Reading an older manga can be very edifying. Re-reading an older manga even moreso.

I have written at length in many places here on Okazu and elsewhere about my conflicting feelings about Shimura Takako’s work. But as I re–re-read Wandering Son, which I initially started in Japanese and of which I reviewed a number of volumes in English, before the series was discontinued. I was, and am convinced that bringing it out in hardcover was a terrific idea, but no grounded in good business sense.

Now Fantagraphics is taking a second stab at bringing out this series. With much more staid covers, these are two-volume omnibuses, something that helps the story flow a lot better. This will become important in later volumes, as the plot slows and change also slows.

But here in Wandering Son, Volume One and Two, we meet Shu, a trans kid who AMAB is very strongly contemplating the idea that they are a girl. We also meet Yoshino, AFAB, who wants to be a man. I say it that way, very carefully, because issues of gender and gender presentation in this book is complicated… and maybe not what you as a reader might be looking for.

In part, this is due to Shimura who, for many years has been writing queer stories. I don’t object to her doing so, but she has said that she is not herself queer. And to be clear I don’t mind that, either! If it’s working and people find joy in it, that’s great. I love her art, and I have enjoyed watching her story-telling grow and change. So what is my pain point? I am conflicted at Shimura mining queer trauma for content. It makes me feel… icky. In this older series, her story-telling is not so skilled and there will be pacing issues, but also some choices that will sit uncomfortably.

All this to say that, while I absolutely think Wandering Son is worth reading it, like Sweet Blue Flowers may not have aged well. The last twenty years we have seen tremendous change in the way we approach gender and sexuality. There is so much more nuance now, leading me to think that, if Yoshino and Shu had met genderfluid or nonbinary people as well as trans people, their choices might have been less along a binary and more somewhere in the middle. I know if someone had to me at 11 or 12 that non-binary was an option, I know I would have leapt for that.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 0

Overall – 8

Thanks so much to Fantagraphics for the review copy, and I really look forward to reading this series again!