/cm/, you've been challenged to give me a book, movie, anime, television show, or manga that can depict a better relationship than that of Nezumi and Shion and with a better backdrop of questions about human nature, human action, and human empathy. I doubt you will, but in the off chance...
And if you can't, then give me the most adorable picture you have of these gays.
shion is super cute (no homo). but the manga was way too gruelsome and dark for me to handle, gave up halfway in or so.
>>2978743
>give me a book, movie, anime, television show, or manga that can depict a better relationship than that of Nezumi and Shion and with a better backdrop of questions about human nature, human action, and human empathy
easy
>>2978744
The anime was neither of those things.
I love how No. 6 can be one of my favorite anime, manga, and book series all at the same time. I also love being able to spot the differences between all 3. It's really interesting to see how Nezumi and Shion differ from each medium.
>Manga a cutest
>Novel a gayest
>>2978766
i know, watched the anime without much trouble. decided to read manga, god damn that's dark.
>manga that can depict a better relationship than that of Nezumi and Shion and with a better backdrop of questions about human nature, human action, and human empathy
Was going to give a game but it isn't an option.
>>2978811
Oh certainly not.
>>2978770
Does anyone have a link to a good translation of the novels?
>>2978810
Definitely going to read that.
>>2978743
Here you go, OP.
I do really love No. 6, though. It's really underrated, it's a shame it seems like fujoshits are the only people that care about it even though it's genuinely a great story.
>>2978842
Also here's a cute pic
These two maybe?
What do you mean "better relationship"?
Shitty or ambivalent relationships usually provide more dramatic fodder for asking questions about human nature, human action, and human empathy
>>2978859
I mean more genuine and human. Most shounen-ai seems to be about one waifu pillow fucking another.
>>2978844
They're good. I just have a hard time relating to Shinji's existential angst anymore. I think I'm getting too old.
>>2978861
Most romance is shallow wish fulfilment in general. It's hardly restricted to BL.
>>2978863
I don't disagree. I just really want more stuff like No. 6. It really gets me.
>>2978863
so what would romance that is not all about superficial wish fulfilment look like?
>>2978894
One where they fuck up and someone dies and the other lives with the misery.
>>2978894
Dramas about failing marriages and shit like that.
>>2978839
4chan seems to think even pieces of the address is spam, but I read them at very first result when googling "No.6 translated novel", a blogspot titled Nostalgia on 9th Avenue. It's been a long time, but I recall the quality being good. Good enough to decide that I enjoyed the novels more than the anime.
>>2978743
Ulysses, James Joyce.
>>2978770
Is there an English translation of No 6's novel? I couldn't find it online.
>>2978899
sounds cliche and boring.
>>2979252
Like No. 6?
>>2978842
Are those two canon homo?
>>2979314
Griffith has slept with men and made passes at Guts, and Guts showed a lot of affection towards him before it turned into murderous hatred. But as far as I can recall they never boned down or anything.
>>2979314
No.
#gayforshion
>>2978844
Kaworu is amazing to Shinji and he makes him feel really warm and at ease. He can tell him anything and interact with him really easily. Kaworu loves and cares for Shinji because he is beautiful and fascinating to him. It truly is essentially a romantic love that they share, but can you call it a proper example of a real human love relationship between two boys?
Kaworu is not really a human being and he loves Shinji in a not very natural way. He's fascinated with him and has peculiar interest in him. He took a form that is essentially Shinji's idealised version of himself, so a big reason as to why Shinji loves him so much is because of how admirable and ideal he is.
And well it's far from two boys meeting at a school or whatever and developing crushes on each other etc. that's for sure
Good Omens
Won't get into whether it's a deeper/more beautiful romance than No. 6 (which is great in the relationship department) but the relationship between Ash and Eiji in Banana Fish is really great. It's very sweet despite one party being a tough gangster and the other being a naive photographer and they generally goof around a lot and have great chemistry. I don't think the story technically counts as BL (though I've heard it described as such)--it's right on the borderline, with Ash and Eiji obviously having romantic chemistry and being in some sort of intense relationship, but them never being stated to be a couple.
I always get really emotional about Miharu and Yoite from Nabari no Ou, but I'm not sure if their relationship is the best written or the healthiest. It's definitely really moving though. Yuureitou also has a really great relationship between the leads that slowly, slowly turns romantic, but it's not perfect /cm/ material because one of the leads is FTM (so normally I wouldn't talk about it on here, but it's well-written enough that I had to mention it). Also >>2978810.
Also >>2978810
Havemercy (a book) also has a pretty great gay couple, although I don't think their relationship reveals anything super deep about human nature. It's just sweet. A Seperate Peace (the boys aren't anything like a couple, but there is some subtext, no idea if it was intentional or not) and The Charioteer are better for that sort of thing.
>>2978743
Tsuritama might be something you'd like. It's an adorable anime about a boy with social anxiety who meets an alien. They learn a lot about relationships together.
>>2982598
I love Banana Fish. It's such a great manga, the romance aside.
does anyone know where I can find translation of chapters 23 onward? I'm dying :(
>>2982987
Yeah it had some great fights like that one on the train, though near the end of the manga they got a bit silly.
I loved the early artstyle too, reminded me of Otomo's stuff.
>>2978743
You didn't specifically state it had to be romantic, friendship counts too right?
I uploaded my folder, in case anyone's interested.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/4qoxdg8d6dk48s4/No._6.zip
>>2983433
>more than a gig
jesus, you got the entire manga scans in there or something?
>>2983434
No, just lots of fan art and a few doujins.
>>2983441
Is this based on a Ghibli film shot? Cute as fuck.
no 6 had the worst plot ever, it was random and nothing connected or made sense. The relationship between the 2 main characters was ridiculous as well.... people have already stated many manga/anime that are better than no. 6, which isn't hard to find.
>>2982598
Thank you for mentioning Nabari no Ou. I picked up that series when I was fifteen years old, and I'm 22 now. Something about it has stuck with me in a really deep way this entire time. It's not the most well-written series I've read, but emotionally, it's my favorite.
>>2978743
I'm like halfway through the anime (thanks to everyone liking it so much) and it's great, but how are there so many idiots who thought that they were just friends before kissing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLEqUmWWHtQ
Like people actually thought they were totally straight at this point.
>>2983656
Happens all the time for lots of shit.
I guarantee you that you can find people out there that still think they're 100% straight and that people "misinterpret" it.
Hell, I know of shit that had staff working on something flat out say that a character is gay and people still deny it.
>>2983657
You know, I actually did see someone saying they thought that a kiss could be something like a normal gesture between friends, and that they were on the fence about there being a romance, so you've got a point. Honestly I think it's just people who don't want to like a series where the main characters are gay for each other and come up with excuses to fool themselves.
http://imgtrex.com/bcxn6bi0f7dz/1440047568571.jpg
>>2983658
That, and denying obvious gay happens a lot when there's
a) underaged fanboys involved
b) someone who ships character in a hetero ship and canon gay crushes it
>>2983656
Some people just won't admit that something they like is gay. There are even still people who insist that this anime isn't full homo.
>>2983544
Well I just finished and I kind of half agree. I still really liked it and thought the relationship was good, but the last couple of episodes seemed incredibly rushed. It's like they got nine or ten episodes in, realized they hadn't actually explained the plot at all, and decided that they needed to fit everything into a 30 minute time frame. Pacing issues aside though, I thought it was nice, and I'm guessing the novels probably tackled it better with a more spread out series of events. Also, it didn't really make sense for Nezumi to just sort of peace out like he did.
>>2983675
The book does handle it much better. A lot happens after they escape the correctional facility. They meet a doctor who tends their wounds, they confront the mayor of No. 6 and they calm the riots before any more harm is done. After it's all over, Nezumi lives with Shion and his mother for for several months before leaving but promising to come back. Also Shion becomes the head of the rebuilding committee. I guess they ran out of time and money nearing the end of the anime.
There's also a short story that covers Nezumi's travels after he leaves.
>>2983676
This would make a lot more sense, also I'd hope they get a bit more into what exactly was the bees were and their relationship to Safu and why she was the vessel, etc... The show didn't really explain that at all it just jumbled it all together, I'll have to try and find a book translation sometime.
One thing I like about the series, to be honest, is how the relationship is cute and still open. Like a lot of fan art doesn't make sense (e.g. Kawoshin) because you know it could never make sense in canon, but things like this leave what happens next up to the imagination which makes all the art much nicer imo.
Did anyone else find Beyond to be kind of subtly extremely dark and depressing?
Spoilers btw
I thought that it seemed to be implying that Shion was fated to become a dictator like the old rulers of No.6 without any guidance from Nezumi, and that Nezumi was afraid of commitment and of actually moving on and was thus not likely to be going back any time soon. I don't know, it just seemed overall way darker than anything else in the novels or anime, basically saying that Nezumi pretty much left Shion alone without any support which is likely to just start a new No.6, all because he was ultimately too afraid to set his own shit aside and settle down to help properly rebuild a city. Without any sequel (which is still a possibility) it seems to imply that Nezumi's own selfishness and fear just results in the return of something that he worked so hard to destroy, and this time with someone he loves at the helm of all of it.
>>2983550
>It's not the most well-written series I've read, but emotionally, it's my favorite.
I feel the same. It's a very sincere series, and the author is great at showing the characters' emotional bonds. Shonen Note (also by Kamatani) is like that too.
>>2983965
Yeah, Shounen Note is really charming and emotional. It's also fair /cm/ material, for anyone else reading this -- its main characters are young vocalists, two boy sopranos in particular.
>>2978743
I came out as gay to a friend not too long ago. He kept making fun of it and asking if I was top or bottom and asking where I kept (insert stereotypical gay fetish device here).
People don't understand that gay relationships are the same as straight relationships and it's not a mesh of perverted sex. It's just two people who like each other living together. The stereotypes exist but they're not the majority basically. Most gay people you'll never know they're gay unless it comes up and they choose to tell you.
I showed my friend this anime because I felt it was (sadly) the only anime that depicts a gay relationship as it truly is.
Sorry for the rant but my god is it annoying explaining to people you're not a lispy leather wearing stereotypical faggot just because you're gay.
Can anyone tell me if the English manga is complete? I heard the project was dropped?
Also if it is finished is the ending different? I read the English translation was dropped and that the novel had a different ending. Anybody able to clear this up?
>>2984058
The project was dropped by scanlators because it got licensed in english, all the volumes are already available
As for the ending, I've yet to buy the final volumes so I don't know if it's different, but I haven't heard anything about the manga changing the ending
>>2984058
Novel has a bit of a different ending, so read on if you want to know.
Anyway, in the novel, there's a whole number of signifcant changes, most notable being that there's no bullshit healing bee God that saves Shion's life, they just run into a doctor after escaping the facility. There's also some more shit that happens afterward, meaning that Shion and Nezumi live together with his mom for a little bit before leaving when things calm down slightly. They actually have a conversation and Nezumi says that he'll come back and that the kiss is a promise to return, not a goodbye kiss. This leaves Shion as the main leader in the rebuilding of the largely destroyed city. There's an epilogue to the whole thing where it's two or three years later and Shion is still rebuilding shit and waiting for Nezumi to come back.
The author also made a sort of follow up about a year later that's basically a bunch of short stories from Nezumi, Shion, and Inukashi's perspectives. In that, Nezumi is wandering around a few months journey from No.6 and meets Shion's dad who turns out to pretty much be a selfish asshole who thinks that the leader of No.6 will inevitably become corrupt again (though he doesn't know Shion leads it). Nezumi also has some internal monologue about how he has to put his past with Shion behind him, and how he's still afraid of Shion. Shion is rebuilding the city and leading it, while making decisions of questionable ethics to try and prevent crime and poverty, and he still hangs out with Inukashi on occasion. There's also some internal monologue where he hopes to see Nezumi because he's having trouble telling the difference between right and wrong without his help.
>>2978771
How was it dark? I feel like reading it now
>>2984104
Reading Shion and Nezumi's stories really made me wish for a sequel, more than the proper ending ever did.
>>2984156
It kind of seems to be setting one up. Like Shion's dad heading to No.6, Shion struggling with ethics and Nezumi struggling with life goals, it just seems like she brought up a bunch of new plot threads rather than tying them together. I still wouldn't be surprised to see a sequel, it's only been like 3 years, but I try not to get my hopes up because there's no way to know if that's happening.
>>2984170
From my experience with sequels, I'd rather this story didn't get one. It's better to leave certain things to fans' imagination.
>>2984222
I see where you're coming from, but I think the normal epilogue makes more sense a a conclusion. The Beyond novel is like a set up rather than a conclusion (although even if she doesn't make any more I'm glad she put Beyond out). I think it could be nice to tie it all together with another novel, but I get why you wouldn't want one.
too easy.
>>2978743
>Book in image says Machbeth
This rustles my autism hard.
>>2985465
I kind of thought OP meant male/male relationships, but I guess it was never specified.
>>2979372
#IsAnyoneNot?
>>2978743
At Swim, Two Boys
Imagine Joyce but gayer, add some very true to life characters and touching yet believable male on male love, set it during the Easter uprising and you have yourself a true masterpiece.
>>2985625
I'm about to read that. How much will the end destroy me?
>>2985628
It will break your heart and leave you numb for a long, long time. But it is worth it, it is an exceptionally well crafted novel both technically and in terms of insight into the human nature.
>>2983982
I'm not familiar with this but there is a Japanese movie with the same premise that I really enjoyed, 'Boy's Choir' (Dokuritsu shonen gasshôdan).
>>2978839
learn wapanese
>>2978945
kek
+1 though
>>2978766
>>2978743
planetes, on all accounts
not /cm/, though )=
>>2987263
(wrong image)
>>2987251
I'm still kind of torn up about the ending. reading the novels made it make sense, but it didn't make it any less sad.
>>2983982
I'm only a chapter in but I'm loving it. Thanks anon, you may have been the only one to beat my challenge.
>>2978945
Well memed, my fellow patrician.
>>2978743
I would say "The Silmarillion" a hundred times over but unfortunately like 80% of the characters aren't quite human.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xXmndx1mgY
Sorry, I know it's long. Whether it's better, I wouldn't exactly say so because it's not cut and dry. What I really like about their dynamic is that everyone has a different interpretation of it and as you uncover more in-game content you can piece together the information and come to your own conclusions about their relationship. Or friendship. Or both.
But tbh it helps if you like gross old men to begin with, because otherwise it's hard to look past the fact that they're gross, horrible and flawed men.
>>2988059
(have a few more)
>>2988061
>>2988062
>>2988063
Okay I'll stop now.
>>2983441
Sauce? Looks like ghibli
>>2983657
FREDDY MERCURY WASN'T GAY
HE GOT AIDS FROM SHARING NEEDLES GODDAMNIT
>>2988357
Like sauce for the show? No.6. the fan art looks Ghibli-esque, but the show animation isn't much like that. Still quite good though.
>>2988064
these are beautiful, elf love is best love
>>2983433
god bless you
>>2978743
Read a fucking book.
>>2990250
Honestly, this. Check out Giovanni's Room and At Swim, Two Boys.
