And yet again, the transwoman is "perfect". If she didn't say she was a guy before, none would have guessed.

IMO, this way of portraying transwomen by mangaka is as bad as portraying them as ridiculous muscled unshaved drag-queens haunting bars in Roppongi. It's a lie.

how is it bad to portray women as women? even if their trans, it's pretty easy to "pass" look at any trans woman and you most likely be hard-pressed to tell if you your not told beforehand

It's about as disingenuous to say all trans women "pass" as it is to say none of them do. Like most things in life it's rarely black and white. In my own experiences I would say I've seen more that haven't passed than have but there is absolutely nothing wrong with a mangaka presenting their characters either way so long as they aren't being intentionally offensive aka drawing there characters as unflattering caricatures.

I was originally going to add my two cents about a different common trope in trans manga that I find completely immersion breaking and contrary to real life experience, but on second thought it could lead to some big thread derailing argument which could hurt people's feelings so it's best to just leave it unsaid.

Of course you’ve seen more who haven’t passed then did pass, you wouldn’t notice the ones who did. That is the definition of passing

That's a good point, but I'm just counting those people I have known personally rather than random people I see while wandering around in the world. Unless you actually know the person there is no way to confirm if somebody is trans or not since there are plenty of non-trans people who just like cross dressing and plenty who you will miss because they pass as you pointed out. Having said that, my sample size is actually very small since it's a portion of the lgbt rainbow I just don't normally cross paths with often. I have only ever known 4 self described trans individuals, none of them particularly well. Always like a friend of a friend. Of those, one passed well, as in I actually was surprised when I found out. Two didn't and one I was on the fence about.

Anyway, my point was simply that it doesn't really matter if somebody passes or not and that's true of manga characters as well. There is nothing wrong with either type of character being portrayed.

Just my two cents, although as a cis person I'm not sure my opinion applies: I live in Japan and go to LGBT events on the occasion, and many of the transwomen who have transitioned here pass very well in my eyes. I think it might have to do the pressure to not stand out here, coupled with the (on average) naturally slimmer and shorter figures of Japanese men and women here. With manga it's natural to have idealized versions of reality, but I don't think it's completely unrealistic for a lot of girls to be portrayed as passing if the story is in a Japan setting.

Of course, I'm maybe not the most observant person in the world (and I also don't go around actively trying to figure out if a person is trans or cis), so please take my words with a grain of salt!

last edited at Nov 16, 2019 6:52PM

And yet again, the transwoman is "perfect". If she didn't say she was a guy before, none would have guessed.

IMO, this way of portraying transwomen by mangaka is as bad as portraying them as ridiculous muscled unshaved drag-queens haunting bars in Roppongi. It's a lie.

Some (more than some really) trans ppl pass it's not nearly as unrealistic as you think, especially since it would seem she started her transition rather young. Basically, as long as she transitions before middle age and doesn't have any unusually large proportions, most trans women will pass pretty well, the earlier it is the easier it is.

And yet again, the transwoman is "perfect". If she didn't say she was a guy before, none would have guessed.

IMO, this way of portraying transwomen by mangaka is as bad as portraying them as ridiculous muscled unshaved drag-queens haunting bars in Roppongi. It's a lie.

Some (more than some really) trans ppl pass it's not nearly as unrealistic as you think, especially since it would seem she started her transition rather young. Basically, as long as she transitions before middle age and doesn't have any unusually large proportions, most trans women will pass pretty well, the earlier it is the easier it is.

The idea that transwomen somehow can’t be “perfect” passing in manga is dumb. Literally nobody could clock me as trans at this point in my transition and that’s not a rare occurrence. Not to mention this woman has literally been out since high school, the biggest years of her transition are probably over and all that’s left is maybe gaining some cup sizes.

Right? I basically never get misgendered, even in like a t-shirt and jeans with no makeup, and i've never even had a surgery, people really underestimate the power of HRT.

last edited at Nov 16, 2019 10:17PM

Ah yes I like when my 8 page manga tackles serious social trans issues, definitely not sending any wrong messages

Ah yes I like when my 8 page manga tackles serious social trans issues, definitely not sending any wrong messages

So let me get this straight, a cute and heartfelt story that approaches its subject in a serious and respectful manner is a no-go because it is short? What should be the minimum number of pages for a story featuring trans issues to not send "wrong messages"? 50? 70? 170?

So let me get this straight, a cute and heartfelt story that approaches its subject in a serious and respectful manner is a no-go because it is short? What should be the minimum number of pages for a story featuring trans issues to not send "wrong messages"? 50? 70? 170?

So you think that drawing a female character and calling it "trans" is good representation? Short Manga who don't show the road the character went through is harmful, it subconsciously brings the idea that becoming trans is simple.

In the end I'm just saying if you are doing a trans story, make it right because at the moment it's criminal how dreamy everything is when that's not the case.

^Oh, come on, not every story about a trans character has to be about their transition. And are you really going to argue that there is no happy ending possible for them? Are you also going to say that all the yuri here should first deal with the still too common homophobic reactions instead of the often idealized happy stories? There's room for both the serious drama and the happy stories, it's fine to have both educational pieces and tales of hope.

The story is not denying how hard it can be, is just showing a small moment in time between these two... A happy moment. I mean you said it yourself, this is a short manga and it was focused from the POV of the lesbian MC, there was no time and not a right moment to have flashback to years of struggles of a different character.

It would be great if they make this into a full serialization, but getting mad or saying that there's only one way to make a story ... I think that's too restrictive. You might not like it, but please don't say this is wrong.

last edited at Nov 18, 2019 5:34PM

Hope there's more. I can imagine this being the first chapter to a great episodic SoL Yuri. Something akin to Magan & Danai.

I feel the black haired girl. the more you learn about yourself, the more you hate about yourself. This was nice, though.

last edited at Nov 24, 2019 6:21PM

Everything about this is too cute. Especially Makoto. She's the best.

Right? I basically never get misgendered, even in like a t-shirt and jeans with no makeup, and i've never even had a surgery, people really underestimate the power of HRT.

This gave me a lot of hope for the future of my transition that I didn't have prior. So thanks for saying that?

Aw I love this! It sucks there isn't a sequel though, this story is super cute

They got really creative with this title

Well you know what you're reading at least.

Pretty sure that's the reason why manga names are like this now. Marketing or whatever.

They got really creative with this title

Well you know what you're reading at least.

Pretty sure that's the reason why manga names are like this now. Marketing or whatever.

These days it's more like a form of art

Cute novelty. The question is, is it any good?

NEED MORE

So let me get this straight, a cute and heartfelt story that approaches its subject in a serious and respectful manner is a no-go because it is short? What should be the minimum number of pages for a story featuring trans issues to not send "wrong messages"? 50? 70? 170?

So you think that drawing a female character and calling it "trans" is good representation? Short Manga who don't show the road the character went through is harmful, it subconsciously brings the idea that becoming trans is simple.

In the end I'm just saying if you are doing a trans story, make it right because at the moment it's criminal how dreamy everything is when that's not the case.

Y'know, I was just going to drop a comment about how I really like this manga (having re-read it just now), but... you do know that being trans does not equal suffering, right?

Perhaps you're a trans person who's feeling a bit depressed/negative, perhaps you're a transphobe. But plenty of trans people out there are living pretty fullfiling, happy, normal lives like that of makoto here.

I love being trans
We need more media showcasing trans people being happy.
As shown by the comments in this discussion, too many people think it’s all just suffering.
Sure there’s the shitty parts but there’s also the part where I finally recognize the person in the mirror, where I can finally love myself, find myself attractive, dress how I want, love who I want, to just feel right im my body.
I have never been happier, transition allowed me to truly live and love, I type this while crying a little rn(estrogen makes me more emotional, another upside) because I now have a beautiful gf (she is also trans) and I’m the happiest tgirl in the world.
Trans joy is real.

last edited at Nov 11, 2023 9:13PM

I just realised by "Did i really say something so irresponsible", shes probably talking about the love part.

also, they cute an happy

Jokes on you I'm into this kind of thing