#ryousuke nanasaki

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Today we start with some #stats #japanesehistory #comicdissection #comicdissectionpod #intersectional #lettist #GayRightsAreHumanRights #transrightsareconsumerrights #transrights #gayrights #lgbtq #untilimeetmyhusband #untilimeetmyhusbandmanga #ryousukenanasaki #yaoi #yaoilovers #gayhistory

[augment-techs]

[sleepy-monochrome-prince]

[celepom]

It’s Pride 2023! Time to put up some more comic recs!

This time I’ve put together some stories about discovering one’s own queer identity, outlining a family history of queerness, and several stories where being queer isn’t the focus - queer characters are simply allowed to be.

Belle of the Ball By Mari Costa

High-school senior and notorious wallflower Hawkins finally works up the courage to remove her mascot mask and ask out her longtime crush: Regina Moreno, head cheerleader, academic overachiever, and all-around popular girl. There’s only one teensy little problem: Regina is already dating Chloe Kitagawa, athletic all-star…and middling English student. Regina sees a perfectly self-serving opportunity here, and asks the smitten Hawkins to tutor Chloe free of charge, knowing Hawkins will do anything to get closer to her. And while Regina’s plan works at first, she doesn’t realize that Hawkins and Chloe knew each other as kids, when Hawkins went by Belle and wore princess dresses to school every single day. Before long, romance does start to blossom…but not between who you might expect. With Belle of the Ball, cartoonist Mariana Costa has reinvigorated satisfying, reliable tropes into your new favorite teen romantic comedy.

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The Moth Keeper By Kay O’Neill

Anya is finally a Moth Keeper, the protector of the lunar moths that allow the Night-Lily flower to bloom once a year. Her village needs the flower to continue thriving and Anya is excited to prove her worth and show her thanks to her friends with her actions, but what happens when being a Moth Keeper isn't exactly what Anya thought it would be? The nights are cold in the desert and the lunar moths live far from the village. Anya finds herself isolated and lonely. Despite Anya's dedication, she wonders what it would be like to live in the sun. Her thoughts turn into an obsession, and when Anya takes a chance to stay up during the day to feel the sun's warmth, her village and the lunar moths are left to deal with the consequences.

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Hollow By Shannon Watters, Branden Boyer-White & Berenice Nelle

Isabel "Izzy" Crane and her family have just relocated to Sleepy Hollow, the town made famous by—and obsessed with—Washington Irving's legend of the Headless Horseman. But city slicker-skeptic Izzy has no time for superstition as she navigates life at a new address, a new school, and, with any luck, with new friends. Ghost stories aren't real, after all.... Then Izzy is pulled into the orbit of the town's teen royalty, Vicky Van Tassel (yes, that Van Tassel) and loveable varsity-level prankster Croc Byun. Vicky's weariness with her family connection to the legend turns to terror when the trio begins to be haunted by the Horseman himself, uncovering a curse set on destroying the Van Tassel line. Now, they have only until Halloween night to break it—meaning it's a totally inconvenient time for Izzy to develop a massive crush on the enigmatic Vicky. Can Izzy's practical nature help her face the unknown—or only trip her up? As the calendar runs down to the 31st, Izzy will have to use all of her wits and work with her new friends to save Vicky and uncover the mystery of the legendary Horseman of Sleepy Hollow—before it's too late. 

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Until I Meet my Husband By Ryousuke Nanasaki & Yoshi Tsukizuki

The memoir of gay activist Ryousuke Nanasaki and the first religiously recognized same-sex marriage in Japan. From school crushes to awkward dating sites to finding a community, this collection of stories recounts the author’s “firsts” as a young gay man searching for love. Dating is never ever easy, but that goes doubly so for Ryousuke, whose journey is full of unrequited loves and many speed bumps. But perseverance and time heals all wounds, even those of the heart.

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Is Love the Answer? By Uta Isaki

When it comes to love, high schooler Chika wonders if she might be an alien. She’s never fallen for or even had a crush on anyone, and she has no desire for physical intimacy. Her friends tell her that she just "hasn't met the one yet," but Chika has doubts... It's only when Chika enters college and meets peers like herself that she realizes there’s a word for what she feels inside--asexual--and she’s not the only one. After years of wondering if love was the answer, Chika realizes that the answer she long sought may not exist at all--and that that's perfectly normal.

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M Is for Monster By Talia Dutton

When Doctor Frances Ai's younger sister Maura died in a tragic accident six months ago, Frances swore she would bring her back to life. However, the creature that rises from the slab is clearly not Maura. This girl, who chooses the name "M," doesn't remember anything about Maura's life and just wants to be her own person. However, Frances expects M to pursue the same path that Maura had been on—applying to college to become a scientist—and continue the plans she and Maura shared. Hoping to trigger Maura's memories, Frances surrounds M with the trappings of Maura's past, but M wants nothing to do with Frances' attempts to change her into something she's not. In order to face the future, both Frances and M need to learn to listen and let go of Maura once and for all. Talia Dutton's debut graphic novel, M Is for Monster, takes a hard look at what it means to live up to other people's expectations—as well as our own.

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Golden Sparkle By Minta Suzumaru

Himaru Uehara’s first year of high school is off to a good start, minus one problem—he keeps having wet dreams. With only his mom and sister at home—and having skipped health class in middle school—he thinks it means there’s something wrong with him. Thankfully, a new friend has just the remedy and teaches Himaru exactly how to deal with those pesky dreams! But his solution only leads to more confusion, and the two find themselves navigating feelings they’ve never felt before.

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Thieves By Lucie Bryon

Ella can’t seem to remember a single thing from the party the night before at a mysterious stranger’s mansion, and she sure as heck doesn’t know why she’s woken up in her bed surrounded by a magpie’s nest of objects that aren’t her own. And she can’t stop thinking about her huge crush on Madeleine, who she definitely can’t tell about her sudden penchant for kleptomania… But does Maddy have secrets of her own? Can they piece together that night between them and fix the mess of their chaotic personal lives in time to form a normal, teenage relationship? That would be nice.

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Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic By Alison Bechdel

Meet Alison's father, a historic preservation expert and obsessive restorer of the family's Victorian home, a third-generation funeral home director, a high school English teacher, an icily distant parent, and a closeted homosexual who, as it turns out, is involved with his male students and a family babysitter. Through narrative that is alternately heartbreaking and fiercely funny, we are drawn into a daughter's complex yearning for her father. And yet, apart from assigned stints dusting caskets at the family-owned "fun home," as Alison and her brothers call it, the relationship achieves its most intimate expression through the shared code of books. When Alison comes out as homosexual herself in late adolescense, the denouement is swift, graphic -- and redemptive.

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She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat By Sakaomi Yuzaki

Cooking is how Nomoto de-stresses, but one day, she finds herself making way more than she can eat by herself. And so, she invites her neighbor Kasuga, who also lives alone. What will come out of this impromptu dinner invitation...?

Kasuga and Nomoto promised to spend their Christmas and New Year’s together. Now, they find themselves learning more about each other’s families through the food sent by Nomoto’s mother. Cute character bento, salmon and rice, stollen, fruit sandwiches, roast beef…Nomoto and Kasuga warm up to each other over a cheerful holiday season.  

[mercyll]

Is Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury the first anime series to depict a married same-sex couple?

Given the rings and comments from the staff (excluding Bandai) it's pretty clear that both Suletta and Miorine are married. And looking at older anime couples I can't find another one where the characters are actually married to one another.

There are series that depict engagements and proposals (implied or otherwise with queer characters).

Some examples would be:

Yuri & Viktor from Yuri on Ice, where it's implied that they want to be engaged.

Ranma & Akane from Ranma 1/2, both find themselves in an arranged engagement but end up falling for each other anyway. Ranma is canonically genderfluid in both the anime and manga and Akane is attracted to Ranma as both a man and a woman. And this is ignoring all of Ranma's other fiances who know about their curse and want to be in a relationship with them anyway.

Utena & Anthy from Revolutionary Girl Utena, while the circumstances of their engagement are out of their control, the two of them fall deeply in love with one another despite that. And in the movie they kiss.

Other LGBT anime couples are together or in love but next explicitly depicted as engaged or married would be:

Michiru Tenou & Haruka Kaiou from Sailor Moon, they are very much together and in the Crystal series end up living together and adopting a baby.

Yukito Tsukishiro & Touya Kinomoto from Cardcaptor Sakura, who are in love with one another.

Eiji Okumura & Ash Lynx from Banana Fish, who are in love with one another. And it hurts.

Yuu Koito & Touko Nanami from Bloom Into You, who are two girls who fall in love with one another. And in the story you watch them grow and get closer.

Nezumi & Shion from No. 6, a sci-fi drama where two boys fall in love. This one also hurts.

And countless other examples, none of which I could find have the characters taking their relationship further than dating or engagement.

So, is Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury the first married same-sex couple in anime?

On a minor note, there have been several gay weddings depicted in manga.

Some examples would be:

Our Dreams At Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani, which was written by an asexual, X-gender author.

Until I Meet My Husband by Ryousuke Nanasaki and illustrated by Yoshi Tsukizuki. This manga was written by a gay man and based on his own essays about his life. The manga is auto-biographical.

I Married My Best Friend To Shut My Parents Up by Kodama Naoko, who has written several other LGBT manga, most of which are Yuri.

And there are several more!

Bonus:

Shoutout to Episode 7 of the 80s anime Dirty Pair for having a wedding between a cis man and a trans woman in one episode.

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

Cherry Magic has graced anime fans with the first gay marriage in anime history. That coming from a country where same-sex marriage is still quite some lightyears away from becoming legal, is huge. The first spirtually recognised same-sex marriage in Japan dates back to 2016. Although society has becoming more accepting over the past few years and queer activists keep fighting for equal rights, queer people in Japan are still being discriminated (this Wikipedia article on LGBT rights in Japan is quite comprehensive about the legal situation). If you want to know what that's like, read Ryousuke Nanasaki's honest and down-to-earth biography Until I Meed My Husband--he's an LGBTQ+ activist and the lucky guy who, together with his partner, made history as the first gay couple getting married at a shrine.

At present, Japan is the only G7 nation that neither recognises same-sex marriage nor has a law to protect queer minorities. As of 2023, the current ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), regards homosexuality as a disorder and claims it can be healed with spiritual practices and therapy, and that same-sex unions should be discouraged because they destroy the traditional image of family and society.

Please let that sink in for a moment.

But then I see people (mostly on the bird site, I think) screaming "But my favourite gay anime should have been the first to have a gay marriage!!! LOOK WHAT THEY TOOK FROM US!!1!!111!!!1"™

Embarrassingly, most of these people are from my own fandom. And I'm seriously wondering whether these people are okay if this is all they care about.

YOI was very progressive for the time it was made in (it aired in the same year Ryousuke Nanasaki married his partner in a shrine). But when you start digging and read the interviews with the creators and put them into context with the reactions from Japanese anime fans, the reality of queers living there, and the obstacles the director had to overcome to make her vision reality, you can't unsee that YOI was too progressive for it's time.

Sometimes I wonder if growing up in a country that has estabilshed marriage equality years ago, makes people blind to overlook the systematic queerphobia queer people face in countries with a still mostly conservative collective mindset, even more so as seeing a country through the lens of fiction doesn't give a realistic picture of its society and the struggles its marginalised groups face (especially when these struggles aren't portrayed realistically in those works). And this is such a weird ironic since the queer stories we love with all our heart because they paint a the picture of a queer utopia are born from this society.

Progress isn't a linear process and it doesn't happen overnight. Two steps forward can mean one step back. If you push too far before society is ready for it, brace yourself for the backlash. No groundbreaking achievement has the power to tear down the walls of conservative stubbornness, it rather antagonises the people who have the means to thwart you.

If you struggle with accepting this, if you think that your selfish desire to get more of your favourite anime is more important than queer rights, if you are convinced that some animation studio owes you and make it the fulcrum of your very existence, I ask you politely and in all seriousness to please go touch some grass, educate yourself, and come back when you've found the plot again.

Disclaimer: I'm not a Japanese citizen and I don't live in Japan. I gathered these information from people living there (expats and natives), the Japan Times, Wikipedia, translations of interviews with the YOI staff, and my own research.

[ladyloveandjustice]

My favorite Manga and Graphic Novels I Read in 2022

I read 54 different manga and graphic novel series in 2022 (you can see them here, from the beginning until the print novels start with Hench. I only included one from each series for my own weird reasons but I'm up to date on everything except Adachi and Shimamura and Prince Freya, which I dropped for now). You can also see my favorite novels of 2022 here! 

Here are my favorites!

Snapdragon by Kat Leyh

A young girl gets involved with a witch who has has lots of skeletons (animal and otherwise). I’ve always loved Leyh’s work, and this is her usual super queer fantasy that has everything I adore- cute art, cool witches, animal magic, older butch lesbians with eye patches, lovable characters and lots of sweetness.

SHWD by Sono.N

It’s refreshing to see a dark sci-fi yuri about incredibly ripped adult women fighting monsters, and it really pulls off the horror of the monsters well with some gripping action. The characters were pretty charming too and there was a lot of attention paid to the trauma of the situation.

However, it does have a 'character who looks like a child', which is not my favorite trope for a lot reasons. It bothers me a bit less than other series because the art style does not do cutesy. She just looked like a short adult. The reasoning for having her there was...interesting, I'm not sure where they'll go with that, but it's original, though potentially weird?

Anyway, I like what it's doing and I'm interested to see where this goes. I hope we continue to get a variety of yuri like this published over here!

The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This by Takashi Ikeda

Two ladies- 32-year-old anime screenwriter and 22-year-old newbie anime voice actress- live together and navigate their romantic relationship. It’s mostly done in short vignettes, but the central couple has a fun dynamic and the art is nice, and some plot threads slowly develop as the books go on. It’s a cozy read, and it’s nice to see the ups and downs of an adult relationship where they share living space. I also find the 32 year old attractive, to be honest, I’d date her.

Until I Met My Husband by Ryousuke Nanasaki, art by Yoshi Tsukizuki

An autobiographical story of the first religiously recognized gay marriage in Japan. It’s not super lengthy or meaty, but it’s a sweet read.

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

You might have heard of this book based on how it was banned in a lot of places, it’s simply an autobiographical story of growing up genderqueer. It’s a breezy read with some nice evocative art, and Kobabe is pretty relatable.

Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney, Art by Robin Smith

I read a bunch of the DC standalone YA offerings from the library this year and found most of them to be a let-down, but this was a good one. It follows a young Nubia, a black girl who discovers she’s an Amazon related to Wonder Woman herself, and uses her abilities to confront some very real dangers and injustices, while also struggling against racism and other forms of prejudice. Satisfying, solid YA.

Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? By Matt Fraction, Art by Steve Lieber

Another library read. A fun riff on the zaniness of Silver Age Jimmy Olsen comics with a healthy does of humor, it follows the bizarre life of Superman’s BFF as he tries to avoid assassination and does some viral YouTube videos .I especially liked the weird but sweet relationship Jimmy and Clark had in this, and the gentle dunking on Batman.

Run Away With Me, Girl by Battan

Maki’s girlfriend, Midori, broke up with her during her high school graduation, saying she had to “move on” to dating guys now that she was grown up. Ten years later, Maki runs into Midori and finds she’s in an abusive relationship with a man she’s engaged to after getting pregnant. Maki asks Midori to run away with her, but will she?

This is definitely a darker yuri- the abuse Midori faces escalates, and the dude she’s with is basically an incel- but it’s handling the subject matter well so far and I’m really interested to see where it goes. There’s been a notable amount of yuri lately that’s tackled the belief that love for other women is just a childish phase, but this is the first one I’ve seen that explores what happens to a woman who believes that and forces herself into a heterosexual relationship. The abuse Midori faces is not at all framed as her ‘just desserts’ or anything, but a tragic circumstance that happened to a woman who was desperate to fit in and not be alone. The art is also fantastic and distinctive. I really hope it sticks the landing!

She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat by Sakaomi Yuzaki

A slice-of-life foodie yuri manga! Nomoto cooks more than she can eat, and she notices her next-door neighbor is a big eater and invites her over. A very slowburn romance strikes up. I got interested in this because of the authors marriage equality activism, and it’s a cute read. It’s laid back and slow paced, but there are nice moments of realism that make it very grounded- the way the women talk about being mistreated at work, Nomoto complaining that all the fashion articles she look up talk about impressing men- it was relatable! I also liked that Kasuga is large and butch and doesn’t have to look conventionally ‘cute’.

Cheer Up: Love and Pom-Poms by Crystal Fraiser

A cute YA about an acerbic young lesbian joining the cheer squad and repairing her relationship with her people-pleasing trans friend. It’s for a younger audience, but it’s a sweet romance with adorable art.

I Want to Be A Wall by Honami Shirono

I’m interested to see where this one goes. An aro-ace woman and a gay man in love with his (seemingly, so far) straight best friend enter a marriage of convenience. Yuriko’s obsessive BL fandom can get annoying, but it’s always refreshing to see the ace character represented and the manga is realistic about the struggles we face. I’m rooting for this one!

Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon by Shio Usui

A slow burn office lady romance, it’s just downright cute. It might be a little slowpaced for some but I enjoyed it!

Catch These Hands! by Murata

I’m a huge sucker for delinquent girls, so the story of two former delinquent girl rivals who meet again as adults, only for one to challenge each other to a fight with the condition that she’ll date her if she loses? Sign me up! This is, unfortunately, a little uneven- the second volume was kinda eh and introduced an annoying side character with some questionable tropes-but the third volume picked things up again and included a wonderfully absurd training montage. Though it starts with one of the women wanting to change and appear less like a delinquent and more ‘normal’, the clear message of the series is she doesn’t need to. If you don’t like any kind of violence, no matter how weird and divorced from reality, this isn’t for you though, as there is the whole challenge-to-a-fight thing, but it’s tongue in cheek and wacky enough I don’t mind.

Continuing favorites:

Witch Hat Atelier- Can't believe Witch Hat punched the 'funny anime pervert' trope to dust like it deserves, while also exploring and denouncing victim blaming in a genuinely affecting way. This manga is legendary. Also I'm very worried for everyone.

Yuri is My Job!- Really escalated wonderfully with it’s tangled web of relationships, rich backstories, and commentary on how people, especially queer people, often put on a performance. What IS the true self? One character’s commentary on how she wanted her work place to ‘like romance without the romance’ (a la class S) yet can’t suppress her true romantic fantasies was especially well-done. There’s also a character saying ‘friggin’ heteros’. The accurate representation we need, clearly. I just really enjoy this cast of characters.

Spy x Family (A Yor arc! Finally! And there’s just as much murder and mayhem as that should entail!), My Love Mix Up! (continues to be adorable), Yona of the Dawn (dramatic backstory reveals!), How Do We Relationship? (it’s really interesting to read a gay romance where the central relationship is acknowledged as not good for both of them and they try to move on), Delicious in Dungeon (the dungeon adventures are ramping up!), A Man and His Cat (more kitty cuteness), The Way of the House Husband (more hijinks), Bride’s Story (another volume of the beautiful historical epic! It’s been a while.), The Adventure Zone graphic novels (continue to be a lot fun with fantastic art), I Think Our Son is Gay (continues to be a sweet look at a mom supportive of her gay son), Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun (I’ll always love these idiots) and My Wandering Warrior Existence by Kabi Nagata (another entry in Nagata’s moving autobiographical series about the struggles of mental illness, self reflection, and queer exploration).

[blueclearcloud]

I'm not the 1st or last person to say this, but it makes me so uncomfortable when yaoi and yuri are labeled lgbtq+ rep in Western publishing.

Like yes, it is gay but not... Yknow, representative of real gay people or reality or logic. In broad strokes. There is great work like from Nagata Kabi, Mieri Hanishi, or Ryousuke Nanasaki that gets published here and it makes sense. But then you have extremely, ill call it self indulgent, works like If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die that feel so off.

Gatekeepy, probably. Im just trying to put into words how grounded in real world logic works feel better for the label vs works that refuse to utter the words gay. Yknow like if it has "im not into men, im into you" kind of weirdness.

[theanimeview]

[Recommended Read] Until I Meet My Husband

Source: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/until-i-meet-my-husband-ryousuke-nanasaki/1140142720?ean=9781638581628 By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting Until I Meet My Husband, to me, is not just a manga; it is a testament to the progress society has made in acknowledging and embracing diversity. By sharing his personal story, Ryousuke Nanasaki has contributed a compelling story that speaks to the…

[savleye]

Does anyone want to add me on Goodreads? Here's my profile. I read a lot of queer shit, manga, and classics 😚

[lgbtqmanga]

New Releases June 21, 2022

If I Could Reach You vol. 7 by tMnR

An urgent SOS flashes on Uta’s phone screen. It’s from Kaoru. Despite some time and distance away, she’s the one Kaoru called... She runs to meet Kaoru. At last, Uta hears what Kaoru has been keeping bottled up, and Kaoru resolves to take the next step.

FINAL VOLUME

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc vol. 3 by Magica Quartet, Hanokage

In a world infested not by witches but by wraiths, Homura is captivated by one wraith in the shape of Madoka, and Mami and Kyouko throw themselves into battle to save the world. What fate lies in store for them in this final volume?!

To Strip the Flesh by Oto Toda

Chiaki Ogawa has never doubted who he is, although the rest of the world hasn’t been as kind. Bound by his mother’s dying wish, Chiaki tries to be a good daughter to his ailing father. But when the burden becomes too great, Chiaki sets out to remake himself in his own image and discovers more than just personal freedom in his transition—he finds understanding from the people who matter most.

Until I Meet My Husband (Essay Novel) by Ryousuke Nanasaki

The memoir of gay activist Ryousuke Nanasaki on the road to his historic marriage. (Manga adaptation also available from Seven Seas.)

Ryousuke Nanasaki married his husband in 2016 in the first religiously recognized same-sex wedding in Japanese history. This collection of essays follows Ryousuke’s search for love on the journey to his extraordinary marriage. From unrequited junior high crushes to awkward dating sites to finally finding a community, Ryousuke’s heartfelt reflections on his coming-of-age as a young gay man in Hokkaido will touch readers all over the world.

Until I Meet My Husband (manga) by Ryousuke Nanasaki, Yoshi Tsukizuki

The memoir of gay activist Ryousuke Nanasaki and the first religiously recognized same-sex marriage in Japan. (Original novel of essays also available from Seven Seas.)

From school crushes to awkward dating sites to finding a community, this collection of stories recounts the author’s “firsts” as a young gay man searching for love. Dating is never ever easy, but that goes doubly so for Ryousuke, whose journey is full of unrequited loves and many speed bumps. But perseverance and time heals all wounds, even those of the heart.

This moving memoir by gay activist Ryousuke Nanasaki, following his historic life story, was originally released in Japan as a novel of collected essays. They are compiled here beautifully in a manga format.

[tanenigiri]

Review #22 - Until I Meet My Husband

Japanese title: 僕が夫に出会うまで (Boku ga Otto ni Deau Made)

Story: Ryousuke Nanasaki

Art: Yoshi Tsukizuki

English publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment

Number of volumes: 1 (complete)

The peaks and valleys of finding true love.

(This review contains story spoilers.)

I’ve covered a number of series in this project that stray away from its genre focus - slice-of-life BL - in one way or the other. While Our Dreams at Dusk and I Think Our Son Is Gay both feature a man pining for another man, they don’t necessarily follow the typical BL plotline, and I like calling them “BL-adjacent” or simply LGBT manga instead. On the other hand, Cherry Magic isn’t technically slice-of-life as it revolves around a main character with a magical ability. I still chose to cover these series for this project because I wanted to write about them, and even if they didn’t fit into the mold of all the other series I’m covering, I still thought they were very good reads.

Until I Meet My Husband is another one of the titles that deviate from this project’s norm, though in a different way from the three series I mentioned above - this is the first (and only) manga I’m covering here that isn’t classified as fiction. This is based on a series of essays from Ryousuke Nanasaki that recounts his experiences as a gay man, all culminating into his wedding - which the book helpfully tells us is “the first religiously recognized same-sex marriage in Japan.” I mentioned the partnership system in my review of Restart After Growing Hungry, and I believe this is a variation that involves a Buddhist ceremony.

And indeed, the manga opens with this scene, with Ryousuke getting happily married to his husband - who coincidentally is also named Ryousuke, so I’ll be calling him Ryou when I talk about him later. While we already know going into the story that Ryousuke would be getting a happy ending - if the title doesn’t give it away, the cover and blurb definitely will - framing the main story with this wedding at the very start does set a much different tone compared to if it immediately began with his experiences as a kid. All of these flashbacks show a lot of challenging and often uncomfortable experiences that Ryousuke goes through, but knowing that they’re working towards a happy ending makes it a lot easier to root for him.

Of course, Ryousuke doesn’t have the benefit of knowing he’ll get a happy ending when he goes through these events, and indeed, it’s a sentiment that comes up quite often as he grows up and comes to terms with his sexuality. Each of the chapters of this manga roughly revolves around one of the men that Ryousuke either pines for or gets together with, and it’s through these unrequited loves and relationships that he comes to learn things about himself and his identity. I think this is the story’s strongest aspect, as the way it explores this identity development is very comprehensive, and it reaches many highs and lows that really gives Ryousuke’s situation a lot of depth. While part of this is because of the story’s context - this is a memoir, after all - the author still deserves a lot of credit for being able to convey all of this very effectively.

Take the first two men that Ryousuke falls for while he’s still in school - Tsukasa and Hase. In both cases, not once did Ryousuke entertain the idea of being gay; rather, he worded his frustrations as wishing he were a girl instead so that Tsukasa and Hase would be able to fall in love with him. At first, I thought this was going to lead into a discussion about dysphoria, but the story later says that this is simply Ryousuke being unable to accept the notion of a man falling for another man. Much of this rejection comes from how the people around Ryousuke treated him - he was bullied for acting “girly,” and seeing both of his unrequited crushes get girlfriends took a toll on him - and we even get a chapter ending where he resolves to fall in love with a girl instead.

But his experiences living together with Hase during their college years and dating around with other men to no avail do lead him to slowly accept his truth - he was gay, and he wanted a long-term relationship with another man. This leads to my favorite scene of the entire story, where he’s out for drinks with two friends, Eri and Asami, to console the latter for breaking up with her boyfriend. Ryousuke has a really interesting internal monologue here where he admits to himself that he doesn’t sympathize with Asami because she had the privilege of having a true relationship with the person she loved. With this scene being presented right after Ryousuke’s experiences with Hase, he surmises that while both of them were heartbroken, their heartbreaks were not the same at all.

Ryousuke ends up vocalizing all of these thoughts to his friends instead of keeping them bottled in, which leads to him coming out for the first time. Eri and Asami, being the fantastic friends they are, sympathizes with Ryousuke and gives him the long overdue opportunity to vent and share all of his feelings. A scene much later in the story shows Ryousuke being incredibly grateful that his first time coming out was to people who didn’t reject him, and he believes that if that conversation went sour, he might not have been able to reach his happy ending. I thought the way this scene was handled was really great, and it’s no surprise that it ends up being a turning point not just for Ryousuke’s character, but for the story as a whole.

He becomes a lot more open about his sexuality after this pivotal moment, coming out to more people close to him as well as joining gay communities online and attending their public events. It’s in one of these events where he meets Takuma, and the two are seen to hit it off right away. This ends up being Ryousuke’s first serious relationship, and it even culminates in a mock wedding ceremony organized by Eri and Asami, which the story says was one of the things Ryousuke revealed to them when he came out to them - once again proving that they’re 10/10 friends. (It’s also revealed later on that this event was the spark that pushes Ryousuke and Eri to start a wedding planning business focused on LGBT couples.)

But I found it interesting how the story bookended this mock wedding with two very grave pitfalls in their relationship. Right before this scene, it’s revealed that Takuma has a lot of trust issues, going as far as hiding near their house to see if Ryousuke would bring another man home. The story does attribute this to his personal demons, and while Ryousuke admits that they fought a lot because of this, they did work together to overcome their issues little by little.

In the scene following the mock wedding, which takes place a year after the ceremony, it’s revealed that Takuma was unwillingly outed to his friends. Unlike Ryousuke, Takuma hadn’t come out to anyone yet by that point, and this is seen to destroy him inside as his friends ended up pushing him out of their group because of it. While Ryousuke tries to talk to him and help him go through it, Takuma ultimately decides that he doesn’t want to be seen as different and resolves to pursue a “normal” relationship with a girl.

This, of course, hits quite close to home for Ryousuke, as he had the same thoughts about wanting to be in a “normal” relationship many years prior. He’s seen to handle this breakup quite heavily, feeling very alone in the three months following the breakup, and only finding the strength to move on after what looks like a breakdown while he’s in a bus. This arc is definitely the most complex out of all the conflicts that Ryousuke faces throughout the manga, and I quite like how his previous experiences with Tsukasa and Hase almost built up to this relationship with Takuma. Ryousuke is said to have dated quite a number of guys between Takuma and his future husband, but I definitely understand why the author chose to highlight this relationship in particular for his memoir - it seemed very game-changing in more ways than one.

Thankfully, this is the last major hurdle that Ryousuke the manga character has to overcome before he finally meets Ryou. Funnily enough, their first meeting ends up being a one night stand, and they only reconnect a year later as Ryou was in a relationship back then. They end up getting together shortly after reconnecting, and soon enough, Ryou is proposing to Ryousuke in Tokyo’s pride parade.

The final chapter features the continuation of the wedding shown in the first few pages of the book, but right before these scenes, the story shows the two Ryousukes attempting to apply for marriage registration but unfortunately failing to do so. At first, I thought this was simply highlighting how Japan has a long way to go in terms of being LGBT-friendly, and while I think that’s still a factor, I’m surprised that the couple doesn’t react entirely negatively to this rejection. Instead, Ryousuke points out that their application was rejected because same-sex marriages weren’t legal “for now” - giving him hope that it was only a temporary no.

It’s with this hopeful message that Until I Meet My Husband closes with, and I think it’s a very fitting note to end on. Ryousuke went through a lot of hardships both in terms of accepting himself and in terms of finding love, but he knows that it’s because of these hardships that he was able to reach his happy ending. I think the story does a great job in conveying that, and despite being quite heartbreaking all throughout, I left the story with my heart full.

Random thoughts that I couldn’t fit elsewhere:

I also wanted to mention that the story does a good job in painting Ryousuke’s character in a realistic light, in that he himself has his own flaws that he had to work through. While the story could’ve framed Hase as the bad guy for being completely oblivious of what his friend was going through, it doesn’t fall into that trap and instead shows that Ryousuke is also making it hard for Hase because of how the former is reacting to the latter’s girlfriend. There were a few moments in the story where I found myself agreeing with the other party instead of Ryousuke, but I think that’s a good thing - this story isn’t meant to portray Ryousuke as the perfect example of a gay man, but as someone who had to overcome a lot of challeges both externally and internally.

The first bonus chapter shows Ryousuke coming out to his mom, which unfortunately doesn’t go as well as it did with Eri and Asami. She immediately thinks about where she went wrong in raising her son and urges him not to tell his father for fear of being disowned. She even goes as far as warning Ryousuke to take this “secret” to his grave. This is unfortunately a very realistic reaction, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if the story left it at that. Fortunately, this bonus chapter goes in a more positive direction when Ryousuke talks to his mom about his wedding seven years after that incident. While his mom had kept her word to not tell her father all this time, the wedding does mean that she had to inform him about it, and to both of their surprise, the dad doesn’t think much of his son being gay and simply accepts it. I’m not sure if this is the catalyst that turns the mother’s opinion around or just the last of many steps that she took in those seven years to accept her son’s sexuality, but it’s nice to see her come around.

The second bonus chapter is a lot more light-hearted, as it gives us a glimpse of Ryou’s point of view of the story. It’s revealed that his talk with Ryousuke at the bar was as much of a game-changer for him as it was for Ryousuke, as he had already given up on the idea of marriage once he realized he was gay. We also get a clearer idea of why that one night stand they shared (on New Year’s Day no less) was unforgettable for both of them, and it does a great job of showing that they really hit it off from the start.

Thanks for reading! Until I Meet My Husband was a change of pace for this project in more ways than one, and I really liked how upfront it was about these experiences as well as its underlying statements about LGBT rights in Japanese society. I have yet to read the memoir that this is based on, and I hear that there’s a lot more covered in the set of essays than what’s in this manga, so I can’t wait to grab a copy of that!

[thebookbin]

Until I Meet My Husband

Nanasaki Ryousuke 

Publisher: Seven Seas Genre: manga, memoir Year: 2022

I just finished the manga version of Until I Meet My Husband by Ryousuke Nanasaki and I’m so fucking touched. I bought both the manga and the memoir and I’m so excited to read the memoir. The manga tells snippets/chapters of Ryousuke’s life from a child who knows he’s different, to a teen crushing on his friends, to a young man trying to fulfill the expectations he has for his life. This book is so sweet and sad and real. Ryousuke’s mother reacts horriblly to his coming out. He stays in toxic relationships out of fear of being alone. But it all is moving towards the end goal of finally meeting his husband, and I’m going to cherish this manga as a part of my collection forever. storygraph | bookshop.org | local houston

★★★★★ Ryousuke stars (his husband is also named Ryousuke 🤣)

[potatophantom74]

literally no one asked but I'm bored SOOOO...

HOLLY'S TOP 10 BL MANGA AS OF JULY 2022

1. Liquor and Cigarettes by Zariya Ranmaru(1 vol, complete)

2. Coyote by Zariya Ranmaru (3 vols, ongoing)

3. Sasaki and Miyano by Shou Harusono (5 vols, ongoing

4. Our Dining Table by Mita Ori (1 vol, complete)

5. Until I Meet My Husband by Ryousuke Nanasaki and Yoshi Tsukizuki (1 vol, complete)

6. Star Collector by Sophie Schönhammer and Anna Backhausen (2 vols, complete)

7. Therapy Game by Meguru Hinohara (2 vols + 2 vols for Therapy Game Restart and 1 vol prequel secretXXX, ongoing)

8. Bad Boys, Happy Home by SHOOWA and Hiromasa Okujima (3 vols, complete)

9. The God and the Flightless Messenger by Hagi (1 vol, complete)

10. Dick Fight Island by Reibun Ike (2 vols, possibly complete?)

[jariten]

Okay let’s try doing a little monthly roundup of english manga! At least one of these I’m pretty sure is from May but whatever. Eniale & Dewiela by Kamome Shirahama wrapped up at volume 3! This was a really fun series to follow and now really is perfect time to get it if you’re looking for a quick summer read. The much anticipated Boys Run The Riot by Keito Gaku also premiered and I really liked the first volume! They’re putting a lot into it including a brand new cover art for the english edition, I’m really looking forward to the next volumes, always love it when trans creators get to make and share their own stories. AND I feel I haven’t done a good enough of a job telling everyone to read Knight of The Ice by Yayoi Ogawa but you should be reading Knight of The Ice if you’re wondering where all the josei romances are!!!! And it’s always an event when another volume of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun by Izumi Tsubaki drops, speaking of Tsubaki the final volume of Oresama Teacher should be right around the corner...

In license news.... I have not been very impressed like at all but I’m looking forward to the omnibus release of Daisuke Igarashi’s Witches, the original memoir and manga adaption of Until I Meet my Husband by Ryousuke Nanasaki and Yoshi Tsukizuki, and Robo Sapiens: Tales of Tomorrow by Toranosuke Shimada all from Seven Seas. And Kodansha America will rerelease Osamu Tezuka’s An Ode to Kirihito, Apollo’s Song, and Princess Knight (1963) as hardcover omnibuses! These were titles I justtttt missed out on before they went out of print so I’m absolutely not missing this.