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saotome-michi · 6 years

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LGBTQ Rep in Manga: Otoko no ko

Date: January 20, 2019

Those who are more familiar with Japanese will know that “otoko no ko” usually refers to boys. This is because it’s usually written as 男の子, with 男 meaning “male” and 子 meaning “child”.

However, within the last decade a new way of writing this has come up and with it, a new meaning. That is 男の娘. As you can see, the character for “male” remains unchanged, but the character for “children” has been changed to 娘, which means “girl”, more specifically a young, unmarried woman. (It also can mean “daughter”). Written in this way, “otoko no ko” or “男の娘” means something like a male girl or a male young woman. (Note: it can also be written as おとこの娘, オトコの娘, and オトコノコ)

In its most basic sense,男の娘 is used for men who cross-dress as young women. Not all 男の娘 are queer; some of them are cis, straight men who just like wearing feminine clothing. But some of them are. Some of them are transgender, gay, bisexual, etc. So let’s look at some depictions of LGBTQ 男の娘 in manga.

---But first!! An important translation note! English Scanlation Groups translate 男の娘 as “girlyboy”. It is, for the most part an accurate translation, yet while “girlyboy” can be and is used as an insult, 男の娘 is not. I really want to emphasize this, because it’s an important nuance that’s easy to miss. 男の娘 doesn’t have the negative connotations “girlyboy” has, it is more of a description.

Now, onto the manga!

Otokonoko Doushi Renai Chuu (男の娘どうし恋愛中) by Ooshima Kaoru/大島薫 (Author) and Fumi Fumiko/ふみふみこ (Artist)

Oh, this one is a great read! In this autobiographical manga, former famous porn star and now famous author, Ooshima Kaoru, describes his life as a pansexual 男の娘, talking about his childhood to how he began working in the AV industry. A significant portion of this manga is also about Michelle, his girlfriend, another 男の娘 who worked as a porn actress. Although it is not stated outright, Michelle is also shown dating both women and men, so he is probably bisexual/pansexual as well.

The two of them discuss their upbringing, how they met, and difficulties they had throughout their relationship. The conversations here are very interesting and everything feels very realistic. The manga ends with a written epilogue, where Kaoru talks about other conflicts he had with Michelle that he didn’t include within the manga, mostly because those conflicts were unfolding during the making of it. Unfortunately, the two of them have broken up since then, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is a great read and an insightful look into the lives of two 男の娘. It doesn’t hurt that the art here is absolutely adorable; illustrated by Fumi Fumiko, the mangaka of Bokura no Hentai, which focuses on cross-dressers, including one trans woman, the art is cute and simple, with much of the anecdotes being drawn as 4-koma comics.

At only 1 volume, the manga is a quick read. You can find it in English on dynasty-scans.com. Also if you can read Japanese, a quick google search of their names will bring up more articles and interviews with Kaoru and Michelle, if you’re interested! Kaoru also has a twitter at OshimaKaoru.

Warning: Mentions of adult/minor sex

Fukakai na Boku no Subete o (不可解なぼくのすべてを) by Konayama Kata (粉山カタ)

What a pleasant surprise this manga was! I found this while listlessly scanning manga websites and wasn’t sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t sincere discussions about gender and gender expression! Damn I need to start raising my expectations!

The premise of this manga is simple: High School student Iwaoka Tetsu notices that his classmate Mogumo is lonely at school. Wanting to give Mogumo a chance to make some friends, Tetsu invites Mogumu to work at his family’s maid cafe. Although Mogumo is initially enthusiastic about the opportunity, they run into a problem—it’s a girlyboy cafe, but Mogumo isn’t a boy nor a girl.

Cool right? Mogumo is nonbinary and doesn’t identify as a 男の娘, but the other people working in the cafe (sans Tetsu) do and within that group we have, two trans woman, one gay man, and one straight man who just loves to cosplay! Initially they don’t quite understand Mogumo, but they’re willing to learn and Mogumo soon finds a place in the cafe. There are lots of teaching moments for everyone and everyone improves because of it. As a result, you have a sweet manga that is sometimes clumsy and overly simplistic in its execution, but heartwarming in its sincerity.

Only 8 chapters are out so far and updates are monthly. You can also find this one in English on dynasty-scans.com. The mangaka, Konayama Kata, even has a tumblr, @konayamakata, and a twitter, kt_konyam.

And that’s it for now! Hope you guys found this post interesting and helpful! Also, I want to give a special thank you to Hachimitsu-scans who scanlated both of these manga works!

#lgbt #manga recs #fukakai na boku no subete o #otokonoko doushi renai chuu #nonbinary #pansexuality #transgender #media representation #ooshima kaoru #konayama kata #fumi fumiko #otokonoko #crossdressing #long post

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