Book 631: My Brother’s Husband, Volume 1 – Gengoroh Tagame

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this one with my only previous interaction with Gengoroh Tagame being through the book Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It. Was this going to be a super hot and heavy x-rated story? Was it going to be all about bulges and beefcakes? I mean look at the cover Yaichi and Mike are stacked.

I would’ve read it either way after some of the other super intense definitely x-rated manga I’ve read over the past few years. I was pleasantly surprised that this story is designed less for the erotica fans of Gengoroh Tagame, than for the general population that might like manga but might not understand LGBTQ+ individuals or even be homophobic (which I would’ve known if I read the blurb).

Short synopsis is that Mike comes to Japan to visit all of the places his deceased husband, Ryoji, talked about during their relationship. While in Japan he stays with Ryoji’s twin brother, Yaichi, and niece, Kana. Yaichi’s family is also a bit of an outlier in that he is divorced from his wife, Natsuki, who makes an appearance in the novels.

The story is one of acceptance and learning. Yaichi comes a long way in the two weeks covered by the two volumes, mostly by living with Mike and seeing him interact with others and more importantly with Kana and how easily she accepts Mike as family. Simple things like Mike hugging Kana hello or being super open and friendly with random people or more complex things like Kana’s friend’s mom avoiding Yaichi in the supermarket because of his gay brother-in-law.

The work overall is a commentary on where Japanese society is as a whole when it comes to homophobia (let’s be honest the focus is on one family and one gay man). There are instances where Kana’s friends can’t come over because of her gay uncle, there’s an instance where a teacher raises hell because of the gay Canadian uncle, and there are two instances one in the first and one in the second volume that speak volumes of the generational shift occurring in Japan.

The most touching piece to me was when one of Kana’s friend’s older brother, Kazuya, starts randomly appearing outside of their house to try and talk to Mike. He’s figured out that he’s gay but he doesn’t have any one to talk to about it. He’s been online and realized there are other gay people, but he doesn’t know any and he’s afraid of telling people because of the meanness of trolls online and the comments he’s heard from friends. This part of the story forces Yaichi to further confront his own concerns and worries about bucking societal norms and trends and is really touching on so many levels.

Volume one ends with Yaichi having a “nightmare” in that Kana is grown up and it’s her wedding day and instead of marrying a man, she’s marrying a woman. Volume 2 picks up right after this.

Recommendation: 100% yes. It’s a quick read and has such a powerful impact. If you know nothing about Japanese culture or manga it’s worth the read. There is a live action adaptation of this and I really want to see it, but I have no clue if it’s been dubbed in English or not.