
Links go to search results. Availability varies by region.
è±ć«ăŻć ç·ćă
9
1
Finished
Feb 10, 2016
7.8/10
Average Review Score
75%
Recommend It
4
Reviews Worldwide
Sexuality and gender are very complex and sensitive subjects that can mean many different things to many different people, and because of all these different and sometimes conflicting perspectives, they should be treated with particular consideration in any form of representation. Sexuality and gender are a lot more diverse than many people think. âHeterosexualityâ, âhomosexualityâ and âbisexualityâ are terms that everyone who has reached a certain stage in their adolescence are familiar with, but how many have even heard of âpansexualityâ, âpanromanticâ, âasexualityâ, âaromanticâ, âdemisexualityâ, âpolysexualityâ, âheteroflexibleâ, âhomoflexibleâ, or âfluidâ? Likewise, the majority probably have at least some awareness of terms such as âtransgenderâ andâtranssexualâ even if they donât know the full meaning, but how many are completely blind to words like âAgender (non-gender)â, âcisgenderâ, âgenderfluidâ, âbinary genderâ, 'non-binary gender', âgender dysphoriaâ, or even something as simple as âgender identityâ? Sexuality and gender are incredibly broad topics that the masses remain largely oblivious to, whether they are entirely comfortable with their own sexual identity and gender identity or not. It certainly doesnât help that the terms that the majority are familiar with are the ones that carry very negative connotations in contemporary society â terms like âcrossdresserâ, drag queenâ, âqueerâ, and, unfortunately enough, âtrannyâ. Even then, the full scope of these terms is not readily apparent. It becomes commonplace for the average person to absorb only the negative connotations associated with these words thanks to the media and a lack of education. People who fall into a mainstream category are liable to be disgusted by the negative connotations associated with these words and, as a result, become intolerant of these misrepresented ideas. People who do fall into a non-mainstream category and experience some form of more subtle gender dysphoria are liable to think, âIâm definitely not like themâ and keep well away from the subject in the future, never quite pinpointing the root of some of their psychological or other health problems. This is one danger of half-baked knowledge in any area. Labels are very clunky methods of communicating any complex, sensitive and abstract ideas, and the failings of this approach are made abundantly clear with the rampant ignorance regarding something as simple as the distinction between sexuality and gender. In the worst case scenario, poorly-communicated labels can close people off to a particular idea and rob them of their desire to learn more about it. Labels arenât what people need. What people need are stories of real, raw human experience. Stories of suffering, stories of happiness and stories of finding yourself. What people need are stories like Hanayome wa Motodanshi. Hanayome wa Motodanshi is an autobiographical account detailing the process of Chiiâs MtF transition and her romantic relationship with her husband. This single-volume manga was originally based off Chiiâs blog, where she talks about a variety of topics relating to gender and sexuality. Hanayome itself also touches on these same issues and sometimes even goes into great depth, but it most certainly does not neglect the romance element. Surprisingly, Hanayome is able to balance both its rather heavy themes and the romance between Chii and her husband in a light-heartedly serious and effective way, making its content very easy to swallow. Hanayome adopts a stylised, cutesy art style that acts as a limiter for the narrative, preventing the events and themes from becoming too overbearing and heavy-handed. Hanayome is a predominately light-hearted re-telling of Chiiâs MtF transition after all â itâs meant to be easy to swallow while still treating its themes seriously instead of simply shoving its ideas and opinions down readerâs throats. Because of its presentation, Hanayome is easy to read and easy to be drawn into. While the actual substance is interesting and entertaining, Hanayomeâs art style is what makes it possible to enjoy the manga so much in the first place â It plays a crucial role in setting the tone and atmosphere for the rest of the manga. Hanayomeâs narrative style takes a rather unorthodox form, which seems to be a holdover from its blog roots. The events in the manga are told in flashback form, accompanied by a significant amount of narration blocks, but sometimes the narrative switches to the present, usually to provide a more direct experience for an especially critical moment. Hanayome also has at least two pages reserved at the end of any given chapter (and sometimes in the middle) for a section titled âA Small Overviewâ. In this section, Chii goes into a great amount of depth explaining her perspective and experiences regarding one particular topic (âSex Reassignment Surgeryâ is one such example of this). âA Small Overviewâ seems to be an evolution of the infinitely blander âAuthorâs Notes,' whereas it isnât crucial to the overall narrative, but it is still fascinating to read. The narrative style may be somewhat strange to read through at first, but it becomes very natural very quickly. While Hanayome provides fascinating insight into sexuality and particularly gender issues, romance is also a centric part of this manga. Itâs important for any narrative that contains any level of romance for it to be authentic and well-developed, and Hanayome achieves this in spades, no doubt thanks to its real life inspiration. Chii and her husband have great chemistry, and itâs always entertaining to read about their antics. They are a believable couple with believable problems. Most importantly, their depths are explored. While romance is kept out of focus for the first few chapters, itâs around half-way through that it is brought to the forefront. Itâs here that their relationship becomes more serious and small elements of drama start to creep in. Hanayome may be predominately light-hearted, but it can certainly do drama very well when it wants to; it just doesnât do it very often. This seriesâ biggest accomplishment is how well it handles the development of the coupleâs relationship throughout. Hanayome is something of a balancing act between its themes and its romance, but by the end, romance seems to be weighed most heavily. Hanayome wa Motodanshi is a light-heartedly serious take on sexuality and gender from just one personâs perspective, but it is also a beautiful story of romance. Hanayome could have used more room for its romance to breathe, but it was handled exceptionally well in the limited time it had. Likewise, Hanayome could have done more with its themes, but nine chapters were entirely sufficient to craft an engaging and well-paced narrative that provokes a diverse palette of emotions. Hanayome is an insightful, entertaining and definitively personal story that most certainly deserves a read no matter who you are, what sexual orientation you fall under or what gender you identify as. Hanayome is just one story of real human experience, but it isnât one that is easily forgotten.
Chii and her husband are like any other happily married couple, except for one thing: Chii was assigned male at birth. Chii details her autobiographical account of growing up with gender dysphoria and ultimately deciding to transition in her early adult years. Shortly after Chii starts transitioning, she meets a man who is instantly enamored by her, and although he is surprised when Chii eventually tells him she used to live as a guy, he still wants to go out with her. As Chii continues to transition, her boyfriend supports her through the process, culminating in their marriage once her transition is complete. (Source: Hachimitsu Scans)
The Bride Was a Boy is an extremely short autobiography authorâs experience of transitioning from one gender to another and talking about many things related to it. The whole thing is a short (roughly under 160 pages) and pretty inoffensive read. The manga as I see it has two goals: 1. Educate people about LGBT, legal side of transitioning and what sort of problems people go through when they transition. (one of the first few pages specifically establishes this). 2. Provide entertainment through the SoL segments. (the whole manga became a thing because people found Chiiâs comics about her experiences to be entertaining). While keeping in mind thatall of this is rather subjective I donât think it does either exceptionally well. When it comes to education, wast majority of it is fed to the reader through chapter intermissions where a whole lot of legal information is just dumped on the reader with dry text. Itâs hard to make learning laws entertaining but the problem remains that these intermissions dramatically slow break the pace and do nothing to make the reader engage with the information. To commend those intermissions for being educational would be akin to thanking someone for linking a wikipedia article when you ask a question. The remaining info usually come from 4 panel comic pages that revolve around any given topic where Chii gets to bring up random stuff and express her opinion on it. Most of the time however itâs just that, an expression of her personal experience which she herself points out to not be applicable for everyone. This leads into another issue with this which is that as I said before first few pages establish this manga as something that would answer questions people might have when going through difficulties of transitioning but since everyoneâs lives are different it ends up as Chii just retelling how it went down for her and how she dealt with her situations which wonât work for everyone. To show a specific examples one of the questions asked at the start is âhow do I come out to my parentsâ, itâs never properly addressed. When Chii came out she told her mom about it who reacted calmly and positively just like the rest of her family. I donât think itâs a flaw cause this is an autobiography but I think itâs worth pointing out that people who expect this to contain solutions to difficult question theyâre unlikely to find them here. When it comes to SoL things get a lot better. Chii comes off as a very positive and genuine person so even when things get tough she manages to depict them casually in a lighthearted and sometimes humorous ways. Itâs not always funny and I didnât always find it cute but it was still very neat and heartwarming to read about Chii going through all the ups and downs of her difficult times while surrounded with lots of nice and supportive people. Unfortunately these segments are regularly interrupted by aforementioned educational segments which are so dull and dry that it completely kills the pacing. When it comes to art the only complaint I have it that the manga is rather plain. The art style is cute and charming but itâs also rather repetitive and doesnât add much to the writing. This might come off rather negative but I think this is a decent manga thatâs absolutely worth reading if you find the topic to be interesting. When it concerns such a sensitive topic I think itâs worth going out of the usual criteria for critique and point out the value of the message itself. When it comes to that itâs nice to have a manga out that could possibly help someone get through a difficult time or feel better about themselves.
This Bride was a Boy is part autobiography part informational booklet by the anonymous mangaka Chii-chan. Being on the LGBTQ spectrum I had previously done some research on how LGBTQ folks are treated in Japan, this manga though did an excellent contextualizing the current situation for trans folks who want to realize themselves. Chii's choice to interlude with her own story was a good decision as it likely helps folks less knowledgeable gain a point of empathy as they follow her journey. I'll admit, I enjoyed reading about her victories such as getting her marker changed and her marriage to break the irritation I hadwith some of the antiquated laws she elaborates on. The manga is by no means exhaustive but is a great entry point for people to learn about LGBTQ issues, especially the current status of some laws in Japan.
The Bride Was a Boy â Spoiler Free â Recommended TLDR Story â 7/10 â 7 x 0.275 = 1,925 Art â 8,5/10 â 8,5 x 0.2 = 1,7 Characters â 8/10 â 8 x 0.225 = 1,8 Enjoyment â 7/10 â 7 x 0.3 = 2,1 Total: 7,525 -> 8 Story â 7/10 The story of âThe Bride Was a Boyâ is quite simple: it is an autobiographical take on the life of the author as a trans woman â Chii â who married a man in Japan. It is written from the perspective of an MtF (Male to Female) transgender person, although the story fluctuates between the perspective of thetransition and her romance with her now husband. It is quite wholesome, easy to read and closely recalls the spirit of âMy Lesbian Experience with Lonelinessâ, although for the better. It also has a very explicit educational purpose of explaining how the trans experience in Japan is, mostly in bureaucratic and legal terms, such as the problems with changing âlegalâ gender while married â a problem that, according to the author, is more common â or at least was in 2016 â in the western world than it should. Art â 8,5/10 The art style is incredibly unique and is perfect for the light-hearted way in which it was written, as there isn't a heavy focus on any topic in particular â again, it balances the seriousness of her social and medical transition with the romance aspect of the manga. There arenât any detailed scenarios â for there isnât any need for any â and the characters are caricatured in a cute and funny way. Page composition is also experimental in nature, and it works quite well on how everything is presented. Characters â 8/10 Not much can be said about the characters, for there are literally only just two of them â Chii and her husband. In that regard, they are humane and quite likeable, being representations of their real selves. Enjoyment â 7/10 âThe Bride Was a Boyâ presented a good reading experience. While it elucidated the trans reality in Japan further, its touches of comic relief made the reading enjoyable and swift. It is a short read that simply deserves a Recommendation for its relatability and usefulness for the reader interested in the trans experience in Japan, as well as the LGTQIA+ and Otaku communities in general, who can add another wholesome, cute story to the trans manga niche.