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Latest Chapter Discussion

Hourou Musuko Wandering Son Discussion

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51 replies to this topic

#1
Liar

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Read the latest chapter here.

Alright, the latest chapter is Chapter 106.

Finally, it's the moment I have been waiting for since I started the series... the manga is addressing the age-old issue of sex.


#2
Amon

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I'm interested in the future of Shuu and Anna's relationship... =0

I wonder how far those two will go with especially with the recent chap... :3

Edited by Amon, 06 March 2012 - 01:33 PM.


#3
svines85

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Great new chapter, still the same slow pace, I'm really not sure what to make of his dad's reaction

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#4
Liar

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Maybe he thinks his son is homosexual?

#5
svines85

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Maybe (possible given the past), but we've not really explored his parent feelings or relationship w/either child in quite a while, so, I don't know. It's the writing style to a degree and the pace but a lot of the story is not really straight forward, sooooo, I don't know. :)

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#6
svines85

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Sooo, when we see the empty futon on page 4 of chapter 112, does that mean Nitori went to Anna's room in the middle of the night? Now I'm REALLY curious about what's going to happen between them......

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#7
foxyeisenhower

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thing are only going to get harder for nitori and anna
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#8
svines85

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very, very true....as if he isn't complicated enough, she's also a complicated person, not just dealing with her feelings for Nitori but also with the pace, stress and realities of being a celebrity.

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#9
Metrosio

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Kinda annoying that people keep using "he" for Nitori. She's a girl you know. Kind of the point of being trans.

Edited by Metrosio, 06 November 2012 - 07:17 PM.


#10
svines85

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Kinda annoying that people keep using "he" for Nitori. She's a girl you know. Kind of the point of being trans.

Yayyyy!!!! Somebody who'll come talk to me about this great manga!! I'll make you a deal.......if you'll come talk to me every time a chapter of Hourou Musuko comes out I'll let you tell me how to talk (certainly when it comes to gender specific pronouns). :)

11/15 tsk, tsk, tsk. >_<

Edited by svines85, 15 November 2012 - 05:09 PM.

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#11
svines85

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A great new chapter, it's kind of depressing to see Takatsuki struggling with guilt over out-growing her gender issues though.

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#12
Metrosio

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I'm kind of pissed off at the direction this manga seems to be taking. I expected better from Shimura because she should know better, but maybe she is being forced by publishers. The constant misgendering I could forgive if it's the translators fault, but the angle of attack that is happening now is ridiculous. "They're growing out of it, it is just silly child ideas that go away with puberty, also it is entirely impossible to stop puberty because puberty blocking medicine apparently doesn't exist". Can't us trans people, in particular trans women, have one freaking positive portrayal where our identity is not seen as some childish whim? Where our lives, however difficult, is actually validated?

We already have tons upon tons upon tons of stories shaming, misgendering and making fun of trans people (again, almost exclusively aimed at trans women). Where the message is that being trans is something you shouldn't be. That being trans is something made up, icky, childish, perverted and impossible. I seriously hope the trend reverses and the story actually shapes up for the better of trans people in the next few chapters.

#13
svines85

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Can't us trans people, in particular trans women, have one freaking positive portrayal where our identity is not seen as some childish whim? Where our lives, however difficult, is actually validated?

Well, that's a very easy wish to fulfill......and it's in this very manga. It's Yuki-san of course. Yuki-san is portrayed in an exceedingly positive light, and has been throughout the manga in my opinion. She's beautiful, confident and kind, has a long-term, loving relationship, and above all, is very successful (her business is what I'm referring to). A great, great character.........though she hasn't gotten a lot of screen time lately, unfortunately.

I thought this chapter was a great one, lots of insight into the current state of the relationship dynamics between a number of our main characters.

Edited by svines85, 27 January 2013 - 08:14 PM.

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#14
Metrosio

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The thing is, Yuki is an outside character. Her transition happened off-screen, and it was said it all happened well after adulthood. What love is there for trans kids? They are told they cannot transition. (Note: transition doesn't mean surgery. It can mean just socially, expression-wise and perhaps hormones) They are told they are too young and that their feelings will change. Can you imagine the pain and damage the wrong puberty causes for trans kids? Much of the damage may very well be irreversible, like skeleton changes, and they are told that their pain is not real because they are "too young"? I guess, I really want to actually see a trans main character (not some side-character we barely get to see), preferably a kid, actually go through with transition and showing that they become happy. That it is a valid choice. That it's perfectly ok. That is the story that is rare as hell and basically only found when the writer themselves is trans.

#15
svines85

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Well, other than short works, there just aren't many other manga/manhwa out there with trans main characters......at least not that I know of.

And in all fairness, and though she hasn't been featured a lot recently, Yuki-san's character has only been behind Nitori's very closest friends and sister as far as importance to the story. And there was a least some insight into Yuki's past.........though I just can't bear the thought of delving back through all these chapters to find it, sorry. It seems it was around the time of her school reunion. But no, I agree that I don't remember it detailing her transition.

After her, one of the few other very positively presented trans characters in a work of any length is Urami Satomi from Kore wa Koi no Hanashi.......though she's more of a minor character than I think Yuki-san should be considered.

No, unfortunately when it comes to the sort of thing you're talking about, in most serious works the character's portrayal isn't positive. Certainly in the case of the "transition" period........that's often far more negative....... if not outright ugly....... similar to the one being watched in the current arc of Welcome to Room 305.

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#16
Metrosio

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Exactly. That's why I am sincerely hoping Hourou Musuko will shape up, we desperately need positive portrayals and hope. We're looking at a close to 50% suicide attempt rate for trans youth (I myself having attempted suicide half a dozen times in my youth), having some actual positive portrayals that don't amount to "LOL EW TRANS WOMEN ARE ICKY LOL" could help alleviate that. Portrayals showing there is hope, that it is a valid life.

#17
spring_rain

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Although I too hope that Nitori doesn't just "grow out of crossdressing", I think that as a teenager, she (or he if she/he chooses to be) has not fully formed an identity one way or another yet. This is a manga about the journey through adolescence and all the uncertainty that comes with it, and it's a bit demanding to expect a definitive position at this point. I don't think the mangaka is trying to portray transexuals in a negative way but rather showing the everchanging heart of a person who is not yet an adult and has not yet decided on what the future will look like (not as though there is a magical age when you get your *hit together).

In the school reunion chapter, my love for Yuki-san went up tenfold when she showed how insecure she still is at adulthood- she wasn't willing to be made a spectacle of by attending. Her lack of confidence when it came to facing her past was a contrast to the confidence she has shown towards the children. I'm sure it was a difficult journey for her, though we have only seen bits and pieces of it, and she is still coming to terms with reconciling her past and present.

I will say that the manga takes place in Asia- much like the extremes shown in Welcome to Room 105, I think that Asian culture is less willing to embrace difference than Western culture, at least thus far. I feel that coming out is hard in any family, but the general resistance is more of a struggle culturally in Asia- there's the issue of a family saving face... and there are tons of manga about bullying the kids who are the teeniest bit different. I think the portrayal in a manga in Japan would take a different path than a story written in America might, so thus far I think Shimura-sensei hasn't done so bad towards these characters.

Back to Hourou Musuko, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Anna-chan. When she said "I don't mind being the crazy old lady dating the old man in women's clothes", my heart melted into a puddle. I like that she imagines them together with Shu-chan still in women's clothes. I hope they stay together. When they were children, I loved Saorin best because she was the first to offer Shu-chan clothes and insist that it was okay to dress that way, but Anna has won my heart (though I'm still a fan of the moody sarcastic Saorin).

I love these kids and just want to see them all end up happy somehow, no matter what form that happiness may take. I think it's okay for them to change their minds a few times, but it'd please me greatly to see an end where Shu-chan as an adult somehow manages to be in women's clothes while living with Anna-chan (though that may have consequences on Anna's popularity as a celebrity later on in life).

#18
svines85

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I LOVE LOVE LOVE Anna-chan. When she said "I don't mind being the crazy old lady dating the old man in women's clothes", my heart melted into a puddle. I like that she imagines them together with Shu-chan still in women's clothes. I hope they stay together. When they were children, I loved Saorin best because she was the first to offer Shu-chan clothes and insist that it was okay to dress that way, but Anna has won my heart (though I'm still a fan of the moody sarcastic Saorin).

Yeah, I agree about Anna......though I thought it was a little telling in how the author made a point (for the second time now I think) to show Anna displaying some significant jealousy. To me it looked like she was noticeably pissed with Nitori talking to Tatsuki while she wasn't there. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. It's obvious she really likes Nitori.......but it's also not like this isn't an incredibly complicated relationship either. Much more so than other romantic relationships.

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#19
spring_rain

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Anna is understandably jealous of Takatsuki- they used to like each other and shared an exchange diary and rings! I think most teenage girls are jealous of their significant other's exes in general, but Nitori and Takatsuki had a special bond since Takatsuki used to dress as a boy while Nitori dressed as a girl, something Anna can never share. And now that special person has become a beautiful model so it's not even a place Anna has to take pride in all to herself anymore. I imagine she felt so left out of the conversation about Yuki-san whom she's never met; she must feel like there's a big part of Nitorin's heart that can't be hers. Nitori has so many issues to work through, I'm not sure how (s)he'll handle Anna's insecurity (that she tries so hard not to let show). I don't know what the fallout of her jealousy will be in their complicated relationship, but I feel for Anna.

#20
Metrosio

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Note that you can use "they/them/their" as a gender-non-specific pronoun. Given that you, and apparently Shimura at this time, seem unsure about Nitori's gender. (Don't start the "but it's not grammatically correct!" argument btw, fking Shakespeare used it :x)