Forum › Kanojo ni Naritai Kimi to Boku discussion
Gag me.
Hime's ending is... I dunno. Fine, I guess. I was more or less expecting it. What I wasn't expecting, even from this manga, was for Akira to be given exactly one frame of epilogue, and then getting defined by her hopes for someone else's kid. Like, what the fuck? Okay, so she became a stylist. I guess I can see it, though I'm not sure it lines up with... anything... she ever did or said in the story. But, fine, whatever, your job doesn't have to be a poetic culmination of your character arc. So what has she done with her life? What has she done, in the intervening years? How has she been affected by the story?
...Nothing? She's a beautician? That's it? That's all we get? About a character who was more central to the story than the ostensible protagonist? Really? She just went on existing as a foil for other people to have character development through, huh? That's all she ever was, I guess. I should have seen it coming.
Yeah, I'm completely unsuprised that Akira got shunted to the side because this entire manga isn't about trans people it's about how trans people existing affects the cis people around them.
I didn't exactly have high expectations for the ending but wow this limboed way under them. Akira doesn't even get a partner? She doesn't even seem to get HRT? Really? I know Japan is a bit ass backwards but I know for a fact it's possible to get HRT over there. Then Hime ending up with that dude who's name I can't even bother to remember? Like fair enough if she's het leaning bi or something but like that dude? Really?
I'm just kind of confused what the message of this was supposed to be? They did a time skip, didn't give Akira a partner, and didn't even flirt with the idea of same sex marriage being a thing in Japan. It really feels like the message is being queer sucks and will continue to suck. Is the message supposed to be strive for acceptance? But the end doesn't even really give hope of that.
I mean unless if I missed something in the last two chapters, we don't know much about Akira to say 'oh she didn't even get on hrt!' like... She looks fine or w/e, still got shafted heavily by the plot for a meandering nonsensical het romance lmao. Like the last we saw of him was her going like 'Thanks for the nice day!' and apparently he moved out of the prefecture while she hung out with his SISTER. I know some folks feel they called Hime being straight all this long but I genuinely don't see it, she clearly was still crushing on Akira even AFTER their whole 'yeah we're friends :)' stuff.
Like what could've been a nice story about a girl with mixed feelings on her own identity with a crush on her trans girl best friend eventually coming to terms with being GNC or whatnot and being In Love with said trans girl best friend ended up being a lot of very heavy handed messaging with every (as far as we can tell) LGBTQ character being nothing but sidelined for a poorly written, boring het romance.
I personally think that it's probably well meaning, but incredibly clumsy and even more so disappointing. Oh well, here's to some other manga or comic doing what I wish this one did.
That was a ending... And, sure I can see Hime being straight or bi and being with that dude. Sure, she didn't end up with Akira, but at least they are still friends and that's important, I like their friendship. What I don't like is how the ending didn't really care that much for Akira.
Like, what's her life like now? She has a job, is she friends with her co workers? Do the clients like her? Is she being a cool senpai for a new worker there or does she has a cool senpai to help her? Also, how's her personal life? Is she and her father getting along? Is she doing HRT? Does she wants to do HRT? Is she dating/interested in someone? We don't know, and that's a shame because, she's supposed to be the central character of this story.
What we get is her, accepting being a side character in Hime's life.
What an absolute trash fire lmao.
I am a trans woman dating a nonbinary afab person and I thought this story would go in that direction since Hime always seemed pretty disillusioned with being perceived as a girl. Instead we got after school special-quality vignettes about the lives of random characters who are never relevant to the plot again, and a main character whose entire emotional journey leads her to... being comfortable with being a straight woman?
I guess the message of this series is that it’s okay to be LGBT as long as you’re an accessory to a generic het romance. I can’t believe I used to look forward to new chapters of this. 2/10 because I at least enjoyed the bits of lesbian content at the beginning
........ oof
What an absolute trash fire lmao.
I am a trans woman dating a nonbinary afab person and I thought this story would go in that direction since Hime always seemed pretty disillusioned with being perceived as a girl. Instead we got after school special-quality vignettes about the lives of random characters who are never relevant to the plot again, and a main character whose entire emotional journey leads her to... being comfortable with being a straight woman?
I guess the message of this series is that it’s okay to be LGBT as long as you’re an accessory to a generic het romance. I can’t believe I used to look forward to new chapters of this. 2/10 because I at least enjoyed the bits of lesbian content at the beginning
I've too had been enjoying this a lot because it seemed to carry such a strong LGBTQ+ message and i felt it taught me so much about lifestyles outside of my own. And yet you're point seems to be incredibly valid. Despite the claims of this manga being about Akira's struggles with being perceived as a man ultimately this has been very much Hime's story and when the end goes straight down the het road it does seem to undermine itself by making all alternate lifestyles seem peripheral in significance.
What's more, as you had said, Hime too struggled a lot with being perceived as a woman, especially sexually by a man (to the point where she said such a thing sickened her), and yet that whole thing too has been swept to one side. Seemingly they were happy to explore this issue in some detail but not actually commit to it.
It's a shame that this is such a unsatisfying ending. As i said i had enjoyed this a lot, felt that it had opened my eyes to many things and yet this... i just feel wrong inside about this. I had felt that this would've been a manga i would've re-read and re-read and yet now it's finished in this way... i just don't know if i'll ever return to it.
That was a ending... And, sure I can see Hime being straight or bi and being with that dude. Sure, she didn't end up with Akira, but at least they are still friends and that's important, I like their friendship.
Personally, the she ended up with a guy isn't that big a deal to me on it's own. The problem for me with her arc is that it spent all this time asking questions about her relationship to gender roles and she just ended up as a conventionally feminine, run of the mill Japanese mother in a conventionally feminine line of work. Like, how was this any different from a typical shoujo romance?
Like, what's her life like now? She has a job, is she friends with her co workers? Do the clients like her? Is she being a cool senpai for a new worker there or does she has a cool senpai to help her? Also, how's her personal life? Is she and her father getting along? Is she doing HRT? Does she wants to do HRT? Is she dating/interested in someone? We don't know, and that's a shame because, she's supposed to be the central character of this story.
I'm not even sure this author knows what HRT is to be honest, not all trans people get on it, but the way the topic is completely ignored tells me it's more likely that the author simply didn't think of it, rather than deliberately chose to leave it ambiguous. That's the major problem with how she was handled, the mangaka clearly put very little thought into what life is like for her as a trans woman and what it's like for her in general. Instead, they just threw her in one of the most stereotypical jobs for a trans woman, even though she showed no prior interest in the topic, and called it a day.
last edited at Aug 18, 2020 1:09PM
I read the last chapter even though I dont read the rest hahahahha
This start outs with promising premise and end up like a big disapointment. also main character of series got sidelined. It is horrendous to be remind that some so-called "LGBTQ+ Manga" is just reserved, and written for str8 folks who want to feel good about being ally.
Well, this was all around a pretty disappointing series. It presents itself as an LGBTQ issues manga, but it habitually ignores all of the LGBTQ plot elements. Akira was a side character in the end. The series tried to have an ensemble cast and show all different walks of life, but it failed to reel me in with any of them. I think it would've benefited from being more focused.
That said, I'm still glad more of these types of stories are popping up, even if the execution of this particular one isn't very good.
I was prepared to see a lot of "wow what a nice happy ending :) :)" in the comments despite my disappointments with it but I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks it's absolute nonsense that the straight couple got so much focus
Well what the actual fuck? Sure Yukka is happy, good for her, best girl but fucking seriously??
First off: Gee, nice job with Akira. Couldn’t have given us anything else besides ‘she’s a beautician’?? No other depth? Fucks sake. I thought Hime liked Akira? At first I thought Hime would be a transguy, from how she started dressing n all but well, guess it was all just some huge trap in the end. My Anime List will fucking hear of this bullshit.
Well that was a ride but still a good ending. I really enjoyed this story so I'm kind of sad that it is the end now...
Not surprised. It was terrible up until the very end. Dunno why I kept reading.
As a trans woman, this ending feels unsatisfying.
They didn't need to make her so much bigger than the cis girls, Japanese people are not that disportional....
Welp, another one to not recommend.
Go read Wondering Son if you want a good transgender story, hell Girl meets Girl is leaps and bounds better.....
After reading all that your primary complaint is that Akira, who is physically male, happens to be taller than her biologically female counterparts?
Although perhaps being a westerner has skewed your perspective, just because Asians tend to be smaller in stature than Caucasians doesn't mean that there is no physical sexual dimorphism in Asian people when it comes to height. In fact if you look at the stature ratio between males and females in Japan vs the United States they are either exactly the same or there is a slightly greater difference in height between men and women in Japan depending on which study you look at.
Not that this was some great work of literature or anything, but I think some people are just completely missing the point with this story. For starters Akira is not the main character. Secondly, this was not a romance manga so much as it was a preachy coming of age story for various lgbt minorities.
Akira's story arc was learning to be comfortable with who she is. In the end we see she is happily single and no longer defining herself by what others think. She has made piece with her inner femininity and has a job that reflects that. She has outgrown her codependent tendencies and the need to have others reaffirm her self image. She is simply a happy single girl doing what she loves.
Not surprised. It was terrible up until the very end. Dunno why I kept reading.
As the old saying goes, you are what you eat.
last edited at Aug 18, 2020 7:58PM
As a trans woman, this ending feels unsatisfying.
They didn't need to make her so much bigger than the cis girls, Japanese people are not that disportional....
Welp, another one to not recommend.
Go read Wondering Son if you want a good transgender story, hell Girl meets Girl is leaps and bounds better.....After reading all that your primary complaint is that Akira, who is physically male, happens to be taller than her biologically female counterparts?
Although perhaps being a westerner has skewed your perspective, just because Asians tend to be smaller in stature than Caucasians doesn't mean that there is no physical sexual dimorphism in Asian people when it comes to height. In fact if you look at the stature ratio between males and females in Japan vs the United States they are either exactly the same or there is a slightly greater difference in height between men and women in Japan depending on which study you look at.
Not that this was some great work of literature or anything, but I think people are just completely missing the point with this story. For starters Akira is not the main character. Secondly, this was not a romance manga so much as it was a preachy coming of age story for various lgbt minorities.
Akira's story arc was learning to be comfortable with who she is. In the end we see she is happily single and no longer defining herself by what others think. She has made piece with her inner femininity and has a job that reflects that. She has outgrown her codependent tendencies and the need to have others reaffirm her self image. She is simply a happy single girl doing what she loves.
Not surprised. It was terrible up until the very end. Dunno why I kept reading.
As the old saying goes, you are what you eat.
Trans women aren't male
And your point is? At what point did I ever suggest Akira's gender was not female? Notice the pronouns I used were "her" and "she" not "him" and "he." Are you referring to my statement about Akira being biologically male? Are you perhaps confusing the difference between "gender" and "sex?" The terms are similar but not the same. Gender is a psychological state of being, sex is a physical and biological state of being. Akira is physically male, but her gender is female.
last edited at Aug 18, 2020 8:11PM
As a trans woman, this ending feels unsatisfying.
They didn't need to make her so much bigger than the cis girls, Japanese people are not that disportional....
Welp, another one to not recommend.
Go read Wondering Son if you want a good transgender story, hell Girl meets Girl is leaps and bounds better.....After reading all that your primary complaint is that Akira, who is physically male, happens to be taller than her biologically female counterparts?
Although perhaps being a westerner has skewed your perspective, just because Asians tend to be smaller in stature than Caucasians doesn't mean that there is no physical sexual dimorphism in Asian people when it comes to height. In fact if you look at the stature ratio between males and females in Japan vs the United States they are either exactly the same or there is a slightly greater difference in height between men and women in Japan depending on which study you look at.
Not that this was some great work of literature or anything, but I think people are just completely missing the point with this story. For starters Akira is not the main character. Secondly, this was not a romance manga so much as it was a preachy coming of age story for various lgbt minorities.
Akira's story arc was learning to be comfortable with who she is. In the end we see she is happily single and no longer defining herself by what others think. She has made piece with her inner femininity and has a job that reflects that. She has outgrown her codependent tendencies and the need to have others reaffirm her self image. She is simply a happy single girl doing what she loves.
Not surprised. It was terrible up until the very end. Dunno why I kept reading.
As the old saying goes, you are what you eat.
Trans women aren't male
And your point is? At what point did I ever suggest Akira's gender was not female? Notice the pronouns I used were "her" and "she" not "him" and "he." Are you referring to my statement about Akira being biologically male? Are you perhaps confusing the difference between "gender" and "sex?" The terms are similar but not the same. Gender is a psychological state of being, sex is a physical and biological state of being. Akira is physically male, but her gender is female.
As a trans man, I agree. Thinking I'm perfectly, biologically male would be dangerous for my health even. I am trans precisely because my sex is female.
Anyway, this manga felt like a waste of time.
Look. Akira DID went through male puberty, so she would be taller than your average cis woman(HRT does make you shorter, but not alot. Also, we don't know if Akira did do HRT.). And as a trans woman, that is a reality, I'm taller than most cis women, it happens, so I don't see a issue with that.
Look. Akira DID went through male puberty, so she would be taller than your average cis woman(HRT does make you shorter, but not alot. Also, we don't know if Akira did do HRT.). And as a trans woman, that is a reality, I'm taller than most cis women, it happens, so I don't see a issue with that.
I actually had no issue with her height either, although I should probably point out I'm pretty short myself.
I decided to delete some of my previous comments. In no way am I ceding to essentialist notions, but I think it's best to try and tone down that kind of drama.
that het ending was awful. what the heck
I mean yeah, from the get go I think expecting more focus on Akira when Hime is clearly the main character in this is setting yourself up for disappointment, even if I wish there was a greater focus on her.
Also: Don't call a trans women 'physically male', you're still calling them male. Taking issue with trans women feeling uncomfortable with how a cishet mangaka depicts a trans woman is not a good position to take lmao, even if you're trans yourself. That's all I'm saying on the matter because I agree with KawaiiSuika on it being best to avoid drama even I think 'physically male/female' is pretty useless for a variety of reasons.
Ultimately I'm just kinda disappointed that the whole plot of 'Girl who doesn't know about her identity, meets a lot of LGBTQ characters (who get basically sidelined for Her growth) and her growth consists of having issues with being a woman and maybe being gay but ultimately just being a cishet feminine woman with a typical job and a husband and kid'. (For clarity: I also acknowledge the notion that she could be a bi woman in a relationship with a man but it 100% does not seem like that's the conclusion the mangaka took and I feel its useless to pretend we got that if anything)
Like... I dunno, it just feels like very disappointing bait, especially for what it could've been..
