geri_chan | Who would you give White Day gifts to?

It feels a bit strange to write something lighthearted at a time like this, but today is White Day (when Japanese men give return gifts to the women who gave them chocolate on Valentine's Day), and I had already been planning a follow-up to my Who would you give Valentine's Day chocolate to? post from last month. That post was inspired by Melinda Beasi's list of "dreamy manga boys" she would give chocolate to, and in the comments she talked about doing a White Day post as well. I thought that was a great idea because I focus on the slash and yaoi pairings so much, and I'd like to also pay tribute to some of my favorite female manga characters.

I'll start the list off with the women of Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love). For a yaoi author, Nitta-sensei writes very strong and complex female characters. It's rare for that genre, where the women are often absent or only there to provide an obstacle to the main couple getting together.

1) Shimizu, who is totally awesome as far as I'm concerned! As Iwaki's manager, she's hard-working, practical, and extremely efficient. And she certainly has her work cut out for her, since she has to deal with all the media scandals involving Iwaki and Katou in addition to her normal work of overseeing Iwaki's career and keeping track of his schedule. If that was all she did, she'd still be worth her weight in gold, but she's a friend as well as a business associate. It's clear that she cares about Iwaki--and Katou, too--as a person and not just a client.

She's very calm and serious most of the time, but I like those rare moments when she loses her temper, as when she chews Iwaki out after he collapses from overworking in "Lifeline" (vol. 14). There's also the time that she gives a stern lecture to Katou in "Sleeping Bomb" (vol. 12) when he's feeling sorry for himself because he's still being banned from working and he has to live apart from his beloved Iwaki due to Mochimune's restrictions. In the following chapter, she similarly scolds a sulky Asano, who seems to be feeling a little overwhelmed and overlooked at the premiere of Fuyu no Semi, and jealous of the attention that Katou and Iwaki are getting. I love how tough she is at moments like these!

I love Shimizu so much that I find myself wanting to learn more about her, even though Iwaki and Katou are the main characters. We know that she has a husband and daughter, and I often wonder how she manages to juggle marriage and motherhood along with her very demanding and time-consuming career. And I also wonder if her husband is a very understanding man who doesn't feel threatened by or resentful of his wife's career, or if there are strains in the marriage that we (and Iwaki) don't get to see. Even though she's a fictional character, I find myself worrying about her and hoping that her husband is able to love and accept her the way she is. Hopefully he has bought her a nice White Day present! But if not, I would be happy to fix her up with Kaneko or my OC Kojiro (Kikuchi's younger brother in my Comeback series).

2) Youko, Katou's younger sister. She's another strong, independent woman. She resembles Katou in more than looks--she has his brash and outspoken personality, but she has a good deal more common sense than he does. I love the way she warns him not to get ahead of himself when he's imagining getting married to Iwaki during Youko's wedding. I do wonder sometimes if her husband Keita is really comfortable with his notorious in-laws, but I don't worry as much as I do about Shimizu's husband. Youko says that Keita is fine with Katou and Iwaki attending her wedding, and since he's at her side when she goes out to meet them, I get the impression that he really does mean it. Besides, Katou and Iwaki were already famous as former porn stars and current lovers before the wedding, so Keita must have known what he was getting into. Plus, I don't think Youko would marry anyone narrow-minded--although it must have been difficult to find someone open-minded enough to embrace her porn star brother and his gay lover as family!

3) Fuyumi, Iwaki's sister-in-law. A much more traditional type of Japanese wife than Youko, but she's strong in her own way, too. Whereas Youko would probably yell at Masahiko when he's being stubborn, Fuyumi is more quietly supportive. But at the same time, she's not a meekly submissive wife, either. She's the one who begs Masahiko to call Iwaki when their mother is on her deathbed--and he actually does, although the potential family reunion is ruined when it turns out that the number Masahiko dials is out of service because Iwaki and Katou have moved. When Iwaki finally does return to the family home, she obviously wants the brothers to reconcile, and she lets Katou into the house over Masahiko's objections. I would say that Youko's style is probably more confrontational, while Fuyumi's is to be gently persuasive. She reminds me of a tree that bends in the wind but doesn't break, and is much stronger than it looks.

4) Superintendent Tadashiki--another great Youka Nitta female character, not from Haru this time, but from Otodama. She's strong, smart, beautiful, and has managed to attain a high rank in a male-dominated profession. We don't know much about her yet, but intriguing hints have been dropped that she has some sort of rivalry going with Superintendent Nagatsuma. While I'm usually all for the yaoi ships, I was actually slightly disappointed when Nitta-sensei started a spin-off that seems to be a prequel to Otodama ("Spiritual Police" is how I've seen the title translated in English) in which Nagatsuma has a male lover, because I was secretly shipping Nagatsuma and Tadashiki together. The new story does look great, though!

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From Petshop of Horrors...

5) Jill, main character Leon's colleague and friend. The main spotlight is on Leon and Count D, of course, but Jill seems to be a capable detective and a loyal friend. She seems to enjoy teasing Leon in the way that a big sister might, and especially seems to enjoy teasing him about D. I enjoy writing about her in fanfic because she's one of those great supporting characters that you'd like to learn more about.

6) Pon-chan, the charming little raccoon girl gets a special mention because she fell in love with Leon's little brother Chris, then had her heart broken when he left the shop to rejoin his human family. I would like to see her find happiness in the future, but I haven't quite found the right story to write for her yet.

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And last but not least...

7) Kyoko from Skip Beat! I raved about Kyoko and Skip Beat in this little Haru/Skip Beat crossover bunny I had, although the bunny hasn't come to fruition yet. She's hilariously over-the-top in her zeal to get revenge on the first love who betrayed her, but there's more to her than that. I love her combination of strength and vulnerability, and I love how determined she is. She's all alone (at least in the beginning of the series), with no family or friends to rely on, yet she works hard to support herself and never gives up no matter how tough things get. And I love how dedicated she is to her work--she takes up acting as a means to an end, in order to someday outshine her ex-boyfriend who is now a rock star, but she develops a genuine love for the craft. I enjoy seeing her working hard to understand the characters that she plays, and putting a 100% effort into it even when the director would be satisfied with a more shallow and surface performance.

So that's it for White Day! There were a few single BL guys I forgot to put on the Valentine's list, so I may do another follow-up post for Black Day next month!