I think we need more chapters to know what the author meant, but someone crying when they see their genitals at least doesn't read like a typical cis male experience. It's also clearly not just because the MC wants to be with the heroine. The MC imitating her even before being reborn and is more comfortable with the new presentation. It goes beyond love of a specific character.

The main thing against this is "man who wants to be seen as cute and nonthreatening" and "pure hearted male yuri fan" are much more common in manga than "trans female character whose identity is taken seriously". Much like seeing an implied yuri pairing in a manga not explicitly advertised as yuri, my expectations here will be low until more is confirmed.

Either way, MC is coming from the bio essentialist standards of their society as well as the standards of the game to which society gave birth. It's likely someone assigned male at birth is not allowed in this girl school, just as they would not have been in much of the world in many time periods. I see acknowledging this (ie that such a person would be seen as tricking others and suffer the social consequences) as different than validating real world prejudice. MC is written more as nonthreatening and socially clueless than anything, the complete opposite of stereotypes like "predatory" and "dishonest" that are used to stigmatize trans women.

last edited at Aug 19, 2025 7:06PM

"but the author" "but the genre" "but but but"

at the moment the story reads a lot like a trans experience/fantasy, from my own trans perspective, and the constant "what if" overthinking is honestly a pain in the ass to read. Let the story play out, judge it as a complete work instead of trying to assume malintent from the first chapter.

Thank. You.

While I understand the reader’s specific concerns and worries about how the story might develop, whether it risks becoming fetishizing or, undermining the trans community or even both I feel that since this is only chapter one, we should wait and see how the story unfolds. After all, first chapters are meant to spark a reaction in the reader, whether positive or negative. So everyones responses is totally understandable ^_^

Tentatively interested. Would be cool if this ends up exploring trans identity deeply

Highly unlikely but it'd be really funny if they discover MC also has the female bits too

This is gonna be so funny, the main character already remind my of a good friend. A big scary man but soft inside and a big Yuri lover.

Can we just let the manga play out more before freaking out?...

Apparently not!

For extra fun, I wonder if there's a difference in current transfem narratives between the US and Japan? Like, even if this is a totally sincere and sympathetic work, maybe by a transfem author, could it still rub people here the wrong way because of different communities/construction/shorthand?

Highly unlikely but it'd be really funny if they discover MC also has the female bits too

Yes please some intersex representation. I have not saw any work here (or in most places) that have any intersex representation.

"pure hearted male yuri fan"

Well I was a "pure hearted male yuri fan" some years ago and then "wait what the f- is wrong with me it's totally not I'm so stupid" :P

I wonder if there's a difference in current transfem narratives between the US and Japan? Like, even if this is a totally sincere and sympathetic work, maybe by a transfem author, could it still rub people here the wrong way because of different communities/construction/shorthand?

Yes that could happen. Though I don't know much about it either.

last edited at Aug 19, 2025 7:58PM

Hoping for the trans rep, but why did it also bleach her skin...

Doesn't really seem trans to me. Not gonna lie. Just a typical, crossdresser at a girls school setup, with extra steps. The isekai element just adds something marketable to a played out scenario.

Hoping for the trans rep, but why did it also bleach her skin...

Bro's ideal self was a fair skinned maiden not his tanned delinquent "NTR man" lookin ass

i'm a cis woman, but i understand the "fear" purely because japanese authors are not known for being careful about sensitive topics. not with actual bad intentions i guess, just values dissonance and stuff.
let's hope for the best!!

Hoping for the trans rep, but why did it also bleach her skin...

now this is the real issue with the manga lol

THIS FUCKS TRANSGENDER YURI LETS GOOOO FINALLY!!!!

Hoping for the trans rep, but why did it also bleach her skin...

Probably because a tanned girl would be way too noticeable in this oldschool otome looking isekai setting and he became one of the official characters he liked, fair skin included.

And I don't really expect trans rep, this seems more like a silly comedy with a Femboy twist.

It's not what the character says about themselves but how the author portrays it what is the problem. And so far nothing the character has said screams "I'm a girl!" at all, they don't see themselves as a girl.

"If only I could abandon this body and be reborn as a beautiful girl..."

"Goddammit! I hate this! Even though I finally look like my ideal self!"

I've personally seen far too many crossdressing/gender bender manga, that seem super duper trans, then go on to be very aggressively not that for me to get my hopes up. There are many way way more trans coded ones than this that do this. Like one where the character insists they are a girl constantly, regularly wishes to be turned into a girl, and yet it still doesn't expect us to see them as trans. Forget what it's called. Anyway, this just doesn't have anything screaming that it isn't another example to me. Quite the opposite actually. Just, I hope nobody gets their hopes up too high

Imma be here for the memes

Imma be here for the memes

If anyone could see my face while reading some of these comments, I'd already be one.

"If only I could abandon this body and be reborn as a beautiful girl..."

"Goddammit! I hate this! Even though I finally look like my ideal self!"

I've personally seen far too many crossdressing/gender bender manga, that seem super duper trans, then go on to be very aggressively not that for me to get my hopes up. There are many way way more trans coded ones than this that do this. Like one where the character insists they are a girl constantly, regularly wishes to be turned into a girl, and yet it still doesn't expect us to see them as trans. Forget what it's called. Anyway, this just doesn't have anything screaming that it isn't another example to me. Quite the opposite actually. Just, I hope nobody gets their hopes up too high

I think crossdressing manga often exist in a sort of superposition where they're clearly trans but don't say so explicitly, presumably to avoid alienating a transphobic audience. That said, I can't say I recall many that are "very aggressively not [trans]"; most of the time they more sort of leave it ambiguous, like Prunus Girl, Koisuru Otome no Tsukurikata, or Misaki-kun wa Kouryaku Chara Janai. (Most of the time the crossdressing character's love interest is a cis boy too.) I don't expect the protagonist of this manga to explicitly say "I'm trans" or anything like that, but I think it's reasonable to expect her to enjoy living and being accepted as a girl, which is good enough for me. I don't think it's particularly useful to speculate about "what we're supposed to see the character as"; if the most natural interpretation of the character is that they're trans, then the character is trans as far as I'm concerned.

I think crossdressing manga often exist in a sort of superposition where they're clearly trans but don't say so explicitly, presumably to avoid alienating a transphobic audience. That said, I can't say I recall many that are "very aggressively not [trans]"; most of the time they more sort of leave it ambiguous, like Prunus Girl, Koisuru Otome no Tsukurikata, or Misaki-kun wa Kouryaku Chara Janai. (Most of the time the crossdressing character's love interest is a cis boy too.) I don't expect the protagonist of this manga to explicitly say "I'm trans" or anything like that, but I think it's reasonable to expect her to enjoy living and being accepted as a girl, which is good enough for me. I don't think it's particularly useful to speculate about "what we're supposed to see the character as"; if the most natural interpretation of the character is that they're trans, then the character is trans as far as I'm concerned.

I'd argue all three of those are of the aggressively not trans category. Especially Koisuru Otome no Tsukurikata. But if some people enjoy reading it that way I can't stop them. But I think we should still be honest about what's being written, just so we don't get others hopes up, at the very least.

We have yuri subtext; trans subtext next?

I think crossdressing manga often exist in a sort of superposition where they're clearly trans but don't say so explicitly, presumably to avoid alienating a transphobic audience. That said, I can't say I recall many that are "very aggressively not [trans]"; most of the time they more sort of leave it ambiguous, like Prunus Girl, Koisuru Otome no Tsukurikata, or Misaki-kun wa Kouryaku Chara Janai. (Most of the time the crossdressing character's love interest is a cis boy too.) I don't expect the protagonist of this manga to explicitly say "I'm trans" or anything like that, but I think it's reasonable to expect her to enjoy living and being accepted as a girl, which is good enough for me. I don't think it's particularly useful to speculate about "what we're supposed to see the character as"; if the most natural interpretation of the character is that they're trans, then the character is trans as far as I'm concerned.

I'd argue all three of those are of the aggressively not trans category. Especially Koisuru Otome no Tsukurikata. But if some people enjoy reading it that way I can't stop them. But I think we should still be honest about what's being written, just so we don't get others hopes up, at the very least.

I guess I don't understand what you mean by "aggressively." Especially Prunus Girl I'd say is extremely open to a trans reading.

I think it would be prudent to save any intense speculative discussion about authorial intent until we have a bit more material to go on.

I think it would be prudent to save any intense speculative discussion about authorial intent until we have a bit more material to go on.

This is always a super weird take to me, not gonna lie. Not just with this manga, but in general. The entire point of a first chapter is to get the vibe, if not the point, of a work across. The authors job in that first entry is to get people's attention, get them thinking. It's the perfect time to speculate if you ask me

I think it's still up in the air how the arc about MC coming to terms with their transgender identity will play out. There's been good arguments above for both points of view but I'm not super optimistic.

The fact that the other main character that we've been introduced to is the student council rule enforcer and the fact that the school's main rule is NO BOYS really suggests that we're looking at a transgender yuri Three's Company with student council rep in the role of Mr Roper. So look forward to lots of zany antics surrounding swim class! And annual physical inspections with the school nurse! And a big stink when MC inadvertently wins the school track meet!

I'm interested in this series so far, and I can't wait to see what will happen later on and if Hikaru will truly see themselves as trans or not. Either way, I like the premise and some of the possible allegory about the whole trans and dysphoria thing.

Also, am I the only one who first thought that, on page 15, the girls also feminized the guy who tried to make creep shots was also feminized before being hanged and humiliated in the last panel of the page? I quickly realized that this was Hikaru imagining themselves getting punished, but the idea that these "pure" academic girls feminized someone as part of the process to punish them made me chuckle quite a bit, lol.