the credits pages are from https://x.com/nankatobidesou/status/1154306493358862336

only been around since 2013 :p

unfortunately it seems very underused, everyone forgets to tag images with it

This is an excellent oneshot. Manages to be very compelling and has a lovely resolution.

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.

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.

Obviously, the guy was her in disguise

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?

I hate how you don’t add those little comments at the end of every Doujin

27 to the end is just concluding what you’ve already written down. I think what’s happening is that Machi believes Miyuri has forgotten the dream, but isn’t quite 100% sure, and is therefore feeling conflicted. And this wraps up the story by providing complete confirmation, and therefore resolution for Machi’s turmoil.

I don’t think it’s that she feels completely empty at the end, it’s just that the dream of becoming an actor specifically has “faded to black” – finally put to rest. Page 29 shows that the dream mostly only existed anyway because Machi wanted to copy Miyuri, so it explains why Miyuri confirming that she has dropped the dream provides a final closure: the very last reason Machi wanted to hold on to the dream is gone.

“Joy/anger/sorrow/bliss” is an extremely effective motif – original, punchy, weird but entirely plausible in the story. The first time it appears, the girls do it together, but it quickly switches to Machi doing it alone; very evocative of the distance she feels between her and Miyuri. The use of facial expressions specifically is in keeping with the theme of Machi’s emotional denial in the story. And since “joy/anger/sorrow” reflects the emotional arc of Machi in the oneshot, it can also be seen as implying a happy end to the story, where she learns to accept her disinterest in drama and rebalances her relationship with Miyuri.

The progression of Machi discovering her feelings is well-executed. Because we live in Machi’s head, we too experience her denial: we only notice things are off in fleeting thoughts and through the opinions of others. Each time it returns, we learn a little more about what’s really going on, but also learn more about how much she’s suppressing – quite literally depicted by Machi covering her mouth on page 9. Her idea of them being rivals being spun from an off-hand comment really effectively emphasizes its flimsy nature; the rapid and jarring switching between convincing herself of it at knowing it’s not true is an effective depiction of a deteriorating mental state.

The visual symbolism is effectively done, reminding me a lot of A Curtain Call for You; the spotlights and confetti progress from two people in the spotlight, to one person, to her younger self, to the end of light entirely, with obvious implications for the story. Page 13, the last panel on page 21, page 22 and page 32 are especially striking, just working very well composition-wise.

Overall, I had no idea Aizaki Utau had in in her. This is one of the best oneshots I’ve read in a while, and proves she can write can write excellent stories with emotional weight as well as the comedies she’s known for. This reads as very personal and cathartic for her, but I hope she can continue writing more in this vein.

This actually feels like one of her more formulaic stories, not that I don’t like it. Like many of her works, it’s a character study with development is driven by the main characters’ self-discovery of their most damning flaws and insecurities. We’re shown examples of her issues to build up the idea, followed by an event that appears to confirm exactly everything she feared was true – or at least, so our main character believes.

The setup is similar to her oneshot Ugly from her Girls’ Cocoon anthology, but told from the other perspective, and with the bristling surreal drama replaced with a more reserved, adult tone; though in both cases, the main character seems to fundamentally suffer from their own social ineptitude. Both oneshots use mirrors as a primary motif to imply the characters’ self-consciousness.

It’s an interestingly morally ambiguous story, with the introspection-driven drama leaving us not quite sure if we’re seeing anything objectively – Yuki’s features are exaggerated to the point of being creepy, while Kyouko’s image appears as dishevelled as she imagines herself to be. We only see Yuki’s real face on the final page, in the mirror: the truly concerned friend who admires and wants to be closer to Kyouko. It’s clear that both of them behave in shitty ways, though only one has the composure to appear normal. One is left with a feeling of hopelessness: Kyouko is trapped by her expertise, friendships, and own mental state in this toxic way of thinking that there seems to be little reprieve from; her blinding self-hatred means she can’t even accept that Yuki is human too.

The story is intrinsically tied to modern, adult life, which is interesting to see from the author and manga in general, and is something we saw before in this anthology in Homecoming. Because of this commitment to harsh realism, it seems to inherit an overall grey tone. I think it’s nice to see the world around us reflected so clearly, but it can also make it harder to empathize with the characters in comparison with some of her stories that make liberal use of supernatural, symbolic, or dramatic elements.

The other motif is of flowers, which will presumably be elaborated on in further chapters from the Flowers and Scars trilogy. Yuki appears to be surrounded and protected by them – whether in her flower coffin or the religious imagery of the crown of roses – while Kyouko can only hold them, or look at a mirror that is bordered with them. Rather unsubtly, the flowers represent that which Kyouko envies. I’m not sure what the significance of roses in particular is; we’re not given the colour of the rose, so it could mean multiple things in flower language.

It’s a reference to the 21 grams experiment (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21_grams_experiment), in which a scientist (erroneously) claimed to have measured that the soul weighs exactly 21.3 grams.

I think this is a pretty interesting exploration of what it means to be a woman and be expected to perform femininity. In the beginning, Touno was insecure about her femininity: she derived self-worth from exaggerating her own expression of it and degrading those who did not meet that, because she thought it was how women can have value in society. After the interaction with the nurse, she swung hard the other way, imitating this idealized version of Jimizu that rejects every one of these notions that she found harmful. But the real Jimizu was neither of these – rather, she’s just comfortable in who she is, happy to do one thing sometimes and another thing other times; able to reject the pressure to constantly perform while also take pleasure in owning a feminine identity for herself. Touno is conflicted: her role model is embracing the tools of the oppressor; everything she thought she needed to reject to find peace in herself is being done like it’s nothing.

I find it very realistic – we are always caught between the femininity that is a tool of oppression and the femininity that is a tool of empowerment. Is there a right answer between these two? No, not really. And there’s always some amount of bitterness there: can you fit in well enough to perform? Or can you even afford not to? I think it’s that bitterness this oneshot captures well. No matter what you do, you can’t truly free yourself from having to exist in society, and you can look around you and see that everyone is failing in one way or another.

Angel Demon Shoujo tags… you will be remembered…

The story was lacking in specifics. It’s hard to relate to the characters because their struggles are only vaguely hinted at and not explored as much as they should have been.

This story is quite unambiguously positive about her appearance. People are so used to irony that they can’t accept that something might be exactly what it seems on the surface, and not part of some elaborate plan that actually the main character being presented as the bad guy.

Sigh. Would be a terrible shame if we started erasing trans-adjacent stories because they show the slightest hint of problematic elements. Can we not do that please?

The aunt feels jealous of youth and is afraid of aging; she presses the flowers in an attempt to preserve their beauty forever, as an extension of her desire to do the same for herself, even to the point of prioritizing superficial / “tacky” beauty, hence the “worst taste” comment. The theme is also hinted at by her disdain for being called “Auntie”, and why she is so disturbed by the age the woman the man is cheating with.

What a fun oneshot =D

Oh yeah, um... what's with the title?

The Japanese title is “ロングロングタップオンリーオンリールック”, i.e. literally “rongu rongu tappu onrii onrii rukku”. Not sure what the intent was here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

last edited at Feb 26, 2025 6:06AM

This was adorable, thank you :)

Could someone please explain what she's talking about on page 26?

Editor here… had a rough time with that one lmao. We concluded it’s not supposed to make sense.

Lewd

as far as I’m aware it was published as a series of doujins at Comitia, so I don’t think axing makes sense

I don't really get what happened in the second half, did she confess? Hypnotize her? What spell is she talking about?

Yeah, she cast a spell to make Kana-chan fall in love with her. It’s not a spoiler to tell you but it’s also explained later on, so you don’t have to understand at this point; I think it’s intentionally confusing.

Yaaayyy it got uploaded here :D :D