For another, I really only had the vaguest understanding of what “humping” included. Wandering Son starts off with an interesting structure. The manga focuses around two children; Yoshino Takatsuki and Shuichi Nitori, who are both transgender. Privacy Of course, our main characters have an idea of cross-dressing and wanting to be the opposite sex, but such dilemma is never blatantly exposed in the anime, nor does it make it over-dramatic. they incorporated so many little things that go along with dealing with puberty as someone questioning gender (things like feeling pressured to wear a bra or getting your period or your voice changing actually came up). Wandering Son is an uncomfortable series for me, as a girl who struggles with gender dysphoria, because so much of the discomfort and awkwardness the main characters go through is relatable. Sometimes at odds with others, and always at odds with himself, he walks through some confusing years searching for the answers to countless complicated questions. A woman who dressed in man’s attire22Granted, “men’s attire” is a rapidly diminishing category of fashion. Wandering Son, by beginning its narrative journey in elementary school, removes sexual preference from the initial spectrum of topics—at least for the principal characters, if not for their peripheral antagonists (who engage in all the weak-minded slurs I would have ejaculated when I was their age). When I tell people that Wandering Son is one of the best explorations of trans* issues I have ever seen, it is not just because there is so little media addressing that topic out there. The only drawback is that considering their not-insubstantial size and the fact that there are currently fifteen volumes available in Japan, these will easily take up a whole shelf in many bookcases (and of course, for fans with plenty of space to grow, this might not be a bad thing). In these scenarios, I like how these dilemmas are beautifully illustrated by the characters’ portrayal of genuine human emotions. Discover (and save!) And to be honest, it came to be one of the best series of the winter 2011. In a volume swirling with doubts, feelings, and uncertainty about the future, we bid farewell to everyone. They don't really understand why their desire to be the other gender is wrong. It can be tough being a freshly minted man…. Notice at Collection Instead, we have this warm-hearted, gentle story about a collection of kids growing up. Privacy Settings Hourou Musuko Anime Review. Nitori Shuichi is a boy who sees himself as a girl. Reat May 22, 2011. That, and the way Nitori's sister disapproves and thinks he is disgusting is very much how a family member might react. You see them reaching for lives that make sense to them, struggling even as we all do to find comfort and value in the things that attract our affections—all while trying desperately not to have our spirits crushed along the way. Pro-tip from a non-prodon’t answer the door in a dress if you don’t want to be seen in a dress. I grew up in a town whose homosexuals-per-capita population was second in the state behind San Francisco. In Japanese Animation, there is no more played out genre than the High School drama. I’m not sure that having a book like Wandering Son would have helped when I was a kid, but it wouldn’t have hurt, I don’t think. Yoshino soon learns of Shuichi's desire to be a girl. What makes Wandering Son distinct is that it tackles an issue that rarely sees print - transgender issues. Shuichi quickly becomes friends with another student: the tall, boyish Yoshino Takatsuki. I had some trouble keeping track of who was who sometimes since, instead of going the route of giving people unrealistic hair colors to make more variety, they went with keeping it at more realistic browns and blacks. Advertising I’m saying this because it is easy to get lost in the anime as it refers a lot to pass events and it is mostly through dialogue than flashbacks. Discover (and save!) Translator Matt Thorn offers a brief essay on the subject in the backmatter of volume 2, but it’s unsatisfyingly brief. It's pretty touching at points especially as you watch him grow up and slowly start to change yet staying true to what he had always believed in. Again, I’m not sure that having read Wandering Son would have helped, but it very well may have. They just want to be accepted for who they are. Read reviews (page 2) on the anime Hourou Musuko (Wandering Son) on MyAnimeList, the internet's largest anime database. Nitorin also has to deal with a family who doesn't understand and a sister who bullies "him" about his "cross dressing habit." But for the rest of us, Horou Musuko may very well be one of the best anime out there. We knew about the Different Drummer bookshop. While Volume Three may see some new faces, there are a lot more significant events in these two volumes. Fifteen years later he is still proud of that decision. In any case, the protagonists meet much less resistance in Wandering Son's story than I believe they would in the U.S. narrative circumstances. Of course that wouldn’t have had anything to do with his sexual preferences—we wouldn’t have known that—but at least within the scope of our warped cultural pericope, that would have been slim justification for our prejudice. For instance, Takatsuki agonizes girlhood because no matter how hard she flattens her chest, she cannot avoid wearing a bra for she can never stop her breast from growing. Do Not Sell My Personal Information Review: Wandering Son. Review by Rebecca Silverman, Nov 17th 2012. Sound: 85%. And above everything else that it does so well, Wandering Son humanizes its characters—regardless of how much they deviate from the cultural norms their societies dictate.11Which should be easy, right? Throughout “Wandering Son”, all of the core cast of characters have searched for love and acceptance in one form or another. That said, Wandering Son would actually be the first anime that I have seen that made usage of this trope. (Request an anime for review here.) In any case, the protagonists meet much less resistance in. Our understanding of the immutability of gender and its ties to sexuality offered us no room for understanding things in any other way. I don’t even know if he ever wore a cheer skirt or if he wanted to. Wandering Son is a coming of age story about Shuichi, a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino, a girl who wants to be a boy, going through school. Of course, it is assuming that either the viewer is familiar with the manga or is watching the series seriously. Wandering Son Reviews - Crunchyroll. Wandering Son - Reviews Alt title: Hourou Musuko overview; recommendations; characters; staff; reviews; custom lists; sort. Press Room We were all little bastards and didn’t really have the cultural wherewithal to learn any differently. It was quite mature, especially for the age range of the characters, but nonetheless amazing. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. Wandering Son is a slice of life story about the confusing times teenagers find in relation to themselves and how they compare to others. Story time. 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