Jump to content

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness


Shiroe

Recommended Posts

I don't think I've seen a thread on this manga yet, which is a shame because it's easily one of my favorite manga of all time. Hopefully I can hear your thought about it, or I can convince you to read it.

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness is a somber, yet lighthearted take on the self-destructive nature of depression and isolation. Because the main character feels obligated to be a better person, she's pushed into these negative habits that hurt her regularly. We follow her journey of her desperately trying to become a better person, feeling vulernable and fragile every step of the way.

I found this book to be very relatable, even though I'm a straight male. I wanted to hug the main character and let her know everything was going to be okay, but I also accepted that these ways of thinking are toxic for the both of us. I don't cry when I watch movies/shows, but this manga got me because of how much it personally appealed to me.

Hopefully I have let you guys discover something special if you haven't read it yet.

Edited by Kinbaryu
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

As a queer person, I don't like how a lot of our queer media is focused on the struggle of being queer. Everyone has there thing, but you can be queer and live a normal life without major traumatic events related to being queer. I looked MLEwL up, and I question if it's so acclaimed because it's actually good, or if people are too into the struggle to want to enjoy happy LGBTQ stories. Or, stories with LGBTQ characters that aren't emotional shifted on being LGBTQ at all.

  • Dislike 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, Hebiyoujo said:

As a queer person, I don't like how a lot of our queer media is focused on the struggle of being queer. Everyone has there thing, but you can be queer and live a normal life without major traumatic events related to being queer.

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness is definitely way more than a story about a gay person that has a hard life because they're gay. I'm not sure how I can convince you other than just telling you outright.

41 minutes ago, Hebiyoujo said:

I looked MLEwL up, and I question if it's so acclaimed because it's actually good, or if people are too into the struggle to want to enjoy happy LGBTQ stories. Or, stories with LGBTQ characters that aren't emotional shifted on being LGBTQ at all.

Hmmm, I've made plenty of recommendations on happy LGBTQ stories before, but I don't think the folk around here are into that type of stuff because I'm not sure how interested everyone here is in:

  1. Romance
  2. LGBTQ stories
  3. Happy/low tension stories
  4. Manga

I'd say My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness is/was pretty popular for an LGBTQ manga, but as you can see, it didn't get much traction here. I'm more than happy to provide you with some recommendations below, though.

Spoiler

Cheerful Amnesia: It's about a happy-go-lucky girl with amnesia trying to piece together her life with her girlfriend. There are some melodramatic moments, but for the most part, it is a wholesome manga.

Kase-san: This manga is about a gardener and an athlete that appreciate each other despite their different lives. There is an anime movie adaptation of this, but I don't think it is very popular. The main character is a ditz if you don't like that type of thing.

Beauty and the Beast Girl: I can't really say much about this story without spoiling it, but it's similar to Kase-san in the way that the two of them lead very different lives yet come to find and appreciate each other. This one is a little bit more dramatic than the rest.

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: This manga is the only one to get really popular alongside its anime adaptation, but its mostly a gag manga. I wouldn't really consider it to be an LGBTQ manga, but the main "couple" are two women. The romance is mostly one-sided because of how hard it is for the main character to express her feelings.

Hero-san and Former General-san: It's about a female villain that joins the girl that's opposing her. It's, well, eh. I found it cute, but the romance is one-sided.

Rationalism of Irregularities: I have no idea what to say about this since it has been a while. I remember the main couple being cute.

Of course, most of the above acknowledge that the relationships are unconventional because they are girls, but none of the focus of these manga are "oh, woe is me, my life is so hard because I'm gay." I also acknowledge my lack of... experience in the Shounen Ai area, but that's because no one ever recommends me any.

I think if there's one series to take away from all this, though, I would wholeheartedly recommend Houseki no Kuni (also known as Land of the Lustrous). Although it's not really an LGBTQ anime/manga, it definitely resonates with that community because (spoilers)

Spoiler

of its distinctive portrayal of gender in the manga and the all-too-familiar feeling of feeling like you're not good enough for society, so you try to change yourself to fit it, only to end up hurting yourself in the process. The Land of the Lustrous community is also probably the best community I have ever had the pleasure of interacting with.

 

Edited by Kinbaryu
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't feel like the focus of the story was on her sexual orientation, but rather her depression and her own personal struggles. To be honest, I found it to be pretty relatable especially if a person has ever struggled with depression. I remember the one line where she is talking about not being able to accept people's compliments and I was like "Yes!" I totally understand that feeling. 

  • Love it! (Daisuki) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...