Holiday Review #12: TO STRIP THE FLESH

Yet again, if you want trans (particularly transmasc) representation in comics, manga remains the best place to find it and this year brought another fine example.

TO STRIP THE FLESH (Toda Oto Tanpenshu Niku wo Hagu), by Oto Toda.  First published in 2020 and first published in North America in 2022.

PLOT:

Chiaki has known he was trans since he was a kid, but for years he felt beholden to his late mother's wishes and his dad's misunderstandings.  The only way he and his dad can connect is through working on his dad's hunting Youtube channel, even if it's only to do the butchering while the livestream ogles his chest.  It's only when Chiaki's dad is diagnosed with cancer that Chiaki finally takes action and the two of them are forced to reflect and reconnect.

STORY:

Admittedly, much of the marketing around To Strip the Flesh doesn't make it clear that this is actually an anthology, a collection of various short stories Toda has done.  In fairness, that's because they wisely chose to focus on the longest and most compelling one, the one that gives this collection its title.  It's the part that was the most personal for Toda (who is himself trans) and features the most intriguing visuals.  There's one sequence in particular that first caught my eye: a dream sequence where Chiaki has his breasts and uterus cut from him in the same calm, no-nonsense fashion one might field-dress a deer.  It's a pretty potent visual metaphor and perhaps it's not a complete surprise to learn that it came from Todo's own dreams and teenage ideations.  

Even beyond that, it's just a compelling and intimate family drama.  Chiaki's dad carries a lot of hang-ups that older folks have about gender, particularly when it comes to something as traditionally masculine-coded as hunting.  But he does genuinely care for Chiaki, and Chiaki loves his dad so much that he's willing to basically put his gender transition on hold and enter into a fake marriage because he thinks it would make his parents happy and because they would never understand his real gender identity.  Thankfully that's not the case - if anything, it's the frankness of the conversation around his dad's cancer diagnosis and refusal of chemo that finally gives Chiaki the push he needs to commit to sex reassignment surgery.  In turn, it's after this point that Chiaki's dad finally comprehends Chiaki's true gender and the two can finally connect in full honesty, as father and son.

Of course, I did mention before this was an anthology.  Most of these stories are much more brief and lighthearted.  That includes Todo's debut story, a goofy little tale of a souvenir figure of Michaelangelo's David that adores his owner, and another about a mola mola getting rejected by a tiny little girl fish.  Others still manage a bit of bite for their length.  The most obvious example is "Hot Watermelon," the story of a delinquent teen who is frustrated with his mother's refusal to express her true feelings.  He learns just how deep her still waters run after a goofy internet spell involving watermelon seeds which includes one of the weirdest, most vivid metaphors for birth you will ever see.  Still, I'm glad that we get such a selection because it gives us a much clearer picture of Oto Toda as a creator, and it's one with a lot of promise.

ART:

Toda previously worked on both a Chihayafuru spinoff manga and as an assistant to Tatsuki Fujimoto while he was making Fire Punch, and you can definitely see those influences in his art.  There's a definite beauty and elegance to his characters, and they can emote with such subtlety.  Yet there's also a bit of grittiness and some weird, even surreal imagery that definitely feels akin to what Fujimoto would eventually do.  Thanks to including all those early shorts, you can see Toda's style and paneling evolve (even if it's not presented in any sort of chronological order).  It definitely makes me curious to see how much more he can go as an artist in the future.

PRESENTATION:

There's a really good traslated interview between Toda and another queer webcomic artist, Motogi.  It's very conversational in nature and we learn just as much about Motogi (whose work is thus far unpublished in English) as we do about Toda.  This is on top of the usual things like author's notes, translation notes, and a few 4-komas.

RATING:

To Strip the Flesh makes a hell of an impression in how it looks, how it handles tone shifts, and how gracefully and powerfully it handles its queer content.  It's a must-read, regardless of your gender identity.

This book is published by Viz.  It is currently in print.

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