With(out) love from Japan: An analysis of the asexual spectrum in Shirono Honami's I want to be the wall and Isaki Uta's Is Love the Answer?

Starting from the mid-2010s, Japan has seen a rise in media works (such as novels, comics, animation, and TV dramas) discussing the asexual and aromantic identities with an ever-increasing number of people connecting with those labels and, some of them actively associating with the LGBTQ+ community. The pull towards an asexual and aromantic society has also been linked to the lower marriage and birth rate by some experts, wondering whether the identification with such labels could be caused by societal shifts (busier work schedules, less spending power, financial insecurities). In this context, the two works this paper analyses, I Want to Be the Wall (Watashi wa kabe ni naritai, 2019-2023) by Shirono Honami and Is Love the Answer? (Kimi no sekai ni koi wa nai, 2020) by Isaki Uta link the societal pressure to conform to an allosexual and heterosexual way of life with the feeling of disconnect from romantic and platonic relationships with peers.