Boys Run the Riot

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

This was great.

The art is nice, I love the more realistic style compared to something more cartoony.

I would call myself very informed when it comes to discussions of queer identity, but this book actually threw me for a loop for some of its discussions, and I actually got to learn quite a bit. Ryo really makes you root for him, want to see him succeed, and his journey into fashion actually goes much further than I thought it would, with room left over for him to continue. I wish the supporting cast got to hang out more, but it is four volumes, and it ... really didn't bother me that much. Couldn't put this manga down.

The journey was a nice read if you're looking for something not extremely intense. The fact that it involved fashion is what got me to read it in the first place and it was nicely included in the storyline as the main character knew what they wanted more and more after the first chapter. I looked forward to how the characters would grow together and overcome challenges but in the end it was a bit lackluster which in could be the author's intention but disappointing nevertheless especially when I found out I was reading the last volume. The art is okay but I did like ... the clothing designs that they came up with while hoping there'd be some sort of brand deal that came with the release of the clothes.

Even though Keito Gaku is a transgender man, the main character, Ryo, gives off too much of a "tomboy" or "butch lesbian" vibe instead of a transgender boy (which is the thing he's supposed to be). The character's whole gig is too centered on gender identity when gender is only one part of a person. That means the character needs more well-rounded traits. Secondly, there are no inner monologues or any signs of gender euphoria or gender dysphoria, so the author fails at conveying that, too. Inner monologues are the key to showing the motivation and thoughts of characters, while euphoria and dysphoria are the ... keys to showing a character having a gender identity that's different from their assigned sex at birth. Some characters lack personality and motivations. And it's also crap that one character called Ryo a lesbian when he isn't. In the short story, Light, a character called "gender dysphoria" for a transmasculine person as "psychologically male", which is false. Gender dysphoria for a transmasculine person (examples: trans men, demiboy, genderfaun, masculine-leaning nonbinary people, etc) tends just to mean "the feminine traits on my body shouldn't be there". The art style has female characters having eyelashes while male characters don't, so the author wants Ryo to be a boy, but he has eyelashes like the girls. So the art style is contradictory, too. And the mom just did a sudden outburst of "what would others think" and calmed down later on. An outraged mom wouldn't just ramble about "what would others think," expecially if that's an Asian mom. They would talk about disgrace, losing face, religion, etc, and start a huge debate with the child that would look like a war to any random person.

I am a trans boy/man myself, so I have a say in this.