I Want to be a Wall Vol. 1

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Read more about the condition New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. It was never a satisfying answer that I was just fine watching anime, writing fanfic, and spending time with friends. There are two pages of helpful translation notes at the end, explaining terms like OTP, doujinshi event and allusions to popular series like Prince of Table Tennis. There is potential though, so I might try a second volume if I see it at my library, but I won't be actively seeking it out. But as his childhood friend Sousuke arrives to offer his congratulations, she recognizes that she’s now party to and part of a one-sided real life BL relationship.

But at the end of the day, I am still a body in transition, ducking behind the walls I need, veiling myself in labels and identities that help me move through the world. I Want To Be A Wall (わたしは壁になりたい Watashi wa Kabe ni Naritai) is a Slice of Life manga by Honami Shirono, which was serialized in B-Log's Cheek from 2019 to 2023. But this year, I turned thirty: I beat the odds, tread water just enough that my thirtieth birthday—a day filled with painting pottery, crisp, hot fried fish and chips, and very few tears—came and passed, heralding me towards thirty-one next year, thirty-two the year after, and so many more numbers than I ever imagined. It became a daydream, a constant companion as I edited book after book, white noise that drowned out any semblance of happiness. And it does go immediately backfire: Yuriko is faced with ridicule and is all but laughed out the room.While Yukiko and Gakutouta have their own reasons for getting married to each other, they also take the time to try to be their best selves for the person they’re with. They have given me courage beyond measure to make this decision, and have stood next to me as my name evolved this year. Her academic work focuses on how buildings and landscapes aid or impede the learning of culture by children.

I've been informed that this is likely a translation thing that they don't seperate aromanticism and asexuality, but Yuriko IS aroace, there is no denying it. This Yen Press trade paperback edition is ably translated by Emma Schumacker with lettering by Alexis Eckerman. The jokier aspects of this story tend to fall flatter than a possum on the interstate during Labour Day weekend, however.Unfortunately for Gakurouta, it's entirely one-sided since Sousuke is straight, and has had multiple girlfriends in the time they've known each other while Gakurouta remains silent about his own feelings. What I love about this is that this scene appears in the first chapter and then again almost 100 pages later. And while my recent discovery that I am, indeed, agender, matters here, there was something about I Want To Be a Wall that drew me in more, something about how it parsed the narrative of just trying to find your place in society. From recent comments by mangaka Honami Shirono online, the third volume might be the final one for this manga but as yet it hasn’t been published in Japan.

Also, a bonus chapter in which Gakurouta reads a tragic BL novel that Yuriko accidentally leaves lying around - this made me wish Yuriko would just give in and provide Gakurouta with a curated pile of BL novels with happy endings. I don’t usually quote from publisher’s blurbs, especially when the volume concerned hasn’t yet been published, but my feeling that we needed much more backstory in this volume is obviously going to be addressed in Volume 2 (due out January 2023).As much as it’s not great for them to be forced to be married each other, it is so sweet that they get along with each other! Although they’re now living in the same house and sharing cooking and other household chores, the couple maybe don’t yet know as much about each other as they thought. Bad enough to be misgendered when I look in the mirror and see a boi with a rubenesque body and beautiful Black features that are markedly unfeminine and are, in my eyes, strikingly androgynous and very agender. My only real complaint is that, like a LOT of media discussing asexuality, the story states that asexuality is a lack of sexual and/or romantic attraction, which isn't true. His stance with a clenched fist and the action lines, demonstrates his determination to be the best husband he can for Yuriko (his wife).