Boys Run the Riot

*This is a digital eBook, not a physical book.

Synopsis

High schooler Ryo knows he’s transgender, but he doesn’t have anyone to confide in about the confusion he feels. He can’t tell his best friend, who he’s secretly got a crush on, and he can’t tell his mom, who’s constantly asking why Ryo “dresses like a boy.” He certainly can’t tell Jin, the new transfer student who looks like just another bully… The only time Ryo feels at ease is when he’s wearing his favorite clothes. Then, and only then, the world melts away, and he can be his true self. One day, while out shopping, Ryo sees someone he didn’t expect: Jin. The kid who looked so tough in class has the same taste in fashion as him! At last, Ryo has someone he can open up to—and the journey ahead might finally give him a way to express himself to the world.

Volumes

Review

Jul 6, 2023

37 of 37 chapters read

Overall Rating: 3

DubsSuck (All reviews)

75 people found this review helpful

Spoiler

I'll go ahead and be the one dissenting voice in a sea of positive recommendations.

To begin with, this manga is only going to appeal to those who are already interested in, or at the very least wholly sympathetic to, trans issues. Obviously, if you are not interested in identity politics, a manga about a transman's struggles will not be for you. If you have any mixed views on trans issues or are not a lockstop ally on every aspect of every issue, this will not be for you. You don't need a review to tell you that. This is a manga meant to preach to its own choir, it is certainly not meant to change any minds or hearts. With that in mind, I would still not recommend it to the intended audience.

The supposed secondary protagonist's story is a short side story about independence and trusting one's friends. On its own it may have been good, but it's pretty forgettable, and our main protag's inability to ever let anything not be about them seems to have narrative sway. So let's focus on that main character and their story.

Our protag is exceedingly self absorbed, and that self is completely defined by their gender identity, and what composes a masculine identity to them consists entirely of superficial visuals. It begins in a way sympathetic enough to why the protag cannot simply identify as, dress as, and act as a male, in a modern Japanese setting. It shows the distress this causes and the awkward ways they try to express masculinity privately, for themselves, by wearing a tracksuit instead of the female uniform, or later by stealing an older brother's uniform. The character goes on to make a fashion brand for those with an identity in a similar manner--focusing on the subtle, private satisfaction of a label that's hidden but labels the wearer as they wish to be. Unfortunately, the irony of that label, being unashamed of one's self (no shame in my game, hidden shamefully) is never addressed. Even more unfortunately, the story never effectively explores this character's idea of what it means to identify as male beyond looks.

Looks, and liking girls, though the latter is addressed so poorly and selfishly this is a negative point; one confirmation of the protag's masculinity is that they enjoy kissing a girl. Asking for 'one more kiss' with a finger in a phallic position, the girl who kisses our protag deems that clearly, because of enjoying kissing another girl, our protag is male. Later, the lead is upset that female classmates do not see them as a love interest but as another girl, and is then also upset that those same girls upon knowing the protag identifies as male are no longer comfortable changing in front of them. The story fails to ever address the fact that the protag's desired gender identity finally being respected means losing out on the privileges of their mistaken gender they've enjoyed up until now.

When the protag's best friend, a girl the protag has a crush on, breaks down and cries because she had no idea the protag was suffering so much all this time despite being their best friend, feeling bad for never noticing, there is no hint that this best friend feels the protag should have trusted or told them. The friend has the picture perfect, ideal world reaction; she is not sad she was not trusted, she's sad her friend has been and is suffering with something as difficult as gender identity disorder, and vows to be there for them no matter what. Our protag makes no move to comfort this friend at all, but instead is upset that her friend dares to have her own feelings, upset the spotlight is off of them in even the slightest capacity, and upset that this friend will not change to see them as a love interest now but still as the platonic best friend, whom she is not afraid to change in front of. This is in defiance of the other girls who do not have this bond with the protag to trust them--and perhaps whom she actually shouldn't be trusting, given she is seen as a love interest by our protag, who doesn't risk changing things by expressing that. Despite severe disappointment that having their transmasculine identity outed didn't change how they were seen as a romantic interest, they take no comfort in still being able to be close to this crush of theirs in a way which only developed as it did to now because of being mistaken as female. Instead, it is a tragedy that individuals will not hold differing views of the protag in exactly the way they want to be seen in every dimension, and it is framed as most unfortunate and unfair that other people in society with whom they interact are able to form their own opinions or have their own feelings in regards to their relationships.

The protag attempts to get a job, and the workplace is agreeable to regarding them as male and allowing them to wear the male uniform, however the company draws the line at changing in the men's room out of respect for the comfort of the men, who do view biological women's bodies differently. This is framed with no nuance, and is written entirely as an unfair and unreasonable stance... the protag finds another place to work where the uniform is unisex, and the changing room is shared, but the girls (being so small in number) change behind a curtained off area. The protag is told by the males to change behind the curtain for their comfort, and the irony or comparison or the fact that other people beyond the transperson do have some level of say in a person's social identity, by virtue of being social, is never addressed. The character never has to have any consideration of other people, and rarely is conversation about anything but themselves.

A coworker at one point falls in love with the protag; when their romantic interest is rebuffed because they identify as male, the coworker remains civil but states that they are ultimately unable to see the protag as anything but female and expresses that it's best for them to not be friends but merely coworkers. Rather than respect the coworker's own boundaries, our protag tries to awkwardly force themselves to enact masculine stereotypes they heretofore did not, and ultimately jumps of a bridge, threatening continued self harm until the coworker agrees to (pretend to?) see them as the male they want to be seen as. This is the kind of behavior that gets transpeople labeled mentally ill, and it's interesting that the transman choose the most effeminate manner of acting out and attention seeking to confront this problem. This is portrayed as a brave and positive choice, though this 'cherished' friendship the protag simply cannot let go of is never seen again throughout the rest of the manga in any capacity. This friendship exists purely to validate the protag's ego and once fulfilled, the protag has no need of this person again.

This is not an accident. The story seems to continue to hammer the theme that identity is strictly personal, despite being a social label on some level. At one point, a transfemale youtuber is outed as having told blatant lies for years about their sexuality and their identity, which they're actually not certain of. When the public is upset that a popular transfemale giving life advice about accepting one's self and how they knew they were a female at heart because they just couldn't ever imagine sleeping with a woman, turns out to be a nonbinary biological male who secretly enjoys sex with women frequently, the protag and their fashion brand are presented as heroic for making clothing announcing the Youtuber's outing is 'none of our business' and encouraging the public to ignore that the person has made a career of lying to a vulnerable population.

The story can be summarized as a transman crying a lot over people not agreeing to just see them exactly how they wish to be seen; typical adolescent stories deal with the topic of how one wishes to be seen versus how one must interact with reality, and this story loves to ignore that, hoping sheer trans sympathy will carry the water.

If you're trans and you want story that goes "I get it" to your woes, you might like it, if you can get past the shallow concepts it has of gender identities. But if you want a story that's actually going to wrestle with adolescent or trans issues as an individual in society with relationships, something to chew on and think of it realistically, you'll be sorely disappointed.

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Dec 15, 2021

37 of 37 chapters read

Overall Rating: 9

happystrawberrry (All reviews)

27 people found this review helpful

I’ve read a lot of lgbt+ mangas and in terms of a story centered about being trans/trans issues this by far is one of my favorites! I found myself actually crying quite a few times because of how relatable the issues described are. I love how it doesn’t shy away from topics (especially in its non-binary representation, the story is straight forward with it which is SUCH A BREATH OF FRESH AIR!! It’s so disappointing how majority of non-binary rep is literally just not confirming their gender and everyone misgendering them and boys run the riot doesn’t do that at all! It made me so happy to see that) I’m also happy it didn’t give everything a “happily ever after”, some issues sadly won’t ever go away it really shines a light on every day life struggles, even after coming out. Whether that’s being called our proper pronouns at work, being accepted by our friends and family, being seen as our gender in terms of dating etc (all issues boys run the riot speaks on). It makes the story very realistic, I immediately bought physical copies when I first read it!

!! SPOILER FREE REVIEW !!

Story: 10/10
I really don’t have any criticisms in term of plot! I love the fashion themes and how it challenges ideas of sticking to more “reliable” jobs. And I really appreciated how it explores what fashion does for all the characters on a deeper level rather then just kinda add it in yknow? My only really one critique is I wish it was a little longer, the ending felt slightly rushed but I still very much so enjoyed it!

Art: 9/10
I quite like the art! The detailed graffiti was literally stunning I found myself staring at some of the pages for a while, and the cover art is beautiful!! At times it did seem like it could’ve had more detail but that rlly is me nitpicking IMO

Character: 8/10
I found the characters to be quite likable and almost every character we got to know more about them/their motives and thought process- everyone had a purpose! That being said I’m more so in awe over the plot and thought processes and stuff- like when I re read this series it’s not specifically because the characters are rememberable or anything like that so that’s why I gave it an eight.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I looked forward every month for the Volumes to be released and have reread it many times before it even finished thats how much I loved it!! It’s everything I wish for when I ask for a good representation trans manga. Even if it was to be about only the fashion based topics it still would be likable : )

Overall: 9/10
Do you want a good story dealing with trans topics? About teens trying to find their purpose in life? Them trying to push against the world no matter how many times it attempts to knock them down? Then you’ll like this story! I’m not certain how much a cis person would enjoy this story but as someone who’s non-binary and struggle with a lot of these topics on a daily basis it made me so so so happy to see it put into words. Words cannot explain my love for this manga I really recommend especially if you’re trans!

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