This manga gives me more stress than Junji freaking Ito, and I love it. Kato's uncannily good at creating this cozy, supportive wholesome atmosphere and then just brutally flipping it with a single insensitive word or phrase. It really goes to show the fragility of whatever peaceful moments you can find while living in ways that society considers abnormal. The way the natural, easy flow of text on this page leads into the dark, imposing splash-dialogue on this page? Legitimate horror manga technique, especially with how massive and cruel the Dad seems in Mogumo's eyes. You can really tell that the home is this dark, claustrophobic, place that turns into a hall of nightmares for them when wrong pronouns and impossible standards start getting thrown around.
I admire the story's decision to go with the reconciliation route, though it doesn't seem like it'll be easy. The father's one tough bigot to crack, and many stories, particularly Western ones, would just have Mogumo cutting free and embracing their found family instead. But the desire to be accepted by families and mend bridges broken by misunderstandings is a huge part of the the queer experience- even if you've had a shitty childhood, it's quite hard to cut yourself off from your parents entirely, especially if you've got siblings that rely on you. It's an exacting, difficult position, and even if Mogumo gets accepted, they'll still have to deal with a very stressful environment, because the scars of a terrible childhood don't fade all that easily, and the road to recovery is always tough. But for that reason, I feel like this speech might actually work out, seeing as it isn't a grand solution, but simply a pathway to new experiences, which would let Kato advance the greater plot and engage with more themes. We're definitely not getting a tragic ending here, but there's still quite a few more mountains left to scale.
oh man i was thinking the same thing. that was done really well!
