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.

Miyuki and Yuuko are a couple. They live together. They love each other.  Yuu-chan likes cute things, Miyu-san likes bugs. Dousei Seikatsu ~ Watashi o Sukittekoto Desho (同棲生活 ~ わたしを好きってことでしょ  is a full-color manga about their life together, based on Pixiv comics by the creator, Satsumaage.

As you might be able to imagine (or have experienced if you have ever been in a long-term relationship) this book is filled with those ridiculous moments between couples: squeeing over how cute the other is when they are asleep, or finding their weird obsessions and habits adorable. Sharing food and playtime and shopping for one another, cold feet, snuggling, having disagreements and apologizing, and all the silly ways we relate to someone we love. This book is about the small day-to-day moments that make up a life.

There is no plot here. We are literally watching the shared life of a couple, with little to no interaction with their lives outside. As a result it is silly and cute and sexy and stupid and annoying and boring, just like life. It’s also so refreshing. The daily life of two women in love living together presented as perfectly normal and without crisis. It made me happy every time I read a few pages. ^_^

The final chapter details the circumstances under which Miyuki and Yuuko meet, can’t stop thinking about one another, run into one another again and begin dating. Like the rest of the book it’s all so normal and without melodrama I became a little weepy reading it.  It’s just all so…nice.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Pleasant, rather than good, and sometimes goofy 
Story – 8 Life
Characters – 9 I’d have them over for lunch
Service  – 3 A little, because they are a couple and do touch and like to look at each other in states of undress and the like
LGBTQ – 9 No discussion of them as lesbian, but it’s really aside the point here. They are a couple.

Overall – 9

It’s true that I wouldn’t want to read nothing but this kind of pleasant slice-of-life all the time, but an appealing story about two adult women being happy together is still rare enough in manga that you’ll excuse me for kvelling a bit. ^_^