The medium of manga is not widespread used for autobiography, which I’ve realized is a shame. Though this, of course, means immensely slice of life and lots of inner monologue, having visual expression to aid a person’s experience can be powerful. It also allows for a little more ‘show don’t tell’ than a standard autobiographical novel can achieve. It can lead to it appearing less compelling than fictional manga to a large portion of manga readers.
So what about *this* autobiographical manga specifically? The art is a simple and cute style that I’m not normally drawn to, but the type of story being told is so honest and specific I binged through the first volume. Though very specific to AFAB (assigned female at birth) genderqueer experience, it speaks greatly to the general female experience as well. Since it is the recounting of personal experiences, I can foresee a critique that the work feels heavy handed. What I argue in response to that, is that hearing these accounts, and specifically the emotional after affects, are what help bring a greater understanding to these issues (which is a theme in itself addressed in this manga).
The biggest strength of this work though, is that Pesuyama is not anyone of extraordinary caliber. It’s an inside scoop on celebrity life, it’s not that one in a million success story, or a prodigy, it is the story of an average human. This grounds the story into how these experiences could happen to absolutely anyone, and how even those not on societies pedestals deserve a voice.
The last important thing I’d like to note is that Pesuyama does not paint themself as a perfect person either. They have many regrets of their own behavior, recognize some things that may be their own interpretation, as well as their own problematic thought processes they internally struggle to fight against. This understanding of self actually makes it easier to want to root for them on their emotional journey.
Obviously there is still more of this manga coming, but as an AFAB genderqueer person myself, this resonated very deeply with me and can act as a great platform to further discuss sexism, gender roles, transphobia, and the importance of all the movements attached to these issues.