La Novia era un Chico

by Chii, ちぃ

Una preciosa historia real sobre amor y transición de género.
Chii cuenta, de manera autobiográfica, los avatares de haberle asignado el género masculino al nacer y cómo debió sobrellevar su disforia hasta la edad adulta. A través de sus experiencias en las relaciones con otras personas, con el amor y con la sexualidad cuenta, aportando datos de interés sobre el colectivo LGTBI+, los desórdenes de identidad de género y la reasignación de sexo, cómo consiguió llegar a convertirse en esposa.

Genres: Manga, LGBT, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Memoir, Queer, Romance

148 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2018

About the author

Chii is a manga artist best known for The Bride Was a Boy.

Reviews

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adorably fluffy read about a trans woman who falls in love with a sweet, socially awkward man who thinks the world of her. I thought this was a great balance of showcasing her transition as well as getting ready to marry. There was also some really interesting info about the process trans Japanese individuals have to go through to get their transition legally on paper (as well as explaining it is still currently illegal for same-sex marriage 😡). Perhaps it's true that the author had a bit of an "easier" transition than most (mostly talking about how those around her immediately accepted her), but it's still an important account. I didn't realize this was categorized as YA until I noticed the teen label on the back of the book, & the partial reason for my rating is that I wish the book would have dove in a bit deeper (less fluffy surface, more substance). Also, I would have liked to see the narrative go into more detail in some areas, but it's clear this is meant to show more of a romantic side & that's fine. Overall a nice read & would recommend.

[Moni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty quick read but it’s adorable and informative to read if you’re not knowledgable about transgender issues or LGBT+ in Japan. (FYI the title was the author’s own choosing)

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really precious and sweet. I don't know if I've ever read a memoir in manga format before, and it's a storytelling style I would definitely enjoy more instances of! Hearing about the author's experience with transitioning was so insightful and lovely, especially because so much of the book involves information on what the queer/trans culture and life is like for a person living in Japan, and the obstacles she faced (especially regarding being able to "legally" transition so she could marry her husband!).

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Add this one to the (growing) shortlist of LBGTQ+ manga worth owning. While generally lighter in tone than My Brother's Husband, Volume 1 and My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, chii's story about her transition and marriage is interspersed with the various difficulties of being trans (or just on the LBGTQ+ spectrum) in Japan and the insensitive questions she gets asked. It made me switch between saying, "aww, how sweet" and "people suck!" and chii's positivity through it all is inspiring.

[Loz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real cute! A fun, upbeat memoir of one person's transition in Japan. Charming art, very informative. I enjoyed it a lot.

[Jemimah · Rating 5 out of 5]

EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS MANGA!! IT IS SO IMPORTANT AND PRECIOUS AND I LEARNT SO MUCH FROM IT. PLEASE READ THIS!!

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very cute and fluffy. The story also provides some transgender facts on what it means to get sex reassignment surgery, or how to change your gender legally (in Japan), etc. It was both informational and cute. While it can be inferred that the author went through struggles and hardships along her journey it was definitely not centered on that. It was centered more on the love between her and her husband, which seemed to come easily from the flow of the story. This may be a good or bad thing, as it may seem like her journey was altogether a pretty easy one, but I think there is something to be said about stories like these. It may be important to focus on hardships, but sometimes its just nice to have a normal and fluffy story about a transgender woman finding love and happiness. Overall I did really enjoy this one!

[Entintadas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ya se está acabando el #pridemonth, pero no queríamos dejar pasar la oportunidad de dar visibilidad al colectivo trans. La novia era un chico es una preciosa historia real sobre el amor y la transición de género que ha dado mucho de qué hablar en Japón.

Chii cuenta, de manera autobiográfica, lo que supuso para ella su asignación de género masculina al nacer y cómo lidió con su disforia hasta la adultez. A través de sus experiencias en las relaciones con otres, con el amor y con la sexualidad nos cuenta cómo llegó a convertirse en esposa, aportando, al mismo tiempo, datos interesantes sobre el colectivo LGBTQ+, los desórdenes de identidad de género y la reasignación de sexo.

Con un dibujo adorable y unos sencillos diálogos, sorprende cómo Chii es capaz de transmitir tan bien toda su historia, desde momentos más duros (a los que intenta no dar importancia) hasta los más bonitos. Cabe destacar que, a pesar de que Japón es un país bastante restrictivo y opresivo, la protagonista ha tenido mucha suerte y todas las personas que la rodean y la quieren logran comprender su situación y apoyarla.

Los datos que aporta Chii son muy interesantes y lo cuenta de una forma que logra que se comprenda todo a la perfección. No me imagino lo duro y complicado que tiene que ser para una persona transexual dar el paso de abrirse e intentar ser quién de verdad es, y, como siempre, al final los gobiernos e instituciones sólo ponen trabas en su camino. Pese a todo, la autora es un ejemplo de que, con perseverancia y confianza, es posible un final feliz.

Pese a su brevedad, el tomo es muy emotivo y me ha encantado. Como amante del manga y la cultura japonesa, siempre me encanta conocer un poco más sobre el país, sus luces y también sus sombras. Además, este pequeño manga ha servido para dar algo más de visibilidad a un colectivo del que todo el mundo parece olvidarse siempre y que merece ser visto.

Irbis.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chii gives a shojo manga gloss to her real-life gender transition with chibi-esque art and a fairytale wedding. She touches on some of the more complex issues, especially in a series of educational sidebars, but mostly maintains a lighthearted tone, keeping her love story front and center.

[Aleksandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this oneshot (standalone) manga so much! It has very cute art style and great storytelling!
It's an authobiographical manga about Chii meeting her now husband, about her transitioning, her coming out to her parents, her sex reassignmnet surgery, daily life concerns and worries. It was interesting to learn more about LGBTQ+ issues/situations in Japan. The ownvoices accounts are always priceless.

I love the honest and humourous tone of the story. Chii addresses and explains sensitive and sometimes difficult topics, but she makes a point to highlight that it's her personal experience and with her cheerfulness the manga is very easy to read!

She and her husband are so cute! I was rooting for their romance, I love how honest, awkward and loving they are. Relationship goals!

I highly recommned to read this manga to everyone! It's insightful and entertaining story!

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved reading this memoir and frankly, I'm so glad that I finally sat down and did. It's a very sweet, fun and heartwarming account of the author's gender transition and road to marrying her boyfriend, and the things she faced along the way. Truthfully, this book ought to be used as teaching material in mandatory schooling to help students with the subject of gender identity and understanding trans people as a whole. It's comprehensive with cited sources and plenty of starter information for the curious to look into if they want to learn more. I highly, highly recommend this manga to everyone!

[Roglin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet, gentle story of about transitioning and all the difficulties faced.
I also loved the fact that it provided helpful resources on the LGBT+ community.

[Eva B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the perfect mix of informative and cute!

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic four-panel manga in a journalistic style of the true story about Chii. The title says all. Chii was born a bot but never felt right being tagged with the male gender. Follow Chii as she discovers who she is on her transgender journey.

I adore the informational pages as well that explain things like LGBT or the diagnosis, hormone therapy, and even the surgery. It's a very informative work written in a way that teens can understand and I find this a great book to have on my classroom shelf for my students to learn more about what transgender means.

[Amy! · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was sweet, and I kind of wish it had just been the story of Chii's relationship and transition, without the extra sidebars explaining various trans topics, especially because a lot of the information in those sidebars was repetitive.

I also would have been interested to get more information about the surgeries she had, though I understand and respect that maybe she doesn't want to talk about that part of her transition. It just felt like she glossed over that part really quickly.

[P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

at this point I'm ready for a less basic overview of transitioning in comics or prose. however, I'm sure this friendly memoir/guide is meant for other readers. there's nothing wrong with it, maybe the author and her husband could be fleshed out a little, I guess.

[kiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute n educational but quite fluffy.

[figaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a wonderful read. very sweet yet informative. as a trans man i dont think ill ever get this much acknowledgment from my country's government no matter jow flawed so yeah its kinda sad but the author's story is one i can relate to to some level and one thats very inspiring. i hope she and her husband live long happy lives together forever in love . also where does she get men like this . i want one

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pros:
- trans joy 🤍
- it’s just?? So cute?? Like husband is just so sweet and ajajksksjd
- there’s a bunch of interesting info on what it’s like to be trans in Japan! (circa 2016)
- when I say trans joy I mean nothing bad happens. She’s trans and no one gives a shit and they love her and I just 😭

Cons:
- some of the lil informational side panels are very basic, the author is assuming the audience has no knowledge of the queer community, so if you’re part of it you will likely end up skimming these sections

Overall:
:)

[Kathryn Kania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, educational, not a ton of substance

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and adorably narrated.

[Alicia Impink · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is lovely! I adore the art, the heart and the honesty. It's charming and informative. Beautiful A++

[Miguel Ángel Muñoz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy cuqui, me ha gustado mucho (y trata el tema de ser trans muy bien, muy divulgativo).

[jude · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was incredibly cute and soft i’m so glad i read it :’)

[Saphira Adorni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so freaking CUTE

[Lucy De Geyseleer · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's a book that should be read by everyone so they'd understand better how trans people think and feel, it only takes about 40 minutes to completely read it and the payoff is huge!

[Cameron Sant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I am writing this with voice to text and I am not editing for proper capitalization, Punctuation, spacing, Etc. Please bear with me! Thank you.

This is a really cute own voices manga memoir about a trans woman. like most transgender memoirs, it spends time discussing first feelings of transness, Hormones and procedures, and relationships. however, because it takes place in Japan where same-sex marriage is illegal most of the country, the main character’s transness and gender status has a large impact on her relationship. So unlike a lot of Western transgender memoirs, where the climax of The Memoir is surgery, this one is structured around the narrator's Engagement and wedding.

Much of the manga is informative, As in between chapters of the regular manga, there are informational asides. It does trans 101, explains Japanese transgender laws, and explains how laws against same-sex marriage impact the transgender community in Japan. While a lot of this information is basic for American transgender people, I Learned a lot about Japanese transgender community.

The best part of the manga is that the people in the narrator's life are models of acceptance. Her fiance Asked her on a date without realizing she was trans, and when he learned about her Trans status, he immediately accepted her in a low-key way. Though it's mentioned that he is interested in her having genital surgery, as that would mean under Japan's laws They could legally marry, he Is not shown in the comic to tell her this, and instead tells her that having genital surgery is her choice and he is fine with whatever she chooses. The narrative also shows that both the narrator and her fiance benefit each other and it doesn't treat her fiance as if he is doing her a favor By being in a relationship With her. this book is a great possibility model for relationships between trans women and CIS men. Her family is similarly loving and accepting.

The title for the book is kind of terrible. Don't let it put you off from reading it. I saw that elsewhere, another way of translating the original Japanese title would be “the bride used to be a boy “, which while not great either, at least is less ambiguous. within the book itself, the narrator does refer to herself as previously being a boy, but at one point at least, she contradicts that and clarifies that she was always a woman.

I also want to note that a sensitivity reader was credited as part of the translation team which I think was a very important choice!! I'm glad the publisher did that.

This Manga is very cute and At times, hilarious. the art style is simple and very cute. I don't think I can say the word “cute” enough about this book!

can I just say that I am super on board with the trend of queer memoir manga being published in webcomics, and eventually making it over to English speaking audiences in book form. More please!

[M Aghazarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish this was more about her personal experiences/more of a memoir than trying to be an educational resource. It's a little too simplified, but I appreciate the little bit of insight into the Japanese legal system.

[Sapphire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read!! Very informative on the journey a trans person goes through in japan, while also acknowledging that not all trans people go through the same things!!! Airs the frustrations of living in a society that makes a seemingly average experience of getting married is made difficult due to outdated and unnecessary laws, while also expressing the joy that comes at the end of the journey, all in a cute and warm manner!!

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute, if somewhat "trans 101". Might be good for someone new to trans. The translation does a good job pointing out the differences between Japan and the US when it comes to trans issues, at least, so there's not much worry about people learning the wrong things from it (like outdated terms and such - though the title does still demonstrate that it's not quite where America is at -- we'd be more likely to say the bride was and is a girl, and was never a boy -- but that's a minor point.