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allthefujoshiunite · 1 year

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Replicant: The Love of Dolly the Sheep Review

Hi everyone! As promised, I came back to talk about the 4-chapter long BL manga that graced us on Futekiya the other day - Replicant: The Love of Dolly the Sheep by Yamada Supokon. I'll keep it spoiler-free as much as I can. My first BL review in 2023, let's go ~

You can read the first chapter for free here, but having no futekiya subscription in this day and age as a BL fan? Not acceptable.

Before I get to the series, for the longest time I've been selfishly wanting characters who study/work in STEM in my little corner. I don't even need the theme itself to be related to science, and surely I have nothing against humanities/artist people but?? I feel like I barely see a character from STEM. The only title that comes to mind at the top of my head is Perfect Fit (Thanat), but other than that, unless the topic itself is science-related, I don't think I see STEM students/grads. We exist and some of us are gay, okay?

Now that I got that out of my system, I'll start by saying that Replicant was an interesting SciFi piece that opens with a grandfather reminiscing his past with his granddaughter, and manages to introduce a very interesting twist, closing on a bittersweet note.

One theme that was striking and reminded me of a book of essays on beauty years ago by Francette Pacteau called "The Symptom of Beauty" (official introduction below if you're curious about the context). In the chapter "The Imaginary Companion", the focus is on artificial women and the men who create them. "Tales about the creation of an artificial woman are spun from disappointment with the imperfection of real women." The power this quote holds...

As the author continue to give examples from ancient mythsand modern sci-fi alike, they also make a point that these men are pushing boundaries, "tempting God", and this "male procreation [is] premised on the exclusion of reproductive woman". (Now that I give it another read, the book seems trans-exclusionary but let's let that slide for now.) I've never thought of the act of artificial creation as giving birth before, hence the reason why I still remember the chapter today.

!!!SPOILERS!!! Circling back to Replicant; and this part contains spoilers from the 2nd chapter, it was very interesting to see Chris referring to the clones as "his children". and not only in context of wanting a child himself, but yearning for a "normal" relationship with Seth,being able to stand by his side as a lover the way Christina can. This is beautifully conveyed through two successive panels where Chris is reminded of Christina's expectations. They are even similar in their names and appearance. That could only mean one thing for Chris, who has to conceal the hunger and pining he has for his friend; a replica of Seth.

!!!SPOILERS END!!!

With the twist we get to see towards the end, Replica proved to be a very compelling, inventive, and emotional read and I'm so glad I got to meet Yamada Supokon through this evocative & thought-provoking volume. As always, I'd like to hear what you think! Let me know through comments or reblogs.

#yamada supokon #replicant #futekiya #bl manga #science fiction #allthefujoshiunite thread archive

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