Reviews

Wandering Son, Vol. 4 by Takako Shimura

crowyhead's review

5.0

I utterly loved this volume. The experiences of crushes and pre-teen angst rang SO completely true to me -- I completely loved the whole sequences of all the kids basically going spare because their hormones are out of control and they are angry or crying or full of confusing conflicting feelings all the time. I also really liked the artwork in this volume; for the first time I had zero problems telling one character from another or remembering anyone's names. Which might partly be because I'm now four books in, but I really feel like the art is more varied and the characters more individualized.

co32minus's review

1.0

Ok so up until now I thought the author was a trans person, but upon learning she's a cis woman who's also written a questionable series about lesbians, this whole thing reads like a sick fantasy about the "burden" of being a trans person. The first 2 books made me feel like there was going to be some resolution after painful experiences, but after the 3rd one (which was exceedingly uncomfortable) and this one, it just seems like Nitorin exists to afflict trauma upon. It's incredibly difficult to read this young trans girl getting repeatedly sexually harassed by a cis author. Shu's transness is defined on cis terms again and again and again, and it reeks of fetishization. Don't think I can stomach the rest.

mxmaggie__'s review

5.0

I love Wandering Son so much, I can't even.

m3pm4p's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

starnosedmole's review

2.0

It was nice to pal around with these characters again, but this volume was much lighter on character development and plot than the earlier books. Looking forward to reading the next volume nonetheless.

quinnster's review

3.0

So sad! Everyone's fighting and no one wants to make up! Shu & Yoshi are trying to be what they think they're supposed to be and neither of them are happy. Gah!

pussreboots's review

4.0

Whatever trouble I was having telling characters apart in Volume 3, didn't happen here. Maybe I was less distracted. Maybe it was my glasses (I wasn't wearing them with volume 3). Maybe there's a maturity in the artwork?

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2018/comments_09/wandering_son_volume_4.html

roseofbattle's review against another edition

2.0

The back cover copy is actually for volume 6 and not for volume 4. Anna's last name is misspelled multiple times (from volume 3 to this one, it's written as Seuhiro, Suehiro, and Hirosue). Some of my pages were cut incorrectly, and there were grammatical errors. Pretty bummed about the production quality on this volume.