Lex's manga / #Transgender(16)

Mishima, a student at a school in the countryside, is bullied by his classmates. The reason is because he's seemingly gay. In reality, Mishima does like guys so he doesn't resist their bullying, and instead, finds solace in secretly cross-dressing. One day on the rooftop, Mishima finds the lipstick he'd lost before in the hands of Kirino, one of the bullies... and Kirino was about to put on the lipstick that Mishima used on his own lips. This is the story of young boys looking for a place they can really be themselves. ---------- Such a rollercoaster of emotions. The MCs are really relatable. I feel so sad about Kirino's character's ending. Seeing how Kirino ended up choosing to put up appearances out of fear of causing (his) mother grief really broke my heart. It was hinted pretty heavily, that Kirino could be a transgender character (as the author included pretty strong hints that Kirino could have gender dysphoria: how the fact that Kirino's voice deepens over time, growing taller to the point of being the tallest in their grade, hands being more and more define, and most importantly how Kirino's in pain from seeing such changes, also how Kirino prefers to talk and be referred to in a feminine manner and wanting to "go to Shangri-La and be a woman"). I just feel so sad for this character, he was never able to reach acceptance, and ends up living a lie. As for Mishima's character, he was able to reach some sort of a peaceful ending, which makes me glad for him. I also liked Yumeno's character growth and how it was portrayed. Learning from the past and moving forward.

A bit lacking, but still one of the most accurate LGBT+ stories out there.