Synopses & Reviews
Shimura Takako's sensitive and charming manga series about two middle-schoolers wrestling with their gender identities continues. Faced with unwanted changes to their growing bodies, male-identified Takatsuki-san discovers the wonders of "breast binders," and female-identified Nitori-kun explores the limits of his ability to "pass." Also: the success of their performance of n the fifth grade - in which the boys played the women and the girls played the men - inspires our protagonists to put on another gender-bending play for the junior-high school festival. They riff on . Nitori-kun and his friend Chiba-san write the script together, but Chiba-san has an agenda: She wants to play Romeo, with Nitori-kun in the role of Juliet. But Nitori-kun wants Takatsuki-san to play Romeo... Chiba-san forces Nitori-kun to confront a question he's been avoiding. Are his feelings for Takatsuki-san those of a boy for a girl, a girl for a girl, or a girl for a boy? Meanwhile, Maho plans a trip to the beach with her boyfriend, and Nitori-kun must chaperone.
Review
"...[B]eing a trans woman means I'm used to seeing awful depictions of my lived experiences. I do not see me, and that is when I see trans women or trans people in general depicted at all. Until []... I had never seen my own narrative depicted. At least not closely or accurately." Kat Callahan
Synopsis
In the latest volume of the manga series about transgendered kids struggling with adolescence, the casting of , coupled with a friend's urging, is the catalyst for the protagonist to figure out if a crush on another transgendered student is that of a boy for a girl, a boy for a boy, a girl for a boy or a girl for a girl.
About the Author
Shimura Takako lives in Tokyo, Japan.