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pastelkerstin 's review for:
Love Me for Who I Am, Vol. 5
by Kata Konayama
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
This volume has pacing issues for sure. Volume four brought up so many things that had to be resolved that the conclusion feels a bit rushed. But it is a good ending. Except for the fact that Sakura's eating disorder is never acknowledged? She seems to be eating normally again in this volume, but it's weird how it's just not addressed at all.
Overall I think this manga series does a good job of showing the importance of community and queer solidarity in a heteronormative and cisnormative world. There are good explorations of internalised homophobia and external queerphobia in this. Mogumo's nonbinary identity is affirmed unambiguously by the narrative and with the current state of LGBT+ rep in manga that is groundbreaking. The fact that there are three trans women/girls in the recurring cast and a nonbinary protagonist and a minor trans man character in this volume is wild (in a good way!). I've never seen this many non-cis characters in one manga before. Trans men and nonbinary characters especially tend to be really rare and what's there in terms of rep of trans women is often really bad. So although this series isn't perfect, I think it's a good step in the direction of better LGBTQIA+ rep in manga. I really liked these characters and I hope to see more like them in the future.
Overall I think this manga series does a good job of showing the importance of community and queer solidarity in a heteronormative and cisnormative world. There are good explorations of internalised homophobia and external queerphobia in this. Mogumo's nonbinary identity is affirmed unambiguously by the narrative and with the current state of LGBT+ rep in manga that is groundbreaking. The fact that there are three trans women/girls in the recurring cast and a nonbinary protagonist and a minor trans man character in this volume is wild (in a good way!). I've never seen this many non-cis characters in one manga before. Trans men and nonbinary characters especially tend to be really rare and what's there in terms of rep of trans women is often really bad. So although this series isn't perfect, I think it's a good step in the direction of better LGBTQIA+ rep in manga. I really liked these characters and I hope to see more like them in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Dysphoria
Attempted self-mutilation, knives, misgendering, dysfunctional family