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X-Gender is an autobiographical manga quite literally split in two. Composed of two equal-length volumes, the two parts delineate two very different manga.

The first volume of X-Gender is a delightful look at the struggles of Asuka Miyazaki, who identifies as X-Gender, a non-binary identity. Asuka's personality and struggles are quite relatable and well delivered. There's a real charm to watching Asuka's struggles through navigating the precarious dating world around them. The manga also provides useful terminology and gives a good look at the LGBT scene in Japan.

The second volume of X-Gender is less of an autobiographical manga and more of a real-time blog of ... what's going on in Asuka's life, meaning the story gets much less focused. While volume 1 gives essentially no focus to Asuka struggling to come up with chapter material, it becomes a running plot-line in volume 2. The first chapter of the volume starts with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, effectively ending the chapters focusing on Asuka dating around, which was previously a highlight of the manga. Asuka's mental state seems to have taken a hit during this time period, as more chapters were focused on them talking about increasingly dark topics. Suicide, antinatalism, and euthanasia are all topics given entire chapters. The increasingly grim nature of the manga is quite jarring and makes it loose the charm and relatable nature it once had.

I can only recommend this manga on the basis of the first volume, but if you like it then I don't want to discourage you from continuing. There are good chapters to be found in volume 2, but they are unfortunately fewer and far between.

Gender is an often very difficult subject to breakdown, especially doing it in a manga non-fiction format, unlike academic circles that tackle the issue with assumed familiarity, or queer circles where people have been forced to examine the topic for a chance at self understanding. When it comes to non-fiction tackling of LGBT issues, it is quite easy to come across as preachy and is easy to fall into the same rote default framing. Something like "It's fine to be LGBT, we're normal, society should change to accept us". There is nothing inherently wrong with this, all three of these claims are correct. But correctness ... doesn't guarantee intrigue, and there's so much more to the experiences of LGBT people to gender as a concept that can be explored, so it's refreshing when you find a niche title that really scratches that itch.

Last Gender is an excellent exploration into the titular subject of gender and LGBT identities. It's an episodic manga that focuses on a sex bar accommodating of everyone, and through this bar you get to meet a whole host of different people on the gender and sexuality spectrum and their unique problems and character arcs. The manga does a great job of flowing through these character arcs naturally from one to the other, and the execution of them all can vary but I found all to be delightful and insightful, and some very emotionally charged. I consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable on the subject matter, but even I learned some things from reading. Most importantly, it is a deeper dive into the subject that I have read, and goes an excellent job at deconstructing gender into what it really is. For the purposes of keeping this review spoiler-free, I will not be elaborating on the conclusions reached, but one could write a full analysis of that far longer than this review.

I think a big deal of contention with this manga will probably come down to whether you find the dialogue and it's general direct approach to the subject matter to be appealing or not. I can accept that there will be some who find some parts to be cringy, too direct, and unsubtle. And there is an element of truth to is. The very first words of the manga are "Gender is a spectrum". While I think everyone should give the manga a try, if you disagree with that statement, you will probably not enjoy this manga, but you'll definitely learn a lot, regardless if it reaches you. If you agree but find it too forward, I urge you to look past it to enjoy the wonderful stories this manga has to tell.