Hourou Musuko

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: The Transient Son

Japanese: 放浪息子

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 15

Chapters: 123

Status: Finished

Published: Nov 12, 2002 to Jul 12, 2013

Genres: Drama, Romance

Theme: School

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Comic Beam

Authors: Shimura, Takako (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.21¹ (scored by 9,392 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #425²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #624

Members: 30,862

Favorites: 1,308

Resources

Wikipedia

8.21

Ranked #425Popularity #624Members 30,862

MangaComic BeamShimura, Takako (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /15

Chapters: /123

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Synopsis

Shuuichi Nitori is a 5th grade student who likes to bake and has always been something of a feminine boy. When he transfers to a new school, Shuuichi is mistaken for his 6th grade sister on his first day. Then he ends up sitting next to Yoshino Takatsuki, a tall, boyish girl who everyone calls "Takatsuki-kun." They both have secrets they can't let anyone know...

The series deals with issues such as being transgender, gender identity, and the beginning of puberty.

(Source: Kotonoha, edited)

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Background

Hourou Musuko was selected as a recommended work in the manga division by the jury in the 10th and 17th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2006 and 2013 respectively. It was also nominated for the 2012 Great Graphic Novels for Teens list by the Young Adult Library Services Association.

The series has been published in English as Wandering Son by Fantagraphic Books in hardcover format since July 5, 2011.

Hourou Musuko received an 11-episode anime adaptation which aired in 2011.

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Characters

Nitori, Shuuichi

Main

Takatsuki, Yoshino

Main

Chiba, Saori

Main

Ariga, Makoto

Main

Suehiro, Anna

Supporting

Yoshida, Hiroyuki

Supporting

Sarashina, Chizuru

Supporting

Nitori, Maho

Supporting

Sasa, Kanako

Supporting

Doi, Shinpei

Supporting

Reviews

Oct 17, 2023

Liljonzen

Recommended

Being completely honest I almost dropped this. After reading almost 60 chapters it felt like there was little progress made, and now that I'm done, I'm really glad I didn't drop it. The story (Without major spoiling, I hate spoilers) is about a girl who wants to be a guy, and a guy who wants to be a girl. As the story progresses they start to unravel their true feelings and what the desire. To truly understand this story, you kinda have to take your time to really understand the characters. Unlike some other story's almost all side characters have a lot of depth written ...

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Apr 10, 2023

dadaroma

Mixed Feelings

Ah idk, im not gonna talk about how accurate this is from a trans point of view since im not trans, but im not cis either (and afab while at it) so it still left a bad after taste in my mouth. I'll talk about more general things instead.
First off, it seems this manga suffers from the very same thing most manga about trans characters written by cisgender people suffer, which is a very dragging negativity. Not to say hardships aren't part of what comes with existing as someone out of the binary gender, but now that there's more trans authors coming forth with their ...

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Jan 26, 2025

Nyaarlothotep

Not Recommended

At the core of Wandering Son lies a deep tragedy - Shuuichi Nitori wants to be a girl, and Yoshino Tatatsuki wants to be a boy, but the older they get, the farther their bodies drift from how they wish to present themselves. The march of time becomes a source of intense suffering for our protagonists, an omnipresent thread of depression constantly following the two as they slowly but surely transition from childhood to adulthood. It's not really the kind of thing I normally read, but as someone who enjoys sad stories it seemed like it was worth a shot.

If the story was able to ... hold a focus on that, it could have easily been a 9/10 or even a 10/10. Unfortunately, it rapidly becomes bogged down by the introduction of over a dozen side characters, most of which have their own subplots that are often tangentially connected to the main characters at best. The initial love triangle soon morphs into more of a love dodecahedron, and the pacing of the story slows to a crawl as it seems to devote fewer and fewer pages to its initial concept.

Yoshino's story is hit particularly hard by this. Despite being presumably the deuteragonist of the manga, the character's struggles end up buried amongst all the side stories, and the related chapters begin to feel more like a distant and fragmented part of Shuu's life than a full examination of Yoshino's. It's a real shame, because the most touching moments in the story involve the duo playing off each other, the shared aspects of their sorrow throwing a spotlight on the differing ways that it has affected their lives.

In some ways, this missed opportunity is more saddening than what the story shows us of the main plot's central conflict. The beginning of the story shows a lot of promise, very quickly establishing the pain Shuuichi and Yoshino are experiencing in a way that even someone who has not struggled with their gender identity can empathize with. Watching Shuuichi stare longingly at a pretty dress hanging just out of reach, or seeing Yoshino react with elation after being hit on by a woman in public are where the manga really is at its best, but scenes like those grow farther and farther apart as each new character is introduced to the plot. The art, while mostly serviceable, begins to struggle to differentiate many of these characters, and as the story progresses it sometimes becomes a challenge to remember whether a character in the panel is a newly introduced background character or an established one who just happened to be the focus of an earlier subplot that wasn't particularly memorable.

In the end, Wandering Son ends up as a story that is much better in concept than execution. It brings a forward both a unique and interesting perspective on the experience of growing up, but struggles to express that perspective in a clear and concise way. I did enjoy many of the lighthearted slice-of-life moments, and appreciated the attempt to create a balanced perspective on the ups and downs of getting older rather than being a non-stop barrage of pain. Still, I feel like the story would have benefited immensely from keeping a tighter focus on the two main characters, and slimming down the cast to a relatively small amount of supporting characters for the pair to play off of.

In the end, I don't think I would really recommend the manga. At its best, it is an intensely touching story about characters who do their best to seek happiness despite that search often requiring them to struggle against forces completely out of their control. At its worst, it is a confused attempt to tell many stories at once without giving any of them the necessary attention required to do so effectively. If the concept interests you, go ahead and read it - it's not like there are many other options for this type of story in the manga sphere (at least with regards to the ones that have been translated into English). However, in the end, despite some good emotional moments, it ends up a confused mess with an author that seems to have little idea what kind of story they would like to write.

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Recent News

Manga 'Hourou Musuko' to End Next Chapter

It was announced that in the next issue of "Gekkan Comic Beam", to be published on July 12th, manga "Hourou Musuko" will have its last chapter. The manga started ser...read more

Jun 12, 2013 1:07 AM by symbv | Discuss (23 comments)

Shimura Takako's Manga Hourou Musuko To Be Animated

According to Monthly Comic Beam April issue, Shimura Takako's manga Hourou Musuko was announced to get an anime adaptation. The volume 10 of the manga will be r...read more

Mar 11, 2010 3:13 AM by dtshyk | Discuss (62 comments)

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Poll: Hourou Musuko Chapter 123 Discussion makimaki - Jul 21, 2013	30 replies	by Shikkakku »» Aug 7, 2023 7:11 AM
Poll: Hourou Musuko Chapter 122 Discussion Shikkakku - Aug 7, 2023	0 replies	by Shikkakku »» Aug 7, 2023 6:42 AM
Poll: Hourou Musuko Chapter 121 Discussion alxk1237 - Jun 9, 2013	7 replies	by Shikkakku »» Aug 7, 2023 6:35 AM
Poll: Hourou Musuko Chapter 120 Discussion Zekkenshin - May 18, 2014	2 replies	by Shikkakku »» Aug 7, 2023 6:28 AM
Poll: Hourou Musuko Chapter 119 Discussion AlexGK - Mar 26, 2013	6 replies	by Shikkakku »» Aug 7, 2023 6:22 AM

Hourou Musuko
Wandering Son
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