WE are actually considering investing time into this

Interesting that this chapter gave more evidence that Momiji is trans, but also raised doubts about if Ao is a lesbian. Maybe she specifically likes trans girls, or specifically just Momiji. I suppose it's also possible she likes both femboys and trans girls.

I think Ao is demisexual tbh.

Kind of annoying to see how many people fail to truly internalize the point that a trans woman is a woman. Is the trans woman no longer a woman when she's boymoding?

I don't see how anyone can be certain yet that we're dealing with a trans woman who boymodes vs. a genderfluid boy who girlmodes, say.

I suspect that insofar as the author is putting deep thought into this, they may not be heading toward simple labels or categories.

"Ao was just unconsciously a chaser" is a REALLY funny way this manga could go if that is the direction it is going atp

I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out Ao is specifically only into Momiji. That seems unrealistic to western audiences, but it's fairly common in anime/manga, it's seen as romantic. E.g. "I'm straight but I love you specifically", or "Gender doesn't matter, it's you I love". I wouldn't exactly say gender doesn't matter here though, since she felt nothing for them as "Koyou" originally.

I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out Ao is specifically only into Momiji. That seems unrealistic to western audiences, but it's fairly common in anime/manga, it's seen as romantic.

You’re not wrong that it’s the most likely outcome, but I would question the fact that “it’s seen as romantic”, because you never see it in het: “I’m not straight, I just like you” is not a thing – heterosexuality is never questioned in the first place. Rather than romantic, it’s simply seen as more palatable than making a character explicitly lesbian, or similarly affirming that a trans woman is in fact a woman, for obvious reasons. Like everyone else, Japanese authors will err on the side of not making something that reads as an overt political statement.

I suspect that insofar as the author is putting deep thought into this, they may not be heading toward simple labels or categories.

This is exceedingly unlikely. I think it is safe to say that any manga that concludes with obscure queer terminology would almost certainly contain at least a modicum of less obscure queer terminology elsewhere in the manga. The total absence of explicit references to queer people or culture suggests either an ambiguous ending, or an ending based on, at best, a surface-level understanding of queer culture (not that that’s a necessarily bad thing).

I don't see how anyone can be certain yet that we're dealing with a trans woman who boymodes vs. a genderfluid boy who girlmodes, say.

Of course, you cannot be certain, but I don’t see why you are trying to criticize people for only discussing future possibilities that have been brought up in text instead of future possibilities that have no textual evidence. There is nothing in the manga to imply genderfluidity, while there are multiple scenes that hint towards being a transgender woman (“Maybe I want meant to be a girl all along?” + “A real girl… I’m trying to be one”). Perhaps it is reflective of your own biases that, despite textual evidence pointing only in one direction, you seem to consider genderfluidity to be an equally valid reading?

For the love of god, please sexy moment next chapter

this is going to become toxic yuri when Ao demands that Momiji get the surgery

Momiji gets to experience a little transmisogyny... as a treat.

I'm not 100% satisfied with the way the story is progressing - I see hints that Momiji really is trans, on one hand, and Ao's increasing confusion over her sexuality, on the other - but I'm still curious to see more.

I think Ao is demisexual tbh.

It's possible, but hard to say at this point. It's not uncommon for characters to be written as so head over heels for one specific person that they've no love left over for anyone else, with the author apparently thinking that's how True Love (TM) works rather than them having accidentally written a demisexual. It's literally so common that I only realized demisexuality was not the default state of humanity until about a year ago, and I'm still pretty upset about it. So I assume bad writing by default until specific evidence of demisexuality is presented.

Momiji gets to experience a little transmisogyny... as a treat.

There is a depressing trend of trans women feeling affirmed by being targeted by the same sorts of prejudice as the cis girls, and I feel like Momiji will not be breaking that trend. Smh.

last edited at Sep 22, 2026 7:44PM

I don't see how anyone can be certain yet that we're dealing with a trans woman who boymodes vs. a genderfluid boy who girlmodes, say.

Of course, you cannot be certain, but I don’t see why you are trying to criticize people for only discussing future possibilities that have been brought up in text instead of future possibilities that have no textual evidence. There is nothing in the manga to imply genderfluidity, while there are multiple scenes that hint towards being a transgender woman (“Maybe I want meant to be a girl all along?” + “A real girl… I’m trying to be one”). Perhaps it is reflective of your own biases that, despite textual evidence pointing only in one direction, you seem to consider genderfluidity to be an equally valid reading?

I think this person is responding to the person directly above them who was voicing disagreement with the thread overall not strictly gendering MC as a trans woman? That seems like the right time to respond that they think the character is genderfluid; to explain why someone would still use he/him pronouns for a character who is also a trans woman.

Also, just speaking for my own interpretation of the story, but Kouyou/Momiji already feels demonstrably a trans woman AND genderfluid. He seems, to me, to be comfortable in a male gender, hence how he was living until the story's premise kicked in AND she has also openly stated she is a girl.That reading is not in spite of the evidence you listed, but also following from it. Trans girl and genderfluid are not mutually exclusive categories, at least not for this story.

To further elaborate how I am reading it, the story is starting a trend of our protagonist switching between a male persona Kouyou and a female persona, Momiji, In this latest chapter, Kouyou goes "I am Momiji" and "Kouyou is Momiji" when that first statement is denied. It feels as if she is correcting Konno and asserting that the personas are both her at the same time despite the switching presentation.

I'm not expecting the story to use the word genderfluid anywhere, but I am expecting it to show a character who identifies with multiple genders and shifts around and between them (as I see it is currently doing). There's definitely nothing saying that Momiji can't transition to solely be a trans woman even if they don't use terminology for that either, but that's not how i see the cards falling atm. I think both reads seem to be in a similar spot where they're looking for Momiji to further explore and emphasize her identity/self-image.

I should also say, part of why I see this story as going the genderfluid route is that Konno is currently dealing with hangups and bisexual confusion around Kouyou/Momiji. I think that confusion won't fully resolve itself until she comes to terms with finding both of them cute and Kouyou's boy side coming along will challenge her to follow through with resolving that confusion in some way.

He seems, to me, to be comfortable in a male gender

I don’t think we have any textual evidence for that. For someone that age who is assigned male at birth, the fact that they live as male, especially in a more conservative society like Japan, is practically guaranteed, so it doesn’t tell us what their preferences are. And there’s nothing in text that suggests they are comfortable in that role.

In this latest chapter, Kouyou goes "I am Momiji" and "Kouyou is Momiji" when that first statement is denied. It feels as if she is correcting Konno and asserting that the personas are both her at the same time despite the switching presentation.

Being transgender and having DID are different things. This line affirms that the personas are the same person, which is true of people in general that aren’t plural. I think you might misunderstand what it means to be transgender: when transgender people transition and adopt a new name, they don’t conceptually create a new person with the new name that is distinct from the old person, but rather change the name and clarify the gender of the existing person. The fact that the two names refer to the same person is obviously true, and doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with being genderfluid.

I am expecting it to show a character who identifies with multiple genders and shifts around and between them (as I see it is currently doing)

But is that what it’s currently doing? Have we ever seen them make an active choice to present in a male way, beyond following the expectations assigned to them? That has not happened so far, and if it did happen, it would actually be a big character moment, and strongly imply genderfluidity. But until we see that, there’s not much in the text to support this.

In fact, if you ignore the lines where the character states that they prefer being a girl, you could formulate a much stronger case for the character being agender, because their choice of presentation is determined entirely by external factors – like what the school allows them to do, or what Ao likes – rather than their genuine preferences.

“Genderfluid” is not when you present as various different genders at different times because of varying social expectations. That’s just part of the human condition for many. Genderfluidity is when you make an active choice to present as the gender you want to be at some given time, regardless of what other people think. Until we see evidence that that’s what’s occurring here, insisting on genderfluidity only serves to misinform and mislead people about what it means to be transgender, and what the lived experience of transgender people is. I’m sure a lot of the transgender people who read this forum will relate to having to switch gender presentation depending on what people are around. This doesn’t make them any more genderfluid, it just means that they’re oppressed, and labelling this behaviour as somehow inherently relating to genderfluidity can dangerously shift away conversation from addressing real oppression. (Of course, this is just a manga, so it’s not nearly as important; I’m just explaining why I think this reading is rooted in harmful ideas.)

Really, I’d just like to emphasize that these endings are very different:
1. Momiji continues as is, with no committal to any particular gender. In this case, I think “transgender woman” is the best reading, with “they just like crossdressing” also being a good reading.
2. Momiji makes an explicit decision that they will sometimes present as male and sometimes present as female, regardless of external influence (like what the school expects, or what Ao wants). In this case, genderfluidity is accurate.

I think that confusion won't fully resolve itself until she comes to terms with finding both of them cute and Kouyou's boy side coming along will challenge her to follow through with resolving that confusion in some way.

I think that would be quite an unfortunate conclusion – very much leaning into the dykebreaking angle, even if it’s not as bad as it could be. I admit it’s likely, but I’m still optimistic, I suppose.

Momiji gets to experience a little transmisogyny... as a treat.

There is a depressing trend of trans women feeling affirmed by being targeted by the same sorts of prejudice as the cis girls, and I feel like Momiji will not be breaking that trend. Smh.

I'm not confident I understand what you mean by this. Would you care to elaborate?

I certainly didn't mean to imply that I felt Kouyou felt affirmed in his femininity after being called out by his friends.

Rather, I was both referencing the meme ("...as a treat") and pointing out that the specific nature of the ribbing Kouyou received was leaning in the direction of transmisogyny, which I think is noteworthy given the broader discussion of Kouyou/Momiji's gender.

bookwyrm posted...
Momiji gets to experience a little transmisogyny... as a treat.

CaraiseLink posted...
There is a depressing trend of trans women feeling affirmed by being targeted by the same sorts of prejudice as the cis girls, and I feel like Momiji will not be breaking that trend. Smh.

bookwyrm posted...
I'm not confident I understand what you mean by this. Would you care to elaborate?

I certainly didn't mean to imply that I felt Kouyou felt affirmed in his femininity after being called out by his friends.

Ohhhhh, you meant with Kouyou's friends. I would actually class that as policing masculinity rather than transmisogyny, as a great many cis men have had that same experience of wanting to be more cute than patriarchy allows. Unknown to the ones doing the policing, the target of this manly harassment just happens to be a trans girl.

The transmisogyny I see in this chapter is Ao refusing to accept Momiji as Momiji unless she's presenting sufficiently femme. Dismissing Momiji's identity while reducing feminity down to surface-level stereotypes is peak transmisogyny. But if they went to get Momiji dolled up as the makeup panel suggests, then Ao will presumably recognize Momiji then and probably even call her cute. At which point Momiji feels affirmed in her gender...by Ao's transmisogynistic behavior. It's an unhealthy dynamic, but also inevitable when you're as starved for affirmation as the typical trans femme.

last edited at Sep 23, 2026 12:38AM

That’s not what transmisogyny is. Disgust displayed at the idea of someone assigned male at birth presenting in a feminine way is transmisogyny. Yes, it’s technically possible for a cis man to experience transmisogyny, but it is named as such because the vast majority is aimed at transfeminine individuals. It’s not just that the target “happens to” be a trans girl – this is a type of discrimination that targets, almost all the time, transfeminine people.

Ao refusing to accept Momiji as a girl is not transmisogyny. If this was done in real life, and Momiji was identifying as a girl at the time, the kind of discriminations it is depends on why she is not accepting:
- If it’s because of masculine traits, like lack of makeup, hair, clothing, etc (i.e. Momiji passes), that’s just regular discrimination against masculine women, which is misogyny
- If it’s because of male traits, like voice or bone structure or fat distribution (i.e. Momiji doesn’t pass), that would be transphobia

This is not real life, and the manga doesn’t draw a distinction between the above two categories. I think the logic of the manga is just how one might think about gender if they haven’t put much thought into it: it simultaneously recognizes that there is an ineffable quality of “woman-ness” that cis women have and cis men don’t (i.e. the quality that causes trans women to pass or not), but isn’t able to identify exactly what parts constitute this quality, and so uses stuff like makeup and hair, which aren’t integral parts of the quality (though of course, they can be a big component of it), as a shorthand for it. The mapping onto the real world is quite unclear. If you assume that Momiji’s lack of makeup and hair is a shorthand for her not passing, then the premise of the manga is impossible in real life, because it’s not often one can do stuff to only pass some of the time. But in this case, Ao would be being transphobic. On the other hand, if you take it literally, then Momiji probably already passes, so Ao would be being misogynistic. But importantly, it’s not transmisogyny either way, because “you’re not [gender] if you don’t pass” is something that applies in equal measure to transgender men.

But also, Momiji does not identify as a girl in the scene anyway, so there was no discrimination to begin with. They are clearly uncertain about who they identify as, and they acknowledge on page 11 they do not currently think of themselves as fully Momiji. So I don’t think Ao was really that in the wrong here; I suppose if she was a queer ally she might ask for further clarification on Momiji’s gender identity, but even then the answer would likely be “I don’t know”.

But if they went to get Momiji dolled up as the makeup panel suggests, then Ao will presumably recognize Momiji then and probably even call her cute.

Ao already called Momiji cute in this outfit. This much is not predicated on them presenting as fully Momiji.

Very funny to read the original twitter crash out and seeing people just do transphobia but woke in it.

Regardless the last couple of chapters have been cute, go for it Momiji!

Of course, you cannot be certain, but I don’t see why you are trying to criticize people for only discussing future possibilities that have been brought up in text instead of future possibilities that have no textual evidence. There is nothing in the manga to imply genderfluidity, while there are multiple scenes that hint towards being a transgender woman (“Maybe I want meant to be a girl all along?” + “A real girl… I’m trying to be one”). Perhaps it is reflective of your own biases that, despite textual evidence pointing only in one direction, you seem to consider genderfluidity to be an equally valid reading?

I think this is a really good paragraph that cuts into many of the core issues I take with some comments, both here and on other sites. What really confuses me though, is why you then start using they/them for Momiji/Kouyou in a later comment? They/them aren't a truly neutral pronoun, and I would argue that in this case, that's degendering.

You say that "if you ignore the parts where the character states that they prefer being a girl, you could formulate a much stronger case for the character being agender" but I don't think there's reason to ignore those.

it's not often one can do stuff to only pass some of the time.

Once you learn how to pass it's really not hard to go back and present how you used to. Especially as transfem, since the gender markers for women are far, far stricter than those for men.

He seems, to me, to be comfortable in a male gender

I don’t think we have any textual evidence for that. For someone that age who is assigned male at birth, the fact that they live as male, especially in a more conservative society like Japan, is practically guaranteed, so it doesn’t tell us what their preferences are. And there’s nothing in text that suggests they are comfortable in that role.

I'm not trying to convince you. Believe me when I say that I believe that Kouyou's gender is male at the start of the story. When questioned on if he is okay with the gender transgressing he's doing, he frames it as a significant drawback and something he wouldn't do if he felt there was another way to connect to Konno. He seems very earnest in these moments especially in his own thoughts, and, to me, that's not just outside forces pushing against him going through with this. If there was a time for the story to assert he didn't completely identify male rn, this would be a place to do it. There are other opportunities the story will be able to assert that, but it will be recontextualizing this stage of the story for me, backstory stuff.

In this latest chapter, Kouyou goes "I am Momiji" and "Kouyou is Momiji" when that first statement is denied. It feels as if she is correcting Konno and asserting that the personas are both her at the same time despite the switching presentation.

Being transgender and having DID are different things. This line affirms that the personas are the same person, which is true of people in general that aren’t plural. I think you might misunderstand what it means to be transgender: when transgender people transition and adopt a new name, they don’t conceptually create a new person with the new name that is distinct from the old person, but rather change the name and clarify the gender of the existing person. The fact that the two names refer to the same person is obviously true, and doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with being genderfluid.

“Genderfluid” is not when you present as various different genders at different times because of varying social expectations. That’s just part of the human condition for many. Genderfluidity is when you make an active choice to present as the gender you want to be at some given time, regardless of what other people think. Until we see evidence that that’s what’s occurring here, insisting on genderfluidity only serves to misinform and mislead people about what it means to be transgender, and what the lived experience of transgender people is. I’m sure a lot of the transgender people who read this forum will relate to having to switch gender presentation depending on what people are around. This doesn’t make them any more genderfluid, it just means that they’re oppressed, and labelling this behaviour as somehow inherently relating to genderfluidity can dangerously shift away conversation from addressing real oppression. (Of course, this is just a manga, so it’s not nearly as important; I’m just explaining why I think this reading is rooted in harmful ideas.)

I never brought up DID. I believe the personas are the same person, that's actually part of my point. I see Kouyou as identifying with both the personas of "Kouyou" and "Momiji" aka his male persona and female persona respectively, and saying they are both him, that he identifies with them and is trying to get Konno to see that. I called them personas because that's how they are framed by Konno and Kouyou sometimes, it's unique to this situation. But yeah, since I'm already under the impression Kouyou's coming from a male gender identity, I see him as transitioning to having a male and female gender identity. The broadest way to describe this is non-binary, but I used genderfluid because Kouyou is swapping between them, it is not fixed. Outside forces are affecting that alongside choice and identity. I don't think I'm misleading anyone in describing it like that, I think that's just sometimes part of it. Obviously the current Momiji-Konno situationship isn't healthy, it's pretty messy, but it's inching better and they are figuring stuff out.

Also, I don't think I'm asserting that other transgender identities are genderfluid? Oppressive forces are not the qualifying part there, it's the identity not being fixed. I mean you don't see that in your interpretation given you disagree on the first bit, but the perspective I gave at the front was necessary context in arriving where I did

When questioned on if he is okay with the gender transgressing he's doing, he frames it as a significant drawback and something he wouldn't do if he felt there was another way to connect to Konno.

When does Kouyou frame it as a "significant drawback"? I don't get that impression at all, especially considering how much fun being Momiji and doing girly things clearly is for them. It's not like they're out there suffering every moment and only bearing the pain due to being with Konno.

Chronically online people will get upset at anything, keep up the translation work for us normal people capable of seperating reality and fiction. It's a fun and light-hearted story. If anything we should be supportive of the guy willing to explore his own gender identity. He was very upfront about it so it's not like those stories where he's pretending without her knowing, which is indeed predatory.

When questioned on if he is okay with the gender transgressing he's doing, he frames it as a significant drawback and something he wouldn't do if he felt there was another way to connect to Konno.

When does Kouyou frame it as a "significant drawback"? I don't get that impression at all, especially considering how much fun being Momiji and doing girly things clearly is for them. It's not like they're out there suffering every moment and only bearing the pain due to being with Konno.

I'm thinking of moments around when Konno questions him on it during the first date
"But like, are you really okay with this?!" "Yes. I'm fine. If doing this allows me to have even the slightest chance... Then I'm fine with it."
and his thoughts before the second
"If only I hadn't say something like '********' maybe I wouldn't have had to become a girl."
There's genuine hesitation and regret in these even if for a moment.

Then during the 2nd date she starts getting more into it internally, correcting Konno in calling her a girl, etc. It's mainly just framed as a drawback going in. And so it just set my understanding of where I thought he was at from the start. Clearly we're going places

last edited at Sep 23, 2026 9:07AM

When does Kouyou frame it as a "significant drawback"? I don't get that impression at all, especially considering how much fun being Momiji and doing girly things clearly is for them. It's not like they're out there suffering every moment and only bearing the pain due to being with Konno.

I'm thinking of moments around when Konno questions him on it during the first date
"But like, are you really okay with this?!" "Yes. I'm fine. If doing this allows me to have even the slightest chance... Then I'm fine with it."
and his thoughts before the second
"If only I hadn't say something like '********' maybe I wouldn't have had to become a girl."
There's genuine hesitation and regret in these even if for a moment.

Then during the 2nd date she starts getting more into it internally, correcting Konno in calling her a girl, etc. It's mainly just framed as a drawback going in. And so it just set my understanding of where I thought he was at from the start. Clearly we're going places

I guess this is splitting hairs but I don't perceive those lines as indicating significant hesitation. Obviously Kouyou felt some hesitation crossdressing and going full makeup (as just about anyone would, even someone who knows they have dysphoria), but as you say it didn't take long for them to dive in head-first lol.

I'm thinking of moments around when Konno questions him on it during the first date
"But like, are you really okay with this?!" "Yes. I'm fine. If doing this allows me to have even the slightest chance... Then I'm fine with it."
and his thoughts before the second
"If only I hadn't say something like '********' maybe I wouldn't have had to become a girl."
There's genuine hesitation and regret in these even if for a moment.

Then during the 2nd date she starts getting more into it internally, correcting Konno in calling her a girl, etc. It's mainly just framed as a drawback going in. And so it just set my understanding of where I thought he was at from the start. Clearly we're going places

I guess this is splitting hairs but I don't perceive those lines as indicating significant hesitation. Obviously Kouyou felt some hesitation crossdressing and going full makeup (as just about anyone would, even someone who knows they have dysphoria), but as you say it didn't take long for them to dive in head-first lol.

That's not really splitting hairs, it's actually a pretty important distinction: there are two types of inhibitions, personal and socially imposed ones. I.e. things you wouldn't do and things you shouldn't do. To make a non-gendered example: think about lounging around in tracksuit bottoms at home: likely zero hesitation. But most people wouldn't show up to an appointment in those, many won't even answer the door like that.

Momiji, through the magic of manga, passes nigh-perfectly in public at first try, which therefore does not register as breaking a taboo. Doing so at school, where people would figure out the Momiji <=> Kouyou equivalency almost immediately, however does. The personal inhibitions at the other hand stood no chance.

[Insert smug "In Japan, breaking social norms is actually frowned upon." weebsplanation here]