Welcome Back, Alice - Vol. 1 Ch. 2 - Fresh Start

[MangaDex]

 

[SuperOniichan]

So, will it be a bisexual love triangle with a girl and your best bro rolled into one? Wow, I never knew that I always wanted this.

Thanks for the chapter, I already despaired and thought that this manga was dropped.

 

[gundulgondrong]

this genre + this author

 

[77BLc9JwJGpLVARkamJx]

Ahahahahah, shit. Not even trying to hide? Sasuga oshimi, looking forward for more craziness, better if there are more getting into the fray, not just these 3.

 

[Peter_5]

Speechless....

 

[koikun]

Cucked him and now wants to cuck her, this guy is unstoppable

 

[SuperOniichan]

@koikun She is not a guy, she is a girl.

 

[mirewitch]

So I guess Kei is trans? Maybe? The fact that Kei still uses boku, combined with the weird phrasing of having "relinquished" manhood (as opposed to just saying they transitioned to female or something), makes me uncertain if the author is going for a transwoman character or an otokonoko style male crossdresser. I'm also disturbed by Kei's fixation with You-chan; like I'm kind of worried the reveal is going to be that they aren't interested in being female, or even in crossdressing, but just want to seduce You-chan. Especially with this author, since they really like to write graphically sexual stories about miserable and creepy people. I guess I'll keep reading to learn more, but I'm very uncertain where this manga is heading.

 

[Yari-Kachi]

The chapter is gone?

 

[SuperOniichan]

@mirewitch It’s perfectly normal for teens to have a time of gender ambiguity, did you know that? Why do people so persistently want to find a queer subtext where things can be explained by more mundane things? I'm already tired of reading that all good friends are yuri subtext, those not interested in relationships are asexuals, every social weirdo is autistic, and any androgynous character supposedly should hint at transexuality.

 

[930310]

Pronouns? They used male ones for Kei here, is that the correct translation?

 

[mirewitch]

@SuperOniichan I mean, the character literally said they threw away their masculinity, and is presenting female at school. I think wondering if the character is trans is completely reasonable. I don't know if they're trans; that's why I phrased it like a question instead of an assertion in my comment. But I think its silly to act like that is an unreasonable question to ask in this context.

 

[opaldrop]

@mirewitch This translation is really janky. Reading the raws, it seems more like she's saying "I was once a boy, but it wasn't for me" in kind of a flippant way.

There's also a really specific trans flag colours reference in the second page of the first chapter, but that could be conspiratorial thinking, lol

@930310 The teacher uses "kare", which is neutral-leaning-masculine, though obviously he could just be an asshole.

 

[koikun]

He is a guy read what the teacher said

 

[SuperOniichan]

@mirewitch AND? Many girls at her age are tomboys and she could very well try to grow up as a boy or boyish girl. This is quite a common thing and I don’t think that it should necessarily indicate even gender fluidity. In any case, all this is just a useless flood before she herself explains the issue in the following chapters.

@koikun where?

 

[mirewitch]

@SuperOniichan OK I'm lost. Are you mad at me for wondering if Kei is trans, or wondering if Kei isn't?

 

[SuperOniichan]

@mirewitch I am mad because people too quickly reach far-reaching conclusions with a minimum of real information.

 

[koikun]

Last page teacher says him aka kare

 

[mirewitch]

@SuperOniichan I just asked some questions and speculated based on the chapters we have so far. I even said "I'm very uncertain where this manga is heading". I am baffled by your claim that I'm making "far-reaching conclusions" about anything.

 

[SuperOniichan]

@mirewitch I’m just tired of the fact that people constantly speculate about this at the slightest opportunity, even if the plot did not provide any information for significant discussions at all. Kei is not trans - good, Kei are trans - also good, if it is a good manga, any option will suit me. But I do not want to speculate with zero information.

@koikun If initially she was recorded as a boy, then it is obvious that the teacher will see her as MtF.

@opaldrop Well, some modern Japanese schools do allow crossdressing to trans people. But knowing the author’s nasty mature style, I’m starting to worry about the possibility that this manga will just use it for creepy fetishes.