Half and Half

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Sheesh.First of all ,what a trainwreck.
The beginning is horribly transphobic (as if I didn't see that coming) ,but then the middle seemed kinda promising, I thought maybe hey,Hina will actually realise that you can love a trans person without being freaked the fuck out and possibly she'll stop misgendering her? The end fell flat on its ass ,even more than the beginning! Itsuki loved being a woman and you could see it throughout the whole 8 chapters but then at the end decided "oh well ,this girl sees me as a guy so might as well be ".
The one star is for the art ... ,which is awesome,but it can't make up for the horrible,horrible plot.
If you care about the LGBT community at all, I suggest you find a different manga.

'Half and Half' is a manga that doesn't know what it wants to be most of the time and derails itself spectacularly in the last 2 chapters. Most of it is a surface-level exploration of a cis woman (Hina) being attracted to the past male self of a transwoman (Itsuki), with Hina not knowing what to do about her feelings and how to approach the new Itsuki. The manga baits you into thinking it'll be a love story between the two, but it isn't; that it'll be about Itsuki's struggles as a transwoman in the conservative late 2000s Japanese society, but that's only a few ... lines here and there; that it'll be an in-depth look into gender identity and attraction, when it's... well, just read below.

Considering its topic, the manga contains a lot of transphobic sentiments towards Itsuki—which I take no issue with when it's coming from other characters, as it is expected; what I do take issue with is the way her character is handled. For a story centered on a transwoman, her perspective is constantly overridden by other people's who only refer to her as a "gay guy". If the mangaka was trying to point out that trans people deserve respect, having the rest of her characters refer to Itsuki as the wrong gender without any correction kind of nullifies her entire point, no matter the intent.

The ending is rancid, and the mangaka shot herself in the foot with it. So, let me get this straight: you write a story; 90% of it, a transwoman is explicitly attracted to men, and is happy to present as feminine. Then, you end that story with her deciding to date her cishet female friend and stop presenting as a woman. Somehow, against everything you established, this is a happy outcome. What am I missing here. Even if Itsuki can reconsider how she identifies and whom she dates...there's not enough of her perspective to indicate how such a radical change takes place. She barely has a voice when it counts, and ends up being more of a circus attraction than a character.

It's like the take-away from this manga is "OK sweetie, you've had your fun but summer's over and it's time to go back to normal". Then there's Hina accusing Itsuki of "playing with her feelings", when Itsuki tells her repeatedly that she can't give her what she wants and isn't attracted to women. There's this gross implication of Itsuki "tricking" Hina, when in reality Hina's too selfish to take "no" for an answer, refusing to accept that the person she was so hung up on 13 YEARS AGO (goddamn!) is no more.

The manga does have moments where characters broaden their perspectives and learn to accept modifications to their strict worldviews — sometimes it happens suspiciously fast and easily, even. The art is also great and appealing, and as piss-poor as the ending was, there were a few good moments such as the chapter featuring Marui, and Hina staying her tomboyish self despite being repeatedly told that she's "ugly" for not being typically girly-girl feminine. Too bad she couldn't extend the same consideration for Itsuki and let HER be her true self as well.

At First, I was like no way.... Gender Bender Manga? Not my cup of tea. But I had nothing else to do so I gave it a try anyways, besides the art caught my attention.

It was then at the first chapter that I said, " Hey, not bad at all. "

Then it was like, " HELL NO! THAT HAPPENED?!. "

And then it was, " NO!NO!NO! You do not get to break her heart!"

Then, " Aww... "

... Finally, " W-WHATTTT???? "


Until then I realized, hey this manga's quite good. No, scrap that! This manga's actually great! :D


It's not too long, and fits just right for romance seeking fans out there. Though I'm not a big fan though...


Give this manga a shot! Really! ^_^

It's quite lighthearted and not the typical type of shoujo manga there normally is!
ACTUALLY, IT'S GREAT!:D

Half and half is a manga, I stumbled upon while something good to read. At first, it doesn't look much interesting, but It would be wrong, if I decide it by just glancing.

Half and half is Nanami Mao, which centers the topic of homosexuality, in a typical shoujo way.
Hina is a young girl in her 20’s. She lives in the countryside and has had a really bad luck with boys. While she was with her boyfriend, she remembers her childhood memories or to be precise her first crush, Itsuki. Hina is a girl who is not so “girly”, so when she was taunted by ... others in the past, Itsuki was always there for her rescue. He promises to marry her, even if she is ugly.
A decade has passed, yet, Hina still has feelings for him. She goes to meet Istuki’s grandmother who is the neighbor and talks about Itsuki. Suddenly, a hot sexy lady interferes their talk- who is this hot woman? Itsuki?
After leaving the country side, Itsuki lives in the town and realizes his trans-sexuality that is- he is Gay. He believes he is a woman from inside and doesn’t shy off in showing it off. Due to his trans-gender problem, he is thrown out of the house, city and so he comes back to the countryside.
Will Hina accept Itsuki’s change? Will her feelings change? Will Itsuki revert back?
The story answers all these answers.

In mangas dealing with such topics, character development is something which needs to be good and acceptable. At first the characters are lovable, but somewhere I feel Hina to be way to kiddish. She is 20 and is still not in track with her “feeling of love”. Itsuki’s decision in the end is still confusing, but then again, it’s a manga, so maybe comparing it to real life is a bit harsh. Further you are introduced to characters who look promising, but sadly are not utilized or simply not given justice
Coming to the art, the manga is well drawn. It resembles the art of manga’s like high school debut or cat street. Itsuki as a woman is really hot, and his transformation look is acceptable in art. He does not transform into a 3rd person with makeup. The set, scenes and country-side look is really nicely done. The fashion is not so ultra modern, so it justifies the fact of being in the country side.

At first, this manga started off really nice. Its different but not original. If you are a shoujo fanatic, you’ll get to see similarities of the plot with mangas like lovely complex and Usotsuki lily. But then again transgender, as a comical romance, now that something new. In fact it hooked me up for an hour straight, but as you go in deep, there are flaws in the story… to pinpoint them, the ending is something which doesn’t convince you. But yet again, it depends on how you take.

Conclusion-
Half and Half is a typical shoujo manga outcome plot. It’s not original, but surely can be given a shot by shoujo fans. It’s a good time kill, but if you expect it to be serious about trans-gender topics, you may be a bit disappointed. If you’re in to light manga’s and not serious plots, then you should read this manga.

Status- Completed publishing and scanlating
Review by- Amberlight
Also for the club- Reviews for the unreviewed

This is one of those stories about trans people that focuses a lot on the experience of being AROUND a trans person more than on the experience of trans people. And that's valid. But it also means there's a lot of transphobia on purpose, so parts of it are uncomfortable to read. Nonetheless, there is a whole chapter in the middle that centers a trans character in a big way and that was probably my favorite part. The story's heart is in the right place, even if it can get a little awkward.

But, boy, can it get a little awkward. You see, the central conflict ... of the romance element is that Hina and Itsuki "can't be together" because Itsuki is a trans woman who loves men. Again, valid. But the way that Hina brings transphobia into things when she gets very upset over this rubs me the wrong way, even if it was an intentional foible. And then you might think that the process of the story will get Hina to come to terms with being OK dating a trans woman, but it doesn't really. She acknowledges that she would want to date Itsuki fairly early on and then when they do start to get together, Itsuki immediately becomes less feminine. I honestly think that the romance as written works. I was invested and I read the whole thing in a day, which is not exactly typical for me. However, I suspect the resolution of the romance would have worked better *if neither of them were queer*, and that's the problem.

Also didn't help that, at least in the scanlation I read, the trans characters were constantly misgendered. Obviously can't tell if that was intentional, but the translators should have corrected it or at the very least left a note explaining it.