History Manga / WanderingSon

The SliceOfLife tale of Takako Shimura's ''Wandering Son'' (''Hourou Musuko'' in Japanese) follows the lives of Shuuichi, Takatsuki, and those closest to them as they wrestle with their difficult struggle for identity. The milestones that come with adolescence, the day-to-day occurrences, and everything in between make up the plot while the dreams and secrets of the young cast create its drama.

An ElevenEpisodeAnime for the series started in January 2011. The {{manga}} has been licensed by Fantagraphics Books and has to be released in hardcover since June 2011.

* UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian:
** Saori Chiba, who converts out of guilt for her light treatment of Shuuichi's "crossdressing". Her attendance winds up being pretty poor, though.
** Fumiya is technically Christian but isn't very much of a practicing Christian from the looks of it.

* SkinshipGrope: Chizuru does this twice to Takatsuki. Neither occasion ends well. A random girl in the locker room of chapter 107 grabs Takatsuki's waist. One of the former examples doubled as a CrowningMomentOfFunny, in which Chizuru grabbed Takasuki's chest from behind after he had began binding his breasts. Chizuru's LargeHam reaction of surprise is quite priceless.

* AdaptationDistillation: The anime changed a few character elements. It also removed chapters, such as the sch vacation.

** Takatsuki apparently might have liked one of his male teachers.

* ArtEvolution: Quite apparent from volume 1 to volume 2. It's also quite noticeable if you compare the early volumes to the later volumes, as the style became much more detailed. {{Justified|Trope}} since time passed, and the main cast began puberty.

* ForcedOutOfTheCloset: Fumiya accidentally outs Nitori as being transgender, or at least someone who crossdresses, around her new middle school friends.

** This trope is used to support Takatsuki's masculinity. After infancy, he has always kept his hair short, and around age ten he chose to cut it to the standard length of most other boys his age. At one point he grows it out a bit at Saori's insistence that he can have longer hair and still be masculine, however he cuts it back immediately when he realizes she was manipulating him into being more feminine. In high school when he's left in isolation with Saori he lets his usual mop top cut grow out into a shag hair cut. [[spoiler: Him growing out his hair in high school is different from before, he lets it get longer than ever before as part of a questioning phase trying question the cause of his own gender dysphoria. He wants to answer the question of is he really a man, or if he "just hates being a girl" like Saori accused him of feeling. However the overwhelming positive reception, praise, and admiration he receives for presenting as female and a growing apathy in his own self create distress and confusion in him, making him unable to claim a masculine identity at this point]].

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Inverted with Takatsuki. Comparing to all the trans girls this series have (Nitori, Makoto, Yuki), he is the only trans boy out of them. [[spoiler: And in the end, he's not even sure if he's trans.]]

* IfItsYouItsOk:

** Also, see that page picture up there? Takatsuki is also the only one identifying as male out of them all.

** For Takatsuki himself, he really doesn't like his periods and his slowly growing breasts.

* ClingyJealousGirl: Saori Chiba shows signs of this, but Momoko's behavior toward Chizuru takes the cake.

* FragileFlower: Nitori.

** Inverted in the ''Manga/AoiHana'' anime, as Nitori appeared in a cameo.

* {{Transgender}}: Shuuichi, Takatsuki, Yuki, and Makoto.

** It's arguably this to ''Mizuiro Jidai''.

[-[[caption-width-right:287:From left to right: Saori Chiba, Makoto Ariga, Shuuichi Nitori, Chizuru Sarashina, Yoshino Takatsuki, and Kanako Sasa-]

Though they do not immediately know it, the two learn they have a shared secret: despite their natures, biologically they are the wrong sex. [[{{Transsexual}} Shuuichi dreams she could be a girl in society as she is in her heart, while Takatsuki wants to become a proper man]]. Eventually, both realize their true nature as much as they are able despite the adversity and shame they face. Shuuichi wears clothing belonging to her sister and given to her either by girls or Takatsuki. Takatsuki gets hold of his older brother's middle school uniform and goes in to town as a boy.

** A flashback that shows [[{{transsexual}} trans woman]] Yuki had her first NocturnalEmission at a school field trip as a child. She was embarrassed and confused but her future boyfriend Shiina didn't mention it when he caught her washing her underwear in the bathroom.

* IHaveNoSon: Yuki's parents come pretty close to this. (Well, also, they have no ''son'' now, but... you get the idea.) There's a side-story in a collection of one-shots by the manga-ka called ''He Said "I'm A Girl"'' that shows a bit about Yuki's past. She was scolded by her father for being on a TV show about transsexuality, but not disowned. Only her brother and her brother's wife are okay with Yuki's identity. Her mother chooses not to talk to (and possibly see) her, which in a sense, is worse than the father who is upfront about his disapproval.

** {{Transsexual}} CoolBigSis Yuki's birth name is "Hiroyuki".

* {{Transsexual}}: Shuuichi, Takatsuki, Yuki, and Makoto.

* AdaptationDistillation

* AmbiguouslyGay[=/=]AmbiguouslyBi: Several of the characters.

** Shuuichi has shown an interest in Anna and they are dating, but she may be bisexual because of possible feelings for Seya and Takatsuki.
** Chiba's obsession with Shuuichi is a fringe example. While Shuuichi is a she, and Chiba enjoys seeing her dressed as such, it is likely she(Chiba) has a hard time seeing her(Shuuichi) as such, [[spoiler:leading to much of her personal angst]]. Some fans see Chiba as AmbiguouslyGay due to her fetish for androgynous boys, to the point where she gets happy when dressing up Takatsuki (who she sees as a {{tomboy}}). Also due to the amount of FoeYay, and later friendship, between the two.

* ArtEvolution: Quite apparent from volume 1 to volume 2. Also quite noticeable if you compare the early volumes to the later volumes, as the style became more detailed. {{Justified|Trope}} since time is passing, and the main cast is either in, or entering, puberty. Also noticeable is the coloring changes. Some hair colors darkened while others changed completely after a few volumes. Compare the [[http://mangabookshelf.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/wandering-son-1.jpg first cover]] with the [[http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee12/nojay_photo/Odds%20and%20Sods/hourou-10.jpg tenth]].

** The gang goes to "Wcdonalds" in the anime. {{Averted}} in most other cases though, where the names are correct. Maho even mentions Starbucks once.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}:
** Chizuru, who has a rather... peculiar sense of humor.
** For a real-life example, the author of the manga, Takako Shimura. Many people would be surprised to learn that a sensitive issue like [[{{Transsexual}} transgenderism]] would be approached by someone who is essentially a CrazyCatLady who lives in what she believes to be a ''haunted house.''

** The covers tend to have Shuuichi in feminine clothing, while in-story she rarely gets to dress like that. Colors also tend to be off such as Maho having ''blonde'' hair on the dark cover of volume 1 (despite inside clearly showcasing her with brown, and her family having brown hair), and Anna having brown eyes in one volume when the inside showed her with her ([[ArtEvolution new]]) black eyes.

* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: The hair colors in the first three volumes were different for several characters. For example Takatsuki was a brunette instead of a raven and Shiina had blond hair instead of black hair.

* ElevenEpisodeAnime: Started airing in Japan on January 14, 2011. Twelve episodes, with one being Blu-Ray only[[note]]The last two episodes were made into one episode when aired on television, but the Blu-Ray cuts them in half again[[/note]]. It skipped the first several volumes and focused on the middle school portion, though ended before the characters hit high school.

* FreeRangeChildren

** An argument against this consensus is that what is used in the manga technically shouldn't control how the audience refers to them because we have more knowledge about them than other characters within the series, and even though they are still closeted there is no good excuse not to respect their proper genders when we have the information to know better, "getting the surgery" is not a factor when deciding if you should call someone by the correct pronouns.
*** But as readers we ''do'' see what's going on inside the characters' heads, and they don't think of themselves as other than their assigned gender but rather as ''wanting'' to be other than their assigned gender. You can argue that this is a limitation based on their social upbringing (and it definitely is), but if the use of pronouns is to reflect the way the characters consider themselves, then respecting their still-nascent understandings of their gender identity should also be important. If they are still using their assigned gender pronouns ''in their own thoughts'', then switching the pronouns to fit the Western understanding of how gender works can become an ethnocentric imposition. Regardless -- it's a tricky question, and very emotional for people who've been in Nitori and Takatsuki's situation.

** Maho shipped Shuuichi and Anna early on but later she switched camps, and wants them to break up.

* SpiritualSuccessor: It's arguably this to ''Mizuiro Jidai''. It can also be seen as one to an earlier manga by Shimura called ''Shikii no Juunin''

* WhamEpisode: Episode 9. For the manga chapter 31, chapter 32, chapter 54, chapter 63, chapter 66, and chapter 99 come to mind. Arguably chapter 116 and chapter 117 as well.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Less apparent than other examples, and more realistic, but still there. A common complaint about the manga is that the kids act "too" mature for ten through thirteen year olds. Although it's less about too mature and more about too aware, children who aren't trans tend not to overanalyze and philosophize about gender until they're older, while transkids feel the pressure sooner.

* TrueCompanions: Nitori and Takatsuki [[Spoiler:until high school where they slowly drift apart]].

** [[spoiler:Takatsuki]]. [[spoiler: Most of the manga presents her as a counterpart to trans girl Nitori and depicts her as a transgender boy.]] In high school the line starts to blur and ultimately [[spoiler:she]] comes to the conclusion [[spoiler:she would rather live as a girl]], though [[spoiler:she's]] still depicted as confused over [[spoiler:her]] gender. Considering the situations surrounding the revelation and the bittersweet way it's presented, fans are stumped. WordOfGod is that it's [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation up to the reader]] on whether they see them as trans or not.

* TrueCompanions: Nitori and Takatsuki.

* WhamEpisode: Episode 9. For the manga chapter 31, chapter 32, chapter 54, chapter 63, chapter 66, and chapter 99 come to mind.

* BittersweetEnding: The manga. On the plus side Nitori is going to transition soon, she's going to college, and she's [[spoiler:still dating Anna]]. Kanako is dating her grade school crush and Mako's end is rather ambiguous but still not negative. On the opposing side [[spoiler:Takatsuki's friendship with Nitori has diminished through the years, she has an unrequited love for her, and she is confused about no longer wanting to be a man.]]

* MistakenForCheating: This happens in chapter 12 when Yuki's boyfriend walks in when she's alone with Takatsuki, touching his face. This is despite the fact that Takatsuki is only around 10 or 11, so it makes her seem like she's a {{Shotacon}}. Though considering how Yuki's acted toward him in future chapters... This whole situation is rather complicated. [[spoiler:Yuki is a trans-woman who is attracted to the body and features of young girls, as they are things she always wanted for herself as a child but couldn't have. Takatsuki is a trans-boy, and is thus biologically female. Yuki did not know this at first but mistook him for simply being a regular boy but was attracted to his skin, which she mentions is smooth like a little girls. At the time the mistake scene occurred, whether she was about to do something or not is arguable. But given her behavior in a later chapter, after knowing Takatsuki's physical gender, not arguments seems a little weak.]]

* JapaneseChristian:

* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Later chapters have made most characters fit this. Originally everyone had BrownEyes, but now if you have black hair you're probably going to have black eyes. Brunettes have brown eyes.

* ShoutOut: Shuuichi is quite the fan of ''AnneOfGreenGables''.

* InformedFlaw: Mako can't pass apparently but she looks just as passable as Nitori does with short hair. Mako does have poor self-esteem and much of the criticism comes from herself though. * InMediasRes: The anime begins at volume 5 of the manga, when the cast enters junior high.

** Up until she began high school Maho slept in a bunk bed with her younger sibling. In an aversion to NoPeriodsPeriod, an early chapter showed her waking up in the night with bloody pajamas and sheets.

* InformedFlaw: Mako can't pass apparently but she looks just as passable as Nitori does with short hair. Mako does have poor self-esteem and much of the criticism comes from herself though.

* InMediasRes: The anime begins at volume 5 of the manga, when the cast enters junior high.

An ElevenEpisodeAnime for the series started in January 2011, and has since ended. Also, the {{manga}} has been licensed by Fantagraphics Books and has to be released in hardcover since June 2011.

* ElevenEpisodeAnime: Started airing in Japan on January 14, 2011. Twelve episodes, with one being Blu-Ray only[[note]]The last two episodes were made into one episode when aired on television, but the Blu-Ray cuts them in half again[[/note]].

* TechMarchesOn: The series is hit with this but it's barely noticeable and somewhat realistic. You can put off the reason why no one had cellphones for a while with them just being too young. The manga spans at least eight years. It's not absurd that in early middle school Takatsuki had a flip phone and in high school he had a touch screen. The anime subverts this by changing the scene where Nitori used a tape recorder with Mako to them using their cellphones.