Today's title was not just a powerful story about a trans teen, but also one of the most anticipated and critically acclaimed titles of the year, manga or otherwise.
BOYS RUN THE RIOT (Boizu Ran za Raiotto), by Keito Gaku. First published in 2020 and first published in North America in 2021.
PLOT:
Ryo Watari is a teenage trans boy unable to confide in anyone: not his classmates, not his best friend/crush Chika, not even his own mother. The only time he doesn't feel miserable is when he dresses up in his favorite street clothes and gets to look like the boy he wants to be. It's during one of those outings that he runs into Jin Sato, the tough kid who's repeating the grade. Jin soon takes Ryo under his wing in the hopes of creating a fashion brand that allows them both to express themselves as they see fit.
STORY:
I'm a cis woman, so I absolutely cannot speak as any sort of authority on how well Boys Run the Riot captures the experience of being a trans guy. That's not my place because it's not my experience to share. Someone who can do just that is Keito Gaku, and that's part of what makes this manga so powerful.
Gaku is trans himself, so there is no doubt that he drew upon his own experiences for Ryo's own life. He's internalized not only his dysmorphia but also all the gender-related teasing and loss of friends in junior high. It's coagulated into a toxic mix of paranoia, despair, and even jealousy at those who can draw attention without fear. He's very much trapped in his own head and you'd have to be an unfeeling monster to not feel for him in the slightest
That's what makes it so satisfying to watch him open up to Jin. Jin might not be what people might picture what an ideal ally looks like, but he's precisely what Ryo needs. Jin's dream of a fashion line gives Ryo both a distraction from the everyday hell of high school as well as a well-needed outlet for expression. Jin's openness about his dream, acceptance of Ryo's gender without question, and willingness to attract attention to keep it off of Ryo helps to ease Ryo's trust issues. Together they even manage to inspire some others. Good mentorship seems to be something of a theme here, as Gaku reserves a lot of his judgement for teachers who are too selfish to properly mentor their charges and kids who bully their own friends for daring to stand out. Yet there is still hope to be found here as Ryo and Jin's brand gets off the ground and Gaku writes about in a way that makes it compelling and raw.
ART:
Gaku is fascinated by eyes. His characters are pretty ordinary-looking and his paneling is straightforward, but that just draws the reader's attention to them all the more. The characters are frequently drawn head-on, making the characters appear to stare you down in an almost confrontational fashion. It's through his eyes that you can trace Ryo's emotional growth, as his gaze changes from tense and evasive to bright and confident. The most visually radical quality about the art is the graffiti-inspired art that Ryo and Jin create. There's one piece in particular at the end of the first chapter that is particularly striking in both style and how it visualizes how Ryo is feeling.
PRESENTATION:
There's an excellent interview with Keito Gaku alongside the usual translation notes. The questions are very insightful towards Gaku's motivation to create this series as well as how queer audiences in Japan and abroad have reacted to the series.
It also should be noted that not only is the mangaka trans, but (as we learn from the editor's afterword) all of the adaptive staff who worked on this release were themselves trans, nonbinary, or both. It's proof of how much effort Kodansha put into this release to ensure that the material was handled with both great quality and great sensitivity.
RATING:
This series is published by Kodansha Comics. This series is complete in Japan with 4 volumes available. All 4 volumes have been published and are currently in print.
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