In The Bride Was a Boy, author Chii takes us on the cutest possible journey through her own life as a transgender woman. She addresses not only issues that she personally had to deal with, but the way she would like readers to understand how she uses various terms and concepts, as well as broader understanding of terms in the gender, sexual and romantic minority lexicon. 

But, as the title might indicate, the story is not focused on her transition, per se, although that plays a role, but on her meeting, falling for, and eventually marrying her now-husband, known endearingly as Boyfriend-kun, then Husband-kun. Both Chii-sensei and her husband come across as lovable and charming. She notes that nothing is perfect, much less their relationship, but you just cannot stop grinning through this book. ^_^

The greatest strength of the story (also arguably, its biggest weakness,) is the relative simplicity of the narrative. A surface reading might lend a reader to imagine that,  it all that seems really starightforward and it all went well that trans folks have it well in Japan…but that is not at all the reading that this book deserves. It’s pretty obvious that the journey is not all that easy, but Chii-sensei is not interested in an emotionally complicated narrative here. She doesn’t shy from explaining the difficulties she faced, neither does she wallow in them. She *wants* us to like her, her husband and root for them both all along in their journey. And so we do.  ^_^

Ratings: 

Art – 8 So cute!
Story – Hopeful, tempered with reality
Characters – 9 Adorable
LGBTQ- 10

Overall  – 9

It’s not wrong to want a happily-ever-after for transgender people and during this particular Pride Month in the USA, I am pleased to be able to recommend this charming comic essay to you all. ^_^ Thanks to Seven Seas for the review copy! It was a genuinely delightful read.