Starting from the back

I’ve just finished reading the first volume of My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame. It is manga translated from the Japanese. For those not familiar with manga (like me) it is like a comic book or graphic novel – the story is told in cells with images of the people with dialogue bubbles. Except in manga the story is arranged right to left. One is instructed to turn the book over and start from the “back.”

The story centers on Yaichi. He’s a single father of Kana, an exuberant girl about age 8. About a decade before Yaichi’s twin brother Ryoji moved to Canada. Yaichi and Ryoji were close as boys but distance began to grow between them when Ryoji told his brother he is gay. In Canada Ryoji married Mike. A month before the story opens Ryoji died (we aren’t told the cause). Mike has now come to Japan to learn about Ryoji’s youth.

Kana, who didn’t know her father had a twin, is delighted to have an Uncle Mike. Most of the story is about Yaichi overcoming his homophobia. The scenes are simple and quiet, such as: Kana’s best friend says she can’t come over to meet Mike because her mother is worried about “negative influences.” A neighborhood teen comes to talk to Mike because the lad is gay, can’t tell anyone, and wants to meet a real gay person.

Though the book is thick there aren’t many words to a page and it is a quick read. I enjoyed it and will have to get volume 2.