My Brother's Husband: Volume I

Such a beautiful story with the best manga artwork that I have ever come across. Gengoroh Tagame is known for his erotic gay manga but this book is a departure from that genre. In this volume Gengoroh Tagame has produced a beautiful story that is suitable for all ages and one that conveys thoughtful messages about homosexuality and cross cultural understandings of same sex relationships. Yaichi is a single father bringing up his lively young daughter Kana. He lives a quiet life but this changes when his Canadian brother in law visits. Mike Flanagan was married to Ryoji, Yaichi's twin brother who has died. Mike is visiting Japan to help with his grief and to get to know something more of his dead husband's country, culture and family. Yaichi finds that he is forced to confront cultural differences as he tries his best to make Mike welcome. His is a journey of discovery, not just about cultural differences with regards to sexuality, but it is also a journey of discovering his deceased brother. Initially very formal and cautious, Yaichi is surprised and bewildered by his young daughter's acceptance and love of her new uncle Mike. As she comes to understand and accept same sex relationships and her new uncle with an open hearted and unquestioning love, Yaichi is challenged to do the same and to question his own attitudes towards his brother and also to life more generally. I thought this was such a touching book. It made me laugh out loud in places but the way the story deals with grief, family and love also made me think about the pain of rejection and isolation and struggles that people may encounter when they come out. The story also illustrates some cultural differences which aren't related to sexuality but help us to understand a bit more about Yaichi. I don't want to spoil the book, but Mike also touches the lives of other people in the neighbourhood in different ways and Yaichi also changes and learns from these encounters. The artwork is so clear and so well drawn and manga fans will enjoy that. The story is told through the artwork and the prose and it has a way of engaging the reader and holding their attention. I noticed that there are three volumes in the French version and so I hope that these two other volumes will also be translated into English. This is a beautiful story of love, grief, family and life and it is definitely a story that I will return to. I do hope Gengoroh Tagame will continue creating these all age stories.

I loved this book series and wish we got more. I loved how it felt so real and based on real life. I also like how it came from the eyes of a straight man trying to understand not only that gay people are just normal people but trying to better understand his brother. The story is cute and I like how it ends. I kind of feel like a perv for saying this but I wish Mike and Yaichi had some kind of kiss or something but that's just me being a perv. The story if amazing but it's not my favourite from Tagame. I would definitely recommend to new bl readers or even people that liked Manga and wanted to try something different.

I love it

Sweet slice of life that's heartwarming and saddening at parts. Volume doesn't reach a distinct end but I would be happy to read more.

I was expecting something fantastic going in to My Brother's Husband, but for it to turn out to be the most sincere, thoughtful, and socially conscious slice-of-life story I've ever read... it's beyond anything I ever imagined. A crucial read for anyone, anywhere.

Outstanding illustrations with a gently rolling storyline - great illustration of gay issues in Japanese culture. This is child friendly and great for discussion.

I honestly loved this, so much so I need volume 2 in my life now! The way this looks at cultural differences and understandings on such an important topic, as well as throwing in a child’s innocence into the mix, is just phenomenal. This had me tearing up at so many different points and will most likely sit with me forever.

Really a nice story about social evolution. Now I just can’t wait for the second part to be released... Loving all the characters in the story and how they naturally accept the idea of there’s more to love than boy meets girl. Totally recommended reading, maybe it seems a little bit too short but it’s more because it attracts you so bad. I would recommend this book to a lot of people who still think that everything has to be black or white without any gradients in between

Einzigartiger Manga, der einen Einblick in die japanische Gesellschaft und ihren Umgang mit Schwulen darstellt. Die zusammengewürfelte Familie um den Hauptcharakter Yoichi ist für japanische Verhältnisse ungewöhnlich und bringt lustige, aber auch nachdenkliche Momente mit sich. Die Darstellung eines alleinerziehenden Vaters ist (leider) aus japanischer Sicht eine Besonderheit, was die europäischen Leser vielleicht etwas überrascht. Die verschiedenen Ebenen (alleierziehender Vater, Verlust eines Bruders, ein Ausländer in der eigenen Familie, Homosexualität) der Geschichte werden elegant miteinander über die Hauptfigur (mit sehr glubwürdigem Innenleben) verknüpft. Ganz Manga-typisch werden die beliebtesten Speisen Japans sehr prominent dargestellt.

El manga es simplemente una preciosidad, muestra lo ridículo que son los prejuicios desde los ojos de una pequeña niña, a la vez que retrata muchos de los temas del mundo adulto en una sociedad tradicionalista como lo es la japonesa, mostrando de manera sutil la discriminación que muchas de las tradiciones y creencias imponen sobre la gente a través del prejuicio. Sin duda alguna es un manga recomendable para enseñárselo a personas hetero que es en realidad su público.

Me ha gustado mucho, lectura rápida, ilustrativa y con buen mensaje. Quiero leerme ya el siguiente volumen y saber la continuación de la historia!

Really beautiful, so many touching moments. A lovely story of grief, family and acceptance. It touches on real issues and doesn't sugar coat the main character's reluctance to confront his own biases.

Esse livro é uma das coisas mais lindas que já consumi. Uma história linda, que mostra como as pessoas hetero podem abrir suas mentes e aceitar as pessoas como elas são, sejam seus parentes, amigos ou desconhecidos. A história é cativante, explica muita coisa que os heteros podem não entender no começo ao acompanhar uma pessoa que está aprendendo a entender o seu preconceito nato e racionalizar que muita coisa que nos foi ensinada pela geração anterior deve ser revista. Um bela narrativa capaz de formador pessoas mais sensatas e reduzir preconceitos. Leitura ótima para qualquer orientação sexual, principalmente para os homens cis.