A deeply personal and informational story.
Creative Staff
(True) Story/Art: Chii
Translation/Adaptation: Beni Axia Conrad
What They Say
The heartwarming transgender love story, based on true events!
Drawn in the style of diary comics with an upbeat, adorable flair, this is a charming tale about Chii, a woman assigned male at birth. Her story starts with her childhood and follows the ups and downs of exploring her sexuality, gender, and transition—as well as falling in love with a man who’s head over heels for her. Now they want to get married, so Chii’s about to embark on a new adventure: becoming a bride!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
This nicely presented real story about Chii’s transition and eventually her marriage is summarized in in this volume in manga format, but more specifically (with some of it in color) diary style format. The story starts with how Chii met her future husband. She did not tell her future husband that she was actually a boy at the time as she was transitioning, but her future husband didn’t care and still wanted to be with her.
In the next chapter, Chii talks about her youth and struggle to be female. She was open to her family about it once she figured it out and they were supportive. She felt happier when she was honest with herself and started her transition. Chii also realized she liked men when she was young. She had a crush on a fellow classmate and hid her feelings out of fear. She experienced many situations that caused her to rethink constantly who she was when she was young.
The story shifts to when Chii decides to transition including the decision to have sex reassignment surgery and the uncertainty she had. She does decide to have the surgery in Thailand and her future husband was supportive and wanted to go with, but Chii went ahead and booked the surgery and forged the experience alone. She was very anxious and had three surgeries including tracheal shave, mammoplasty and sex reassignment surgery. She did very well and was discharged in a few days and stay in Thailand to recover.
There is also a chapter how her future husband proposed awkwardly to her. Chii had to tell her family she was engaged now and getting married. Her future husband formally met her family and they approved of him. Next came the desire to change her sex formally and legally, so they could be legally married. The last part of the story is of their wedding and their life after.
In Summary:
I cannot comment on the packaging as I reviewed a PDF from the publisher.
This is a personal story about the creator’s transitioning journey. While it is deeply personal, Chii tries to answer common question people might have about transitioning and the LGBTQ community (speficially in Japan). The story is presented in a variety methods, including many four panel mini comics about a certain subject or a time in Chii’s life. There are also several one-page information panels with mini comics or one picture with more explanations on a certain subject. There is also a cited works page for the reader’s additional information.
I really enjoyed reading this story for many, many reasons. One is drawn in a way that kept a person’s interest with small comics and informational panels. But, mostly, this is the story of one person’s journey of happiness and eventually love. Chii poured many personal feelings and details in her story, which takes a lot of guts. She is truly brave and symbol for others who are going through the same thing. I loved this touching story from start to finish. I highly recommend it!
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: NA
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Seven Seas
Release Date: May 8, 2018
MSRP: $13.99
