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Geek time! Any other "otaku"/J-nerds out there?


Heather Nicole

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I'm kinda dying to know (even though it means coming out on the internet as both trans-questioning AND just a tad bit nerdy in the same week ;)

 

Anyone else here into manga/anime?

 

Personally, I'm a HUGE fan of Milk Morinaga's works - I think her portrayals of young lesbian love, while perhaps a bit simplistic, formulaic and arguably Disney-ified, are just the absolute most sweetest, beautiful, heartwarming stories in the world. And I've recently gotten into the LGBT-famed Shimura Takako's works as well. Her "[Sweet] Blue Flowers" was utterly engrossing for the most part (although perhaps not the easiest to follow at times), and I'm currently in the middle of her Wandering Son series, and loving every page of it. Even paid double the standard retail price for volumes 2 and 3 just because they're out of print and the local libraries didn't have those volumes and I just had to read what happened there in the official english translation!

 

And then there's some of the the less-serious, stuff. Ranma 1/2 is of course a legendary classic, and key in my MtF fantasies (I wanna go find that Jusenkyo spring and jump into it too!! That'd be sooo cool!!! Way better than counseling, hormone drugs, self-questioning, coming out, and surgeries....you'know, aside from the whole being completely "fictional" thing!) And in the same vein, the crunchyroll anime "I wanna be the twin-tail" was equally indulgent and hilarious. And I just came across fan-translations of a manga called "Magical-Trans" which, contrary to the super-reluctant male-leads in most gender-bending comedic manga, actually has a main character who is TOTALLY who I would be if I were in his (highly fictitious) shoes!!

 

Any other fellow J-Geeks here?

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Howdy, I'm a fellow "J-nerd" but I have to admit, I haven't read the mangaka you mentioned. I prefer action genre. My current obsession is Boku no Hero, which I follow the manga and anime for. Looove One Punch man. Still watch classics like DBZ, Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin. Liked Naruto before the Great Ninja War arc--by then I was "character fatigued"...

I also like some of CLAMP's work.

Also LOVE Naoki Urasawa's masterpiece Monster.

 

My first ever manga was Fushigi Yuugi by Yu Watase. That began it all for me. She is a very talented artist too. My only thing with her is that all her stories follow the same love triangle pattern and I don't enjoy how predictable that is. But the Fushigi Yuugi will always have a special place with me as my first.

Fushigi.Yuugi.full.36849.jpg

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Oh, yea, Yuu Watase's definitely good. I read the first volume or two of Fushigi Yuugi and the very beginning of Ceres a number of years ago. Enjoyed them both, and definitely wouldn't mind reading more (I have a bad habit of starting lots of good mangas and not finishing - there's just so much good stuff out there.) My favorite of Watase-san's is Absolute Boyfriend. I loved that one! Finished the whole thing (an accomplishment for me :)

 

BTW, I just looked up Watase-san's Wikipedia page. Apparently she just came out as non-binary this year. Did you know that? I thought that was pretty cool to learn.

 

Some of the other ones you mentioned: DBZ, classic of course, the one that introduced me to Anime. I had thought I finally tired of it years ago and I'm not usually into action ones these days...but then the new "Battle of the Gods" movie and Dragonball Super sucked me right back in...ohh, and if you haven't already, do check out Toriyama-san's related "Jaco" one-shot!

 

Clamp, yea, they're pretty legendary, too.I'm the same, I like *some* of their stuff. But that's also the interesting thing about them: they're easily the most versatile and wide-ranged out of any mangaka I've come across. Probably because they're a whole group, but still.

 

And yea, it's hard not to appreciate the sheer originality of One Punch Man. Such a brilliant concept.

 

Monster is one I've seen around a lot at the local libraries but never thought to pay much attention to. I may have to take a closer look.

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Oooh no I did not realize Watase_san came out as non-binary. That's an especially bold move for a Japanese person. Wow!

 

If you start things but can't finish, Monster may be a tough one for you. It's a little longer in length (not Naruto or One Piece long( but still longer than average.

I can't believe you could put down Fushigi Yuugi or Ceres, lol. I got into those when they were just releasing to America and it killed me to wait for the next book to come out!

Her Absolute Boyfriend series is cute-I'm a sucker for robots and anything scifi. But I prefered her Alice 19th because it taught lessons about the power of words which I liked. Her art styled really changed for that series (I prefer her early 90's style ?)

I have read other non action stuff. Otomen is fun because it challenges gender roles and is quite funny/sweet. I've also read Hana Kimi in it's entirety. I liked the inclusion of gay characters and the main character is a girl who crossdresses to get into an all boy's school so that's cool.

I've of course read Deathnote (So good!). And like you mentioned, Ranma 1/2. Don't we all have cursed spring envy?

I was looking at my bookshelves and realized a ton of my series are action oriented haha. Action/horror like Parasyte, action/sci-fi/western like Trigun, action/horror Afterschool Nightmare. (Afterschool Nightmare also challenges gender concepts, if you haven't heard of it).

 

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7 hours ago, Heathick said:

"Battle of the Gods" movie and Dragonball Super sucked me right back in...ohh, and if you haven't already, do check out Toriyama-san's related "Jaco" one-shot!

Ha! Battle of the Gods sucked me back in too! Lol!

I will totally have to check out the Jaco one-shot. I'm a big fan of Greg Ayres..his English voice actor. I've met him and he's such a cool person.

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Hello, my name is Micah and I'm also an Otaku and was a bit of a weeaboo growing up. 

 

I don't read much manga lately except for Hourou Musuko, which I am reading right now because of the transgender characters. But growing up I absolutely loved Shonen Jump, CLAMP,  Inuyasha, Digimon, Vampire Knight, and Fruits Basket. Here is my top five: 

 

1) Fruits Basket

2) Death Note

3) DigimonAdventure01&02

4) Rurouni Kenshin

5) Daigenki Daisy

 

If you have any suggestions for LGBT manga, I am always open to suggestions. I also listen to Jrock music and One OK Rock is one of my favorite bands. 

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6 hours ago, mochi90 said:

any suggestions for LGBT manga

It isn't strictly an lbgt manga but it the story does have two boys who fall in love. Their relationship is so well done that it is worth reading if only for them.

"No. 6" is the title of the manga and the anime. Manga is better story-wise.

 

I will read almost anything out of shonen jump ?

I read Fruits Basket because it was at the local library. Once I got past the art, it was a good story.

 

I don't know how I failed to mention Attack on Titan. Freaking love that one..

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@reyindium: OMG, yea, Hana-Kimi! That is one of my absolute biggest favorites ever! Probably the longest-running manga I've actually finished. I had SUCH a crush on Mizuki, the main girl! Such a wonderful character. I also really liked that the guys were such nice, decent, genuine, and very fully-fleshed-out people (totally different from many other manga guys AND from my own high school experience! Anyone who thinks cattiness and social drama is a "girl thing" didn't go to the high school I went to!)

 

Death Note of course is one of the few that's truly hit legendary status, and for good reason. (And I have to single-out L as being a fantastic character.) Personally, I'd also add Madoka Magica to the same "legendary, totally blew me away" list, although I tend to hear less buzz about it. I consider Madoka Magica's second closing sequence to be one of the best examples of animation directing I've ever experienced (and it serves as a PERFECT thematic summary of the series - so dark, yet so beautiful). Oooh, and the "Your Name" anime also totally blew me away. Slightly lbgt just on account of being a body-swap story, but by FAR the best, and deepest, body-swap story I've ever seen. It's one of the few things that's managed to really get me choked up. And I notice more details every time I watch it. A true work of art.

 

Never heard of Afterschool Nightmare, but if it's a gender-challenging one then I'll have to check it out. I find I'm always drawn to any gender-bending works. Even if nothing else, it always makes for such interesting stories! Super-cute ones also pull me in like nothing else in the world, like Kiniro-Mosaic and K-On. K-On's one of my all-time faves. They're all sooo cute!!!

 

Otomen is one I really wanted to read more of, but the library that had it ended up getting rid of it (poor circulation numbers, I guess). I saw pieces of myself in certain parts of the main character, although maybe to a lesser extent (He's maybe even a bit girlier than I am in certain ways). When that main lady came riding in on a horse of all things, to rescue the guy I was soo totally "OMG, I want my own 'Princess in shining armor' too!!" :)

 

Had trouble getting into Fruits Basket when it was introducing all the other Zodiac characters, but I loved the very, very beginning so much that I may have to give it another try. Especially now that there's Fruits Basket Another.

 

As far as action and superheroy stuff, I'm in love with A Certain Scientific Railgun. I was never really into XMen, but this is like *my* version of XMen because its so freaking adorable! And season 2's "Money for me" scene goes through my head every  time payday rolls around at work ! :) Fullmetal Alchemist was also great, legendary even. I was totally crushing on Winry :)

 

@mochi90: You mentioned some really good ones too. Dengeki Daisy was great. And I was a HUUUGE fan of the Inuyasha anime. I loved the atmosphere and folklore, and the openings/closings were always genuine works of art. Rin in particular was one of my favorite characters, I even named my cat partly after her (and partly after the Rin in "Bunny Drop/Usagi Duroppu" - BTW, the manga of Bunny Drop is WAY better than the anime. With the anime, you're missing all of the main guy/caretaker's "fish out of water" internal thoughts and monologue, which are absolutely key to the earlier parts of the story).

 

You mentioned Hourou Musuko. That's "Wondering Son" in the official english version. I'm in the middle of that one too, and loving it.

 

I'm big into J-music like you mention, too. My favorite is probably Kotoko (especially her albums "Epsilon no Fune" and "Glass no Kaze"). Also really like TM Revolution and The Indigo. Of course, I'm also a big...no, HUGE, Hatsune Miku Project Diva nerd/fan :) One of the top reasons I got a PS4 after learning first-hand how awesome it is on PS3!

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17 hours ago, reyindium said:

It isn't strictly an lbgt manga but it the story does have two boys who fall in love. Their relationship is so well done that it is worth reading if only for them.

"No. 6" is the title of the manga and the anime. Manga is better story-wise.

 

I will read almost anything out of shonen jump ?

I read Fruits Basket because it was at the local library. Once I got past the art, it was a good story.

 

I don't know how I failed to mention Attack on Titan. Freaking love that one..

Thanks for the suggestion. 

 

@Heathick What is Bunny Drop about? 

 

Ah, I really love Wandering Son, but I wish Nitori would own up to her trans the way Takatsuki does. 

 

I have never heard of Kotoko before. Is she a newer artist? I have, honestly, distanced myself from all things Japanese for a while. 

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6 hours ago, mochi90 said:

@Heathick What is Bunny Drop about?

 

It centers around a 30-year-old bachelor who, by his own admission, isn't very good with either ladies or kids. But due to some circumstances (detailed in the first chapter or two) involving his own sense of ethics, he finds himself becoming the primary guardian of an absolutely adorable, although slightly troubled, 6-year old girl, named Rin (Technically his late grandfather's illegitimate daughter, and therefore his own aunt. Umm...yea, well, it's manga ;))

 

So the first four volumes (definitely my favorite parts) are all about him learning (in a very trial-by-fire way) how to suddenly go from being a bachelor to being a parent of this little girl, and occasionally dealing with the mystery of her completely absent mother. All the ups and downs and his own growing pains and everything. Starting at volume five, it jumps ahead 10 years to when Rin is 16 and starting high school. And there are various plot twists I'm not going to spoil.

 

I found it really resonated with me, since I'm in my 30's, no family or gf of my own, with a touch of parental instinct feelings in the back of my mind that have no outlet other than my cat. Plus, the character of Rin is absolutely adorable, and she has a surprising, impressive amount of maturity and inner strength well beyond her years (which is ironically similar to the Rin in Inuyasha, who I also absolutely adore.)

 

6 hours ago, mochi90 said:

Ah, I really love Wandering Son, but I wish Nitori would own up to her trans the way Takatsuki does. 

 

Yea, I'm really rooting for Nitori too, so that can be frustrating. But my theory is that there's a few different reasons for that:

 

One, since Nitori is the main character, all of the trans-related internal turmoil, indecision, and self-questioning in the series is reserved specifically for him/her. And I'd be VERY impressed to see any real-life trans person not go through as much as Nitori does. Meanwhile, Takatsuki, being a supporting character, either gets a free literary pass, or perhaps his inner turmoil is just being glossed over (since he's merely a supporting character) and perhaps he had already dealt with much of his self-questioning at an earlier time, at a younger age.

 

Two, (and please forgive me for any misunderstandings on my part, as I'm "male questioning being M2F" and have no direct experience with what it's like to be F2M) It's my , maybe naive, perception that a biological female exhibiting stereotypically-male traits tends to be more widely socially accepted than a biological male exhibiting stereotypically-female traits. At least from my perspective, there's such a widely-accepted thing as "tomboy", but a "janegirl" is much less of a thing (outside of Otomen, anyway). And biological females wearing jeans and T-shirt (these used to be "male" clothes, once upon a time) has never raised anyone's eyebrow within my lifetime, whereas a male-appearing person wearing a dress, skirt, halter-top, or pretty much anything else traditionally female is much more likely to stand out and appear out-of-the-ordinary. I'd even go so far as to say that the instances I've seen of a woman wearing a suit-and-tie (incidentally, something I've NEVER been willing to wear, personally), despite being a very daring fashion choice are, I think, still viewed as less "weird" by the general public as a man wearing women's apparel (which, if anything, tends to just be played off as comedic, if not simply "weird").

 

That, plus as Nitori him/herself observes (shortly after the barbershop scene, IIRC), "Girls are lucky, they can go either way." (TBH, I have that thought absolutely all the time, too...part of what lead to my self-questioning) Of course, for all I know, that might be a mistaken, "grass is always greener on the other side" notion. But, even if so, it's a sentiment that appears to be echoed by the author, Takako-sensei: The Wikipedia entry for "Wandering Son" says "Shimura originally planned to use a female high school student who wants to become a boy as the main character. However, she realized that a boy who wants to become a girl before entering into puberty would have many worries related to growing up, and changed the story accordingly." Of course, just because she believed that doesn't mean it must be true, but it does at least explain why her Nitori character seems to have more trouble than Takatsuki.

 

But you're right, I'm really hoping to eventually see a Nitori-san who's comfortable and secure in her femininity. I like to think that the mystery lady shown posing at the beginning of every volume (with the twin-tail hair, dark-green sleeveless retro-style A-cut dress, and white high-heels) is the future Nitori-san, fully owning her woman-hood. Fingers crossed!! I just hope it doesn't do the same thing that...umm...I've seen elsewhere...where it doesn't start to resolve until the very, very end, and suddenly involves a whole lot of skipping way ahead in time...

 

(Wow, I gotta say, it's REALLY nice being able to chat with others about lgbt+ and gender-bending manga/anime without feeling like I have to be so carefully selective about what I say or might prematurely reveal about myself! I'll admit - when celebs like Caitlin Jenner went public and people flocked to say "They're so brave!" I didn't understand the "brave" part and wondered "What's so 'brave' about just being who/what you already are?" But I get it now. I TOTALLY get it now. I am SO in awe of trans celebs and really anyone out-of-their-own-closet because I know how I feel about the thought of revealing my own self-gender questions to my family and workplace, let alone anything widely public, and either way, that thought is TERRIFYING and earth-shattering!) Respect....earned!

 

6 hours ago, mochi90 said:

I have never heard of Kotoko before. Is she a newer artist? I have, honestly, distanced myself from all things Japanese for a while. 

 

She's been around awhile, but AFAIK, isn't super-prominent in anime and doesn't have any US releases, so she's kinda obscure outside Japan. I only know about her because there was some random  "H" anime I torrented once years ago that just happened to include two versions of her song "Sensitive" because...I have no idea why it was included. But I ended up falling in love with the song (Kind of an almost electronica background but with a really good, strong vocal track). So I looked up more of her stuff and for the longest time got hooked on her albums "Glass no Kaze" ("Wind of Glass") and "Epsilon no Fune" ("Epsilon Drive"...I think...maybe???) Was less impressed with her earlier "Usumaki" album, but she has several other albums I've been meaning to check out for quite some time now...

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2 hours ago, Heathick said:

 

It centers around a 30-year-old bachelor who, by his own admission, isn't very good with either ladies or kids. But due to some circumstances (detailed in the first chapter or two) involving his own sense of ethics, he finds himself becoming the primary guardian of an absolutely adorable, although slightly troubled, 6-year old girl, named Rin (Technically his late grandfather's illegitimate daughter, and therefore his own aunt. Umm...yea, well, it's manga ;))

 

So the first four volumes (definitely my favorite parts) are all about him learning (in a very trial-by-fire way) how to suddenly go from being a bachelor to being a parent of this little girl, and occasionally dealing with the mystery of her completely absent mother. All the ups and downs and his own growing pains and everything. Starting at volume five, it jumps ahead 10 years to when Rin is 16 and starting high school. And there are various plot twists I'm not going to spoil.

 

I found it really resonated with me, since I'm in my 30's, no family or gf of my own, with a touch of parental instinct feelings in the back of my mind that have no outlet other than my cat. Plus, the character of Rin is absolutely adorable, and she has a surprising, impressive amount of maturity and inner strength well beyond her years (which is ironically similar to the Rin in Inuyasha, who I also absolutely adore.)

 

 

Yea, I'm really rooting for Nitori too, so that can be frustrating. But my theory is that there's a few different reasons for that:

 

One, since Nitori is the main character, all of the trans-related internal turmoil, indecision, and self-questioning in the series is reserved specifically for him/her. And I'd be VERY impressed to see any real-life trans person not go through as much as Nitori does. Meanwhile, Takatsuki, being a supporting character, either gets a free literary pass, or perhaps his inner turmoil is just being glossed over (since he's merely a supporting character) and perhaps he had already dealt with much of his self-questioning at an earlier time, at a younger age.

 

Two, (and please forgive me for any misunderstandings on my part, as I'm "male questioning being M2F" and have no direct experience with what it's like to be F2M) It's my , maybe naive, perception that a biological female exhibiting stereotypically-male traits tends to be more widely socially accepted than a biological male exhibiting stereotypically-female traits. At least from my perspective, there's such a widely-accepted thing as "tomboy", but a "janegirl" is much less of a thing (outside of Otomen, anyway). And biological females wearing jeans and T-shirt (these used to be "male" clothes, once upon a time) has never raised anyone's eyebrow within my lifetime, whereas a male-appearing person wearing a dress, skirt, halter-top, or pretty much anything else traditionally female is much more likely to stand out and appear out-of-the-ordinary. I'd even go so far as to say that the instances I've seen of a woman wearing a suit-and-tie (incidentally, something I've NEVER been willing to wear, personally), despite being a very daring fashion choice are, I think, still viewed as less "weird" by the general public as a man wearing women's apparel (which, if anything, tends to just be played off as comedic, if not simply "weird").

 

That, plus as Nitori him/herself observes (shortly after the barbershop scene, IIRC), "Girls are lucky, they can go either way." (TBH, I have that thought absolutely all the time, too...part of what lead to my self-questioning) Of course, for all I know, that might be a mistaken, "grass is always greener on the other side" notion. But, even if so, it's a sentiment that appears to be echoed by the author, Takako-sensei: The Wikipedia entry for "Wandering Son" says "Shimura originally planned to use a female high school student who wants to become a boy as the main character. However, she realized that a boy who wants to become a girl before entering into puberty would have many worries related to growing up, and changed the story accordingly." Of course, just because she believed that doesn't mean it must be true, but it does at least explain why her Nitori character seems to have more trouble than Takatsuki.

 

But you're right, I'm really hoping to eventually see a Nitori-san who's comfortable and secure in her femininity. I like to think that the mystery lady shown posing at the beginning of every volume (with the twin-tail hair, dark-green sleeveless retro-style A-cut dress, and white high-heels) is the future Nitori-san, fully owning her woman-hood. Fingers crossed!! I just hope it doesn't do the same thing that...umm...I've seen elsewhere...where it doesn't start to resolve until the very, very end, and suddenly involves a whole lot of skipping way ahead in time...

 

(Wow, I gotta say, it's REALLY nice being able to chat with others about lgbt+ and gender-bending manga/anime without feeling like I have to be so carefully selective about what I say or might prematurely reveal about myself! I'll admit - when celebs like Caitlin Jenner went public and people flocked to say "They're so brave!" I didn't understand the "brave" part and wondered "What's so 'brave' about just being who/what you already are?" But I get it now. I TOTALLY get it now. I am SO in awe of trans celebs and really anyone out-of-their-own-closet because I know how I feel about the thought of revealing my own self-gender questions to my family and workplace, let alone anything widely public, and either way, that thought is TERRIFYING and earth-shattering!) Respect....earned!

 

 

She's been around awhile, but AFAIK, isn't super-prominent in anime and doesn't have any US releases, so she's kinda obscure outside Japan. I only know about her because there was some random  "H" anime I torrented once years ago that just happened to include two versions of her song "Sensitive" because...I have no idea why it was included. But I ended up falling in love with the song (Kind of an almost electronica background but with a really good, strong vocal track). So I looked up more of her stuff and for the longest time got hooked on her albums "Glass no Kaze" ("Wind of Glass") and "Epsilon no Fune" ("Epsilon Drive"...I think...maybe???) Was less impressed with her earlier "Usumaki" album, but she has several other albums I've been meaning to check out for quite some time now...

Bunny Drop sounds like an interesting read, and the Rin character sounds adorable. 

 

FtM people definitely have fewer problems than MtF people. But we still have problems. It's very rare that a girl is simply able to cut her hair and look like a boy. They would have to be extremely androgynous to begin with, which seems to be the case with the character of Takatsuki. 

 

However, I think a FtM transgender person would have made for a good storyline. Especially in a place like Japan where girls are expected to wear skirts to school each day and be hyper feminine. Also while it is true that girls wearing boys clothes is more widely accepted than boys wearing girls clothes, I have known girls who have gotten beaten simply for wearing a pair of jeans. 

 

But I do get where you and the mangaka are  coming from. A MtF character just pushes more boundaries than a FtM or butch character, which has already been portrayed in manga like Sailor Moon in the case of Sailor Uranus. 

 

I kind of want there to be a time skip in Wandering Son just so I can see how Nitori deals with her dysphoria in high school. 

 

Ah, I've moved away from Jpop because a lot of it seems hyper feminine. I much prefer Jrock bands like Babymetal or Ellegarden or L'Arc~en~Ciel, although they haven't put out an album in ages. I used to be a really big BoA fan growing up, but she does more K-pop than Jpop. 

 

Actually, looking back I think I was a weeaboo because I was attracted to the strict social constructs in Japanese culture surrounding gender. I was terrified to rebel as a child until my late teens when I finally ventured into the men's clothing section of Walmart. I over compensated by trying to portray a Japanese schoolgirl in every way for a while there and clinging to feminine stereotypes. 

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Bunny drop sounds cute. I may look into that one! I have a daughter and navigating parental waters is something that tends to resonate with me. I have a soft spot for kids in general, too.

I watched Madoka Magica too! I loved that is was such a refreshing take on the magical girl genre. I also loved InuYasha growing up but after awhile, it felt so repetitive that it got old. And the romance parts annoyed me, because they couldn't pull their own heads out of their butts and confess. That's not the slow burn I'm into.

FMA is so classic. FMA brotherhood will always have my vote since it follows the manga but I enjoyed the "original" release too. Ed has always been a favorite character of mine since he's a short fiesty guy like me.

 

I watched a ton of Gundam back in the day. I got into TM Revolution through Gundam Seed. (Can we all agree that Flay Allster is awful? I really couldn't bring myself to pity her...I just hated her so much).

L'arc-en-Ciel is another band I listen too, also ?

 

@Heathick

Fushigi Yuugi might be worth revisiting because there are lbgt characters revealed later on. I've always been a little bit in love with Nuriko and if you only got a couple books in, you might be wondering how that's possible. Afterschool Nightmare doesn't tackle trans issues directly but the main character is intersex and the story revolves around his/her gender identity confusion. It can be relatable in those aspects. It's a drama with some elements of horror, so it can be a heavy read but it's good. (I recently re-read it).

 

It wasn't until you called it "Wandering Son" that it clicked with me that I've read that manga too. It was a couple years ago so there is probably new chapters out but I really enjoyed reading about trans characters.

 

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1 hour ago, reyindium said:

Bunny drop sounds cute. I may look into that one! I have a daughter and navigating parental waters is something that tends to resonate with me. I have a soft spot for kids in general, too.

I watched Madoka Magica too! I loved that is was such a refreshing take on the magical girl genre. I also loved InuYasha growing up but after awhile, it felt so repetitive that it got old. And the romance parts annoyed me, because they couldn't pull their own heads out of their butts and confess. That's not the slow burn I'm into.

FMA is so classic. FMA brotherhood will always have my vote since it follows the manga but I enjoyed the "original" release too. Ed has always been a favorite character of mine since he's a short fiesty guy like me.

 

I watched a ton of Gundam back in the day. I got into TM Revolution through Gundam Seed. (Can we all agree that Flay Allster is awful? I really couldn't bring myself to pity her...I just hated her so much).

L'arc-en-Ciel is another band I listen too, also ?

 

@Heathick

Fushigi Yuugi might be worth revisiting because there are lbgt characters revealed later on. I've always been a little bit in love with Nuriko and if you only got a couple books in, you might be wondering how that's possible. Afterschool Nightmare doesn't tackle trans issues directly but the main character is intersex and the story revolves around his/her gender identity confusion. It can be relatable in those aspects. It's a drama with some elements of horror, so it can be a heavy read but it's good. (I recently re-read it).

 

It wasn't until you called it "Wandering Son" that it clicked with me that I've read that manga too. It was a couple years ago so there is probably new chapters out but I really enjoyed reading about trans characters.

 

I LOVED Madoka Magica. I just love seeing the look abject horror on people's faces when they find out the truth about the soul gems. Lol. 

 

Inuyasha is cool, but it can definitely get repetitive and old after a while. And FMA Brotherhood is freaking awesome. I love it. Have you watched the live-action movie? 

 

I only TM Revolution because he did the Rurouni Kenshin end theme. 

 

And Flay was the girl who like racist or something, right, against Kira? 

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1 hour ago, mochi90 said:

And Flay was the girl who like racist or something, right, against Kira? 

Yeah! And as if being a racist wasn't enough, she was emotionally manipulating him (a pacifist) into a race war (against his own race no less). My best friend once said that the scariest villains are the ones who say they love you while having an agenda. Flay fits that villainy perfectly, because she used sex and lies of love to push Kira into battle. It was really sick.

 

I have not watched the live action film of FMA. Typically I am underwhelmed by the live action adaptations. Is it any good?

 

Haha what hasn't TM revolution done? Though if we are going to get into my favorite composer for anime scores, I am going to scream YOKO KANNO from the top of my lungs endlessly because that woman is flipping genius. She has made so much music for so many series but one of my all time anime favorites is Wolf's Rain. I ugly cry everytime I watch that show.

 

 

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15 hours ago, mochi90 said:

FtM people definitely have fewer problems than MtF people. But we still have problems. It's very rare that a girl is simply able to cut her hair and look like a boy. They would have to be extremely androgynous to begin with, which seems to be the case with the character of Takatsuki. 

 

Oh, yea. Goes for Nitori too. Actually, if there's one thing that bothers me a little about the series it's that it just seems a little TO convenient how easy it is for Nitori to look like a girl (but maybe it only bugs me because I'm jealous ;) ). Than again, it definitely is easier to look like a different gender before puberty really gets going, which is where Nitori is at least at the beginning of the series. Boys and girls are just a lot more physically similar before puberty than after. I remember noticing when I was about 7 that without a boyish shirt on, if I pulled my bangs back, that was enough to make me almost look like a girl. Doesn't work that way for me now though! Ha ha.

 

@reyindium: I don't know how far you got (there are 15 volumes - I'm currently towards the start of volume 7), but unfortunately the English version got cancelled after volume 8 due to low sales. And not only that, the earlier volumes are now out-of-print and are going on Amazon for nearly twice the original price :( Luckily though, Mangadex has a fan-translation of the entire series, and for the most part it's a very well-done translation. I think my slight preference still goes for the official one, but ooonnnly just slighty.

 

15 hours ago, mochi90 said:

I have known girls who have gotten beaten simply for wearing a pair of jeans. 

 

Yeeouch! Seriously? In this day and age? That seriously blows my mind. I remember even back in the 1980's women and girls wearing jeans was just normal, ordinary, everyday commonplace. There's some truly sick people out there...

 

15 hours ago, mochi90 said:

However, I think a FtM transgender person would have made for a good storyline. Especially in a place like Japan where girls are expected to wear skirts to school each day and be hyper feminine.

 

You make a good point. I know I'd read it. Especially if Takako-sensei wrote it.

 

Speaking of F2M stuff, there's an episode of Queer Eye on Netflix that's about a F2M trans man. Pretty interesting, worth a watch. Actually, that episode is what even got me kinda into the series.

 

15 hours ago, mochi90 said:

Ah, I've moved away from Jpop because a lot of it seems hyper feminine. I much prefer Jrock bands like Babymetal or Ellegarden or L'Arc~en~Ciel, although they haven't put out an album in ages. I used to be a really big BoA fan growing up, but she does more K-pop than Jpop. 

 

Ha ha, I think I actually like a lot of Jpop (and certain manga and J-video-games and such, like Kiniro Mosaic and Blue Reflection) largely because of the hyper femininity. (I'm seriously just over-the-top in love with femininity in general, period, like crazy. Not that masculinity can't certainly be very cool too, I admit.) Although some of the music stuff I like...I'm not sure it would even qualify as Jpop...more like..J easy listening(?) or something...? Like "The Indigo", for example. I suspect it might not be your cup of tea though, it's very light and feminine (Their song "I do!" along with the first ending sequence to "Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi" where it was used, is what got me into them, and I still think it's by far their best song).

 

I was never really able to get into L'Arc~en~Ciel, not really sure why, just wasn't my thing I guess. But yea, I like Babymetal, especially the song Karate. Love that one. Went through a "Maximum the Hormone" phase too, after watching Death Note. To this day, the refrain "Bi-ki-ni suppo-tsu pan-ching!!" still occasionally pops into my head :) Something seriously very cool about just the idea of J-death-metal ;) Oh and Jhiphop, too, if you check out Namie Amuro's surprisingly well-made album "Style".

 

 

Not usually into Kpop. Most of what I've come across just seemed too..."MTV (2000's-era)" for my tastes. But that said, I have been hooked on GFriend lately. And...I don't know if it's just a brain defect on my part or what, but...I just never get tired of Gangnam Style. And yea, I know, I know, but...its hooks are in me and there's just no removing them, no matter how much time passes... I've got it so bad I even searched out an old copy of Dance Central 3 just because I learned it has a DLC for Gangnam Style. :)

 

16 hours ago, mochi90 said:

Actually, looking back I think I was a weeaboo because I was attracted to the strict social constructs in Japanese culture surrounding gender.

 

????? We must be thinking completely different things with the word "weeaboo". To me, it's only meaning is the name of a game (a game that's very silly, and very, very, VERY comediacally-inappropriate for the corporate workplace where its being played) in an obscure but hilarious online comic: https://pbfcomics.com/comics/weeaboo/

 

You seem to be using the word to mean something, very, VERY different from that.

 

While I did love it, I have to agree with you both about Inuyasha: it did get a bit dull and even cartoonish towards the middle. The "Band of Seven" arc in particular was the dullest. Luckily it started getting a little better again after that, with the infant and...(shoot, I have to look up his name again, been so long...) Hakudoshi. And then they kinda messed up the atmosphere and pacing with The Final Act, but then that also got at least a little better after a few episodes.

 

As much as I love FMA, I'm embarrassed to admit I still haven't gotten around to Brotherhood or the manga yet. I'd seen most of the first anime back when Cartoon Network was airing it, but being traditional TV, I saw the episodes completely out-of-order. So when Brotherhood was coming, I wanted to re-watch the earlier anime from start to finish first. I got more than halfway through but then...being me...I got distracted by other things and never got back to it. (Turns out, I'm reeaalllly bad at finishing things!)

 

BTW, speaking of classics..."Ghost in the Shell". Need I say more? :) Liked Stand Alone Complex too. Original movie for the atmosphere, Standalone Complex for the plot.

 

Aaaaannndddd speaking of Ghost in the Shell...I agree, live-action adaptions usually tend to be disappointing. Although I did enjoy the live-action Jojo...Buuuut, maybe I only liked it because it's the ONLY Jojo I've seen so far. Maybe that's the key: watch the live-action first. Then you can enjoy it and later be impressed by how much better the original is.

 

There was another live manga adaption I really liked, too, I think it was on Netflix, based on a Shojo manga I'd never read (I'm pretty big on Shojo manga)...oh...shoot, I wish I could remember the name of it. It was about a high school girl who gets an apartment, but it turns out the apartment was double-leased to one of the most popular guys in school (Yea, definitely a VERY shojo-manga plot.) I found the directing style really weird at first, but then the show hooked me and I got used to it.

 

Agreed on Yoko Kanno being a genius. My favorite is still "Tank!" the opening to Cowboy Bebop (again, another straight up legendary series. Heck, I usually find action scenes to be dull, but Cowboy Bebop is a huge exception. Scientific Railgun is probably my other big exception).

 

I don't remember much about it, but I do remember being pretty hooked on Gundam Wing back at the time. Even named my first laptop "Nataku". Mostly just kinda got tired of mech stuff after that though, aside from a brief but enjoyable fling with Gurren Lagann (gosh, I still have trouble pronouncing that).

 

Madoka Magica: Again, fantastic as the show is, I still can't emphasize enough how much I'm in love with the second closing sequence...sooooo kakkoiiiiii!!!

 

@reyindium: I'll make it a point to revisit Fushigi Yuugi. I do remember the manga being quite good. (was less impressed with the anime). And I tend to be totally hooked on pretty much any sort of gender-bending or lgbt in manga. Oooh! Speaking of! How could I forget??? Ouran High School Host Club! Haruhi is yet another character I had such a crush on. The rest of the cast were really fun characters too.

 

Haven't seem Wolf's Rain. The ones that gets me choked up are Your Name and the anime adaptation of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

 

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10 hours ago, reyindium said:

Bunny drop sounds cute. I may look into that one! I have a daughter and navigating parental waters is something that tends to resonate with me. I have a soft spot for kids in general, too.

 

In that case, I highly recommend the anime Strawberry Marshmallow. It looks like a kid's show, but it isn't. Most of its depth and humor is very subtle and comes from observing child behavior from an adult perspective. I once showed the first episode to my aunt who's a retired elementary teacher and she got a kick out of it. One of my favorite parts is in one of the later episodes (it's a very short series) during the winter when two of the girls are trying to walk uphill on a frozen road. (My other favorite part is in the Christmas episode when the older sister reacts to the lovey-dovey couple.)

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/27/2019 at 5:49 AM, Heathick said:
On 8/26/2019 at 11:19 AM, mochi90 said:

Actually, looking back I think I was a weeaboo because I was attracted to the strict social constructs in Japanese culture surrounding gender.

 

????? We must be thinking completely different things with the word "weeaboo". To me, it's only meaning is the name of a game (a game that's very silly, and very, very, VERY comediacally-inappropriate for the corporate workplace where its being played) in an obscure but hilarious online comic: https://pbfcomics.com/comics/weeaboo/

 

Ahh! Now I get it!

 

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-origin-of-the-word-weeaboo

 

Apparently, the admins of 4chan (ugh, If you don't know, don't ask - it's seriously not even worth knowing, trust me) took that comic I linked to above, and decided it would be fun to take all occurrences on their entire website of "wapanese" (another word that's new to me, but it's meaning it probably very obvious) and replace them all with the word "weeaboo" that the PBC webcomic had already invented with a completely different, completely unrelated meaning. Because of that, the word "weeaboo" that PBC coined was perverted from a completely made-up word into a derogatory term for people interested in Japanese cultural exports, just because of the whims of the 4chan admins.

 

I've been completely engrossed with work, videogames, and reading, so I never knew that. So apologies for any misunderstandings - the original comic certainly takes on a *completely* different (and very unfortunate) tone if the only meaning of "weeaboo" you've ever known is the screwed up one invented by 4chan's admins, and don't know that comic itself IS the actual creation of the original word "weeaboo". I guess that's probably why PBC seems to have completely removed its "weeaboo" comic from all its regular menus and navigations. It appears you can only get to it now if you have the exact URL I linked above. I imagine this 4chan debacle is probably the reason for that. Very unfortunate :(

 

In my experience, I've always known the word "otaku" (ie, a "manga/anime/videogame nerd") instead of "weeaboo". It's still a bit derogatory in the original Japanese, but it's at least commonly (mis)used among us westerners as a non-derogatory word for fans of manga/anime/J-videogames.

 

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Just for fun, want to share your favorite anime opening/closing themes?

Whether it's the animation or the music...what are some of your favorites?

We covered Madoka Magica...and I agree, it's a great song.

I will start with FMA Brotherhood Opening 1, Again by Yui. The animation and music really capture the series.

 

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Ooh, good question. I've always felt anime openings/closing to be an artform in and of themselves, the whole A/V combo and everything (And again, that second Madoka Magica closing seriously just blows me away...I can't even get over it. And I think I already mentioned the first closing to Ai Yori Aoshi's second season, using "I Do!" by The Indigo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--S0h7JTQBo&t=21m05s   I'm a product of the '80's, so to me, everything about that is just pure beauty and comfort.)

 

Inuyasha had a lot of fantastic openings/closings, but the two that always especially stuck out to me are the first closing (with the bullet train through tokyo and the tokyo ferris wheel  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI_el2XhI8s ), and the later closing that used the song "Come" by Namie Amuro.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcw4NBYIKOI  Pure artistry. Pure haunting beauty.

 

Naturally, there's the widely-loved opening to Lucky Star. Hard not to love that and how well synched-up and choreographed it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieQ1rAIjzXc

 

Cowboy Bebop's "Tank!" opening from Yoko Kanno...obviously legendary. Samurai Champloo's OP/EDs were similarly impressive too. And Ghost in the Shell: SaC's opening (incredible song, Yoko Kanno again, IIRC). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxkMzn4et2U  Such a beautiful song.

 

Bleach's first OP really hooked me for a while: "Mi-a-geta yo-zora no hoshi...tachi no hikarii..." ;)  As well as the ending "Life is Like a Boat" by Rie Fu (Always thought that one would work really well at a Japanese/Westerner wedding).

 

The second and third OPs from Pani Poni Dash were total digital crack to me  ("Roulette Roulette" and "Shojo Q", with their original non-"clean" animations i can't seem to find on youtube). As well Spice & Wolf's first ending, which always makes me so just plain happy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieQ1rAIjzXc

("Seven apples on the witch's tree..." :) )

 

Strawberry Marshmallow's opening is another personal favorite, partly for the sheer cuteness factor and for how well it summarizes the personalities, especially the rambunctious troublemaker Miu-chan's. ("Ka-waii nan-te so-na koto...i-icha dame desu......fuwa fuwa ichigo tachi ga...yattekuru..a-makute su-ppai...." :) ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGncI1V3S6M

 

Oohh!!! And K-On!  Both a personal top fav anime and a top fav for all its OP/ED sequences.

 

I'm sure there's a ton more for me, but that's what comes to mind at the moment.

 

(Not really an Anime opening/closing, but the video for TM Revolution's "Naked Arms" is just plain cool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXV9ZBhzZs0  Especially the black-paint-splatter effect that periodically radiates from him starting around a third or so of the way through. Western music videos could learn a thing or two from that video.)

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Thanks for including the links! I watched all the vids you included. I also loved those InuYasha ones! We have that in common. Those were great—the songs are so melancholic. The visual impact of the first closing always gets to me.

 

Most of your other themes are so happy and peppy haha. You and have different preferred genres overall. But the Lucky Star and Strawberry Marshmallow ones were very “moe”. They really fit their series!

 

An older anime I love (and it’s opening) is Trigun. It’s interesting because it has no lyrics:

https://youtu.be/4OxFSy8G5wk

 

One of the anime themes that I always felt left an impact was Paranoia Agent’s. That show is really good. And until you’ve seen it all, the opening seems like a bunch of nonsense. But after watching it all, it’s rather clever and fits the story’s message.

https://youtu.be/-anabfAg06U

 

I love the opening and closing(s) for Yuri on Ice. This is my #1 feel good anime. I think I read somewhere that the opening animation was done by a single guy in one night? And the studio loved it so that’s what they used.

https://youtu.be/ORDXWrL5EuQ <--Opening

https://youtu.be/Sy2o_U2I9Xk     <--Closing

 

I love every Attack on Titan opening. Season 3 took a different approach from hardcore battle scenes and I was impressed by it. It’s very character-centric and gives you a different emotional rush watching it than the previous seasons.

https://youtu.be/eA8J1jgh6FI

 

Gotta love the Wolf’s Rain opening. #YokoKanno #StudioBones

https://youtu.be/xoQuu7GPxAI

 

And because I mention Yui “Again” FMA brotherhood opening last time I posted, I figured I should include a link to that.

https://youtu.be/2uq34TeWEdQ

 

Since you mentioned TM Revolution, I'll give a shout out to Soul Eater's opening Resonance. Stellar song with stellar animation:

 

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Hahha, yea, like I mentioned, I really am totally in love with femininity, girlishness, "moe", etc.

 

I remember watching a lot of Trigun and Paranoia Agent on Cartoon Network's Toonami back in the day. Vash is a good character, a great blend of "kakkoii"("cool") and comedy. And it's been so long, I'd forgotten how cool Paranoia Agent's opening was. Actually, I'd forgotten about the whole series! Quite a good one!

 

I never really gave Yuri on Ice a try before (even though the word "yuri" totally grabs my attention ;)) just because it seems to mostly just be all guys...but...that opening you linked to is REALLY seriously good!!! I'm really impressed! It's got my attention now, I'm gonna have to give it a try.

 

Attack on Titan's another one I'm almost embarrassed to admit I haven't seen, despite everything I've heard about it. It seems like something I wouldv've been totally into when I was a young teen, but these days cuteness and girliness just grabs my attention so much more. Still though, I have no doubt its an excellent series (epecially seeing that theme now). I'll have to give it a try sometime, even if just as part of a "Required viewing for anime fans" ;) But hey, that's the same reason I finally gave Sailor Moon a real genuine try, and the further I get into that, the more I love it.

 

That Wolf's Rain one...O...M....G....!!! I'm a total product of the 80's, so that opening gave me ABSOLUTE CHILLS, it is soooo coooolllll!!!!!! If that opening and song was a person I would marry it!!!!! I'd heard of the series before, long time ago, but I totally have to see more of it now...

 

The FMA Brotherhood theme, I know I've seen at least part of it before, but it's definitely good. Especially love the part that starts halfway in, and the interesting beat it uses. And I love the singer's voice. But right at the very beginning...looks like, I'm assuming it's an older version of Edward (or maybe his dad??)...but, oh, again, soo cool it gives me chills. Clearly I've taken far too long getting around to watching this series. I loved the first FMA anime back when it was airing on Toonami, and wanted to give it a proper every-episode-in-order viewing before moving on to brotherhood, but embarrassingly, that still hasn't quite happened yet...

 

And yea, Soul Eater, another one on my list of "to try someday". First I've heard it, but you're right, that song is unmistakably TM Revolution. Could spot it as one of his from a million miles away :) That long-blond-haired girl in it seems seriously cool, too. Always loved the whole Valkyrie/Knightess-in-shining-armour type (Probably part of why I'm so in love with A Certain Scientific Railgun, and got grabbed by a certain horse-riding scene in Otomen.)

 

Speaking of action and shonen series, there's a newer action/comedy one out now (just manga, AFAIK) called "Sorry for My Familiar". Even though it's not a genre I usually go for lately, I've read the first two volumes so far and it's quite good. Very fresh, and original and fun. Kinda makes me almost think of a newer younger Akira Toriyama in a certain way, but maybe that's overselling it.

 

And about Your Lie In April: Heh, yea, it's good. There are some parts that maybe couldv'e been trimmed down a little (maybe a little less time spent dealing with all the recitals), but otherwise it's a bittersweet one that really impressed me and got to me. I'm not going to ruin anything, but when you get far enough that you finally, truly understand the name of the series, it's just...wow! And yea, that opening still just blows me away every time I see it. Such beauty.

 

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On 9/11/2019 at 1:56 PM, Ricki Ashlynn Kara W. said:

Hi,

New member here and thought I would share some of my favorites. If this is not the place, let me know.

 

I have enjoyed anime since high school in the 80's. Getting it was a PITA back then. I am glad it is much easier to watch it now.

Here is a list of some Anime I have enjoyed over the years for a variety of reasons in no particular order

 

Spice and Wolf
Gate (2 seasons)
Lord Marksman and Vanadis
Vampire Knight
Cop Craft (Released this year)
Akatsuki no Yona
Maoyuu Maouyuusha
Braves of the Six Flowers
Taboo Tattoo
Seirei Tsukai No Blade Dance
Knights & Magic
A Certain Scientific Railgun
Yona of the Dawn
Seiken Tsukai No world Break
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar (Grimgar: Ashes and Illusions)
Sousei No Onmyouji
Heavy Object
Nobunagun
Eve No Jikan Gekijouban (movie)
Strike the Blood
The Rising of the Shield Hero
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
12 Kingdoms
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody
Isekai Cheat Magician


LGBT+
Yagate Kimi ni Naru
Asagao to Kase-San
Mysteria Friends (One of my current favorites. Released this year)
Bloom Into You
Girl Meets Girl
Citrus
Sasameki Koto
Hourou Musuko (Wandering Son) (Trans theme)
Simoun (Everyone is born female, so what dose gender mean?)
Sweet Blue Flowers


Chinese anime:
Quanzhi Fashi
The King's Avatar

 

Is it really Anime?
Log Horizon

Hi, welcome! I'm going to have to look up most of these. I feel so out of touch now lol.

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      thank you dear. I'm constantly working at adjusting n writing off other people's judgment or input.   thank you n good luck
    • Abigail Genevieve
      Them's fighting words, but I intend to discuss this respectfully, calmly and so forth, in accordance with the forum rules.   Considering the one issue below in isolation:   There is a political calculus that trans folk may be better off under Trump than under Biden.  The argument goes that Biden has created such a backlash by moving so far to the left that red states, in particular, are reacting with a swarm of laws that negatively impact trans folk.  Some of his actions strike many people as clumsily forcing unwanted regulation on people, and some of his appointments, such as the luggage stealing bigender individual, have not helped advance trans folk but rather the reverse.  In a second term Biden would make things worse for trans folk because of the backlash and resentment his policies would create.    Trump likely would have negative impacts to trans folk, as he did in his first term with respect to the military, so it is a set of tradeoffs as to which is worse.   Thoughts?
    • Abigail Genevieve
      Can you dress androgynously? 
    • Ashley0616
    • Abigail Genevieve
      There are trans folk who pass better than some cis people.  People usually aren't on the lookout for those who are cross dressed.  As long as there are no multiple screaming signals and you don't draw attention to yourself you can probably pass better than you think. For example, if you walk into a bank in heels, however, and you DON'T know how to walk in heels, you will attract the attention of a security guard, especially if you are acting nervous. If you wear flats and just go to the bank and do your business like anyone else, it is likely no one will notice, except that there was a customer who was taller than most women are, but then there are tall women, and tall, broad shouldered woman.  I made the mistake years ago of thinking I had outed such, and knew she was a he.  Later I learned she had five kids, and her husband was bigger than she was.  Ooops.
    • Abigail Genevieve
      I don't know much about CNAs.  They report to an RN, right?  Can you somehow bring this up to the RN in a way that does not get your CNA mad at you? I'm not saying you should, but maybe that is a good course of action.
    • Abigail Genevieve
      This is the thing.  A month ago tomorrow is when I stopped wearing m clothing.  Today I feel great.  I do not have dysphoria when I am dressed as and I move as a woman.  I was just thinking about that because I was wondering if I would or will get hit with a wave of "you don't have dysphoria so you might as well dress like a guy. Less hassle with your wife."  Not that she is aware, to my knowledge, that these androgynous clothes are women's.  No desire to "flip", no feeling of need to, just happy identifying as female.  Speaking, in my deep guy voice, with female voice patterns, doing the feminine gestures that come naturally and without exaggeration and at peace.
    • Birdie
      Yes, my brother was born lactating due to absorbing hormones from my mum.    Of course she isn't a nurse, she is a CNA. She should however still have general medical knowledge.
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