Rainbow Apartments

　　Rainbow Apartments, a futuristic apartment building appearing in 2024.
　　In the world of dating apps, can one find a lifelong partner?
　　When a gay man falls for a heterosexual, do happy endings not apply to me?
　　Are the mutual suspicions in queer love always just a step away from a relationship?
　　Closeted vs. out: How to choose when facing family?
　　How can one, in a male body, become the leading lady in love?
　　Can sex and love overcome the shadow of HIV?

　　In Taiwan, 2024,
　　five years have passed since the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2019.
　　The sun still rises, the sea level hasn't submerged the land, and humanity continues to live on this earth.
　　We are not extinct yet.
　　Compared to the initial tension, looking back five years later feels like a world away.
　　But the dust has not yet settled, and the story continues…
　　In a certain apartment building in Taipei, the red "For Rent" sign was quietly taken down.
　　This is a seven-story elevator building, just a 3-minute walk from the MRT station, with a small park across the street perfect for an after-dinner stroll. Around the corner, there's a 24-hour convenience store and a fast-food chain, and on the ground floor of the apartment building, there's a small bar that opens during the day, perfect for the city's nocturnal "yinshi" men and women.
　　Speaking of men and women, the residents of this apartment building seem to have their own colors and stories, be it red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or purple,
　　sweet, sour, bitter, salty, or super spicy, all will be painted or brewed into a soup in this building.
　　This is the story of this apartment building; it's called "Rainbow Apartments."
　　Love will not destroy the world; the absence of love will.

　　6 captivating comics centered on queer life, opening the doors to Rainbow Apartments…

　　Climbing from the first floor to the seventh floor, it feels like a journey. 2024 is not far off, and these seven floors, filled with visual imagery and the rainbow spectrum, are like a presentation, reflection, contemplation, and re-creation of contemporary queer life in Taiwan. Queer narratives have developed in Taiwanese society for decades, and the vitality of Taiwanese queer creations can be seen in various forms of literature, film, theater, and social movements. However, exploring queer experiences through comics might be a fun, promising, and fresh approach.

　　The six works across these seven floors, in addition to their diverse stories, themes, and art, also evoke a familiar sense of intimacy, which is the most endearing aspect of this entire comic collection. Taiwan has had sporadic queer comics in the past, some humorous, some satirical, some depicting queer people as super sexy… "Rainbow Apartments" should be the first complete concept comic collection about queer themes. There are many, many comics in the world, but comics are truly difficult to draw, and the effort and dedication of comic artists are exhausting just to think about. We hope that the new generation of comic artists will continue to meticulously explore queer themes and showcase the pride of Taiwanese queer people with beautiful comic images.

　　#01 MORIKU
　　When a gay man falls for a heterosexual
　　An HIV+ art teacher vs. a nude model. MORIKU, a comic artist skilled in drawing BL, challenges the equality and tolerance of love, allowing HIV patients to have normal relationships.

　　#02 Chen Pei-hsiu ╳ Li Ping-yao Grand Collaboration
　　Lesbian Love
　　Adapted from writer Li Ping-yao's short story "One Hundred Years of Lilies." Lin Ya-ting, who has been single her whole life, is persuaded by her good friend Joe to download a dating app and unexpectedly falls in love with a female netizen… A comic adaptation of the beautiful writer Li Ping-yao's short story "One Hundred Years of Lilies"!
 
　　#03 Elainee
　　Dating Apps
　　Online dating is always difficult… Elainee's inspiration comes from poet Yu Xiuhua's "Sleeping with You Across Half of China," telling the story of a lesbian dating on a dating app, experiencing a pleasant yet ambiguous romance.

　　#04 NIN
　　Resolving Queer Family Issues
　　What do you do when you have an anti-LGBT parent at home? Xiang and Xing have lived together for about a year, but whenever they talk about their relationship and marriage with their family, they are always urged to find a boyfriend quickly, as if their relationship isn't taken seriously. The emotional storm of lesbian love you don't know about.

　　#05 Li Wei-en
　　The Way of Transgender Survival
　　Ting-jun, as a transgender person, encounters many problems during their growth, such as workplace bullying, easily encountering perverted harassment, and even dating can be very difficult. Follow Ting-jun to experience the different facets of transgender life.

　　#06 Lucas
　　Regardless of coming out or not, I love you!
　　Lucas, drawing from his personal experience, deeply portrays the internal struggles of gay men before coming out, from the protagonists Yi-hao and Xiao-ke's respective acknowledgments of their sexual orientation to the issues of coming out to family and friends.

Recommended with Love

　　Wan Fang │ Singer, Actress
　　Chi Ta-wei │ Writer
　　Xiao Shu │ Host of "Sense One Way Through"
　　Dan Tang-mo │ Film Critic
　　Yang Shuang-tzu │ Writer
　　Lin Meng-huan │ Resident Artist, National Taichung Theater

　　"Rainbow Apartments" should be the first complete concept comic collection about queer themes! We hope that the new generation of comic artists will continue to meticulously explore queer themes and showcase the pride of Taiwanese queer people with beautiful comic images. ――Dan Tang-mo (Film Critic)

　　Let me be your resident advisor, and together we'll make your Rainbow Apartments a reality. ――Xiao Shu (Host of "Sense One Way Through")