The Spring 2021 Manga Guide

Boys Run the Riot

What's It About? 

High schooler Ryuu knows he's transgender. But he doesn't have anyone to confide in about the confusion he feels. He can't tell his best friend, who he's secretly got a crush on, and he can't tell his mom, who's constantly asking why Ryuu is always “dressing like a boy.” He certainly can't tell Jin, the new transfer student who looks like just another bully. The only time Ryuu feels at ease is when he's wearing his favorite clothes. Then, and only then, the world melts away, and he can be his true self. One day, while out shopping, Ryuu sees an unexpected sight: Jin. The kid who looked so tough in class is shopping for the same clothes that Ryuu loves. And Jin offers Ryuu a proposal: to start their own brand and create apparel to help everyone feel comfortable in their skin. At last, Ryuu has someone he can open up to–and the journey ahead might finally give him a way to express himself to everyone else.

Boys Run the Riot is drawn and scripted by Keito Gaku and Kodansha has released the first volume in print for $12.99

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Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

I can only speak about Boys Run the Riot from second-hand experience. Transgender isn't my particular branch of the LGBTQIA+ tree. But even if this book isn't about my lived experiences personally, it is still remarkable in how it captures what it means to not fit in, whether that's with your classmates, your family, your friends (or "friends"), or even with yourself. Nothing shows this like the image lead character Ryo paints on a wall at the end of the first chapter: a picture of a boy emerging from the unzipped back of a high school girl in uniform. The image has connotations of coming out, both in terms of queer identity and of emerging from a chrysalis, and it perfectly captures the struggle the characters are facing. Ryo may have created it as an expression of his trans identity, but it could easily be shorthand for the volume in its entirety.

The story follows Ryo, a transgender boy. He hasn't come out to anyone when the story opens, and he's struggling to figure out why he knows he's male in a body that says otherwise. (At one point we see him consulting a book about LGBTQIA+ identities, which refers to being transgender as a mental illness. Translation notes confirm that it's still referred to as a disorder in Japan.) He gets by as best he can, spending the school day in his gym clothes, but it's clear that he's conflicted and unhappy with the way he feels he has to interact with the rest of the world, which insists that he's female. This begins to change at least a little when a new student joins the class. Jin was held back a year, is academically unmotivated, but has dreams of starting a fashion brand – and he wants Ryo to do it with him. He's seen Ryo's graffiti art and is a fan, and when Ryo tearfully and angrily tells Jin that he's a boy, Jin accepts him. It's Jin's willingness to say that Ryo's identity has value and is real that helps to move Ryo in the direction of working with Jin and branching out. He's still vulnerable, and reminders that others still see him as a girl are painful, but over the course of the volume he starts to realize that he doesn't have to be what everyone insists he is, which allows him to start reaching out to others.

It should be stated that you don't need to be trans or queer to enjoy this book. Although it is about a trans protagonist and does deal with some of the things he's facing in his life (as of this volume he's only out to one person), and it is written by a trans creator, it's more about learning that the old saying about the nail that sticks up being hammered down doesn't have to dictate your life. You find what you love and build a life around that, and if that means being the square peg that doesn't fit in the round hole, that's fine. It may not be easy, but it's not wrong.

In some ways, Boys Run the Riot is a very traditional story. It's about finding your niche and being true to yourself, and that's certainly a prevalent theme in YA fiction, manga or otherwise. But it goes into a bit more depth and in a slightly different direction than most, and that may make it ring truer. It's worth reading to see how it does.

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Lynzee Loveridge

Rating:

Time to add another excellent manga to the pile! Boys Run the Riot is a trans youth story starring Ryo, who is struggling to be true to his gender identity while also not drawing too much attention to himself. His classmates already think he's a bit of a loner and Ryo's frustration is only eased during his time off where he can dress how he likes: in men's street fashion. When Ryo meets Jin, an older guy repeating a year of high school, he's taken by his unabashed confidence to simply be himself.

The first volume spends half of its pages getting readers into Ryo's head and understanding his insecurities. He doesn't feel that he's brave and is initially prone to behavior that might save his own skin at someone else's expense. Ryo loathes himself for it, even though it's necessary for his own social survival. It's when he begins collaborating with Jin on a streetwear brand that he starts thinking about how he really wants to express himself.

At its heart, Boys Run the Riot is a story about living authentically. Ryo learns that he doesn't have to keep all his anxieties about being transgender to himself. Likewise, a boy from the photography club finds the strength to embrace his own passion when he begins hanging out with Ryo and Shin. The group is marked as delinquents by their peers and some of the teachers, but by refusing to be hammered down they start to find their own individual freedom.

Also you get to see a snobby jerk kid get the SNOT beat out of him. 10/10 for throwing fists.

Keito Gaku draws from his own experience as a transgender person to create this story, although I also appreciate its expansive scope of growing up outside tradition. Anyone who once felt they were a square peg being smashed into a round hole will find joy in Ryo and Jin's enthusiasm. Also, I'd definitely wear their first shirt design.