It’s a bit of a stereotype that a seinen manga protagonist has an incredible emotional journey from the beginning of their tale to the end, in classic bildingsroman fashion.  In George Takei’s autobiographical comic It Rhymes With Takei, we are along for an extraordinary journey, made even more extraordinary because it is a real person’s story of experiences he truly lived. For someone who only knows George Takei as an actor, or as an activist, this story takes us to places far more unreal than outer space. by whch I mean American politics.

Takei’s childhood as a Japanese-American citizen put into a “internment camps” by his own government is related in They Called Us Enemy and the musical stage play Allegiance. This book tells the the story of George Takei, the boy who felt different in many ways, and who carved out a career in acting, in politics, in activism and as a viral Internet memelord.

Takei’s story is told simply and plainly, his emotions and thoughts about living a closeted life and the losses he encountered when he finally came out of the closet at 68, as well as the triumphs, are conveyed strongly through the story written by Steven Scott and Justin Eisinger. Harmony Becker’s illustrations are absolutely fantastic. Characters are conveyed without portraiture, but their essences are caught perfectly, and the whole feeling of the moment is expressed with brilliant use of color and design, for a captivating whole. 

As a primer on LGBTQ+ American history  of the 20th century with a California focus, as seen by a man who was working with more than one prejudice against him, this comic is an important chronicle of the progress we’ve made and the work that went into it. 

For Pride Month 2025, I would recommend this book as way to ground ourselves, acknowledge our successes and failures and gird our loins for the next fight, knowing that there have always been good, smart and funny people like George Takei on our side.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – Autobiography is always hard to score, but this is also a very compelling and surprising narrative, 10
LGBTQ+ – 10

Overall – 10

Thanks to Top Shelf Productions for the review copy of this outstanding memoir. You can get It Rhymes With Takei on Bookshop, Amazon and everywhere books are sold.