Vignette Witch! ~Joshi-ka no Mahou to Isekai Seikatsu~ - Vol. 1 Ch. 7 - The Call of the Skirt

[phoenixir]

So magic in this world is literally derived from being trans. Very accurate to real life, I'd say! Or at least to how real life should be.

I have news. What trans people do counts as a ritual. Try picking up something that people tell you is intangible like, Light, heat, or water.

 

[MidnighTea]

[...]

Normally I'd be where you are. Encouraging people to temper their expectations. Because it always sucks if you're super excited for a work you think is trans-coded to suddenly whiplash and disappoint you, because yes, most gender bending works aren't written with a trans audience in mind. Especially manga.

Kaneko Naoya as an author is the exception in a major way. Their last manga, TS Gakuen, had some heavily trans femme coded characters. First mildly but then overwhelmingly going towards the climax. It's not at all weird for us to expect that trend to continue. (I'll elaborate below)


Without further ado, there's many signs in this chapter that Ren is trans coded:

1. Her expressing the idea of "Having a girl's body is every guy's dream right?". That's a familiar sentiment and one frequently expressed by eggs. Show of hands if anyone else read the top panel of page 7 and reflexively winced in recognition.

2. Bottom of page 9, Ren outright admits to being an avid consumer of gender bend material. That's what they meant by "that genre". It's actually not too uncommon for Kaneko-sensei to include a wish fulfillment character like that, usually in their oneshots. The two page oneshot that later grew into Vignette Witch actually had a gender bender fan who was happy to see her new witch form.

3. While it's true that a surface reading of page 13 could suggest that Ren is in it just to wear a skirt and that's where it begins and ends... she outright says that it never felt enough to just crossdress. Also outright said she doesn't see anything wrong with crossdressing and doesn't necessarily fear being judged. But there still needed to be more to it; she needed to be a girl in a skirt. I realize that's still subtext as opposed to text, but that's Japanese character writing for you.


Still, with the full context (and knowledge of the author's prior work) I think it's pretty safe to get invested in Ren as representation. When, again, normally I'd be encouraging people to do the opposite and temper their enthusiasm lest they set themselves up for disappointment. But that certainly didn't happen last time with this author.
A good way to put it is that if most MtF genderswap manga leaves trans femme readers with two leftover college cafeteria chicken wings that were already half-cold by the time we got them, TS Gakuen gave us a whole rotisserie chicken by the end. Even if it's a supermarket rotisserie chicken and not some Michelin star meal, eating very well instead of barely eating at all is not what any of us were expecting. Just speaking for myself, Kaneko-sensei has earned my faith in whatever he's cooking with Vignette Witch.

Finally, the skirt thing can sound like a kind of a silly thing to get so hung up on, but it rings really familiar to me as well. It can very much be a little things like that which puts a hairline fracture in the egg. The thing that really gets into your psyche like a stone getting into your shoe.

 

[JasonRed]

Sensei is officially best girl now.

 

[yuriloveisthebestlove]

i can relate to the guy who got turned into a girl. the curiosity that's why we read genderbend genre in anime/manga/LNs.

 

[Narehate]

Many such cases

 

[rotationplus]

I don't mean to be that guy but I think if Rin was an out and out transsexual then they'd have had an inner monologue about wanting to be a girl outright, not an inner monologue about wanting to wear a skirt. I think it's perfectly valid to have the stance of "ultimately I don't really care about being either a boy or a girl, but functionally being a girl is more conducive to the self-image I want to have that caters to my tastes," and I think that better describes Rin's feelings rather than calling them "trans" in the typical gender-identity sense.

The fact that they didn't really undergo a particularly drastic transformation also gels well with the idea they don't care all that much about the body aspect of it. If anything, the transformation was highly concentrated in the thighs, which would be the most relevant part of "showing off with a cute skirt."

Let me put it this way. You can want to be a girl because you care a whole whole whole lot about your sex, or you can want to be a girl because you don't really care that much about your sex, and I think Rin seems to fit more in the second category. If they grew up in a world that did not have skirts, I'm not sure they would sign up for witchification. That doesn't stop them from being properly "trans" pending further revelation, but I don't think it's basis to definitively call them that as of yet. It's important to not jump the gun and see what you want to see, rather than what is.

But that is simply my analysis.

https://mangadex.org/chapter/94960a58-781f-4547-a098-40531b0a8075/7
here on page seven:
"having a girl's body is something every guy dreams about, right...?"
it's about the body too, and she doesn't speak in terms of sexual desire, unlike the others.

sweatdrop, "Y-yeah", in response to wariness about permanency.
she doesn't want to go back at all.

then on page 12:
https://mangadex.org/chapter/94960a58-781f-4547-a098-40531b0a8075/12
"I got to be a girl and wear a skirt"
'got to' implies a prior desire was fulfilled

And the sheer amount of transfem vibes here and throughout the chapter

leads me to my conclusion that, some things went over your head and she's very much a trans girl.

 

[Shiden]

It's a different message.

Fair point.

I'll settle with "I DGAF about this gender stuff" sensei for now then.

 

[AccForManga]

I'll settle with "I DGAF about this gender stuff" sensei for now then.

Man ❎

Woman ❎

Protector ✅

 

[Nami]

I don't mean to be that guy but I think if Rin was an out and out transsexual then they'd have had an inner monologue about wanting to be a girl outright, not an inner monologue about wanting to wear a skirt. I think it's perfectly valid to have the stance of "ultimately I don't really care about being either a boy or a girl, but functionally being a girl is more conducive to the self-image I want to have that caters to my tastes," and I think that better describes Rin's feelings rather than calling them "trans" in the typical gender-identity sense.

This is why I hate it when an anime or manga paints some of these characters like, "I'm just a guy who likes cute things, like skirts and make-up and braiding hair." Because you guys will equate any character like that who transcends gender norms in any way in the same, exact light.

Like, crossdressers are a thing, don't get me wrong. And they're distinct from transgender people, for sure. But when a character is clearly not just a crossdresser, but transgender, you'll always end up having someone argue that the writing wasn't explicit enough or didn't beat you over the head with it in a way you couldn't rationally deny. There's always someone who will use that wiggle room to tell you, no, this obviously transgender character is not transgender. And it's wild to me every time it happens.

 

[MidnighTea]

But when a character is clearly not just a crossdresser, but transgender, you'll always end up having someone argue that the writing wasn't explicit enough or didn't beat you over the head with it in a way you couldn't rationally deny. There's always someone who will use that wiggle room to tell you, no, this obviously transgender character is not transgender. And it's wild to me every time it happens.

"We can recognize people with your feelings better than you can despite not having lived a single day in your head" is just a wild bit of gaslighting besides. Like do they seriously think we don't know the difference between someone who yearns to have a completely different body and someone who just wants to be pretty and express themselves across social boundaries? And if we can all agree there is a distinct difference, why would someone who doesn't want either expect to be treated as having more authority on the topic?

EDIT: To be clear I'm not calling out PvtRyan96, I'm not here to pick fights or hurt anyone's feelings. Just commenting on this exhausting trend more generally and commiserating with Nami.

 

[Izuma95]

So in order to be a powerful Witch, they must embrace their feminity and accept their new gender.

 

[Monstrengo]

I just realized something. The dragon could be lying! He could be a servant of the demon lord Lovenarock! Look at the last panel of page 22. Look at how he's looking at Rin.
That eye! That eye! Sinister indeed.

P.S. which one is Stuco? I can't remember and I've been speedreading the series but I can't find any references to that name (I'm sure I saw it before...)
P.S.S. for those who want to return to being boys, they need not worry. All they need to do is to find Brian Boitano. He'd make a plan, and he'd follow through.

 

[SplitterTriplets]

P.S. which one is Stuco? I can't remember and I've been speedreading the series but I can't find any references to that name (I'm sure I saw it before...)

Stuco is an abbreviation for student council. It's pretty common where I'm from. Not sure about elsewhere.

 

[Monstrengo]

Stuco is an abbreviation for student council. It's pretty common where I'm from. Not sure about elsewhere.

Oh. The Veep then. Okay. She does seem the sort to write such a message.

 

[NeoRetro]

BIG DUMBASS EDIT: disregard my post, I just came out of a party before posting here and was quite literally drunk while trying this, thinking people were talking about the MC

Rather than ALWAYS wanting to be a girl I see this as being gaslit into wanting to be one (which is ok here in my books since its fiction where magic is a thing and no life-threatening side-effects exist) but I don't think that making comparisons to real world is very smart

 

[Taq]

Rather than ALWAYS wanting to be a girl I see this as being gaslit into wanting to be one (which is ok here in my books since its fiction where magic is a thing and no life-threatening side-effects exist) but I don't think that making comparisons to real world is very smart

How do you figure he was gaslit into wanting to be a girl? Genuine question, BTW, not trying to be confrontational.

 

[MidnighTea]

Rather than ALWAYS wanting to be a girl I see this as being gaslit into wanting to be one (which is ok here in my books since its fiction where magic is a thing and no life-threatening side-effects exist) but I don't think that making comparisons to real world is very smart

I think that COULD apply to later characters if this plot goes where I think it's going. But we got a flashback where our new witch thinks back to when she first yearned to be a girl in a skirt. (and it IS wanting to be a girl in a skirt specifically see post #22) That was before the events of the manga, meaning none of the witch-related events had anything to do with those feelings. But I do see some magical gaslighting ahead. (and like you, I'm going to just sorta roll with it)

And... why isn't relating to characters in fiction by real world standards "smart" ? There are whole careers that have been made on youtube from making such analysis. Some college literary professors might even make you do it for a paper. Besides all of that, why would anyone read fiction if they don't see things in it that relate to them or their own feelings? It seems like that's a major point of the endeavor.
I think you probably more meant something along the lines of "it's not productive to ascribe real world labels to fictional characters". I'm going to argue assuming that's your angle and please correct me if not. To some degree, I'd agree the trans community can really jump the gun with those at times in discussions of manga characters. The community is starved for representation and starvation can... lead to that sort of overzealous claiming of characters. I can only apologize if that's annoying. But I do think Rin in this chapter is very much an example of a trans girl in my opinion. Just that it's not outright text because characterization in Japanese works are usually done with layers of subtext.

Kind of takes me back to when I was on internet forums in my teens during the late 90's and like all of this was happening but over gay-coded characters. And it got kind of ridiculous when people were like "No, they're just friends! That was a FRIENDSHIP kiss on the lips! Don't force your ideas on Japanese media, you're not from that culture! Don't make throw this AOL free trial disc at your head!"

 

[Feytas]

Rin is my favorite currently

 

[yuriloveisthebestlove]

Rin-chan! Oh! I smell another egg!

the school will be converted into egg. are there no female teachers though or staff

 

[Amplify]

I don't mean to be that guy but I think if Rin was an out and out transsexual then they'd have had an inner monologue about wanting to be a girl outright, not an inner monologue about wanting to wear a skirt. I think it's perfectly valid to have the stance of "ultimately I don't really care about being either a boy or a girl, but functionally being a girl is more conducive to the self-image I want to have that caters to my tastes," and I think that better describes Rin's feelings rather than calling them "trans" in the typical gender-identity sense.

The fact that they didn't really undergo a particularly drastic transformation also gels well with the idea they don't care all that much about the body aspect of it. If anything, the transformation was highly concentrated in the thighs, which would be the most relevant part of "showing off with a cute skirt."

Let me put it this way. You can want to be a girl because you care a whole whole whole lot about your sex, or you can want to be a girl because you don't really care that much about your sex, and I think Rin seems to fit more in the second category. If they grew up in a world that did not have skirts, I'm not sure they would sign up for witchification. That doesn't stop them from being properly "trans" pending further revelation, but I don't think it's basis to definitively call them that as of yet. It's important to not jump the gun and see what you want to see, rather than what is.

But that is simply my analysis.

You're trying to talk sense to people who want a result and outcome so badly from the start, that they will headcanon away all objections from the start. It's not even worth trying with some people.