Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
ma1kawa11
Wandering Son, as the title implies, is at best irresponsible at representing transgender individuals. While I appreciate it does not sexualize transgender people in the way that the magical sex shift sub-genre does, this show is more insidious in its approach as it is at least trying to pretend as if it represents properly.
Wandering Son presents a particularly uniquely Japanese or Eastern version of transphobia. In the west you see people making media complaining more about biology or doing cringy 'debate bro' podcasts proving that they have little understanding of actual human biology, or shows that portray caricatures of gender nonconformity that I can only describe as a 'visual slur'. Wandering Son focuses less on this pseudo-biological argument to present a more social conforming on…
Read at the sourceCaptainKenshiro
Note: I will refer to the protagonist as a she, and the co-protagonist as a he.
I don’t know why I never got around to watch this short title, when I wanted to do it for years. Since I recently rewatched and reviewed Aoi Hana, another adaptation of the same mangaka, I decided to do the same with this one, and I have to say, it’s clearly a better title.
Coincidentally (or not), it has a similarly looking visual style, consistent artwork, seemingly purposely unfinished yet beautiful backgrounds, and this time, much more vivid and expressive motions, expressions and body language, making these characters feel more alive than the ones from that other show. It even has the same issues of having way too simple character designs which even look alike to others from the same series, and just li…
Read at the sourceRangerkip
What drew me towards this anime was the artwork and premise, it's a newer story coming from Japan, something that may stand out and possibly open a pathway for more similar styles of art and story. Taking all context from the story, and looking only at the plot, this series is very dry and repetitive.
Unfortunately it attempts a good meaning, but leaving the characters forgettable or confusing to tell apart from one another. Without the diversity, personality (other than being trans), and substance. Some may find it difficult to relate to many of the characters.
On the positive notes, beautiful artwork. I love the style, color palette, and clothing they present. The voice acting seems pleasant and subtitles also seem to flow nicely. I cannot fault a single artist in this creation.
Read at the sourcektulu007
Hourou Musuko is an anime from early 2011. It was released by AIC and based off of a manga by Shimura Takako. Who I know from her work on Aoi Hana. How does this one hold up? Let's find out.
Story:
The story of Hourou Musuko revolves around Nitori Shuuichi, a youngster who was born male but identifies as a girl. The anime explores her life as she and some of her closest friends struggle with issues of gender identity and sexuality.
The only real issue with the series, at least the anime version, is that it feels incomplete. There's a lot of setup with Shuuichi struggling with her identity and starting to figure things out, same with her friends Makoto and Takatsuki but when the series ends it still doesn't feel like we've had closure for any of it. Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting…
Read at the source9sayaka
~~SPOILERS~~
From what I'd heard of Hourou Musuko, I was expecting something great, a realistic and honest interpretation of transsexuality and the struggles that come with it. Despite my high expectations, I was still blown away by how well written and unique the series was.
The two main characters in this show, Nitori and Takatsuki, embark on an exodus of self discovery and grow tremendously as characters over the course of the series. Very real themes such as the social impact of crossdressing, the gradually building of confidence to wear what you want in public, and the consequences one's gender identity has on their friends and family, are things that the anime artfully portrays. In many ways, Nitori and Takatsuki had it easy, as both their family and friends were pretty accepting o…
Read at the sourceFlexySpagoot
[Spoilers]
I found Hourou Musuko to be overall pretty heartwarming. I personally found the story and characters pretty moving, and I found this to be a good watch. Since I am not somebody who deals with this sort of thing myself, I don't think I'm the most qualified to say whether it accurately portrays the topics it explores. But from what I've read from other people is that it does... mostly. I also personally found some of these things a bit weird myself, and since the entire show is about representing the confusing developmental journey transgender people go through, I think its quite fair for this review to focus on that.
The 2 main things I found weird about the representation was the part where Nitori goes to school dressed as a girl, and the lack of involvement in the story from…
Read at the sourceGallade0475
Wandering son is a beautiful story about transgender identity told through the eyes of an adolescent on the cusp of puberty. It’s tear jerking, emotional and tender.
The story is was admittedly a bit hard for me to follow but it was rather good. The characters were written in a way I thought was relatively realistic as well. The show stars Nitori, a trans girl, and Takatsuki, who is likely a trans boy (though being a deuteragonist their gender identity is somewhat less unclear) and the struggling journey they go through with gender identity crisis, puberty and middle school. It’s a rather comfy show with a nice art style, and despite being a drama, it manages to avoid any situation that feels comically over the top. It’s a very sweet show.
Admittedly though it’s not perfect. I got pretty…
Read at the sourceFewBreath
This Anime is something. It's something that can never reach the heights that the manga took, in my honest opinion this Anime is not a good adaptation to the manga at all. I used to think this was a good Anime in my first viewing, in fact, I thought it was a masterpiece. Due to my love for it I decidedly went to check out the manga, and oh boy it made me changed my mind
There's just so much in the manga, that the anime couldn't convey and it opened my eyes to the flaws of the anime. If you love this anime I would very consider checking the manga out, it completely blows the anime out of the water. The characters feel much more like-able and fleshed out in the manga. As the manga made me connect more with the characters.
Though the Anime is still a very good piece that I recommend anyone…
Read at the sourceArminMin
*Will have some spoilers*
I've wanted to watch this Anime for quite a long time and finally went through with it but I have to say .. I feel conflicted about it.
On one hand I can relate to a lot of things being brought up in the anime. Especially in the beginning (like the first 2 episodes) there's just a lot of relatable stuff going on, even tho it was kind of hard getting to know all these characters.. the introduction was a little too complicated imo.
Takatsuki was way more relatable to me than Nitori. Probably partly because I feel exactly like her, being born female and wanting to be male. But it's not only that really.
Nitori just felt kind of.. confusing at times. Both he and Takatsuki feel confused and try to find out what they truly want and it's pretty realistic that you ofte…
Read at the sourcemocris
Well I am watching the show a long while after it has been aired, yet I feel compelled to write a review.
After watching this show twice through, I can safely say that this show is criminally underwatched! The synopsis does a pretty good job of describing what it is and I must say that the show was excellently executed.
Story/ Characters:
With these kind of shows the story is centered around the characters and their emotions, their daily struggles of being different from society's expectations and them trying to fit in in an unknown world. It took only the 1st episode to get me hooked and the way the characters developed throughout the show was pretty awesome. The whole show felt really realistic and the way the other characters treat the protagonists is usually what would happen in real…
Read at the sourceConsumedAM
Genderqueer anime characters are commonly subjected to transphobic jokes and taunted as a freakish "other" who dare exhibit behaviors away from the norms of their sex. This is very much a reflection of the societal bigotry towards those who do not subscribe to the roles assigned to them by birth and choose to exercise their right to live according to their own desires.
Wandering Son is a direct counter to the queer phobic norms of its medium, providing an authentic account of young teenagers trying to make their outer appearance reflect what they feel inside, at the protest of peer outrage and their own hormonal changes. Tatsuki and Nitori are both experiencing gender dysphoria - an intense feeling of unease from identifying with the opposite sex and not being comfortable with one’s assig…
Read at the source88888888
Hourou Musuko (Wandering Son) is pretty much grounded in reality and is a believable display of transgender life. It manages to incorporate both support and discrimination of the lifestyle in a very subtle fashion that almost seems natural - a definite plus. I initially thought that the show was going to focus on cross-dressing only (since up to episode 3, that was the only transgender topic put in the spotlight), but as I watched more episodes, eventually they touched on more and more topics and it felt more complete that way. My gripe with the story lies with the lack of any true antagonist for the transgender view aside from the student body. If there is no true antagonist to the main character's point of view, then where is the conflict? I guess this is one of those instances wherein r…
Read at the sourceCGDCT_Enthusiast
A true masterpiece, very relatable.
Finally, a serious anime on crossdressing.
It is, from what I've heard about Japanese society, very realistic and it really shows how messed up and close-minded people in this world are.
I hope many people will come across this anime and realize this too. The world needs to change.
I’m so glad I found this anime and I will recommend this to everyone who asks for a good, serious anime.
Hourou Musuko is worth your time. If you don’t like it, well … I guess you don’t like it then.
This anime inspired me to listen to myself more and to accept who I am, I hope others will experience something similar to this too.
Read at the sourceArtrill
[9.0/10]
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Wandering Son blew me away. A series that could've easily harbored so many of the negative qualities I associate romance anime with, such as an overabundance of melodrama, love triangles, and boring characterization was utterly subverted throughout this short, eleven episode run-time. So much so that I honestly felt surprised throughout most of my watch-through. While there is a love triangle, while there is melodrama, although thankfully it is reigned in, the characterization is far from boring and the writer(s) do an impeccable job with keeping you on your toes. This series doesn't go where I thought it would, as it spends it's run-time making sure you experience a believable s…
Read at the sourceWerty800
*For this review, I'll be referring to the Nitori, Mako and Yuki as she, and Takatsuki as he*
*Spoilers for the first episode*
What's the point of Wandering Son? What is it trying to do? It clearly doesn't want to tell a complete, perfectly rounded story, seeing as it begins around volume five of the manga its based, and doesn't end where its source material does. If that's the case, then it's not the best manga promo as well, you aren't getting a good enough grip on the source material after all. So the question remains...
Well, Wandering Son feels like it was crafted to become a documentary instead of an adaptation. Beginning at the start of junior high, it closely follows a group of friends, all with complicated relationships and confusing lives. The main character - Nitori - is a tra…
Read at the sourcetroublesomeone
It's funny how, when you're surrounded by many somethings dreadful, as soon as you find anything remotely good it seems great. And then suddenly, you discover a masterpiece and you wish you could push the meagre 10/10 score higher, because it's just that good. That much a cut above the rest.
I didn't come at this show expecting anything in particular. It was mostly one of those, "Oh, that cover looks nice," kind of moments. First up, I need to say I don't especially understand the exact meaning of "LGBTA", "transgender" or all that. All humans are human, and emotions and feelings and identity are more confusing than a scrunched spider-web.
Yet it resonated with me, down to the heart. Personal experiences, memories and emotions came welling up, from that age. Every single character is rel…
Read at the sourceBig-Boss_X
Story (7/10):
Despite indulging in what some people might call a "controversial" topic the story of the anime was really quite the standard i mean if you actually remove the whole cross-dressing thing from the plot you will get exactly same plot as many other Drama anime out there.
One positive thing about the show is how it handled past event where hints or conversations gives and idea of what took place before instead of actually showing you what happened. This method was actually really well executed. Story telling and flashback are still there though
The romance followed the formula of a love trian.... well i am not really sure you can call it a triangle. Let's just say that there is alot of relationships were the MC is at the center off. Still the romance was not really a focus of the…
Read at the sourceneonmemes10000
Story (10/10):
As a cisgender male, I can confidently say that this story about gender exploration is fresh and intriguing. The struggles, both internally and externally (e.g. social issues), are well portrayed.
With these struggles coming from the perspective of middle schoolers, it's quite interesting, as it is still an uphill battle to reach maturity at this age. The lack of comprehension on complex gender issues definitely plays a role in the story.
Art (9/10):
Simplistic style, but the art is still great.
Sound (10/10): Opening and ending songs fit the theme of the anime quite nicely.
Enjoyment (10/10)
Overall (10/10)
Read at the sourcecatcupcakes
This was a show I decided to watch on a whim on a day where I didn't have much to do… it turned out to be a very good decision. It left a good impression on me, and after the second episode I just had to keep watching it straight through because it kept you wandering what would happen next, even if you knew the possibilities. I've read a few bl's here and there where a guy wants to be a girl and all kinds of drama unfolds. To be honest that's what attracted me to this show, but the reverse about the girl wanting to be a boy was also pretty interesting. I don't quite relate to her (Yoshino), but I've been around similar people so it's not strange to me at all. Personally, I think this is one of those "before its time" kind of series, where it might take a while for people to catch onto it a…
Read at the sourcempdissonance
When the theme of gender identity and transgender oppression is taken up in cinema or television, it is very rarely well executed. In the west, with a few exceptions, these works tend to be almost exclusively political, relying on somewhat shallow stock characters to focus on the political component of the topic at the expense of deep characterization and the personal nature of gender identity. At its worst, western writers use trans folks as tokens to prove how politically correct they are or, even more offensively, as a shallow form of comic relief. In Japanese anime, LGBT issues are often poorly handled as well. Though Japanese anime tends to not get as overly political as western treatments of the issue, they more often than not treat LGBT characters as some sort of spectacle, like in…
Read at the source
