alexandrine19 - 2015-09-20 14:06:59

Hourou Musuko takes a fairly realistic approach in discussing the inherently difficult subject of identity and sexuality. The anime, unlike popular media, does so in a tasteful manner through the eyes of the main character Shuichi Nitori. 

-Story-
Overall, the story presents itself well. The seemingly slow pace is deceiving as, this work skillfully weaves in lots of story elements. It presents the troubles that transgender people encounter in society and presents well the emotional effects to themselves and those surrounding them. As I said in the opening, the anime (and source material) is very realistic in portraying these topics. 

As this anime takes only a sectional look at the source material, some of the story is lost through flash back. I don't mean lost in the sense it was not included, but in the sense that us as the audience does not have time to build the relationships with the characters. This can lead to confusion. 

While this anime does not fall directly into the category of romance, the romantic elements demonstrates the implications of some of the decisions made by the characters and their struggle for acceptance.  

-Animation- 
The faded water color like aesthetic is beautiful fitting for the story that it tells. The background filled subtle actions that really makes the piece a great piece of art. 

-Sound- 
The voice acting really carries the characters and works very well towards the story. Beyond the acting some of the diegetic sounds were slightly distracting, namely the foot steps.

Music wise, the soundtrack is relatively mundane compared to the other categories. However, the opening theme was, in my opinion, slightly too hard with the voice slightly too abrasive in contrast to the overall feel of the show, pulling the audience from the scenes presented before it.

-Character-
The characters are wonderfully crafted, each with depth, personality, and emotions. The progression of the characters, especially Nitori and Tatatsuki, allows the audience an in depth view of emotional journey and hardships of being transgender. 

-Enjoyment- 
Hourou Musuko delivers the true slice of life anime that the I signed up for. While I initially felt the anime was slow paced, in retrospect, I feel that it perfectly delivers and controls the flow of information. This allowed me to connect with the characters and fully experience what this story had to offer. 

aurelia93 - 2015-02-09 13:04:20

Possibly one of the most saddest, beautiful, heart-breaking animes I've seen in a long time. I found out about this anime when I started to go away from watching anime and the last one I've seen was Kashimashi. That saying, I fell quickly in love with this anime seeing how the story and setting is a lot similar to, but actually greater than, Kashimashi. It plays the same, it acts the same, the set of characters are the same as well. Yet, Wondering Son had it's own little topic to touch on and that is a lot more relatable than just turning into a girl and not having to deal with the bs people give you for being transgender. While this anime touches on that as well but is more realistic about it-- being a young boy who dresses like a girl and has to deal with middle schoolers and family bsing on that. It's a beautiful anime that had me crying on every episode. 

casimer.mayert - 2013-11-17 04:16:29

Wandering Son is a beautiful representation of what transgender children often go through growing up, from both sides (FtM and MtF). The characters are well-written and the events, although distracting at times, are true to middle school life. The soft colors and animation compliment the endearing children and their plot. Highly recommended for anyone interested in a sympathetic show about trans* characters or simply looking for a worth-while, cute slice of life anime.

chadd.tromp - 2013-08-13 16:07:44

Transsexualism is a topic that never gets attention in western TV, radio or any other medium. For the most time it gets branded as gross and that those people are somewhat weird. For me personally it stands at the same point as Homosexuality, being a part of the society, we have to accept the people as they are and not see them as anything less than we are (that is only my opinion though and I can’t force that on anyone!). The Anime that I want to talk about today, is an Anime that deals with exactly that topic, but in a way that most other shows don’t. It does it in a way, that neither supports random fanservice, nor any inappropriate humor about the transsexuals themselves, but in a very mature way and leaves behind a quite bitter taste about what exactly those kids have to encounter. Hourou Musuko, adapted from the Manga by Shimura Takako, the same author that wrote Aoi Hana, is an Anime that is able to portrait the feelings of a minority in a beautiful way and really makes you think about such a difficult topic.

Story: There is not much story to this show, as it has no overarching plotline whatsoever, with it being pure Slice of Life, but rather shows how kids deal with different situations and most important puberty.
The basic plot revolves around Nitori Shuuichi, a shy boy, that wants to be a girl and likes to dress up as such and Takatsuki Yoshino, a boyish girl, that wants to be a boy and likes to dress as such either. They get to know each other in 5th grade (elementary school), as Nitori transfers to that school and they get friends quickly. Not only them though, as others get to know Nitori well too, but only Takatsuki and another girl, Chiba Sayori, know his secret of being transgender. As they get into middle school, they are in the same class again and meet many other girls and boys that they get friends with. From here on we have all the Slice of Life stuff going on and it basically depicts Nitori and his friends going through a bunch of stuff.
As I said, the plot is really simple and nothing outstanding at all. While we have quite some things going on, most noticeable a love triangle which pretty much must be one of the best that I have seen up to date, but still it stays rather simple. In my opinion though, this is what helps the show a lot to get it’s message across and while the story is simple that in no way means it is bad, it is just not the driving force for this Anime.
7.2

Characters: The characters in in Hourou Musuko are to keep it short, fantastic.
The first character I want to talk about is our main protagonist, Nitori Shuuichi. He is a shy boy, that actually wants to become a girl and from the first episode on he is a really likeable character. He has to go through a lot and even though he is something that after normal standards is labeled as weird, the viewer doesn’t think so in any way (at least I didn’t)
The second character is Takatsuki Yoshino, a boyish girl that actually wishes she was born as a boy. She hates everything about cute clothes and things that are similar to that. She also acts a lot more boyish than Nitori does.
The last main character is Chiba Sayorin, a really quite girl, that at first doesn’t seem to have any feelings at all, except her love for Nitori that she confesses quite early and which is the reason for a lot of tension between some of the characters. She is the one that is mostly the least relateable to at first but becomes a lot better character later on.
The supporting cast of the show might be one of the strongest I have seen so far. It features many character archetypes, but done in ways that make them really interesting and I loved more than one character in there.
You might have realized that I left further characterization out for now, that is due to the point that I can actually say things about the whole cast. Every single character in this show is relatealble! No kidding! I myself am not transgender and I could perfectly feel for either Takatsuki and Nitori as they went through there struggles and could perfectly feel for everyone, as they slowly start to realize that puberty is coming. Along to that, everyone in the cast acts a lot more realistic than in other Anime and Manga and even though the author seems to be a bit idealistic at times with some of the characters accepting things really fast, he shows that this is not the case in other scenes. I really thought that the whole cast of main AND supporting characters was just amazingly well done. I loved every single interaction, loved to see how they acted and was interested in every single development and character type the show presented. That is a sign of a truly great character cast and I only know few shows that made me feel that way. Huge praise for this show’s characters as it stands to me as one of the stronger Anime Casts out there, if not one of the best.
9.2

Art: The Art of Hourou Musuko is a little different from other Anime, as it is drawn in a style that resembles watercoloring. Seeing that artstyle, put me off at first, but later really compliments the story. The show was animated by AIC, which are also responsible for shows like Acchi Kocchi, and from an Animation standpoint, it looks quite good. The Animation is pretty fluent and the coloring and lighting looks pretty good. While this will not give you eyegasms or blind you by it’s sheer beauty, what it does is complement the show a lot and while I have seen better things in this regard, it certainly is above average. The character designs are nothing out of the ordinary as they look quite typical for an Anime while using a little bit of moe but not making it overkill.
7.9

Sound: The show’s Soundtrack was composed by Kosaki Satoru who also did the music for shows like the Monogatari Series, the Haruhi Shows and OreImo. The Soundtrack is for the most part really quite, using a lot of piano. This quite parts resembles the show’s feel really well as it is for the most part not a happy go lucky show, but quite often asks about deep questions and shows that being transgender is not easy. The Opening is something that is a bit of a downside to the music, as it doesn’t fit the show really well. While the music scores quite good, the visuals for this one are rather poor and have almost no animation. The ending theme on the other hand though, fits the show amazingly well and while the visuals are only a running style thing, this is almost unskippable as it fits so perfectly that I fell in love with the song only by watching this Anime.
8.5

In total, this Anime that may not please everyone, due to the topic presented, but if you plan on leaving this aside just due to the Crossdressing and Transsexualism portrayed in this Anime, than I beg you to think it over again. This Anime does not only portray those themes, but also shows the going through puberty that everyone goes through once in his life. You could say that this is not an Anime about Crossdressing and Transsexualism only, but rather an Anime about acceptance. Acceptance for those who aren’t exactly “normal” to the standards of today’s society. Hourou Musuko portrays all this in a way that is simply beautiful, featuring one of the strongest character casts that I have seen so far and making people think about this topic. That is what makes this Anime as good as it is and that’s why it really should not be missed!
As I calculated all the Scores that I gave this Anime (Story, Characters, Art, Sound and my personal enjoyment), I got to a score of 8.44/10.
Right now this Anime has been licensed in America by Aniplex and is available to buy there. The Manga also has been brought over there by Fantagraphic Books. It is available for legal Streaming on Crunchyroll, if you happen to live in a country from which it is accessible.
With that I hope I could help you and I’ll see you next time!

jledner - 2013-03-15 15:51:42

[Based on episodes 1-6 of the anime.]Story/Characters: 7/10 of 10If you are in the market for a touching story with a lot of emotion and drama, this could be the show for you this season. If you are looking for action, fan service, or comedy, look elsewhere. (There are plenty of options!) For those of you familiar with the manga, you might want to know that the story appears to pick up in the middle. The manga starts when they are in 5th grade, but the anime starts on the first day of middle school. A lot of the history that is under the bridge for our two protagonists is presented via flashback sequences that bring us up to speed on where the characters have been and how they got where they are today.The biggest knock on the show is that it doesn't really have any plot. It is completely slice-of-life drama. There is not anything to drive the story. It just brings you along to watch as these youngsters learn about themselves and the world around them. In my opinion, that is a minor flaw at best, as the writing and the pacing of the show is such that you really get a good emotional feel for the characters, and that is the real payoff in this showAnother possible complaint is that it is hard to follow. The show does not stop to explain anything to you about any of the characters, and there are a whole lot of them! (This can also be viewed as a strength, as it shows that the creators have enough respect for the viewer to let them figure out the story on their own without spoon-feeding it to them. Frankly, too much expository material can ruin slice-of-life stories, as they then turn into lectures and lose the natural feel that makes them enjoyable in the first place.) Frequently, I find myself uncertain of who is who early in an episode, but as the show has gone on, that happens less often. And that is a good thing, because the characters are one of the real strengths of the show! They are well-rounded, fully vibrant characters with quirks and nuances that make them come to life in your mind. The one thing that might strike some as false is the unnatural maturity of some of these middle school age kids, but being the father of a middle school boy who is active in things like scholastic bowl and orchestra, I can say that I don't find them that unnaturally mature. (In the event that he reads this review, I have to add that I am, of course, referring to his wonderfully mature friends, not him! LOL! ;)Art: 10 of 10Another strength of the series is the art. Looking like moving watercolor paintings, every detail is lovingly drawn to elicit the mood the story requires. The backgrounds and characters are exquisitely done. The only criticism I have is that some of the characters are a bit too similar to each other, but I think that is more of a problem with the lack of explanation of who is who than with the art. After a few episodes, I was able to distinguish the characters well enough, except when you aren't supposed to be able to! (There is a character that appears very differently than they had earlier in one of the episodes, and I think you are supposed to be a bit confused until their name is said.)From what I understand, the soft watercolors and washed-out backgrounds emulate the style of the manga, which has been referred to as "minimalist" in its artistic style. That carries through to the anime, with the art having wonderful detail, but no more or less than is absolutely needed. It never feels like there is too much to see to truly appreciate a scene, but at the same time, each scene is rich enough to convey its message without the viewer feeling there is anything missing. The emotional impact of the images themselves is considerable. The art is impressive!Music and Sound Effects: 10 of 10The OP for the show ("Itsudatte." by Daisuke) is strong, bringing the viewer into the story with just the right mood, but where the music really shines is the excellent ED ("For You" by Rie Fu). The song has the ability to elicit tears all on its own, with a keen sense of longing and devotion, yet an uplifting and optimistic feeling as the song progresses. The spartan animation, consisting of Shūichi walking along stoically on a blank background, then having his movement become more animated and girlish when the music returns to the chorus and the air is filled with cherry blossoms.The music inside the episodes is very understated and well done. It knows when to emphasize the mood and when to remain in the background for support, but it also knows when to go away entirely and let the awkward silence or the natural background sounds fill the space, cementing the mood in that situation as well.Overall Enjoyment: 10 of 10This is a fantastic show. It is heartfelt and warm, with great respect for its characters and the viewers ability to understand the story with minimal expository material. It may not be my favorite of the season, as there are shows that are more "fun" in the moment and more stimulating. However, in the long run I expect that it will rank among my favorite shows of all time and I will probably buy the BluRay and watch it time and again when I am in the mood for some deep character drama. There are many places to go to get a good romantic comedy or a nice suspenseful action show or even a raunchy, fan service laden ecchi fest. There are very few sources for exquisite art combined with rich character drama and deep emotion, and Wandering Son is one. (OK, any movie by Makoto Shinkai qualifies, and that is why I ordered the DVD of "5 Centimeters Per Second" the other day, but I digress…)