Ore ga Watashi ni Naru made

[Thankfull]

Pretty bad. I was fooled by the mad reviews this title is getting. The first chapter is good and implies the series will be hard hitting with deep insight like "A Silent Voice" or "Takopi's Original Sin". But then the rest of the manga is just bland, shallow, awkward navel-gazing. It's one thing for the MC to struggle with dysphoria, but the MC never does or thinks anything.

For example, like halfway through, the MC realizes that tomboys exist and that girls can do traditionally boyish things. First, what a deep philosophy to spend twenty chapters building towards, but second, and most damningly, the MC doesn't do anything after her realization. A large component of the MC's malaise was being unable to participate in the activities that she had enjoyed as a boy. But when handed a golden ticket, then MC doesn't resume those activities. Worse, she doesn't even try.

(Like, it would be interesting if the MC tried to participate and was rejected, sparking a new round of different navel-gazing. Being psychological or introspective is fine for a manga, being boring is not.)

I guess most readers like this manga because they "feel so seen" or something. Personally, I found it an extraordinarily frustrating and disappointing read. (which is why I wrote a novel to vent, lol)

To me the lack of big change makes it more realistic, the mc learned they can do things they want slowly over time but that doesnt mean they are gonna change their life completely because of that. The Mc is a kid learning what it means to be themself and learning who they are as a person so to me this has been a very interesting and frankly gripping story, showing a genuine character dealing with gender dysphoria in a realistic way in my opinion.

 

[Remilia1998]

Came for the genderbender genre.
Stayed for the plot.

I'm really liking it so far!

 

[Yukisuna]

This story is incredibly raw and sensitive because it touches on themes, thoughts and feelings that lie extremely close to the central core of my identity, all the while respecting it's characters and surprisingly portraying the coming-of-age journey and thought processes of its protagonist in an incredibly real way.



I was afraid it would devolve into pushing the old-school trope that once the sex swaps, the person's entire identity will swap with it, and their sexuality is dictated by the perceived gender of their body. But so far, it does not seem to be doing that - it keeps surprising me in just the right ways I don't even dare hope for again and again.



So far, this manga is the most "real" take on mtf transness and mental state I've ever seen any trans story in the manga world pull off, dethroning the likes of "Love me for who I am" from the top spot. In fact, it's so deeply personal that I'll be extremely impressed if the author isn't either trans themselves or consulting with trans women while writing this.

 

[Yukisuna]

Any trans people reading this series and taking a peek into these comments, watch out, stay safe, and remember that you and your experiences are valid no matter what these people say

Thank you for the heads up, I'll stop reading the comments with yours, then. Good thing I started from most recent!

 

[Acrem]

So i am really liking this manga so far, it has some great scenes and a good cast of characters. But i wanna talk about my biggest problem with it, Akiras masculinity barely matters to the plot (with one exception and a half).

So far in the series, there are no male role models or an idea of what Akira believes to be a man, he has no behaviours or values that he holds on to from his years as a boy. The whole thing is usually more of a "pull" against the female part of her that she is discovering, but we never see what aspects of a man he wants to keep, discard or develope. We see all the time how she wants to become like Rumi, Okabe or her grandmother. Everything on her growth points torward her becoming a woman with her past as a boy being nothing but a nuisance, as if being a boy was nothing but a label, those years have more impact on her due to being a bully rather than being the oposite sex.

There are two times (that i remember) where his "boy side" come into play that are the fact that she likes Yu-Gi-Oh, which is rather underwelming and not really that gender coded, and my favourite scene in this manga, her first period. Not only does this moment signifies further separation to his past due to her body changing, but seeing his past self mocking her for crying and droping this idea of stoicism that most men have from a young age in the form of "boys don't cry". It's powerfull not only because of the physical changes, but because Akira cannot uphold his old values anymore, he is not a "man" in more ways than just her body. This is what i want to see more of, a balance of what she wants to be both as a woman and as a man. It's okay if she wants to throw away everything that made him a man, but i want to see WHAT she is throwing away (or what she is keeping).

I just realized that i refered to Akira with both pronouns, while fitting, i apologize if it is a bit confusing