Y’all, I can’t even tell you how adorable these books are. Think Heartstopper, but without the getting together (they’re younger than Nick and Charlie) and the beautiful acceptance of My Brother’s Husband and you’ll start to see where these fall.
These are told from mom Tomoko’s point of view, and she is the most loving and accepting person. She’s started to note that Hiroki, her oldest son, slips up saying “he’s handsome” or “my husband” and she just goes with the flow. She doesn’t ask questions or ask for declarations, she just let’s it slide and tries to make an accepting home for her son.
In these first four volumes we get a few stories, but the big one is Hiroki seems to have a massive crush on his best friend, Daigo. There are moments of heartbreak and acceptance and even a childhood female friend who has a crush on Hiroki, so we get a little bit of it all. The moment Hiroki comes home and tells his mom that Daigo has a girlfriend, is a change in how Tomoko thinks and tries to support him without being overly nosey or involved. Things seem to resolve, and everyone gets their happy for now.
Tomoko has a friend at work who she finds out is gay and she talks to him about his life and whether it’s been a struggle. She then takes what she learns to create the accepting and open space that Hiroki needs to one day come out. I love that Tomoko got her own stories, even though the focus is on her love and caring for her son.
The illustration style was perfect for me. Some of the next few I’m not the biggest fan of because of the super angular and sparce/fuzzy backgrounds, but in this series they’re softer and more rounded with very detailed backgrounds.
Recommendation: 100% recommend. I will revisit these in the future. They were quick reads and put the type of unconditional love, but also learning and confusion, on display that younger queer people need to see and experience to grow into healthy adults. I was able to read the first four back to back, but had to wait a few weeks before I got access to I Think Our Son Is Gay, Vol 5.
