Shin is an up-and-coming actor, primed for a career being typecasted as villains in bit roles due to his naturally sharp features and brusque way of speaking giving him a menacing air (in reality, he's just shy and awkward). Shige is a prince-like actor, who rose to fame quickly but may be on the brink of a backlash due to overexposure. They couldn't possibly be more opposite, both in terms of who they are and the trajectory of their careers and rarely interact because of those differences.
At least, that's how things look on the outside.
In reality, Shin and Shige are lovers, who have known each other since high school and currently live together. To protect their careers, they must hide their relationship from the world and date in secret, which proves to only get harder the more they progress in their careers and the more serious they feel towards one another. Can these two have the careers they want while maintaining a healthy relationship or will they have to sacrifice one for the other?
Black Or White (Kuro ka, Shiro ka) is a Yaoi romantic drama manga written and illustrated by Sachimo, currently published in Kadokawa magazine and in tankobon form in English and Japanese.
Due to the nature of this work being about the film and TV industry and the public's reaction to the characters' performances and careers, several Audience Reaction and Trivia tropes appear in this work as part of the characters' universe. Examples have been split accordingly.
Not to be confused with the 2014 drama film, Black or White.
Tropes in this work:
Specific to the Characters' Real Lives
- All Gays Love Theater: Shin has loved acting and plays since high school because he realized that he was naturally shy and stuttered around guys due to being attracted to them and the drama club had little to no guys in there. It also allowed him to break out of his shell, leading to a love of acting himself.
- Bad Liar: Shin is just too honest and earnest to be able to hide his true feelings, which makes him a terrible liar and a liability for his own career, considering that he's hiding his sexual orientation and relationship with Shige. Lucky for him, always performing Shige is a natural pro at lying with an unreadable face.
- Beneath the Mask: Because he looks the princely type, everyone assumed Shige to be a Princely Young Man and expected princely behavior from him. Rather than disappoint, Shige donned a princely mask, hiding his true lazy, obsessive, jealous, teasing jokester personality beneath this facade. He's done it for so long that he's afraid he's Becoming the Mask and can't act any other roles besides princely types because of it. Shin reassures him that this isn't the case.
- Big Man on Campus: Shige was one of, if not the most popular kid in his and Shin's high school: constantly at the center of every group, well-liked, a legion of fan girls, and handsome to boot.
- Blackmail: When Shige says he became an actor to protect Shin, he's not lying. The CEO of his agency personally scouted him after receiving pictures of him and Shige kissing while in college. He demanded Shige become a talent under his agency otherwise he'd release the pictures, outing Shin and ruining his career.
- Caught with Your Pants Down:
- Shin almost walks in on Shige rubbing one out in their apartment after Shige almost drunkenly pounced on Shin the night before. This is when we learn that Shin and Shige haven't gone past heavy kissing despite dating for years now, due to Shin saying once out of embarrassment and in a panic that he doesn't like physical intimacy, when things started getting hot and heavy between them. Shin waits by the door, listening instead.
- Soon after the first incident, Shin masturbates in his bedroom at their apartment to prep himself for Their First Time. Shige arrives home in time to hear Shin do so, but just like Shin, he doesn't interrupt, just loudly announces his arrival as a heads up to Shin, which causes Shin to scramble.
- Closet Gay: Shin, Shige, and Hanasaki are all male celebrities who date men and are forced to hide their sexual orientation to protect their careers, since being out is not yet accepted in modern Japanese society.
- Color Motif: Black and white, as the title implies. Black is used to represent the darkness of love like obsession, jealousy, and possession, whereas white is used to emphasize the purity and goodness of love. How this comes up gets played with, most notably on the covers of the books which will often show Shin and Shige dressed in one of the colors in front of a white or black background. Who gets which switches, though the first cover shows Shin in black (as befitting his scary and dark public image) and Shige in white (to coincide with his princely public image). As the story develops and the foil / Mirror Character relationship between the two gets explored, they flip or will both be shown wearing the same color.
- Cool Kid-and-Loser Friendship: In high school, Shige was well-liked and popular, whereas Shin was introverted, quiet, and mostly kept to himself and the acting club. Once Shige joins the acting club, he has to run away and hide from his legions of fangirls just to participate.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Shige is very possessive of Shin, to the point that he willingly admits to not being sure whether he wants Shin to actually be successful because he knows the more famous Shin gets, the more he'll have to share Shin with the rest of the world. He gets into sexually aggressive fits whenever he thinks Shin has done something even remotely non-platonic with another guy. Hanasaki even thinks to himself that Shige is "almost scarily" attached to Shin. For what it's worth, Shige is aware of this part of his personality and isn't all that proud of it.Shige: (to himself) For how long have I been this much of a jealous, possessive bastard?
- Crush Blush: The tell-tale sign that Tatara is developing feelings for Shin is by him turning bright red whenever Shin flashes one of his genuine smiles at him. It's so bad that Hanasaki notices Tatara's feelings for Shin well before he's fully aware of it himself.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Shin, oddly enough. Once he lets his guard down and starts showing his true personality to the public and to his colleagues, Shin gets a legion of female fans. And he inadvertantly got both Shige and fellow actor Tatara to fall for him, despite both never being sexually or romantically attracted to men before meeting Shin.
- Face of a Thug: Shin has dark and sharp features, which gives him a stern and intimidating face, perfect for villainous roles. In reality, Shin is an earnest, good-natured guy who's just a bit socially awkwward.
- Foil: Shin and Shige dating one another is meant to highlight their contrasting true personalities and public personas. overlapping with Mirror Character. Shin is a warm-hearted, earnest, fastidious, relatively innocent guy, with a very cute hidden side who loves acting and is naturally very good at it. Unfortunately, his stern features and general social awkwardness make him come off as scary, rude, and intimidating to those who don't know him. Shige is a princely looking guy with a pleasant face and friendly demeanor, who became an actor merely as a way to stay close to Shin; acting doesn't come nearly as easy to him as it does to Shin. In private, Shin is lazy, jealous, petty, and possessive of Shin, revealing a deep insecurity that one day Shin will leave him. And whereas Shin suddenly gets hit with a burst of popularity for his career due to his appearance on variety shows, Shige's career is nearing a slump as he becomes known for just being a pretty face with no real talent or personality behind it.
- Former Child Star: Tatara was a child star who later found the transition to adult roles difficult as he was simultaneously typecasted and was thought of as having peaked as a child. Because of this experience, he's a hardened and jaded adult actor, relegated to small roles on TV shows. Some of his protective feelings towards Shin come from seeing in Shin's earnest talent the same earnestness he once had himself as a kid.
- Gaydar: The reason why Hanasaki is Shin's friend is because at a party for their agency, Hanasaki took one look at Shin, walked over to him, and asked him bluntly "You're gay, right?" Shin's flustered response was all the answer he needed.
- Has a Type:
- By his own admission, Shin is more attracted to tough looking manly men. When Shige confesses to Shin in high school, Shin actually turns him down in part because he's not really attracted to Shige's princely good looks.
- Hanasaki tells Shige, after Hanasaki and Shin are found in a compromising position, that though he thinks Shin is adorable, classically handsome guys like Shige are more his type, so there's no need to worry.
-
He Really Can Act: Shige was scouted purely for his looks and had very little actual skill in acting before he suddenly became an actor, to the point that he was starting to experience as an untalented, one-trick pony at the start of the story. Shige's role as a twisted and cynical detective was chosen to help Shige break out of his prince typecast. His performance ends up being well-received and boostin his career. Played with however as Shige states that this character is closer to his true personality than what he typically does. That said, since Shige has hidden his true self to the point of potentially Becoming the Mask, he finds this role to be much harder than his previous ones and requires a lot of practicing with Shin to get it right. - I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: Retelling Hanasaki the story of how he and Shige met and got together, Shin explains that another reason why he couldn't immediately respond to Shige's Love Confession is that he just couldn't believe the popular, beloved, and seemingly straight Shige would have any interest in his quiet and introverted self.
- If It's You, It's Okay:
- While Shin explicitly identifies as a gay man and is shown finding men besides his boyfriend Shige attractive, Shige makes clear in chapter 20 that Shin is the only man he's ever been attracted to.
- Similar to Shige, Tatara was never attracted to men before he developed a crush on Shin.
- Insecure Love Interest: Some of Shige's possessiveness towards Shin comes from his own insecurity regarding what he perceives to be an imbalance in feelings; he feels like his love for Shin is much deeper (and more twisted) than Shin's love for him. He's also hyper-concerned about other men getting interested and pursuing Shin, a concern that is made real when Tatara kisses Shin after realizing he has genuine feelings for him.
- Intimate Telecommunications: Away for filming, Shige calls up Shin and the two engage in some phone sex, with Shige starting with the classic "What are you wearing?" line. Tatara, who is sharing a room with Shige, lies awake listening to the two and aroused by the thought of Shin doing what Shige is saying, gets himself off, much to his own embarrassment.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Shin and Shige both view each other as necessary emotional and mental supports, though Shige is a bit worse than Shin.
- Shige's manager tells Shin's that even if he wanted to separate Shin and Shige for the sake of their careers, he can't, as Shin being by Shige's side is necessary for Crazy Jealous Guy Shige's mental stability.
- Shin tells his manager that he'd never end things with Shige because he'd fall apart emotionally and mentally if he had to pursue acting without Shige's love and support.
- Love Confession: Shige confessed his feelings to Shin back in high school after helping him put on a play. Shin had asked Shige if they could still be friends even after the play is over. Shige responded that he can't just be his friend because he's already in love with him.
- Love Epiphany: Tatara realizes that he's been Unknowingly in Love with Shin for some time now, after he finds himself wanting to actually kiss Shin when Shin asks him for advice on how to do a kissing scene.
- Mirror Character:
- Though Shin and Shige have their differences, their similarities and how they seem to exist as black and white inversions of each other are also highlighted by their romantic involvement with one another. They're both rising actors who are being typecasted, just in opposite ways: Shin, as a scary villain and Shige, as the stereotypical male lead in romantic dramas. They both also suffer from a disconnect between their public and private images and have used acting in some way to compensate. Shin's shyness and queerness made him unable to feel truly himself unless he could pretend to be other people on a stage, so acting makes Shin come alive. Others expecting Shige to be a prince and forcing those expectations on him made him feel like he had to conform and live up to that expectation, so he is constantly acting the part in his personal life, which ironically makes actually acting on screen feel much more unnatural to him.
- Tatara is also a mirror to Shige, with regards to their relationship with Shin. Both are drawn to Shin's undeniable talent and acting charisma. Both are people Shin can depend on and ask for advice. Both are more classically handsome actors with the kind of innate starpower that Shin wishes he had. This is all to foreshadow that just like Shige, Tatara will fall for Shin, too. Their status as mirrors is lampshaded by them being cast as an Odd Couple in a Buddy Cop Show, however their characters (a rough around the edges cop and an immoral detective) are much more similar than different. Hell, they both can't handle roller coasters, though whereas Tatara is visibly sick, Shige plasters on a serene smile despite being scared out of his mind.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Hanasaki, in an attempt to get Shin more aware of putting himself in potentially compromising positions, comes on to him while visiting Shin and Shige's place. Then Shige walks in to see Hanasaki seemingly about to kiss Shige. Shin, innocently oblivious to the tension in the room, leaves to take a phone call, leaving Hanasaki to explain to a quietly furious Shige why what he saw was just him messing around and nothing to worry about.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Hanasaki is slightly stunned by how self-assured Shin is in rejecting his playful suggestion to let him go on a date with Shige just once, as he's his type. Shin's comment is that even if he offers, Shige will likely turn it down because "he loves me more than anyone" as a passive flex of his claim to Shige to get Hanasaki to back off. Hanasaki thinks to himself that he knew Shige felt a deep possessiveness towards Shin but didn't realize until just then that Shin may be just as possessive.
- Oblivious to Love: Innocent Shin cannot tell when people are hitting on him, not Hanasaki (though he's doing it to teach him to be more aware), not his female co-star (who is constantly blushing and trying to get his number), not even Tatara, despite Tatara suggesting the two of them kiss (under the pretense of teaching Shin how to do it for his role).
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: For most of the story, Shin has been shy and apprehensive regarding sex with Shige. He loves Shige but is an innocent at heart and has to get used to physical intimacy. So when Shin comes home and throws himself at Shige, telling him to do whatever he wants sexually to him and to mess him up, Shige, despite being thrilled, knows something isn't quite right and asks Shin to tell him what's wrong afterwards. Shin then reveals that 1) he has to do a kissing scene and 2) that Tatara, a guy who Shige suspected of having feelings for Shin, kissed him. And Shige snaps.
- Practice Kiss: Invoked by Tatara with Shin, when Shin asks him for advice with his first ever kissing scene. Realizing he has actual feelings for Shin during the convo, Tatara surprises Shin by kissing him, but seeing just how startled and shocked Shin is by this, Tatara plays it off as if it was all part of the lesson.
- Princely Young Man: Shige's public image is that of a handsome, romantic, and polite Prince Charming type. He has light hair, is constantly wearing a gentle smile, and is typecasted as gentle love interests in dramas.
- Secret-Keeper: Of the people who know about Shin and Shige's sexual orientation and relationship there are both of their managers out of necessity, Hanasaki (Shin's one friend in the industry who sensed Shin was gay and befriended him), and later Tatara (who overhears Shige and Shin getting intimate by accident and chooses on his own to keep their secret).
- Secretly Gay Activity:
- Hanasaki orchestrates a group hangout between him, Shin, Shige, and Tatara to soft-launch the idea of Shin and Shige being friends to the public to prepare for the inevitable reveal that they are living together later on and as an opportunity for Shin and Shige to have a public date without speculation about their sexuality.
- Shin asks Tatara for advice on how to do his first kissing scene as he feels uncomfortable asking his boyfriend, Crazy Jealous Guy Shige knowing it would hurt both of them to think about each other kissing other people. Using a Practice Kiss as a pretense, Tatara, who experiences a Love Epiphany during the conversation, kisses Shin, much to Shin's shock.
- Secret Relationship: Shin and Shige have to not only hide their romantic relationship from the public, but even the fact that they have known each other for years, because 1) being publicly gay in a still homophobic society will kill their careers and 2) their public images are so at odds with each other (and Shin's public image is so negative at the start), it might hurt their budding careers to even associate with one another. The fact that they went to the same high school gets outed, but both Shin and Shige's managers find a way to use it to soft-launch their friendship, so the two can finally go out in public together, at least platonically.
- Self-Punishment Over Failure: A very twisted take. Shige and Hanasaki have told Shin several times that he lets his guard down too much with other guys and needs to be more careful, with Crazy Jealous Guy Shige making it very clear that he can barely handle Shin hanging out alone with other men, even as just friends. Then Tatara kisses Shin. Without explaining, the normally passive and reserved Shin throws himself at Shige and tells Sadist Shige to "mess him up." When Shige thinks he's going too far, Shin tells him to keep going and to be rougher. It's clear from Shin's out of character behavior that he is using the punishing sex as both a way to overwrite Tatara's kiss and to punish himself for letting it happen, knowing how Shige would feel.
- Show Within a Show: Since this is a work about actors, there are several. The manga starts with Shin filming a Tokusatsu show and Shige filming a romantic drama. Shin's follow up is a slice-of-life romantic drama whereas Shige's is a detective crime drama.
- Stage Name: Both Shin and Shige use stage names for acting. Shin's stage name is Shin Washimiya, but his legal name is Shin Himemiya. Shige's stage name is Shigeru Osawa, but his legal name is Kazushige Tatebayashi.
- Stepford Smiler: Shige is so used to plastering on a fake smile to live up to everyone's expectations of him that he admits that he's not even sure what his real personality is like anymore sometimes. He'll also use that smile to mask his true feelings, especially if they're negative. Shin knows that he really hurt Shige when Shige responds not with anger but by turning that fake smile on for him, too.
- There Is Only One Bed: On their last day of filming, an intern messes up and books a single room for Tatara and Shige to share. Shige bemoans that this is the kind of mistake they can make when it's just him and Shin. Tatara mutters under his breath "That's my line."
- Their First Time: The fact that they haven't done the deed yet despite dating for at least 4 years is partially because Shin once told Shige he didn't want to out of fear, but also because Shige is aware of his own possessive feelings towards Shin. To him, if he sleeps with Shin, there's no going back; he won't be able to so easily leave Shin should that be what needs to be done for their careers. This comes to a head at the end of volume 1 when the papparazzi find Shin (and Shige)'s apartment complex and Shige says it might be time to end things. They fight, make up, and cap it all off by finally going all the way.
- Virgin Vision: Shige's manager calls out that Shige and Shin finally did the deed the next day, simply by looking at Shige sitting and staring wistfully off into the distance in the car. Shige gets embarassed wondering if it was that obvious he was a virgin until then.
- When She Smiles: Shin's sharp features soften into an infectious boyish charm when he smiles widely, something that Shige is hyperaware of as whenever Shin smiles, Shige thinks "Yeah, can't let anybody else see that." In fact, Shin smiling on a variety show almost singlehandedly reforms his negative public image as a mean curmudgeon because people find that gap between his personality and features to be adorably charming, much to Shige's dismay. Even straight Tatara and Hanasaki (who explicitly says Shin isn't even his type) can't help but find him cute enough to want to sleep with when Shin smiles.
Specific to the Shows the Characters Act In
- Blue Oni, Red Oni: Invoked in the name of Shige's Buddy Cop Show about an Odd Couple where one is a rough around the edges cop and the other is a genius but rule-breaking detective, titled "Blue and Red."
- Breakout Character: In-universe, Shin's villain character on the Tokusatsu show and film he takes part in become very popular, by virtue of Shin himself getting popular outside of the show. While filming the movie, Shin's character is given more scenes and lines just because Shin is now in high demand after his successful showing on the variety show.
- Buddy Cop Show: The role that ends up saving Shige's rapidly dying career is a show about an Odd Couple of cops (a rough around the edges cop and a gifted but immoral private detective) pairing up to take on a case, called "Blue and Red." Shige plays the cop and Tatara is the detective.
- Dark Is Evil: Shin's outfit as the villain of the Tokusatsu show is an all-black, military style uniform.
-
Enforced Method Acting: After Shige learns that Tatara made a move on Shin, their next scene together involves Shige beating the ever-loving crap out of Tatara. When the scene ends, the director even lampshades this saying that he almost felt like the hostility and fighting was real. Turns out it's because in some cases it was, as Tatara is shown holding his ribs afterwards and thanks Shige for at least not going for the face. - Shipper on Set: Two staff members on Tatara and Shige's Buddy Cop Show are seen arguing about which of their characters is the uke and which is the seme in their imagined relationship.
- Ship Tease: In the final scene of their show, Tatara improvises and kisses Shige on the cheek, much to Shige's disgust. Tatara explains that because their show has gotten popular with "a certain segment of the fanbase", it was just Fanservice for those that ship their two characters together.
- Ship-to-Ship Combat: Shippers of Tatara's and Shige's characters on "Blue and Red" are already seen arguing online after the pilot airs regarding who's the uke and who's the seme. Two staff members are seen on set for their last episode having the same argument in the background.
- Tokusatsu: At the start of the manga, Shin is starring as the main villain of a tokusatsu show.
