Forum - View topicTrans and Gender Non-Conforming Anime Characters.
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all-tsun-and-no-dere
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 660 |
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1 in 1000 babies are born visibly intersex. XXY occurs at a similar rate, and XYY is about half of that. That's not "vanishingly rare". |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
 Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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Plus I hope most can agree going into scientific details about an anime character's chromosomal makeup is never necessary. Not just because they are not an actual being but because none of this is probably going through the creator's head when writing or drawing this series.
They would also prefer to just have the occasional trans character or one whos gender expression is ambiguous or mixed. Maybe in the setting, uniform standards for students are optional or the characters themselves aren't as policing of gender conformity as some of us in the real world. And these characters don't need an explanation or backstory about it every time, just let them exist and enjoy a refreshing level of tolerance and diversity that is sorely lacking in our everyday lives. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15580 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Anime is probably more likely to have blood type be important, as if people with specific blood types do have a certain personality trait. Or things like zodiac signs. Something probably invisible until the rare opportunity of a bio mentioning something, and mostly just tropes. Most bios are probably going to give a gender, even if the creator is treating sex and gender as a synonym.
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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Hey Dusky, I just want to say I really appreciate your frequent updates about recent shows with trans and enby characters. I think many others appreciate it too, but it needs to be said (not that feeling appreciated is why you do it). I really wish I had the time to watch all those shows you mention, and better yet find other characters to add to your expansive and growing list.
For those who aren't so passionate for LGBTQ topics in their anime (yet), I think what you do is helping to increase acceptance for trans and gender non-conforming characters as well as the fans who are too. Personally, I do enjoy those gender-benders leaning into more silly or ecchi tropes but that's just me. But like I mentioned in another thread, maybe those can still exist while being less disrespectful to LGBTQ sensibilities because the appropriate feedback seems to be reaching artists, writers and directors. So overall it's win-win for everybody, I hope. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15580 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I too can enjoy the silly or ecchi character tropes, while also possibly identifying them as not very PC.
For instance, last season's The Dungeon of Black Company had Ranga, who fit the general trope of looking like a girl while saying they are a boy. They were very much a part of that otokonoko trope where an anime tries to have its cake and eat it too where Ranga was used as sort of fanservice, while meant to be a joke that they are having a male character in that role. I still enjoyed the character, despite understanding that he was being used with some possibly weird reason for why he would crossdress and being extra flirtatious. And understanding that perhaps under a different circumstance his dress and such might mean a preference to identify as a girl. I do kind of wish that I had some more recent likely AFAB/transmasc characters. I don't know if I missed them or something. |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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I generally justify making silly and ecchi situations out of deviations in gender and sexual norms because if there's one place to do it, it's anime and manga. However the expectations from the LGBTQ community in regards to otokonoko, transformations to the opposite sex or portrayal of gender non-conforming characters are often more demanding than necessary. I think if a main character is a boy who crossdresses for whatever reason, there ALSO needs to be some specific context pointing to transgender issues, like a backstory or that kind of dialog involving parents, teachers and friends. If not, and the show instead goes into a bit of not so PC fun, I don't make a big deal about it. I just don't see the point to warrant an LGBTQ critique every time. Ecchi and fanservice is not for everybody but just because that fanservice may involve an otokonoko, why attack it for inaccurate portrayal of transwomen when it never claimed to be in the first place?
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Thoughtless1
Posts: 2 |
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When I look at Najimi Osama, I'm seeing non-binary, under either the gender-fluid or transfeminine subcategories. They go by either she/herhers or he/him/his pronouns, consistently wears articles of of clothing from both sides of the binary clothing ailes, but always has a traditional feminine haircut and style. If one noted what she even wore to the pool, it was a female bathing suit top and gender- neutral denim shorts, not fully committing to either gender's stereotypical pool attire. Yet, they planned on changing in the women's changing room until redirected to the men's dressing room, but didn't fret over it.
That behavior falls under gender-fluid or trans-feminine behavior to me, which are both non-binary identities. I would've preferred they told us their preferred pronouns and identity, because guessing on behavior alone is not my prefered way of assessing gender. IRL, I'd be directly asking Najimi Osama their pronouns so I could honor their choice. |
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Piglet the Grate
 Posts: 799 Location: North America |
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I get the impression that the ambiguity of what Najimi Osama is being a deliberate plot device of Komi Can't Communicate. Are there indications to the contrary (in either the anime or the manga)? |
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AmpersandsUnited
Posts: 633 |
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Up to the current chapter in the manga there isn't. Najimi is the typical "unknown gender" type of character in Japanese media like Crona or Hideyoshi. Their gender is purposely ambiguous for the sake of jokes, fanservice, and mystery. If they're ever asked directly, they dodge the question or flip flop depending on the scenario that's most convenient. The only real thing that might be evidence is the multiple times Tadano keeps stopping Najimi from entering the girls restrooms/changing rooms. Whether he knows Najimi is a guy or he's just doing it "just in case" is never really said. I doubt we'll ever get a confirmation since the point of these kinds of characters is the thrill of ambiguity. |
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Nom De Plume De Fanboy
Exempt from Grammar Rules
Posts: 638 Location: inland US west, pretty rural |
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In the anime, I went back and checked ep2, and Najimi specifically says, "I'm a girl!". Followed, though, with Tadano immediately observing, "In junior high you always wore a guy's uniform." I agree that the ambiguity is part of the show's comedy, so we will probably never get anything closer to a confirmation. |
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Beltane70
 Posts: 3980 |
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Later, in that very same episode, one of Najimi's classmates from their old school confesses and asks to go out with them. Najimi rejects him saying, "That's impossible, I'm a boy!", leaving us no closer to Najimi's gender than when we started. |
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Nom De Plume De Fanboy
Exempt from Grammar Rules
Posts: 638 Location: inland US west, pretty rural |
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^True dat. I forgot about that.
All we really know is that Najimi is quite the comic trickster. 
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15580 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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The three genders. 
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Piglet the Grate
Posts: 799 Location: North America |
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J.R.R. Tolkien wrote of the origin of Tom Bombadil "some things should remain a mystery". It could well be that we are never intended to know what Najimi Osama is underneath (both literally and figuratively). The mangaka may not have decided this, and might not have any plans to do so. |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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If forming impressions and perceptions of anime characters is comparable to that of actual people, then its ok to respect how they present themselves. In other words its both futile and excessively nosy to speculate the sex assigned at birth of Najimi and similarly gender ambiguous characters. I'm not saying its wrong to see this setup as a plot device, but it also doesn't hurt to love the character for who they are.
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