X-Gender Vol. 01, by Asuka Miyazaki (Adult Manga)
X-Gender is the funny relatable adult gender and sexuality crisis read we've all be waiting for.
Story & Art by: Asuka Miyazaki; Translation: Kathryn Henzler; Adaption: Cae Hawksmoor; Lettering: Vanessa Satone; Publisher: Seven Seas
Content Advisory: This work contains graphic depictions of Sexual Content including discussions and depictions of Pornography. Moderate depictions of Mental Illness, Biphobia, Body Shaming, Dysphoria, Blood and Body Fluids. And minor depictions of Transphobia & Homophobia including internalised Homophobia and Transphobia and the Death of a Parent. And is recommended by the publisher for those aged 16 and above.
Review
X-Gender is the funny relatable adult gender and sexuality crisis read we've all been waiting for.
X-Gender is the messy, relatable, and raw feelings of the author Asuka Miyazaki as they explore their gender and sexuality for the first time in their thirties. With that comes a lot of raw and uncensored emotions. Opening on Asuka feeling betrayed when their friend K as she announces her marriage. Asuka's feelings toward K throughout the work are uncharitable and unkind as Asuka blames her for leaving them behind. But, this moment also spurs Asuka to explore their gender and sexuality in a way they never fully did with K.
Within this exploration Asuka discusses everything from dysphoria from periods, the disconnect from body and gender, pornography and the role the viewer takes in the work and how that shapes gender identity, and feeling not quite welcome in Lesbian spaces as someone in their thirties exploring their sexuality for the first time as well as being X-Gender.
Asuka is very much a cynic as well, which colours their experiences both interacting with others as well as in these meetups they go to find a female partner. And it really evident that this is also holding them back because they meet someone who could be considered the "perfect partner" at one of these meetups - a fellow x-gender masc nerd - and they don't end up pursuing this relationship because this person has a more positive view on life and would like to have kids. And much of this negativity is explained by the trauma the author has experienced throughout their life including the death of their father from cancer and the disconnect they feel from their AGAB. But, this cynicism gets in the way of them making connections with people outside of the small close friend group they already have.
And it's this messy and raw exploration of life as an X-Gender person trying to figure yourself out as an adult that makes X-Gender so relatable. Things aren't always going to work out in your favour, nor are you always going to be the kindest and most understanding person. And in the end, you're going to have to find the solution that works for you not what people expect of you. And I love that about this manga.
While I generally love this manga there are a few downsides, because this work is very episodic in nature while telling a single story, often it will hope around topics at the author’s whim. Some of the topics in the back half of the work while connected to the larger theme of the author’s gender and sexuality don't fit with the main narrative of the author trying to find a partner. And it feels like the author wanted to talk about this topic but didn't effectively incorporate it into the main narrative. For Example, there is a whole chapter about the author wanting to create a sapphic Little Mermaid retelling inspired by Esu era manga. But it is shoved in between them trying to find and reconnect with an old friend and a single page about their OCD. And personally, I would love to see a full manga or even series by the author with this concept pitch they included. But it does feel mostly disconnected from the story around it.
The other major drawback to this work is that there is a recurrent theme of Goldstar Lesbianism in this work. The author views lesbians like K who have relationships with men for whatever reason as less than those who only have had relationships with women. While the author is clearly trying to work through this. It is however a very prominent theme in the work which you should be aware of if you decide to pick up this work.
Overall, I enjoyed my read of X-Gender Vol. 01, by Asuka Miyazaki and will be picking up the next volume when it comes out later in 2023.