#Hajime X Mustuki

[mrsmarymorstan]

@queerplatonic-msr : In answer to your question about the state of Sui's gender in Natsuki Takaya's "In Such A Small World" Manga Mogura on Twitter has confirmed that the first two chapters do not reveal any gender information, and that Takaya-sensei is most likely keeping things vague deliberately. The sources that have gendered the main character are most likely Machine Translation or people with an ingrained bias where they assume that the character must be female because why would Takaya write a story any other way?

[Text: Tweets from @ MangaMoguraRE "I have now read the first two chapters of Natsuki Takaya's new series & could not find a specific mention or confirmation of Sui's gender. Maybe I missed it. The only indication I saw is a panel in which the character wears a male school uniform in a flashback whatever its worth." ]

Whilst I cannot read Japanese myself, I have looked over the free chapters on Manga Park and I cannot see any visual clues as to the character's gender. (The chapter that has them in a school uniform is not available for free) In fact, I would say that visually, Sei reminds me most of Momiji! Who is, of course, a Cis Male.

^ Sui in Chapter 1

^ Momiji in Three Musketeers Part 2

In my mind, whilst Takaya has before always drifted towards gender essentialism, she has been known to play around with gender. And after making Hajime/Mustuki defacto Canon I can see her wanting to explore more explicitly queer content.

Time will tell, of course, but I do feel far more confident describing Sui as Non-Binary/X-Gendered rather than Female or Male. Whilst Japanese does lend itself to not having any Gendered pronouns, it is still strange to not have any other clues. Especially since we know that Sensei likes to use personal pronouns for character traits (e.g. Yuki using the hyper masculine "ore")

It's been pointed that that on Manga Park, BL series are marked as such whilst this is simply marked as shojo. However, I don't know if they would do the same for a Non-Binary AFAB character, or any Non-Binary character for that matter.

As I said, time will tell and hopefully we will be able to get an English Release for us all to enjoy!

[mrsmarymorstan]

@lesbiankiliel - HAJIME/MUTSUKI SHIPPERS KEEP WINNING!!!!

OH! @mrsmarymorstan , @friedwizardwhispers , @fruitsbasketcase, @aristostrays, @waitformethistime

Would you look at that? It isn't Hajime at the end of Episode 13!

It's the second son!!! 😽🎊🎉

To be fair, this doesn't confirm that the girl and woman are his daughter and wife, so I made a comment on the tweet asking if they are. I don't know if Takaya-sensei will respond, but if she does, I will update this post.

[mrsmarymorstan]

Please talk more about Hajime x Mutsuki! :)

What would you like me to say??? I think they’re super cute and deserve more love as a couple! They are also ridiculously handsome both of them and would look like the cover of a BL Novel. However I think if anyone tried to even SUGGEST their relationship was something to be fetishised in the way BL often is (#NotAllBoyLove) they’d shout you down. 

I think they fall perfectly into that “Childhood friends to lovers” trope; in that they spent summer holidays together and went to family gatherings, but they didn’t actually become CLOSE until High School. Heck! Until they started LIVING together! Because “Oh my GOD and they were ROOMMATES!” 

Which is also kinda funny because that’s exactly what happened with Hajime’s parents! Ahhhh, full circle aye? 

I imagine they keep their relationship on the down-low at school. They’re not exactly keeping it a secret, but it’s not public knowledge either? All the Sohma kids know about it though, and the rest of the Student Council too =) 

I think Kyo and Yuki would be kinda freaked out a bit at first simply because of the whole “Wait HIS kid is dating MY kid?!” element but they’d calm down pretty quickly and be supportive of them. If very awkward. Tohru probably cried. Machi probably laughed at Yuki being so freaked out before showing her son her full support by finding ways to tease him too! Lovingly though, stuff like “It must be so nice being on the Student Council with your boyfriend! Just like I was. Trust me, the keys to the store cupboard are going to come in VERY handy!” or just constantly asking questions about their relationship like “Oooooh! You’re going to the beach house? Will HAJIME-kun be joining you?” 

Mutsuki would still tell her everything though, and when some sort of new development happens she’d be the first to know! 

Kakeru is also over the moon that Mustuki and Hajime are dating, not just because they are obviously perfect for each other given how balanced their realtionship is... but also because of all the teasing opportunities available! Not JUST for his nephew, but also with Kyo and Yuki! Stuff like seeing them holding hands and kissing each other on the cheek, and then going “They look so much like their fathers, I don’t even have to use my imagination anymore to think about what you two would look like in a relationship!” 

When Hajime goes to University, Mutsuki is always calling and skyping him; but he’s a quiet guy so nobody really guesses he has a boyfriend until on day Mustuki shows up and gives him a big ol’ kiss in front of everyone! I think maybe Hajime would end up creating a nice little LGBTQ+ Book Group at Uni (I assume these are things in Japanese Unis too!) so he can make more Queer Friends and everyone is kind of shocked when they find out his boyfriend is just a ball of chaos. I don’t know what their specific identities are, but I just know that they quickly transitioned from “Awkward New Couple” to “Been Married for Five Years” without anyone really noticing! 

Mutsuki’s favourite hobby is finding new ways to make Hajime blush in public. He likes making him all flustered and it’s something he has subconsciously picked up from his Dad. In the same way, I imagine that Hajime’s love language comes back to food! He might grumble about always having to cook because Mutsuki sucks at it, he does love being able to provide for his boyfriend. 

[mrsmarymorstan]

Do you think that Hajime x Mutsuki has a chance at actually being canon? Realistically speaking?

Realistically speaking? No. In my heart? Always. 

And I say no because I am a realist, and I think if Takaya-sensei was going to give us an actual romance we’d have seen more from that. I don’t think this is a CLAMP thing where there’s an existing back log of queer content, or Yuri on Ice where the only thing preventing things from being made explicitly canonical (friendship rings! Just gold friendship rings exchanged in front of a cathedral whilst a choir sings in the background and we make vows of friendship!) was homophobic censorship laws. There’s also the fact that Takaya-sensei has said that she won’t be doing anymore Furubana following Chapter 13-- but a lot of writers say that and end up coming back to their stories so you Never Know I guess? 

Plus in the final chapter we meet Tohru’s grandaughter and daughter-in-law. And it’s pretty heavily implied that the man who walks in is their oldest son who would be Hajime, retroactively. 

HOWEVER, it does’t ACTUALLY say that, and the unnamed Kyoru Son ALSO looks a lot like his father, so there’s nothing to say that the man couldn’t be him too! Or the woman is actually Unnamed Kyoru Daughter, and the man walking in is one of her uncles!

ALSO the little girl is holding a rat and a cat plushie!!!! Which would be ADORABLE if, say, he uncle Hajime was the son of the cat and her uncle Mutsuki was the son of the Rat. I’M JUST SAYING. 

IF it turns out I’m wrong and Takaya-sensei HAS been playing this as a romance then AMAZING and I am SO HAPPY but for now I’m just gonna keep on shipping it and having fun with it. As nice as it is to HAVE canon validation, In all my other fandoms I am a Rare Pair shipper. So I don’t need canon validation to fuel my boat, you feel me? 

[mrsmarymorstan]

The way I see it, even if they DO confirm the guy at the end is Hajime... is that girl still his daughter? She could easily be his niece! Tohru and Kyo have two other children, the mother could be their spouse!

I don't think the little girl refers to Clearly Kyo's Son as "Father", all we know is that he insists she call Tohru and Kyo, Granny and Grandpa!

Plausible Deniability allllll the waaaaaay!!!!

On one hand, I really want to see Hajime animated but on the other, I do not want the anime to confirm that it is him at the end of fruits basket with his wife and daughter.

We are in a space where Mutsuki/Hajime is not canon but it's in this ambiguous place where they have no love interest by the end of it, are always together with added shojo bubbles everywhere, theirs main relationship in the manga is with each other and I kinda wished it stay that way, if we can't have it being canon, I kinda hope they leave it like it was in the manga....

[mrsmarymorstan]

Incidentally: Our Dreams At Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani is an INCREDIBLE 4 part Manga Series that everyone should read. It is the very DEFINITION of "It Gets Better".

It follows Tasuku Kaname, a high schooler who is terrified of his classmates figuring out that he's gay. He is about to do the unthinkable, when he spots a woman parkouring down a mountain. Fascinated, he goes to see where she was jumping down from and discovers an LGBT+ Walk in Center. We learn the stories of the various volunteers from the centre, from Haruko who dreams of marrying her Still Semi-closeted girlfriend -- to Shuji who is still trying to figure out what their gender identity is before puberty starts to kick in.

When I call this an LGBT+ Manga... I mean an LGBT+ Manga. There is even an Asexual Character! And although there aren't any explicitly bisexual characters, it is discussed and talked about as a valid identity!

It's English publication is by Seven Seas, and is available in both physical and digital editions from all major book sellers, both good and evil.

EDIT: I also just found out that the Manga-ka identifies (if that's the correct word) as X-gender and Asexual! So even more reasons to read it.

You can take away the Headcanon that Hajime starts up an LGBT+ Bookclub when he is at University from my cold dead hands. That boy needs a nice space with like minded people who share an interest. And Manga is allowed so long as it is not fetishised. So stuff like "Our Dreams at Dusk", "My Brother's Husband" and "That Blue Sky Feeling" are all valid (and recommendations from me lol) but Explicit BL with a target audience of horny teenage girls is NOT.

Although I fully expect Mutsuki to slip such books into his bag. Like he takes off the dust jacket of his pocket book of Sappho Poetry and replaces it with terrible Yuri tentacle porn. Just for the Lols.

Because that's what boyfriends do.

[mrsmarymorstan]

I find it amusing people in the tags mistaking Kyo for Hajime becuase, yeah. Other than colouring (Hajime's hair is lighter and his eye colour is more like Kyoko's-- which doesn't show up in grey scale) they are exact clones of each other. Meanwhile Mustuki and Yuki look similar, but Mutsuki's eyes are more angular, and of course he has a better haircut. Plus his expression leads more glitter-angel/shit-eating than ball-of-anxiety/plotting your demise.

So it's curious to me how Takaya-sensei has made an effort to at least present some differences between the children and their parents but not with Hajime? I suppose it comes down to wanting instant recognition for him, and also that she wanted to have Kyo concerned that his son looked so much like him that he'd have to suffer through the effects of the curse as well. His appearance is a source of Kyo's anxiety rather than lazy character design. I'd be interested in seeing more updated versions of Middle School!Kyo so we could compare him to Unnamed Kyouru Son.

At some point I'll probably do a comparison with the other kids and our updated versions. As best I can whilst maintaining Takaya-sensei's wishes to avoid edits for her twitter illustrations lol

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN ALL OF MUSKETEERS IS HOW TINY TOHRU IS!!!!! Especially compared to her boys. Teeny Tiny Tohru 💜🍙