I’m no expert on this, but in addition to the other factors people mentioned, I would say that people in Japan seem to pay a lot more attention to high school sports. The Koshien Stadium and the high school baseball tournaments name after it are very famous. I’m not even interested in sports, but I know about them and often notice friends talking about them online. I know absolutely nothing about the college baseball tournaments or where they’re held.

I prefer the live action TV series, but the Sukeban Deka series is great. It’s about a high school girl who works as an undercover agent for a branch of the police that investigates crimes that take place at schools that regular cops aren’t allowed to investigate. Unfortunately, very little of the franchise has been officially released in a English. ADV released the OVA in the 90’s. The 2000’s movie reboot got a release too, but that was the worst version IMO.

I’m not a native speaker, but I’ve studied Japanese for more than a decade. There are no singular, non-gendered third person pronouns, so there is no equivalent of a singular they. Although there is an equivalent of a plural they, it’s not completely gender neutral. The equivalent of him is kare, and the equivalent of her is kanojo. You can make them plural by ending “ra” on to the end of them. Kanojora is used only for groups of women/girls, and karera can be used for a group of men/boys, or a mixed-gender group. That makes the root meaning of karera male coded even if it’s used in a gender neutral manner, so non-binary people might prefer not to use that.

This shouldn’t however be a major issue for Japanese speakers, as first person pronouns are the only ones that are in frequent use. Unlike English, where you use pronouns to avoid repitition, you can completely omit them in Japanese, so instead of asking “Has Asami done her homework?” in English, you would ask “Has Asami done homework?” It’s also preferable to use names instead of 2nd/3rd person pronouns. Instead of asking “How about you?”, you’d ask “How about (person’s name)?” It’s probably much easier for a non-binary person to ask that no pronouns be used for them

Why were they so sure the penguins weren’t just roomates?

I knew I was gay when I was 12. I’ve only ever been attracted to men, and I’ll be 40 next week. If you think you’re gay, you’re very likely correct. Some people’s sexualities are fluid, so you may also be “incorrect”. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. Life is not a quiz. You’re under no obligation to give the “correct answer” first time, and it’s not too late if you suddenly realize you gave the “incorrect answer” when you’re in your twenties, thirties, or even older.

I knew I was gay when I was 12, but didn’t really accept it until I was nearly 20.

It was 25 years ago, so I don’t remember. Blade of the Immortal was one of the first, if not the very first, graphic novels I bought. Back then, graphic novels were only for back releases, and new releases were typically two or three chapters combined into a monthly Western style issue, so I’m sure I bought some of those before getting graphic novels.

I normally only read Japanese releases. I started Sukeban Deka volume 2 last week. It’s a 70’s shojo manga, although it has a surprising amount of action and violence for something aimed at girls. One of its spin offs was released recently, so the original series got a reprint.

The rhetoric I described is absolutely being weaponized against people. If you follow the reason behind the arugment that someone is “normal, not cis”, then you would then conclude that trans and nb people are not normal. Anyone who accepts that argument would likely conclude that not only are trans women not “normal women”, and trans men not “normal men”, but that they are not actually real women or men.

As for gen z being infatuated with labels, I will admit I don’t understand many of them, but I’m fine with them if they help people communicate their identity better. I wouldn’t claim that any labels are redundant or just attention seeking without any actual evidence or reasoning behind it.

Yes, sometimes labels are too constrictive, and not perfect for everyone. But when people say queer people are obsessed with labels, or “I’m not cis; I’m normal”, what they’re almost certainly taking issue with is non-cisheteronormativity being recognized and validated. When the only labels are normal and not normal, it’s much easier to silence and marginalize those you believe are outside the norm.

And even if you do “grow out of it,” so what? Why do we need to get everything right the first time? We can give ourselves the chance to explore and move on with our lives if something isn’t for us.

I thought Google already allowed it. I’ve been able to sideload on my Japanese Android 10 device with no issues. Did they lock it, or is it being removed by the networks/manufacturers?

Also greater visibility of communities on other instances, as they won’t be recognized until someone manually searches for them by their address. Right now you have to rely on the Lemmy Community browser or !newcommunities @lemmy.world.

Why can’t Kellogg’s go back to their wholesome familly values of being far too concerned about preventing young boys from masturbating? /s