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

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

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.