Our Dreams at Dusk
• Drama, Psychological, Slice of LifeNot only is high schooler Tasuku Kaname the new kid in town, he’s also terrified that he’s been outed as gay. Just as he’s contemplating doing the unthinkable, Tasuku meets a mysterious woman who leads him to a group of people dealing with problems not so different from his own.
Thoughts
Our Dreams at Dusk is a surprisingly realistic depiction of queerness and the experience of found family. Its setting is a small town called Onomichi (which I’ve been lucky enough to visit), yet many of the events will be relatable to queer people around the world. While reading this manga, it quickly became obvious that the author is LGBT+ themself, and has had many conversations with queer people that hold different views.
Living in the UK, I have become used to enjoying media in English, but I actually read Our Dreams at Dusk in Spanish. Interestingly, this impacted my experience of it more than I expected. Due to English being my second language, I’m somewhat desensitised to its insults and swear words, but that is not the case in Spanish. The translator made the language feel very native, which means I unfortunately grew up hearing many of the LGBT-phobic expressions used here. I was reminded of the occasions in which my own friends supressed their identity to get some peace. The author did a great job of portraying the internal conflict of wanting to be like everyone else, while being so fundamentally different that attempting to fit in feels like a betrayal to yourself.
I personally really enjoyed the representation of older gay men. It’s difficult to find media that depicts older queer characters, and I found their story particularly moving. It was clearly handled with love and thoughtfulness, just like every other subplot. I definitely shed some tears!
The art itself is gorgeous and the author does a great job of using visual metaphors to convey some of its more complex points. I also noticed the attention to detail in portraying the landscapes of Onomichi and the Seto Inland Sea. It’s a beautiful area, and one I highly recommend to anyone visiting Japan.
Sneak peek
