Ranked #1849

Kakumei no Hi (Manga)

This story is about what happens when a boy finds out he is really a girl. It seems that this actually occurs in real life more often than you would think. Even the author reveals in a long note that she had received a letter telling the story of someone to whom the succession of events was almost eerily similar.

There is a bit of disjointed-ness due to the fact that the mangaka had originally intended for the story to end with Volume 1. Due to the urging of many letter-writers, and especially that of a fellow mangaka and good friend, the second volume was written. I feel the dilemma of choosing a satisfactory love-interest was solved well in Volume 2. When you read it you'll know what I mean, but it would have been especially hard for the mangaka to make a decision here. I think she did a good job in the end. This resulted in connecting The Day of Revolution with Princess Princess, also.

Since this was written before Princess Princess the art is not as refined in The Day of Revolution, but it is still attractive and fairly well-done.

Character development is probably the most important aspect of this story as we see, in a light-hearted way for the most part, what might go through the mind of a person who had to change his sex, and the reaction of those around him/her, and in turn her reaction to those reactions, etc. Although there is some angst, it is not over-emphasized, but there are some serious thoughts portrayed here.

I did enjoy the story, although I would have like a little more development of the main romance and I would have like to have seen the other "suitors'" have a resolution of sorts as well (poor guys!)

I would recommend this story to those who like gender-bender comedies, romance, and anyone who likes Princess Princess. This is basically of the shoujo genre. read more

"What would think if you were told you were the wrong sex?"

One heck of a question, isn't it? Well, that is the question facing the main character of this excellent manga. Yoshikawa Kei collapses on the roof of his high school one day, and learns at the hospital that he is, in fact, intersexed. The way in which the mangaka handles such a delicate and complex issue, that is faced by many people in our ordinary reality, is a large part of why I love The Day of Revolution. Another part is how the mangaka faces down another delicate and complex issue, and that is the decision Kei makes.

Kei, admittedly having been failed in the information department by his doctor, makes the decision to go out on a limb at the age of 15, and become the young woman his genetic profile says he is, changing his name to Megumi. This is a big decision, naturally, and it brings it into a realm that I know intimately (which is the other part I mentioned a bit ago), transsexuality. True, as an intersexed person, Kei had a choice (ask any transsexual person why they chose that path, and you'll generally get told it wasn't a choice, but let's not get too deep into this, hmmm?), but Megumi does and goes from having lived as a boy for 15 years to being a girl. Anyway...

Balancing two such issues so wonderfully while providing entertainment value isn't easy, but Mikiyo Tsuda manages it. Sadly, Megumi runs into her old group of friends on her very first day back at school, and she's forced to out herself to them (as well as a few others along the way). Her friends are, however, undeterred by who she used to be, one even directly proposes marriage then and there. This, naturally, freaks her out, and she refuses. The four won't be gainsaid, and they won't leave her alone, constantly trying to get her to date one of them and wrecking any attempts by her to have a relationship with anyone else.

Anyhow, I think I've said enough for now. The art is wonderful, and the characterization couldn't help but be amazing as it's tied so intimately to the storyline. Everything came together, in my honest opinion, to create a very enjoyable manga. So, others may (and almost certainly will) disagree with me, and my scoring of this. But my subjective opinion, fueled by my ability to at least partially relate to the challenges of Megumi's life, is that this is a truly wonderful piece of work. And I certainly hope that you will consider reading this. You may even learn something about some of your fellow human beings, and what they've seen and gone through.
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I joined just to rate this. Which means something happens in the manga to totally make it hard to enjoy. I'll do the first part without any spoilers. The problem I have with the manga is the representation of the character. It is immediately assumed that she will marry a man once the change has happened. While I'm glad this deals with the issue on genotype women with phenotype male characteristics, it immediately trivializes women and what they want in general. She is ignored and brings this point up continually.
All the guys harangue her, including her new friend who herself is a woman, about how she must completely fill the gender role. She never becomes really more feminine (after telling her to be constantly) only visually beautiful. This seems to satisfy everyone because the main reason they are satisfied, appears in the ending.

It was portrayed to me at first mostly, as guy finds out she's actually a woman and decides to take the surgery. Then is still attracted to women.

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
////She//// becomes//// attracted////to////// guys//and//dates//one///////
All the time for most of the manga she is attracted to women, and is shown constantly her attraction to females is now trivial. So after surgery and still attracted to women, a guy proclaims that she is a woman and should be taken by him because he is a man so she is attracted to him. Before all this she was practically going out with a girl. Suddenly once he proclaims this her heart beats and that's the end of it. Never mind this happened every time she touched her girlfriend. Her hormones were already in effect before, she fainted because they were just increasing, so saying it's a surge of new hormones is not logical and so degrading to women on so many levels.

I'd be fine if this wasn't so against the idea of Yuri. The men make light of her association with women and infer that it is something to be cast aside because it wont last. The one girlfriend is given many character flaws and is ambivalent after being an ideal significant other for the first half of the manga. Then suddenly shows character flaws once the guy she is to date is introduced. Why should a person suffering under this condition, have to be attracted to men after surgery which only changes her outward appearance and her girlfriend suddenly become unappealing? The story falls apart in my opinion at that moment. Why it's OK to tackle one issue and not support the other I don't know.

END OF SPOILERS

Edit: Aside from this main issue, the story is well done which only makes the bias worse and more intentional. If the main character hadn't been so staunch in her first belief I might not have felt this way.

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This is about a high school boy who finds out one day that he was actually born female. (Hermaphroditism is the given diagnosis.) Instead of continuing life as 'half a boy', he decides to become 'a complete woman'. The manga follows his change into Megumi & then how she adapts to life, including returning to the same high school. There were a lot of really neat aspects to this story, but there were several times that I felt that the storyline was losing its potential. If this had been a series, I probably would have given up out of impatience but it's complete in two volumes. read more