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Description
From Fantagraphics Books:
Fifth grade. The threshold of puberty, and the beginning of the end of childhood innocence. Nitori Shuichi and his new friend Takatsuki Yoshino enjoy happy homes and loving families, and are well-liked by their classmates. But they share a secret that further complicates a time of life that is awkward for anyone: Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy...
Written and illustrated by Shimura Takako, acclaimed for her sensitive take on LGBT topics, Wandering Son portrays Shuichi and Yoshino's very private journey with affection, sensitivity and gentle humor.
Vol.1 Sweet story. I was actually a little confused in the beginning. Despite reading the description, I thought the boy really was a barely boyish girl and it took me awhile to recognize who the second character was suppose to be. There's one extra character that in the first volume that got so much screen time for the first half that it only added to my confusion. She basically works to push the plot but a well-told story, this story, doesn't really need her as she was used. If she had just been more conscientious, empathic. She doesn't really have an issue, other than liking to dress someone else up. Not really looking forward to where she's going with christianity either(and what for?). It takes away from the two that are the focused early on. The boys don't come off well in this story. The fathers do, but all the little boys are barely depicted and not very positively.
I usually only do a review this early when I'm thinking of quitting, but that's not the case here. I'd give this an 8.5 if I were to rate it now.
My introduction to Shimura Takako's works began with Aoi Hana, which was a very light and charming take on LGBT. Captured by sensei's pacing and storytelling style, I've decided to give Hourou Musuko a shot. As expected of Shimura Takako, the storytelling and depiction of the characters are so believable and realistic in what may appear to be a surrealistic environment. However, it has to be understood that transgender issues do exist in large numbers, and like Shuuichi and Takano, many transgenders also choose to hide their real selves in fear of rejection.
The issues and insecurities our protagonists come across evidently present themselves in real life. All the characters have their own personalities and problems, and their perspectives of the world is different. There is no doubt Shimura Takako understands how to depict the world through the eyes of believable, unique characters. Aside from the conceivable characters, the pacing of the story compliments the theme as well.
The deliberate setting of the manga to begin from the age of ten all the way to high school (and beyond), really shows how the mangaka comprehends the growth of sexuality. Where before and during puberty, individuals with "differing" sexualities will gain many doubts about themselves and worry of the world around them. This is exceptionally sensitive in a nation with a conservative culture like Japan, where homosexuals, transsexuals, and transgenders do not gain the same type of acceptance as some Western communities. The slower-than-usual pacing of this extraordinary story carefully accentuates all the different issues which may present themselves to Shuuichi, Takano, and all the other characters. As a slice-of-life depicting the real world issue which is both exterior and interior acceptance of one's sexuality, the pacing carefully draws out all the different problems an individual may step on through the sensitive period of puberty.
Hourou Musuko is a masterpiece which contains earthly, believable characters with their own realistic quirks, handling a delicate topic(in Japan, especially) with the most suitable pacing. Of course, the art is very fitting for this manga. Simple, yet beautifully so. Well done Shimura-sensei.
this manga is more serious and even educative than romantic. That's why for me it is a little bit boring, though I like feminine boys and masculine girls and all this cross-dressinmg thing.
This is probably a bit biased, what with knowing many people, including myself, who are LGBT.
But this is pretty much my favorite manga ever. Shuuichi and Takano are portrayed especially realistically, especially for manga, an industry which has a rather bad track record with LGBT topics. Most of the characters I absolutely adore or absolutely hate, and I love how each of their motivations are only subtly revealed. The minimalist style only helps enforce how painful everyday existence is for Shuuichi and Takano, especially when Shuuichi is confronted with the mind-numbing horror that is
Spoiler (highlight to view)
her first nocturnal emission (if that pronoun use is confusing you, you aren't paying attention)
, which was one of the most beautifully horrific moments in any work ever, in my opinion.
I am eagerly awaiting the rest of this series, although I'm a bit anxious about the anime. I don't predict it to be adapted well.
I like Shimura Takako. Seriously, I really do. She has nice ideas, and the artistic skills to exploit them. And yet, even with the odds against her, she somehow manages to come out with the world's most boring manga. How does she do it? It's gotta be magic.
I found this series very interesting. The only down parts, if I could say, is the pace which is so slow. But the fact that the whole series progresses realistically following the characters profile mades up with that evenly.
The part which I found interesting obviously the gender issue here. I'm just studying feminism recently. I know there's no slight relation of this series and feminism but there I also study gender stereotyping. On what was supposed for male, biologically, and what was supposes for female, biologically. The two protagonists of the series are against them, and specifically some of Nitori's inner thought are what really interests me, I also found on some Takatsuki's though. Even though their problem or thoughts were mostly personal and somewhat selfish that's the thing that made the series for me. Also you can realize it with ease that Nitori himself was criticizing the misogynist social construct. There's not much feminism but I would say this series is pretty interesting if we were to talk about gender related issue. I sure hope that the author has something in her mind when writing this series.
Also to mention the artist's art are surprisingly plain but beautiful. The simplistic story were in par with its simplistic art style. The most powerful part of the artist's I would say is the cover where she did so well with the, if I'm not mistaken, water color. I've read her other work, Aoi Hana, where she did it well too with the water color and the whole artwork of the series.
I would highly recommend this series. But I also found the issue is rather sensitive, well at least here in my place. Concerning the genre, I don't really know what makes up 'seinen' cause this series just had too much drama with it and its not the kind of drama you would normally found on 'male-oriented' works even though the crossdress might counts and the cute characters maybe. Its just simple 'mature (readers)-oriented' work for me, as the issue here should be handled unseriously but its quite serious. The gender-bender, LGBT, crossdress is not for fun but it's part of the theme brought by the story, it's the issue, the problem.
p.s. pardon me if I sound a bit arrogant or cocky or anything. I haven't read so much manga and I'm also a bit picky on choosing what manga I would read. If there's any disturbing argument with my comments, I apologize, Also pardon if there's many grammatical error, considering English is not my mother tongue and I'm not really on studying it.
Hourou Musuko is really quite interesting in a lot of ways, but rather than write a whole analysis here, I think I'll keep it short for once. What we have here is a work with realistic characters, reaistic pacing, and realistic outcomes. In fact, it almost feels as though these events may have occurred to the author or someone close to them at some point. The characters are developed with meticulous timing and accuracy, and hardly deviate from their acceptable courses of action based on this development. This, while quite amazing, will probably be lacking in terms of entertainment for many readers. This isn't an escapist work, and as a result, the audience it attracts will probably be smaller.
At first I was attracted to the beautiful watercolor in the beginning and the realistic characters. The earlier chapters were sweet simple and intriguing. However, as the manga went on, more serious issues came into play; it became a lot more intense. I couldn't stop reading; I just loved it.
It's a kinda plain slice of life like manga, with lots of cross dressing... It's nothing really special or edge of the seat or anything.. But it's alright..
It's a bit confusing here and there though.. Seems like it does some time skip thingy once in a while or something Oo Leaves me confused all the time since there's not really any warning or anything :s
I really like this manga. It's very poetic in my opinion. The characters are likable and they have flaws that people can relate to (not being clumsy and endearing flaws). Sometimes the characters make me angry with the choices they make and sometimes they surprise me in a good way.
The emotions are very real even if it's a very unlikely setting. This manga is definitely worth a try.
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