Mona Lisa is an interesting case of a manga with a lot to say and a strange way of going about it, ultimately ending up with a message that is... bleak and dour to say the least.
Going into the manga knowing that it is about 'choosing' a gender with a person who is struggling to do as much, there is a lot that may appeal to a reader who is questioning or has questioned their own gender identity at any stage, as it initially did to me. There is a lot of character introspection with a focus on gender and sexuality that often times
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feels rather profound and affirming to those who have ever questioned. This is where the manga shines. However, if one was to go in looking for this validation, the further they would get to the ending the more disappointed they would likely become.
Despite the manga questioning what makes a girl a girl and what makes a guy a guy and coming to some sort of conclusion that ultimately the things that each gender 'like' are all rooted in societal norms, it remains rooted in its firm belief that one absolutely must choose and that, in choosing, you skew towards these social norms in some way. No one in this universe who has never found themselves naturally leaning one way or the other has lived past the age of twenty, all either deciding themselves and taking supplements to nudge their body in that direction, having that decision made for them, or committing suicide before they are forced to choose by their doctor. Knowing this, one can hear why the manga may be upsetting to some readers.
It is tragic in this way, the way that the protagonist ultimately has to choose. Or rather, they don't choose. The manga has no fixed ending, in fact, it has four different endings. These endings are split based on the gender the protagonist 'decides' to be and which of the two love interests (one male, one female) they decide to be with. It's an interesting decision but it is ultimately flawed in that it showcases that the manga feels as though it has written itself into a hole. It is, itself, indecisive. By making the reader pick their preferred ending, it makes it feel as though the protagonist is not getting a real say in their life. A life that for the entirety of the manga up until the final few, they didn't want to pick a gender for. There is no ending where the protagonist doesn't pick a gender. Even if they never picked one, their doctor would pick for them and force the change onto them. Or they would have committed suicide like their contemporaries. This is a sad reality that many who have questioned their gender or sexuality have been faced with and I imagine that the idea of a doctor deciding for them is especially something that would hit home for many intersex individuals. There is no reality, no future, where the protagonist decides to choose a gender and continue to still present as non-binary or something similar.
In the four endings given, there is not a single one in which the protagonist doesn't end up with one of the two love interests. How one feels about each of the love interests is up to themselves, of course. Both of the love interests are different but interesting and fleshed out yet it is the male love interest, Shiori, who ends up feeling rather lacking as a viable long term option. He spends the entire series too hung up on the protagonist's gender and his brother is the protagonist's gender doctor, even. He openly admits that he wants and is trying to force the protagonist to become a girl so they can be together. This is, of course, fine from a character writing standpoint. It is a character flaw and Shiori is a teenage boy who is explicitely shown and stated to be very hung up on the way society is and how it views gender. He doesn't want to stick out. The protagonist questions both love interests about whether either of them would still want to date them if they ended up the same gender as them. Ultimately, they both land on yes however Shiori is constantly hung up on this fact. He would still love the protagonist if he were male but he would never embrace it. In the ending in which this is the case, it is implied that he's still somewhat hung up on the fact but has mostly moved past it yet as an ending this doesn't feel earned or concrete as the reader doesn't get to see this growth due to the timeskip.
The female love interest, Ritsu, is somewhat similar yet completely different in execution. She also has hang ups about the protagonist's gender as someone who is in love with them, however, she never goes out of her way to invade the protagonist's privacy regarding the matter in the way that Shiori does and although she does try to influence the protagonist's gender too, she acknowledges that she did it and apologises to the protagonist. It is likely clear by this early stage that there is some bias here towards Ritsu and it would be best acknowledging that fact going forward. She is the most open towards the protagonist choosing to be the same gender as her and has much less hang ups on gender, which is clearly healthier for the protagonist considering that even towards the end they never truly want to choose. During the manga, there is a part in which the protagonist decides that in order to decide, they must experience things that are 'exclusively' female and 'exclusively' male. They find themselves enjoying themselves a lot with both activities, of course, which is where the protagonist comes to find that being a male actually puts more restrictions on them when it comes to how society will want them to act, as they wouldn't be able to take part in the feminine aspects of society that they enjoyed as a guy that they would as a girl, while they would still be able to enjoy the masculine aspects of society as a girl. For a character like the protagonist, this freedom of expression is important which is why personally it seems much more natural that they would choose to become female when forced to choose (not, as said before, that it is a good thing that they had to choose in the first place, but for the conceit of the story...). In the ending in which they are a same sex couple, Ritsu and the protagonist appear very genuine and taking into consideration the contents of the story, it feels as though it is the 'natural' ending that would have been planned. If that makes sense at all.
There is a lot to enjoy about this manga, is something that bears repeating. There are some interesting ideas that are explored and thrown around. The characters, despite everything, are good with complexities and depth that gets explored alongside their relationships to one another, especially in regards to the main trio. At one point, this was a manga I highly recommended to people and that was high in my rankings. I can no longer do so and it has dropped dramatically after how it ended. It was inevitable, really, based on the focus on having to choose between one or the other or having it forced upon the protagonist but it is a shame either way. They could have had the protagonist be non-binary. Choose one to satisfy the doctor yet not really choose. Continue to present neutrally. Or not choose. Become the first person to not choose and survive. Set a new precedent and show that there are exceptions and that not everyone has to conform. Or it could have simply ended on a cliffhanger, leaving the reader to fill in with what they want to happen. Did they choose? Did they not? In the end, however, none of this was the case. It feels wrong to give it a low score knowing how well written it is before the ending when it comes to its character dynamics especially, which is something I look for in manga over anything else - good character dynamics can save a terrible story, I find. And yet, something in me cannot forget the hope I had for the manga to truly say something about gender identity and non-binary identities. To even hint at them. In the end, I was left feeling disappointed and foolish to have even had that hope. Thinking about it even more, I feel as though it is especially cruel to intersex individuals. I cannot speak for them, of course, yet the whole situation is reminiscent. In good conscience, it is hard to give it a good score, and all of the points it gets even still feel tainted yet.
This all being said, as stated there are four endings with none in which the protagonist doesn't choose or doesn't have a love interest. These is no ending in which the protagonist is allowed to be who they are throughout the manga. Even in the preferred ending stated, there is a sense of wrongness. The protagonist only ever wants to choose because they don't want to die and they don't want a gender forced upon them by someone else. All they are doing, in the end, is forcing themself to choose the lesser of two evils. And I say two evils and not three because the third option is not an evil. It should be firmly stated here and now that of the options that people in the universe of this manga have (which are become a male, become a female, or die), dying is not an evil in this context and I say this because saying that it is would be doing a disservice to those who have felt that this was ever the only option for them. They are not evil for thinking it nor would they be evil for doing it. It is simply tragic, simply something forced upon them by society's pressures.
There is no in between, the manga tells its audience. You are male or you are female. If you feel as though you are anything other, that's alright, you'll grow out of it. Even if society has to force you to conform, you will choose one way or another. And if you don't, the future might as well not exist. It is an awful, tragic ending that, despite any intentions, feels harmful and damaging to its audience.
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Sep 24, 2024
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(Manga)
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Mona Lisa is an interesting case of a manga with a lot to say and a strange way of going about it, ultimately ending up with a message that is... bleak and dour to say the least.
Going into the manga knowing that it is about 'choosing' a gender with a person who is struggling to do as much, there is a lot that may appeal to a reader who is questioning or has questioned their own gender identity at any stage, as it initially did to me. There is a lot of character introspection with a focus on gender and sexuality that often times ... 
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(Manga)
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(Anime)
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