finally got both volumes of the largely-untranslated yuri rap-battle manga Catcher in the Rhyme in Japanese, and got to the fabled trans girl character. I'm still sorta getting my bearings and figuring out what the vibes are, but so far I'm pretty optimistic.
her name is Harutsuki Utsugi; she shows up at the very end of chapter 2 to join the rap battle club as their fourth member, following the founding members Ren and Anzu, and our socially awkward protagonist Takatsuji Satsuki. chapter 3 is all about her getting started with the club. the opening pages:
Utsugi: "I'm Harutsuki Utsugi, I'm classmates with Takatsuji-san. It's nice to meet you!"
Ren: "Wooo! Member #4!"
Anzu: "She's so pretty! <3"
Utsugi: [nervously] "So... I'm actually..."
Utsugi: "... In the family registry, I'm listed as 'male'."
Others: ".........."
Others: "EEEEEEEEEEHHH?!"
Anzu: "You're so cute!"
Utsugi: [awkward smile] "....."
Ren: "Oh, right, I heard about this! Starting this year, Numazu Girls' School lets transgender girls enroll too! They said we're the first school in the country!"
Anzu: "Ooh, wow!"
Ren: "Couldn't tell at all from looking at you! <3"
[Utsugi silently gives a dead-eyed stare]
Ren: "Actually, hey, Satsuki, you're in the same class, how come you didn't know either?"
Satsuki: "Wah, I, I'm sorry..."
[Utsugi is back to her awkward smile]
Anzu: "Can I call you Utsugi-chan?"
Utsugi: ".... Yeah..." [smiling more wholeheartedly now] "I'd love that!"
Anzu: "Let's teach Utsugi-chan how to rap!"
Utsugi: "I hope I can do okay..."
Anzu: "We'll start off with the classic: practice rhyming stuff with your name! 'Utsugi'!"
Utsugi: "Hmmmm... Oh!"
Utsugi: [cheerfully] [[pretend I translated this so it rhymes with Utsugi]] "Sicko! Breeding!"
Utsugi is weird and pervy, but she's a weird pervy girl, and she fits right in with the rest of this group of weirdos; like Ren, who has zero filter and is constantly striking other people's nerves, and Satsuki, who instinctively comes up with rhymes about blood and rotting corpses.
as the chapter continues, Satsuki also starts rhyming about scissoring – bonding with Utsugi, and leaving Ren and Anzu with no clue what they're talking about. after school lets out, Ren and Anzu bike home, leaving the two of them to walk to the train station together. they talk more about their respective anxieties, and Utsugi tells Satsuki she really admired the impromptu public rap performance she gave earlier that day; Utsugi wants to feel more comfortable with her own voice, and be able to shout "I'm a girl!" out to the world in that same way. we end on the two of them coming up with more sex rhymes and weirding out the other passengers in their train car.
so yeah, definitely a lot better than what I'm used to seeing! we've got solid, sympathetic, unambiguous explicit representation, everyone gets to be weird and messy, and the storytelling so far feels respectful where it counts.
