I honestly disagree. Totally. Thoroughly. I know neither of us is ever going to convince the other, because of the degree to which we disagree. :) It's completely hopeless, I'll tell you that right now.
But I want to give my reasons anyway, because I have this deep-seated need to defend my preference here.
I think I may be the victim of way too many canon yaoi anime in this case, because Konrad x Yuuri seems to me to be the atypical yaoi couple - the experienced, confident, protective seme, and the young, innocent, possibly touchy uke. It's even reflected in their physical appearances - Konrad is muscular, clearly older, and has that kind, knowing expression that seems to be all over the place in yaoi manga particularly. Yuuri is short, slender, cute, and young. I see this *everywhere*. And sometimes I like it, because sometimes they can take an old stereotype and make it interesting.
Not so with Konrad x Yuuri. The more I see of their interaction, the more I get the impression of "okay, so this is another one of *those*". Complete with the "destiny" factor which could lead the whole thing to true and undying love. And it bores me to tears. They're sweet as a mentor and his protege - as a romantic relationship, no. I want to see more spice, less predictability. Less of an obvious "I am CLEARLY the seme, and you are CLEARLY the uke", which is really what's at the heart of my dislike for the pairing no matter how many other reasons I give you.
I don't *like* set "seme" and "uke" roles. Japanese yaoi seems to *adore* this, to the point where doujinshi artists will make one character seem much smaller and/or less aggressive than another to fit them into these roles. Yaoi manga are full of big, tall or muscular (or all three) seme roles, and small, cute, slender uke roles. The reason I got so intested in Kyou Kara Maou in the first place was because of Yuuri/Wolfram, which in this way is so different from your atypical yaoi series pairing.
They look the same age. They act the same age. They seem to have about the same level of experience. You don't know for sure who'd be uke and who'd be seme. Their relationship would be (at least very close to) a relationship of equals. This is more like what I look for in my non-canon OTPs, and it's definitely a welcome change as far as canon yaoi would go.
Those are my reasons. You don't have to agree. :) But I will stick to them.
no subject
But I want to give my reasons anyway, because I have this deep-seated need to defend my preference here.
I think I may be the victim of way too many canon yaoi anime in this case, because Konrad x Yuuri seems to me to be the atypical yaoi couple - the experienced, confident, protective seme, and the young, innocent, possibly touchy uke. It's even reflected in their physical appearances - Konrad is muscular, clearly older, and has that kind, knowing expression that seems to be all over the place in yaoi manga particularly. Yuuri is short, slender, cute, and young. I see this *everywhere*. And sometimes I like it, because sometimes they can take an old stereotype and make it interesting.
Not so with Konrad x Yuuri. The more I see of their interaction, the more I get the impression of "okay, so this is another one of *those*". Complete with the "destiny" factor which could lead the whole thing to true and undying love. And it bores me to tears. They're sweet as a mentor and his protege - as a romantic relationship, no. I want to see more spice, less predictability. Less of an obvious "I am CLEARLY the seme, and you are CLEARLY the uke", which is really what's at the heart of my dislike for the pairing no matter how many other reasons I give you.
I don't *like* set "seme" and "uke" roles. Japanese yaoi seems to *adore* this, to the point where doujinshi artists will make one character seem much smaller and/or less aggressive than another to fit them into these roles. Yaoi manga are full of big, tall or muscular (or all three) seme roles, and small, cute, slender uke roles. The reason I got so intested in Kyou Kara Maou in the first place was because of Yuuri/Wolfram, which in this way is so different from your atypical yaoi series pairing.
They look the same age. They act the same age. They seem to have about the same level of experience. You don't know for sure who'd be uke and who'd be seme. Their relationship would be (at least very close to) a relationship of equals. This is more like what I look for in my non-canon OTPs, and it's definitely a welcome change as far as canon yaoi would go.
Those are my reasons. You don't have to agree. :) But I will stick to them.