This manga was going hard on the teenage angst for a while, but I appreciate that it's now timeskipped into adulthood. There's few mangas I can think of that engage with the lives of trans adults. It's promising. I hope there's a lot more
Okay I'm thinking about Dear Society again, and I think that the theme of Kanesho cursing society for having to adhere to its gendered standards doesn't go away after the post-transition timeskip. He still has to keep doing it- he still lives in a society (like the joker)
But like I think the best depiction of it was that he didn't want a hysterectomy. He wanted top surgery and to go on hormones, that was all for him. But legally in order to be viewed as a man and be able to marry the woman he loves he HAD to get one. He was at peace with it, because he saw it as worth it for the wedding, but... Any reader should know and understand at this point that he's a man, that he doesn't need to be forced into surgery to prove it, that this act doesn't define who he is. But that doesn't matter, because that's not what society thinks.
"Dear Society" as a title doesn't just function as the gimmick phrase to open chapters with, representing Kanesho's own frustrations with the world. The manga itself is a letter to society, its themes are ones that are imploring its readers to understand why these issues need to be changed.
Which is why I think the fact that his transition didn't fix everything is important, because the issue was never him. The trans stuff is really depicted in a way that's both representative and informative in a lot of aspects, and I have no idea if the mangaka has had some sort of experience in this regard or if they're just well researched, that's not really important though because that's not what the story is about.
The story is about asking you, the reader, to change the way you view gender roles and bianries. About what it means to be a man or woman. About asking society at large to change how it defines people. It's a small letter to society.
not exactly a full comic or anything but considering it's been 2 years since i've touched this au i think this warrants some fanfare. new coliseum au content everyone come get your content
(sequentially this would take place directly after the sword-claim scene in part 4. don't expect any more elaboration on this ever btw)
I feel like society forgets that we progress a lot slower than we think because of how unevolved so many peoples mindsets are. like people used to say that in 2022 we would be flying around in fucking saucers and shit. instead we’re overturning roe v wade and role playing the 1900’s
Shoutout to all the other adults who have acne or any other condition of the skin that you are expected to outgrow or "just deal with."
Adulthood isn't this magical time where everything just disappears, and the reality is that these skin conditions are largely genetic. It isn't your fault (nor your skin's fault) that you are an adult with different skin than other people. In fact, it's neutral (and even, dare I say, good!).