I'm Kinda Chubby and I'm Your Hero

Boys love? There is nothing that remotely suggests that this is a boys love. Initially, I hoped this manga would not feed into particular stereotypes regarding chubby characters in media. However, hindsight is 20/20 and as the story progressed, I did realise that whilst it does reject maybe one stereotype, it does in fact feed into another. Honjirou’s character is essentially, maybe indirectly, centred around his weight. You see moments of self doubt and moments of insecurity because of said weight. It would have been nice if this was not a point that was acknowledged at all. It would have been nice to simply see thischaracter exist as they are and experience their world without having it pointed out, because we can already see it. That was definitely disappointing. Honjirou is extremely agreeable and soft. He is presented almost like a fluffy, harmless, cute character and writing falls back on the idea that a fat character must be timid, self doubting, or defined by how people perceive him. It reinforces the notion that fat people exist at the edge of the story, rarely taken seriously and rarely allowed to have emotional range without it being tied to shame or insecurity. It is as though the story avoids one cliché only to replace it with another. There is something about it that simply does not translate as well as it could have. I think the side characters were extremely underused and underdeveloped. I was extremely disappointed with the relationship between Yoshimura and Honjirou because initially they seem quite close, and you learn very quickly just how close they are from the little instances that occur. But the more Inari becomes part of the story, the less Yoshimura seems to matter, and he simply takes a back seat, which was very disappointing. This story does not read as boys love at all. It comes across as two people who are developing a budding friendship and supporting one another in their passions, which is absolutely fine. But now I question why it was labelled boys love when there was nothing remotely romantic suggested. Everything reads as entirely platonic to me as a reader. When I look at the dynamic forming between Honjirou and Inari, I find myself wondering if the tag was applied because their friendship has an emotional layer that some may associate with boys love, rather than allowing it to be presented as a simple platonic relationship. If that is the case, it is extremely disappointing, because as a reader I do not see how this relates to boys love in any shape or form. This could have been a good manga that celebrated and showed friendship between two men, and there is nothing wrong with that. Overall, the manga is a disappointing read. It is nothing to write home about. Some people will find it decent and some might find it more wholesome and enjoyable. Personally, it could have been better in so many ways. With a little more care in the writing, we could have had more perspective and insight into this male friendship.