Jack 💜 reviewed Claudine by Riyoko Ikeda
Review of 'Claudine' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This is a weird one to review. This is a manga about a trans man created in 1979, and it was honestly more tactful than I expected it to be, but it’s still pretty old fashioned and has the usual antiquated attitudes towards trans identities that you’d expect. Really not a fan of how the narrator, a psychologist, continually misgenders Claudine despite being the only character who affirms his manhood. It makes me wonder if it’s a translation thing.
Honestly, my main criticisms aren’t even about the trans stuff though. The volume is short as hell, less than a hundred pages, yet it goes at a breakneck pace with zero time to catch its breath in-between plot points. We never really get to know Claudine at all outside of his romantic trysts.
I’d say you probably should read it as a historic piece, and Ikeda’s artwork is eternal eye candy. …
This is a weird one to review. This is a manga about a trans man created in 1979, and it was honestly more tactful than I expected it to be, but it’s still pretty old fashioned and has the usual antiquated attitudes towards trans identities that you’d expect. Really not a fan of how the narrator, a psychologist, continually misgenders Claudine despite being the only character who affirms his manhood. It makes me wonder if it’s a translation thing.
Honestly, my main criticisms aren’t even about the trans stuff though. The volume is short as hell, less than a hundred pages, yet it goes at a breakneck pace with zero time to catch its breath in-between plot points. We never really get to know Claudine at all outside of his romantic trysts.
I’d say you probably should read it as a historic piece, and Ikeda’s artwork is eternal eye candy. Claudine himself is handsome as all get out and honestly affirming even by his design. It’ll take you less than a hour to read, so why not?
