We've had plenty of manga discussing the realities of being gay, lesbian, trans, and genderqueer, so it's only fair to see some manga on asexuality as well.
IS LOVE THE ANSWER? (Kimi no Sekai ni Koi wa nai), by Uta Isaki. First published in 2020 and first published in North America in 2023.
PLOT:
Chika could never understand what people wanted from her. She tried to date boys in high school, only to feel nothing when they tried to be romantic (or more). Her friends tried to console her, but many of them just talked behind her back about Chika being weird, leaving her more anxious and alone than ever. College seemed to be shaping up to be more of the same until Chika met Shinobu Ishii. She's a psychology professor and openly asexual. Through her, Chika begins to understand herself and finds a community of friends and peers who truly understand her.
STORY:
In the spirit of truthfulness, I have to note that I am an allosexual woman whose closest brush with asexuality are the handful of friends and online mutuals I know who identify as such. I'm coming at this story as an outsider, but that's OK because Isaki wrote this manga not just for those questioning their orientation but those who aren't but want to understand.
In their author's note Isaki makes it clear that Chika's story draws a lot from their own life and experiences. That certainly explains the vividness of Chika's despair and anxiety, although I would have liked a little more warning for some of it. Within the first few pages, Chika is nearly sexually assaulted by her first boyfriend, and while there is a brief, vague content warning on the table of contents it's easy to miss. Indeed, I didn't even notice it until I read another review of this book that pointed it out. Aside from that sudden awkwardness, the first part does a very good job of putting the reader in Chika's miserable and increasingly alienated headspace.
The rest of the story is perhaps a bit more like wish fulfillment on their part, but it certainly gets the job done. It is awfully convenient that Chika runs into a cool psych professor who also turns out to be ace, just as it is awfully convenient that said professor has a huge house with rooms available for rent for kids like Chika. Still, it's their first encounter that gives Chika the tools she needs to start figuring out what being asexual truly means for her.
More importantly (and more realistically), Chika finds a group of friends who don't burden her with a lot of sexist and hereternormative nonsense. This is good for her in a lot of ways. It's never stated outright, but flashbacks make it pretty clear that even as a child Chika was the sort of passive, people-pleasing person who masked her own interests for the sake of seeming 'normal' to others. Combined with her struggles with her orientation, it only served for further aggravate her anxiety.
Luckily she's able to connect with some other kids, some who are openly queer and others who are straight but supportive. The only minor quibble I have with this part is Enomoto, her straight otaku friend. She tries to be a good, supportive friend, but she also tries to equate her own social struggles as a fujoshi with those of her queer friends in a well-meaning (but off-course) attempt at solidarity. I have to wonder if this was also something else Isaku experienced in their own life. Still, this is the part of the manga that works best as it successfully merges Chika educating herself (and the audience) on asexuality while telling an engaging story of a young woman coming out of her shell and finding a community of her own.
ART:
Isaki's art is rooted in shojo style, but a very grounded take on that. Her linework is delicate and she sometimes indulges in some more fanciful space imagery when it comes to visualizing Chika's inner monologue. At the same time, their looks and styles are very modern and ordinary and there's even a little bit of body variety with some of the adult characters. The closest analogue I can come up with is Yuhki Kamitani, although Isaki is nowhere near as daring and creative with their paneling and metaphors.
I will give Kodansha a little credit for adding the colors of the asexual pride flag to not only the cover but the font of the title. It's a nice touch.
RATING:
Is Love The Answer? is another fine example of the semi-educational queer manga we've gotten in recent years. It puts a spotlight on a part of the LGBTQIA spectrum that doesn't always get a lot of focus and delivers an engaging quasi-biographical story of its own.
This book is published by Kodansha. This book is currently in print.
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