Review by freckled_frog_boi - Kitchen

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freckled_frog_boi 's review for:

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I loved the writing style and how she described simple moments was absolutely delicious to read. However, the writing surrounding trans characters was uncomfortable. The characters love their friends who are trans women, but choose deliberately to out them, make jokes at their expense... just constantly reminding themselves and others that they are "still men". The trans women themselves are beautiful and I wished they were treated better. Also, there is a weird phenomenon where trans-ness is treated like mental decline when faced with grief(?) which was weird and unsettling.

I wonder if the translation changed anything important in those aspects? Something to think about.

Content Warnings