#god the hand hold rejection from Touma as a kid was a gut punch

[nantokanarusaa]

Ao no Flag (SERIES FINALE SPOILERS!!)

Seriously, don’t read this if you are planning to read Ao no Flag. That being said, go read the manga now!!

Finally finished reading Ao no Flag and I have so many feelings. Non-coherent, rambly, messy feelings. I was looking at reactions online and what mainly boggles me about the reactions to the final 2 chapters is people being “how is Taichi suddenly gay??” My friend living on this big planet he never was (he’s bi). He most likely just realized it later in life. Did the events of his 3rd HS year help him figure it out? Heck yes. Is he suddenly bi? No.

Not all queer people pop out into this world and instantly know they are queer. Heck, it took me 23 years to figure that out. It’s not like Taichi instantly realized he likes Touma and started dating him. He knew Touma mattered to him somehow, but it took him multiple years to realize how, as evident by him maybe starting his relationship with Touma after 5 years when Touma contacted them all. He gained life experience and grew.

People go through a lot of learning, unlearning and growing. Especially if you are outside of societal expectations and norms. Taichi grew up learning to and wanting to blend in with society. “Be normal, don’t stand out too much”. Add to that low self-confidence and you feel stuck. Feel like there is only black and white. only one right answer to life. It can be very difficult to look out of this dark box, trust me, I had a tough time and sometimes still do. But it feels like Taichi thought and thought and pondered even back in high school and came to the decisions that he did.

And isn’t that what the series is about? growing as a person, making mistakes, learning, allowing yourself to be visible and vulnerable, and eventually, making choices, even if they don’t make sense to anyone else, and continuing to do so?

These two pages really hit me hard and I was wondering why. And then it hit me. This is possibly the happiest I’ve seen Taichi be since his childhood. Like genuinely happy. He’s reached max happiness points and is sharing those with Touma. He’s made his choices, and he’s happy. You can and are allowed to choose what or who makes you happy.

That’s all that matters.

#ao no flag #blue flag #blue flag manga #toumatai #is there a point tagging it as spoilers? might as well #ao no flag spoilers #blue flag spoilers #he ending and series in general does have it's flaws but it has become a near and dear one to me #anyways isn’t it amazing how different people have different perspectives and that how you have lived your life changes those #Taichi be gazing at Touma for multiple panels and people be like aww friendship :“) #the way the omamori was want jerked him out of his rage? heck the way he treasured it? their whole conversation on the beach #HE WAS GENUINELY CONSIDERING TOUMA'S FEELINGS FOR HIM!?! NO STRAIGHT GUY WILL EVER PONDER THAT MUCH #i'm alright #also all the hand holing symbolism which im sure other people have talked about better #which also raises the point: let kids express themselves freely without putting gender roles on them #god the hand hold rejection from Touma as a kid was a gut punch #last thing #KAITO HOW DARE YOU NOT SHOW US GROWN UP TOMA AND TAICHI TOGETHER #I WANT TO HAVE A CIVIL CONVERSATION WITH YOU #ok that was long thanks for reading if you have?? <3 #my feeling for this series are immense #oh have i mentioned its from JUMP!? of all the publications??? #granted jump plus gives the creators a lot more freedom but still?? a bi protag?? with a gay main charecter along with multiple queer #confirmed or coded characters? #dint think it could be real #kurosaki rambles #PS i want Ao flag to get a boom in popularity again so that we can get an anime adaptation #if done well and respectfully it will have so much potential #if done well and respectfully it can have so much potential