#My Brother's Husband

[snalsupremacy]

12 MANGA BY LGBT+ CREATORS

Happy pride month!! My time has come. Years of seeking lgbt manga lead me some great finds, and here's all the ones written by openly LGBT mangaka!

1- Our Dreams At Dusk by Yuhki Kamitani, an asexual x-gender creator!

A classic in the lgbt manga niche. Literally google "lgbt manga" and you'll find this one in the top results. It's popular for a reason! Starting Tasuku, a gay teen, the manga deals with members of the queer community from all walks of life living in a small town, and how being queer impact their lives. Yuhki Kamitani's poetic and abstract story telling abilities enhances a simple story line into one of the best emotional roller-coasters you'll ever ride on. TW: Attempt suicide, mentions of said attempt, groping of a minor, lots of homophobia

2- I Think Our Son is Gay by Okura, a gay creator!

An ADORABLE story about a progressive mom trying to learn more about how to support her closeted gay son without making it obvious that she knows. Super sweet and adorable, and the author's notes were so touching! queer joy all around

TW: Discussions and verbal displays of homophobia

3- Boys Run The Riot by Keito Gaku, a transmasc creator!

Another classic in this niche. The story follows a trans boy named Ryo who bonds with the trouble student Jin over men's fashion, and together they decide to start a fashion brand. It's refreshing to see the struggles of a trans boy portrayed so genuine and authentically.

TW: Gender dysphoria, outing

4- My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata, a lesbian creator!

Kabi Nagata is an biographical essayist that publishes all her work in manga form. In one of her most popular works, My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, Kabi tells the series of the events that led her to sleeping with a lesbian sex worker. Bold and authentic, Kabi has no fear to portray the ugly and fucked up parts of mental illness, in turn crafting an intimate and touching story.

TW: Self-harm, eating disorder, lots of discussions of mental illness, sexuality, and gender.

5- The Bride was a Boy by Chii, a transfem creator!

The biographical tale of the author, Chii, from realizing she's trans to meeting her husband, all told through 4-koma stories! The adorable chibi art-style and light-heartedness of this manga is sure to warm anyone's hearts! It's great to see the story of a trans woman told in such an optimistic and happy way. Details like the pop-ups of information about LGBT and Trans issues to the game-board illustrating her transition journey really show how proud Chii is of her identity, as she should!

TW: None that I remember

6- My Brother's Husband by Gengoroh Tagame, a gay creator!

The #1 non-sexual Bara, made by the #1 bara author. Tagame may be more known for his NSFW works, but his first SFW serialization shows the experience he's gained through the decades working on manga, even winning multiple awards (-) . After single father Yaichi's estranged brother passed away, Yaichi gets visited by his Canadian husband, Mike. A beautiful and sweet story of dealing with loss and overcoming homophobia, ft the cutest little child character and a very healthy divorced couple!

TW: Nudity (Technically non-sexual, but Tagame is a bear and it shows), Grief and loss of a loved one

7- To Strip The Flesh by Oto Toda, a transmasc creator!

An anthology book of various stories by Toda. The first of which, To Strip the Flesh (Where the manga gets its namesake) is inspired by the author's experience with dysphoria and coming out as a trans men. Toda was the assistant of Tatsuki Fujimoto (Chainsaw Men) during the serialization of Fire Punch.

TWs: Gender Dysphoria, gore, mutilation (no blood shown), house invasion, nudity, hunting and skinning of animals, gunshot wound, mysoginy

8-Gay Fuuzoku no Mochigi-san - Sexuality Is Life - by Mochigi, a gay creator!

Originally published on Twitter, Mochigi tells of his experience running away from home and coming to work in the bustling Shinjuku Ni-Chome, Tokyo's gay neighborhood. Through his sex work and work in gay bars, Mochigi tells an authentic story of the ups and downs of the gay culture in Tokyo.

TWs: Though not visually graphic, it goes into a lot of details about gay sex work

9- Vassalord by Nanae Chrono, a transmasc creator!

Y'all aren't ready for the synopsis... ok so this cyborg vampire who works for the Vatican is frenemies with this fuckboy vampire. They fight then make up then kiss and break-up (YOU!). Together they go on missions set by the church. Extremely emo and edgy vampires, actually really great action, and all the charm of early 2000's BL, now with extra blood! Nanae Chromo came out on twitter as trans only recently, and many news sources including Anime List still lists him as Female unfortunately.

TW: Bloody fights, enough homoeroticism to make your teeth rot

10- X-Gender by Asuka Miyazaki, a X-gender creator!

Miyazaki (AFAB) realizes at age 33 that they not only are X-gender, but like woman as well! The relatable and awkward biographical story of the author's experiences and new discoveries about their identity and the community. The manga also takes the time to explain all the terms used in the LGBT community, making it very accessible to those out of the loop! Also, the art-style is very cute.

TW: Lots of talks about sex and gender, possibly other things as I have not read it yet

11- Why I Adopted my Husband by Yuta Yagi, a gay creator!

The cute auto biography of Yuta and Kyota, a gay couple who have been dating for almost 20 years. The manga talks about not only their relationship, but also what it's like to live as a gay couple in Japan, and the draws and benefits of adoption as a way to seek the same legal rights of straight couples.

TWs: None

• Final Word •

I made this list to celebrate all the brave people who are open about their identities, but I also wanna point out that there are incredible LGBT manga out there written by anonymous or even straight creators!

Happy pride month to everyone but specially all the people living in places where it's not safe to be openly LGBT, everyday that you breathe is an act of rebellion, and we should be proud of that!

Here's a quickie of some other LGBT manga that didn't make the list for some reason or another- hmu if u want more details on them or just wanna talk about lgbt manga in general!

[dailydefunctmangamagazine]

Monthly Action (月刊アクション) / Futabasha (双葉社) / Nov 2014 issue

[strangemonochromes]

My Brother's Husband (弟の夫) // Gengoroh Tagame

[pierppasolini]

My Brother’s Husband — by Gengoroh Tagame

My Brother’s Husband (2018) // dir. Teruyuki Yoshida

[tanenigiri]

I'm floored that people are still liking and reblogging the collage of BL and BL-adjacent works that I reviewed two (!!) years ago. I haven't stopped growing my collection of manga, so I figured I'd make a sort-of Part 2 with a collage of some other fluffy slice-of-life BL and BL-adjacent titles I've enjoyed ever since I ended that project.

While I don't have time to give them full-fledged reviews like before, you can find some of my quick thoughts on each of them under the cut. I recommend all of these titles just as much as the 18 I included in the first collage - if you liked any of those, give these 10 stories a try!

Hirano and Kagiura by Shou Harusono - From the creator of Sasaki and Miyano and set in the same universe, this series revolves around one of Miyano's senpais and the roommate that he's been shipping him with since the start. This is every bit as charming and wholesome as Sasaki and Miyano, though I think this is a lot more chaotic considering the more hilarious take on the main pair's dynamic. I did a more comprehensive review of its first volume here if you wanna check it out.

Candy Color Paradox by Isaku Natsume - I'm not usually a big fan of enemies to lovers - the tropes they work with are rarely my cup of tea. This is one of the few stories I've read where that dynamic works really well, though, with these two reporters clashing a lot early on but finding out that they're exactly what the other needs. I wasn't too sold on the first volume but the second one really brought me onboard - I thought they treated the personal conflicts of one of the main characters incredibly well there.

My Brother's Husband by Gengoroh Tagame - More BL-adjacent than BL, this tells the story of a man reconnecting with the husband of his late brother (and no, there isn't any romance involved at all - this is a family-centric story first and foremost). It doesn't focus entirely on dealing with this loss, though - it's also a look into the protagonist's own family dynamics and troubles, with his daughter being a very prominent character here a la Tane in Our Dining Table. One of my favorites of this batch as it has a lot of heart and soul poured into it.

My Love Mix-Up by Watanu Hinekure and Aruko - The most comedic title here, this takes the misunderstanding trope to a really funny direction and builds a really good story out of it. The main couple is very adorable, and their dynamic with the side couple evolves in such a fun way that I ended up seeing this as a story about the four of them that just so happens to have two couples. If you watched the live action, the manga has a slightly different take on the story, and of course it spends more time on certain plot points, but it has the same chaotic and hilarious vibe.

Hyperventilation by Bboungbbangkkyu - I've only read a few Korean BLs, but this one is easily my favorite of the ones I've read so far. This is a lot steamier than most of the titles in this and in the previous collage, but those scenes are surrounded by a heartfelt dynamic between its two leads who are realizing that the connection they shared back in high school was a lot deeper than they thought. If you've watched the animation of this title, the manhwa's pretty much that but in book form, but I did notice some differences in the manhwa that made the story stronger in my opinion.

I'm Kinda Chubby and I'm Your Hero by Nore - I was slightly wary of this title since body image issues are quite difficult to tackle, but it turned out to not really be the focus of the story - one of the protagonists just happens to be chubby, and while there is some discussion on it, this story focuses a lot more on his growth as an actor and his newfound dynamic with the story's other protagonist. It's a really sweet story at its core, and the pun is definitely intended as the other protagonist is a pastry chef lol. (I'm also not sure if I would consider this as BL or BL-adjacent, coz by the second volume (which is the latest one so far) they aren't really together, but you can definitely sense that their dynamic goes beyond friendship.)

That Blue Sky Feeling by Okura and Coma Hashii - Picked this up mainly because the story is by the same person behind I Think Our Son Is Gay, one of my favorites in the original project. This has a slightly similar vibe, where it focuses more on exploring homosexuality and identity instead of romance, and it does so with the same interesting depth that Okura did in the other work. This one definitely has more BL tropes than I Think Our Son Is Gay though, and I'm more inclined to call it BL than BL-adjacent.

I Want to Be a Wall by Honami Shirono - "Marriage of convenience between a gay man and an asexual woman" is such an incredible pitch that I picked this up immediately, and I really enjoyed it for what it is. Said asexual woman is also a fujoshi, and the man that her husband is crushing on (who is straight) is a prominent supporting character, so you can imagine the hilarity that ensues. This isn't a comedy though - it's very much a heartwarming tale about identity and finding joy in a situation that isn't exactly the best.

Delinquent Daddy and Tender Teacher by Tama Mizuki - Already the second title here that has the same two-male-leads-plus-child dynamic as Our Dining Table - do you see the clear bias hahaha. This is quite far from that story and My Brother's Husband though, and I honestly thought that this was going to be trashier than it was because of the title, but I really shouldn't have judged this book by its cover as it's a great story about family and building connections with each other. It ended up being closer to Would You Like To Be a Family? in that regard, but this takes the time to flesh out the relationship between the two protagonists and the child, creating a silly but heartwarming dynamic.

Hello, Green Days by Ayu Sakumoto - Stumbled upon this short story online, and it has stayed with me ever since even if it doesn't have a physical English release (yet?). The dynamic between the protagonists is really sweet, and how it weaves in the plant talk (one of the main characters is a botany major) into the story is very clever. I also did a more comprehensive review of this before, so check it out here if you want.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope you found more titles to add to your to-read list.

[fuzoshi]

questions/comments/concerns?

[canadianlucifer]

My Brother's Husband

fuck it, manga review time bc this thing just made me tear up in a very good way

My Brother's Husband is a short manga series (2 volumes, 28 chapters) about a Canadian man named Mike Flanagan travelling to Japan to meet his brother-in-law and niece (Yaichi and Kana) for the first time after his husband passed away. While Kana is super excited to meet a foreigner for the first time and learn about how things are different in Canada and that two people of the same gender can even get married there, Yaichi is reluctant. He remembers how he and his brother grew distant after he came out and is uncomfortable sharing space with a gay man, but grows to accept and even defend Mike, accepting him as part of the family and becoming ashamed of how he treated Mike at first.

I picked up this manga at my local library because I had some time to kill and I'm glad I did. It's a very sweet story about growth and regrets. It's a short read, took me less than two hours (I'm a slow reader though haha), but I really enjoyed the realistic depictions of how homophobia can manifest and how children are born without such prejudice. Yaichi isn't outright hostile or anything, just uncomfortable. Mike is someone very different from anyone he's met before and has grown up in a culture that doesn't really accept queer people or foreigners too much. Still though, he tries to treat Mike like any other guest and through Mike's stay, he dismantles the homophobic ideas he had in his head and regrets treating his brother so differently after he had come out.

Kana still has her childlike wonder and amazement learning about her new uncle, treating him no different than anyone else, and wanting to know everything she can about Canada. She doesn't know or care about cultural differences yet and is excited to tell people about her gay Canadian uncle.

I don't have much else to say tbh, it's just a sweet short story, something I recommend if you have the time!

[killerandhealerqueen]

Y'all, I am reading the manga "My Brother's Husband" (because I saw it in a bookstore window and was like "oh, that looks interesting" and oh my god, it's so good. It was also made into a live action and I'm definitely gonna have to check it out because this manga is just...so good

[queer-and-dear-books]

Title: My Brother’s Husband

Author: Gengoroh Tagame 

Genre: Comics | Family | Friendship | LGBTQ+

Content Warnings: Homophobia | Death

Overall Rating: 10/10

Personal Opinion: Quite possibly my most favorite manga of all time. I own a lot of Tagame’s works so I’ve always been a big fan of his art style. To see it in a mainstream book all about educating people on queer folks? That is just chef’s kiss perfection. It’s wholesome, it’s intelligent, it’s refreshing, and it will break and fix your heart over and over again. Please purchase a copy for yourself.

Do I Own These Books? Yes! I own both volumes and I even have the first volume signed by Tagame himself!

Spoilers Below For My Likes & Dislikes:

Likes:

- First and foremost, the art style. I personally love it. And not just because of the details of Yaichi’s and Mike’s muscles when they’re bathing. No, I just adore all of their character designs and the vibes they give off. Yaichi is a single dad who is a bit unsure of himself, I can see that in how he stands in volume 1′s cover. Kana is a precocious child but a child nonetheless, I see that in how she stands in volume 1′s cover. Mike is Mike. I see that in, well, you know already. 

- Kana is the most adorable thing. She has a very pure view of the world that was unaffected by her father’s bigoted views because he never taught them to her. And it is mainly through her that Yaichi, her father, begins to understand queer folks better. When she says she doesn’t get why gay people can’t marry, he pauses and rethinks his position. It’s adorable and inspiring witnessing a parent learn from their child and being open to learning from them too. 

- That’s the thing I love most about these books. Yaichi has a lot of bigoted and narrow-minded opinions concerning his brother’s sexuality. But a lot of that is because he was never educated on it. After Ryoji tragically passed away and Mike came into his life, he realized it wasn’t too late to learn more about his estranged brother. Because here was someone still connected to Ryoji and probably knew him better than most people. Mike taught Yaichi a lot and Yaichi was open to learning. He kept his bigoted thoughts to himself, never actually voicing them out, and instead took in everything Mike told him and grew from it. By volume 2, Yaichi was even prepared himself to tell people about his brother’s husband from overseas and how it’s perfectly normal.

- Mike is just a giant teddy bear and I find him to be adorable and hot. Mainly though, I just like him for being such a big-hearted fellow. He’s proud of himself, he’s open about his sexuality, he’s curious but respectful of the culture around him. He’s the ideal man in my opinion. And I just love the role he took up as the jolly uncle in Kana’s life. They were so wholesome playing together in basically every chapter. Ugh, my heart still breaks for Kana when Mike had to go back to Canada. She loved him so much.

- Speaking of Mike being open about his sexuality, it’s a little hard to see (for my color blind eyes anyway) but his shirt on the covers include a pink triangle. It was once a badge of shame employed by Nazis to identify LGBTQ+ people but was later reclaimed to be a symbol of pride. Mike knows this and that’s why he wears that shirt and that’s why I love him so much. Yes, know your history Mike!

- Kana’s mother, Natsuki, and Yaichi are divorced. But they maintain a healthy and friendly relationship. I fucking love that. They acknowledge that they were a bad match when they were married and that they’re better as individuals and as Kana’s parents when they’re separated and I find that to be so wholesome. But I also just love that Natsuki was so open-minded about Mike herself when she met him. These four characters all together make such an adorable family unit.  

Dislikes:

- Yaichi admits his mistakes and homophobic outbursts were wrong but damn did I cringe at some of the things he thought. The story is mainly about his growth though so I’ll give it a pass.

- There’s honestly nothing I really dislike about this story. Everyone should go purchase a copy for themselves. 

[fictionalcanadianshowdown]

Mike Flanagan is from My Brother’s Husband, a manga by Gengoroh Tagame, later turned into a tv show:

Yaichi is a work-at-home suburban dad in contemporary Tokyo; formerly married to Natsuki, and father to their young daughter, Kana. Their lives suddenly change with the arrival at their doorstep of a hulking, affable Canadian named Mike Flanagan, who declares himself to be the widower of Yaichi's estranged gay twin, Ryoji. Mike is on a quest to explore Ryoji's past, and the family reluctantly but dutifully takes him in. What follows is an unprecedented and heartbreaking look at the state of a largely still-closeted Japanese gay culture: how it's been affected by the West, and how the next generation can change the preconceptions about it and prejudices against it

Scott Pilgrim is from Scott Piligim vs The World, a graphic novel later adapted into a movie. Scott Pilgrim's life is totally sweet. He's 23 years old, he's in a rock band, he's "between jobs," and he's dating a cute high school girl. Nothing could possibly go wrong, unless a seriously mind-blowing, dangerously fashionable, rollerblading delivery girl named Ramona Flowers starts cruising through his dreams and sailing by him at parties. Will Scott's awesome life get turned upside-down? Will he have to face Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends in battle? The short answer is yes.

[surpriserose]

go read my brothers husband btw👍

[snalsupremacy]

gengoroh tagame fucking. balls of steel bro. most mangaka don't reveal their age or even gender meanwhile big bro got a list of all his kinks public for the entire world to see. who's doing it like him

[dailydefunctmangamagazine]

Monthly Action (月刊アクション) / Futabasha (双葉社) / Jul 2015 issue

[arkumami]

[pierppasolini]

My Brother’s Husband — by Gengoroh Tagame

[lambdalibrary]

My Brother's Husband | Otōto no Otto

Content Warnings

Homophobia

Links

A link to Penguin Random House where you can buy the volumes. You can also find read them on manga sites, but the fan translators stopped when the volumes were officially translated in order to help promote the work. That's only for English however. Sites I've checked have the full work translated in Spanish and Portuguese if you are fluent.

Tagame's website where you can see his other work. This link is NSFW

Tagame's Twitter. This link is also NSFW.

Something I'd like to say while linking to these sites and before I talk about the manga itself is how different My Brother's Husband is from Tagame's other work. My Brother's Husband is a light hearted slice of life manga, and Tagame's other works are very explicit. I've seen other people explain this difference before they recommend people check out Tagame's other work in a way that I would say feels very judgemental, if not homophobic, even if the people saying it are LGBT themselves.

While I obviously think its good to warn people that his other work is NSFW and therefore may not be what they're looking for, its important not to end up putting his NSFW stuff down in the process. In fact, I think its important that his other work is so explicit. Sexuality after all, is about sexuality. LGBT erotica and pornography is just as important to LGBT history and culture as anything else. Plus, it's not like My Brother's Husband doesn't have a few panels of barely covered men anyways.

Summary

My Brother's Husband is a slice of life manga about Origuchi Yaichi who has to deal with both his homophobia and the death of his brother Ryoji and what family means as Ryoji's husband Mike Flanagan comes to visit.

Thoughts

Definitely check this out if you're a fan of manga especially slice of life manga or you're just looking for something short and sweet. It's just really cute and I mean sometimes that's all you need. That's not to say there's not substance here because there is, its just explored through a more lighthearted genre.

Like there's the idea of culture and tradition that's explored. It's important not only that Mike is gay but that he's also white. That Ryoji went to Canada to be himself and died there versus in Japan. While this is a large part of the manga, I don't feel qualified enough on the LGBT culture of Japan to go into detail on it myself though, especially when comparing countries based on their LGBT rights records can contribute to pinkwashing.

The only real negative thing I can say is that My Brother's Husband might be a bit too...educational focused? Like I as a gay person don't need a chapter to inform me why other LGBT people might stay in the closet, but a cishet person might. But that's not even a negative thing, that's even part of the reason it exists to help educate people about gay issues in Japan. But it never educates from...for lack of a better term, a cishet gaze? Obviously partially because the author himself is gay but even though the narrator is not it just never slips into treating Mike as a purely educational tool. He's his own character, just like everyone else in the manga.