My name is Patricia Baxter (she/her). I am a bisexual autistic writer who has previously written articles concerning how media represents different marginalized communities. You can find more of my work through my personal website “Autistic Observations”.Ellie and “Wanko” continue to be a delight to read, as their day-to-day routines and shenanigans do not fail to amuse and warm the heart and they feel like actual people who exist in our reality. The emphasis on the couple moving forward to the next stage of their relationship, discussing their future in terms of marriage and their respective career paths, adds a new layer to their established dynamics. This may sound mundane on paper, but it’s enriching for those of us who need to see these ordinary life events occur to imagine our futures for ourselves.There is one element of the book that, while overall handled very well, deserves some criticism. This volume introduces a new character to the series, a high school student named Kita, who is revealed to be a transfeminine youth.* They initially assumed that Ellie was a trans woman, and asked her for advice on how to become a woman. While Ellie cannot be the guide Kita needs to traverse through a gender transition, she is still more than willing to lend an ear and offer positive reinforcement to think about their future. The main sticking point in this volume is the pronouns used to address Kita are exclusively masculine ones, which is a choice I felt frustrated by. I’m uncertain if this is meant to reflect how they were addressed in the original Japanese edition, or if it was an intentional request by Takashi Ikeda for the English translation, but having a transgender character only addressed by the pronouns associated with the gender they’ve been assigned with at birth is something many people will find discomforting, as it did for me. This slight hiccup is unfortunate, as this volume has several instances of queer positivity, but overall I am happy for Kita’s inclusion in the narrative and that their story was treated with empathy and kindness by the author.
In the end, the final volume of The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This emphasized just how much I love these characters and taking the time to experience their lives. I didn’t want the book to end, but I am glad that we were able to catch a glimpse of these characters’ journeys for a little while.
* I chose to use they/them pronouns for Kita in my review because Kita is a transfeminine character, and it is important to address the possibility that they may be non-binary as they are still considering their gender identity for themselves
Art: 8
Story: 9
Characters: 10
Service: 2 (some nudity, references to Ellie and Wanko still having very enthusiastic sex together, but nothing egregious)
Yuri: 10
LGBTQ+: YMMV, 5 – 7 depending on how you view Kita’s treatment in the book
Overall: 9.5
I finally dug out V4 in Japanese and did some comparison. Kita is referred to as Kita-kun in the Japanese, so that isn’t changed at all. There are some scenes where Kita’s gender is not referred to, in both JP and EN, but his family definitely uses male gendered words, like “‘nii-san”.
So I think the English did a fine job of expressing exactly what the Japanese pages said and any complaints about how Kita is referred to has to be lodged with the author. I don’t know if that helps or not.
I think it’s significant that Kita uses “ore” and typically masculine signifiers in speech, even when talking to Sakuma. If Kita wanted to be addressed as a woman that would have been an easy scene to code switch to signal that, but that’s not where Kita is at.
The way Kita is written is different to how an English speaker might think it ought to be handled, but it seems to be in line with what I’ve read in autobiography by Japanese trans people (e.g., Hirasawa Yuuna’s Boku ga Watashi ni Naru made).
Thank you for that comment. It’s helpful to see that there is nuance that isn’t always lost in translation.
Thank you Erica and CW for the additional context about how Kita was written in the original Japanese, it certainly helps add perspective into why they were written with only masculine pronouns in the English translation. It’s fair to say that Kita is still figuring their identity out for themselves, and their choices of pronouns show this process, and knowing this reflects a common practice for how some Japanese transgender people to address themselves certainly helps. I still won’t deny my discomfort with the choice, as it goes against how I’ve heard English speaking transgender people would prefer to be addressed, but I have a better comprehension and understanding of the topic than I did before. So again, thank you very much for taking the time to talk about this, I greatly appreciate it.
Given the cruel transmisogyny in Whispered Words I have to see this as another instance of the same. It’s such a strange pattern of behavior.
I respect that that is your opinion, but it differs vastly from mine. I know several close friends who transitioned their own personal references and feelings over many years. One publicly stated that she would never be upset if someone used “he” for her…until someone did and she was terribly upset. Transition implies process.
Happily, you don’t have to read this manga. People who do enjoy it, can. ^_^