."

It's in this story that the major villains of the series appear -- Ibaragi Douji, an oni, and Minamoto Raikou, an exorcist with ties to the government (and implied to be descended from the Japanese folkhero, Minamotono Yorimitsu -- same exact kanji for the name), both of whom want Haruka's name-contract ended and the Oni-Eating Tengu destroyed. It's the first time we see Kantarou have a chance to protect Haruka; when Haruka is suffering from from the effects of Ibaragi's poisons (in the anime, it's roses with a property that weakens powerful youkai; in the manga, he's being injected with over 250mg of heroin), it's the first time Kantarou comes close to genuinely angry, all on Haruka's behalf.



In the anime, Kantarou bodily throw himself in the way of a cannon shot meant to destroy Haruka, just barely protecting himself with ofuda in time (which prompts a scene where Haruka cradles him and instructs Kantarou to rest, as he, Haruka, will take care of things from thereon); later, he swears he will protect Haruka, which eventually leads to one of the schmoopiest moments of the anime -- characters peeking in see that Kantarou has fallen asleep on top of Haruka, the two of them resting peacefully.



Haruka, as mentioned before, is highly popular with women; of all the girls in the series, though, the one he becomes closest to is Yuri, an assistant and in-training musume-gidayuu (a female theater performer who dresses in masculine clothing and performs a story in song, usually accompanying herself with a shamisen). Regardless, in both versions of the story, she's quickly eliminated as a long-term love interest: in the anime, she's reduced to an amnesiac, almost vegetative; in the manga, she tells Haruka she doesn't like oblivious men when he tries to suggest that her feelings for him were made up, planted by Ibaragi (who was using her as a pawn to try and awaken Haruka's nature as the Oni-Eating Tengu).

At this point, the two versions diverge strongest of all; the anime goes on to conclude, while the manga remains ongoing. So in breakdown:

-Anime-

What we see is Haruka's slow breakdown. Through Ibaragi's machinations, he's slowly losing grips on himself as "Haruka," and falling more into the wilder, more primal unpredictability. While the other characters are playing a game about exploring the Makai, the "demon world," certain phrases start affecting him very strongly: a friend you were traveling with turned out to be an enemy -- you've lost something precious to you -- you've broken something precious to you with your own hands. He ends up fighting and uncomfortable with Kantarou, slowly pulling away in spite of Kantarou's attempts to patch up their splintering friendship.

It's later, though, while investigating a house where people simply disappeared, that things start coming to a head. As Kantarou is facing off the oni they believe to be responsible, Haruka stares hard at his back, seeing images of someone who looks remarkably like him, and reaches for Kantarou's turned back, his talons bared, when he remembers a line from before -- you've broken something precious to you with your own hands.

Eventually, though, it comes down to Raikou using coercion to get Kantarou to break the name-contract. He points out that Kantarou has acknowledged how the name bond hurts Haruka, repressing his memories and limiting his power. "You like the Oni-Eater, don't you?" Raikou asks (notably, he actually uses "suki" -- like/love -- rather than "akogare" -- admiration -- the latter of which is what Kantarou has always used), telling Kantarou that to be kind, to do what's best for Haruka, he must break the contract. In the end, though, Kantarou refuses. Haruka is someone he's always admired, someone he's been very happy to live with, someone whom he thought would make him stronger as well, but -- "admiration is just admiration, and a dream is just a dream." Point-blank, Kantarou says that Haruka is his most important person, and the implication comes that he's willing to die, making the name-contract permanent, rather than breaking it and giving Raikou free reign to try and kill Haruka.

Blah blah blah exposition, and Haruka, returned to his senses, tells Kantarou he has realized "what happened back then," and flies away, back to the shrine where he was originally sealed. After six months and other outside circumstances, Kantarou finally faces up to his own cowardice -- afraid of confrontation with Haruka, he avoids the situation and throws himself into his work as a distraction. Acknowledging this finally, he goes back to confront Haruka again; here, we see that it was Kantarou's ancestor who originally sealed Haruka away; however, Kantarou says, he couldn't resist his feelings towards Haruka (literally, this is the phrase) and continued to seek him out.

Haruka, for his part, acknowledges that nothing living is perfect -- not even himself, as the Oni-Eating Tengu and the intrinsic pride of his race. He also says that he may try to kill Kantarou again when the rest of his memories return, but if Kantarou can accept this, Haruka will return to his side. Kantarou readily agrees, and the last scenes are of a daily happy life ... while in the background, Raikou and Ibaragi are still working on their plans, which means the anime is left WIDE OPEN for a sequel and if I'm allowed a moment of fangirl squee IF THEY ANIMATE THE TSUGUMI STORY I WILL BE V. V. HAPPY INDEED.



... anyway. Manga! Most of the extra developments are about Haruka's past and Raikou's motives, including the introduction of the person who was Haruka's former master. (A woman by the name of "Fuji." It's heavily implied that she was at least using Haruka for her own personal comfort -- she's ordered him to at least kiss her -- and Sugino highly disapproves of her, going as far as to admit that Kantarou isn't as bad as she was.) In the very most recently-completed story, though, trouble in paradise a bad argument between Haruka and Kantarou, all related to what Haruka won't tell Kantarou about what happened when he came home one rainy day and told Kantarou to not touch him, because he was "dirty." (In summary: Haruka had a bad flashback and Raikou's younger sister, Ayame -- who apparently looks exactly like Fuji -- came upon him; Haruka, in his confusion, kisses her to shut her up, angrily demanding ISN'T THIS WHAT SHE ALWAYS TELLS HIM TO DO? Yeah.)

Before that, we get little hints that Haruka is really settling into his life as a bound youkai; when a group of villagers start marveling at the color of Kantarou's eyes (which obviously has bad memories for him), Haruka manifests his wings to distract them and gives Kantarou a chance to recover; later, while Kantarou is trying to thank him, Haruka tells him he doesn't hate the color of Kantarou's eyes (his own roundabout way of saying he likes them): "They remind me of marbles [remember Haruka's love of shiny things]. It's enviable."

Then comes the fight, where the two of them remain estranged for pretty much the rest of the story; it's only at the end, when Raikou appears to make his move, that they reconcile. The entire chapter, another named (and obviously weak/ill) youkai has been trying to convince Haruka to make up with Kantarou so he can request for his name to be removed -- her own physical troubles, she tells him, stem from his name, and it would be pitiful indeed if the great Oni-Eater was reduced to her state. At the confrontation with the enemy, though, Haruka says, with a look of calm acceptance, that Kantarou is his master, and until Kantarou breaks the name-contract of his own free will, he will be Haruka's master, and even if he can never be the Oni-Eater again, even if his powers are eroded by the name, he's become comfortable with who he is. (The look on Kantarou's face is priceless.)

iii. Metatasticness whut

Generally speaking, I'm a gigantic sucker for lighter-hearted pairings -- and despite all the issues that have popped up with Haruka's past and the nature of a human-youkai relationship, Haruka and Kantarou are pretty damn dorky together. The stoic who's secretly a spazz and the brat who's actually very thoughtful are character archetypes from other series that I've pinged on before, and these two are no exception.

I like a pairing where characters obviously balance out each other, both in personality and strengts/weaknesses -- certainly of the two, Haruka is the more powerful, but Kantarou is no weakling either, and more than capable of protecting himself and Haruka. There is no doubting that they care for each other very much, in spite of the troubles caused by the gulf between human and youkai, and their conflicting "main" personalities -- whether you see it as romantic or not, it's obvious they DO love each other, which is what appeals to me in the end (my other great fandom OTP is Ban/Ginji, from GetBackers, haha).

... there is also, I confess, a lot of fun in playing the "How many Signifigant Looks can they give each other this episode?" game; whether this means I'm an obsessed fangirl or not, they are certainly, in my mind, very close to canon.

iv. Playing the Rec Game

Sadly, tactics is a woefully small fandom -- it's probably the smallest one I've ever participated in. There's not much in the way of fanstuff, and what IS out there is rather slim pickings. Still, there are a few places to go to find like-minded fans:

- love_tactics = the general tactics comm, but most of the LJ-based fans seem to pass through here, and a lot of them are, at least on the surface, HaruKan fans
- _harukan = the actual Haruka/Kantarou fan community, but is sort of close to dead.
- titanium BERT = website of the two creators. Includes a few cute extra sketches and profiles.
- tactics search = for those of you who can navigate Japanese, a fan search engine split into various categories. (One of the upsides to animanga fandoms is that, if you know where to look, you can usually find one of these sorts of sites, which make great launchpads for surfing♥)

There's also a section on FF.net, but, er. I pretty much occasionally go there, dump my own fic in my account, and then run far away. XD; For fic, one can check the first comm listed especially. (The problem with reccing stuff in a fandom comes when you've written most of what you've found out there and your best friend has written the other majority, most at your request. XD;)

Comments

[qem_chibati]

Heeeeeeeeeeeee!~

*waves* Another tactics fan here. =D

Interesting info provided for the pairing, and some of the general tone I kind of disagreed with there is a lot of interesting points drawn across.

-- whether you see it as romantic or not, it's obvious they DO love each other
So true!

LOL, but Fuji must of been pretty bad for Sugino, to prefer Kantaro over her. o.o;

I haven't read the manga unfortunately though. =/

[nekokoban]

Oooo, another tactics fan! Those are always nice to see. :D

I'm not sure what you mean about disagreeing with my general tone (did I come off as sounding too snide? I hope not D:), but hey! Yay for arguing points. XD

And, hmm -- at the beginning of volume 7, Haruka and Sugino have a brief conversation about Fuji (Haruka is wondering what her fate was, since apparently he was sealed before she died?), and Sugino pretty much gripes about how it's better this way, she was no good; it basically boils down to "AND GOOD RIDDANCE even Kantarou is better than she is NO I DID NOT JUST SAY THAT"

The manga is fun! :D I am not a huge fan of the ADV translations, but there's a lot more humor, which I like, and the plot, I feel, is better-managed.

[qem_chibati]

Oh no, you weren't snide at all. Just there were a couple of things that didn't quite ring true for me. Mostly just opinion stuff, which is always going to be open to interpretation.

XD Oh *heart* Sugino, he's always just such an amusing character to watch.

Curious is Kantaro's ancestor that sealed Haruka in the anime, mentioned in the manga?

I'll try to keep an eye out for the manga then. =D

[nekokoban]

Oh, good! I was really worried I'd come off as annoying or something in the writing, which made me go D: D: D: a lot in my head. XD;

Sugino's hilarious -- it's wonderful when he realizes what he's just said (that Kantarou may not be so bad), and immediately tries to backpedal. XD Haruka seems vaguely surprised by it, too. XD

However, so far, there's been no mention of who or what sealed Haruka -- we don't even know if it actually WAS Kantarou's ancestor who sealed him in the manga. I would have been inclined to say Fuji did it, but given how damn possessive she apparently was, it could have gone either way, with either you're mind and no one else can have you or I will never seal you away so someone else did it.

♥

[inarticulate.livejournal.com]

This is so, so awesome. ♥ Thank you so much for writing this! I only meant to skim and ended up reading the WHOLE THING what why is this so beautiful.

And your summary of the Fuji thing clears up some questions I had about my shoddy translation (somehow, I hadn't caught that she was his former master, so I was kind of like, oh, she used to know him okay what?), and OUCH.

HEARTS FOR YOU! ♥ ♥!

[infected-wound.livejournal.com]

ANIMAL X! *cheers* Um...

*worships nekokoban* ... No.. fanart.. goodies? D: No mention of.. Muu-chan? D:

[nekokoban]

Well, I did link to the Japanese fan search engine, which does have a lot of fanart links? XD; And if I'd mentioned Muu-chan, I'm fairly certain this essay would've gone a lot longer as I attempted to explain her in a few hundred words or less. XD;

[infected-wound.livejournal.com]

*rocks back and forth* Muu-chan D: I demand Muu-chan love! lol...

.....wouldn't it be funny if Kantarou got mpregged :D?//random thought 8D

[nekokoban]

XD;; Actually, mpreg is one of my big squicks, and I avoid it like the plague. XD;;;;; I feel that if you're wanting to go as far as to have a children!AU, you might as well go fullout to genderswitch. XD;

[infected-wound.livejournal.com]

Well, while I'm a big... err.. fan of that, I actually like it more for the "OMGWTF" expression they end up with.. *giggles*

"Haruka, I am NOT pregnant T_T. I just.. ate.. too much."

".....we had -bleep-"

"I'm a man. T_T"

"I'm youkai."

"......T_T Unless you introduce me to a special.. part in your body that would ALLOW me to.. be pregnant, then...T_T"

"...."

[nekokoban]

No, I seriously meant that it SQUICKS me, so I don't even find it funny. ^^;;;;; Sorry.

[infected-wound.livejournal.com]

*patpats you* >_> I think I'll just bug you to drop Watari into the tactics universe now :O ....;-;

Or give me more muu-chan love D:

[nekokoban]

Awwww, I'm glad you took the time to read it~ I didn't mean for it to go overly long, but then I couldn't shut up. XD

Yeah -- I THINK it's Edwards who first mentions her in such a context, but Watanabe also talks about the person who was Haruka's master before Kantarou, which Haruka very quickly dimisses.

♥♥~!

[inarticulate.livejournal.com]

This ISN'T long, though, by my standards, I was just planning to save it for later. ♥ I'm bad at delayed gratification or something.

Oh, Watanabe! I need to reread that now that I understand the grammar he uses, don't I? XD But I finally got to read the "Tadaima"/"Okaeri" scene, so I am a happy puddle of fangirl goo.

...I also need to rewatch the anime, because I totally forgot the scene where Kantarou protects Haruka and there are hugs, though how I did that, I have no idea.

[nekokoban]

... nothing wrong with that! I loves me some instant gratification. XD

Watanabe, unfortunately, is REALLY FREAKING HARD for me to translate, for the opposite reason Ban (of GetBackers) is -- Ban uses slang and weird phrases and bad language liek whoa; Watanabe is KEIGO KEIGO KEIGO military/servant of a noble house stiff politeness. He calls Haruka "Onikui-dono," which always made me laugh. XD And YES, the "Okaeri"/"Tadaima" scene was darling♥

.... pssst: episode 13. EPISODE 13. :O

[koyuki]

Oh yay you finished. *totally hearts you and hates you at the same time* That means I wouldn't get to do the manifesto. But you did an awesome job on it anyway, so I totally love you for it.

Overall, I liked how you picked out all the most important stuff, instead of going through absolutely everything, because there is just way to much stuff in every episode. I probably would've mentioned some other things, but this isn't my manifesto so I'll shut up.

"You like the Oni-Eater, don't you?" Raikou asks (notably, he actually uses "suki" -- like/love -- rather than "akogare" -- admiration -- the latter of which is what Kantarou has always used), telling Kantarou that to be kind, to do what's best for Haruka, he must break the contract.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who picked up on that. ^^; But it was like BLATANTLY obvious.

According to animetime,
suki - liking, fondness, love

Essentially, it can be interrupted as the word "love" as well. The word love in Japanese isn't actually all the commonly used, usually only between married couples, so when you use "suki" it can be interupted either way.

As for your essential interrupation of their canonness, they are canon. No, they aren't a couple, but their relationship is wholly very canon. I think there's hope for them yet. You didn't mention the doujin...

the actual Haruka/Kantarou fan community, but is sort of close to dead.

You make me sad. XD; I know it's dead, and it's partially my fault, but I'll do something about it someday.... like, today. *coughs*

[nekokoban]

Eheh~♥ Glad you liked it! I originally had been a lot more detailed and nitpicky over tiny details, then went back and rewrote stuff to be a little more concise. XD Unfortunately, I really rushed through the second half because I'd procrastinated writing that until about a week ago and hit midterms at school. ^^;

Essentially, it can be interrupted as the word "love" as well. The word love in Japanese isn't actually all the commonly used, usually only between married couples, so when you use "suki" it can be interupted either way.

Er, I knew that? ^^; It's pretty damn obvious that Raikou was implying that Kantarou's feelings for Haruka are a lot more than they SHOULD be, in simple terms of the human/youkai name-bond.

And see, I don't think they ARE canon, because they haven't actually hooked up yet; when I think of a canon pairing, I think of one that is one acknowledged by characters in canon that they're hooked up; you could argue that's what Sugino and Raikou have been doing, with the whole "youkai and humans can't be together" thing, but there's still no actual in-canon stuff, so I think they're essentially canon, but not actually canon, if that makes sense? I HOPE they'll end up actually canon, but I still reserve judgement.

As for the douj, I didn't mention it because I've actually never seen/read it, so I couldn't comment on what was in it -- I was trying to go for more easily-accessible sources. ^^

[ontogenesis.livejournal.com]

I really liked this essay (nice pic selection too.) It was good, and I shall use it as the definite HaruKan reference material.

[nekokoban]

Ah, thank you~ :D I dunno about a definite source, but I'm glad it was readable~ XD And the screencaps are all thanks to sjen; I just ganked some from her review of tactics she did back in June. XD

[karmazoo.livejournal.com]

I'm new to the fandom, so I actually learned some things from this! Great job, very accurate and informative. And pretty darn unbiased for someone claiming to be an obsessed fangirl. XD

I was glad to find HaruKan on here!! Thanks!

[nekokoban]

[laughs] I'm MUCH worse if you actually get me in a one-on-one fangirling session. XD When I got v7 of the manga, I went into total mad fangirl squee♥

Glad you liked it~ (Welcome to the fandom♥)

[fizzyopolis.livejournal.com]

Late to the party - nice essay though. >w< I'm pretty new to this fandom, and I haven't read a whole lot, but I was hit by the possibility and decided to see if there was a manifesto to give me a starting point. Nice job!

Also, I found this on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactics_%28manga%29#D.C5.8Djinshi

as it's from wikipedia, I have small doubts, but if that's the truth, then apparently the creators agree with the fans? xD

[nekokoban]

Oh yes, the doujinshi. XD I actually have scans for "Love Sick," and I own "El Principe," though I obtained both after writing this manifesto. I love when mangaka provide us canon!noncanon. Actually, Higashiyama Kazuko has at least four outright BL volumes to her name, with a fifth-in-progress (two are standalone; the rest are loosely connected via characters), so she certainly has no real qualms about that!

[kencana-kencana.livejournal.com]

I also love Kantarou/Haruka