My Brother's Husband, Volume 2 [omnibus]

The Publisher Says: The concluding volume in the story of Yaichi, his daughter Kana, and how their meeting Mike Flanagan--Yaichi's brother-in-law--changes their lives and perceptions of acceptance of homosexuality in their contemporary Japanese culture.

As Mike continues his journey of discovery concerning Ryoji's past, Yaichi gradually comes to understand that being gay is just another way of being human. And that, in many ways, remains a radical concept in Japan even today. In the meantime, the bond between Mike and young Kana grows ever stronger, and yet he is going to have to return to Canada soon--a fact that fills them both with impending heartbreak. But not before more than a few revelations come to light.

SECOND VOLUME IN SERIES show more BEGUN IN MY BROTHER'S HUSBAND vol. 1

My Review: Yaichi's gay twin, Ryuji, married Canadian bear Mike after emigrating to escape his repressive, hidebound culture. He promised, swore!, he would have his twin—his only remaining family—know Mike as his husband. Then, as is the way with sworn promises, Ryuji died. Mike, to make his dearly beloved husband's promise come true, visits Yaichi and his daughter Kana in their home.

We pick up the story in medias res, this being a two-volume omnibus edition of the manga. Yaichi, a lovely man (for legal purposes), has his most acute attack of the collywobbles yet. Mike mentions that it's possible Kana will be a lesbian. These two pages made me laugh so hard I almost choked:




Poor Yaichi! What's a traditional Japanese father to think? My daughter with a woman?! HEEELLLP!!!!

The rest of the story is Yaichi coming to value and care for Mike, whose love for his brother is strong. They've lost so much, they've got to come to peace with each other. Mike has no problem with this, since he's been out a long time; Yaichi finds himself saddened that he didn't try harder to connect with Ryuji while he was alive because now he can't. All while being a divorced custodial dad to a little girl. Who has fallen utterly in love with her big Canadian bear-uncle.

A very telling scene comes when Mike goes to Kana's school, to be met with hostility and suspicion. It's really amusing at first because Mike doesn't see it, but it becomes a major Thing between Yaichi and his inner demons. It provides Yaichi with a chance to work through what he thinks about Mike's gayness and what Japan as a whole thinks about gayness. The men resolve their desire to be close to each other over a look at Mike's photo album, including wedding pictures. Yaichi realizes how much he will miss Mike as he's about to leave, and Kana asks for a sworn promise that Mike will visit again, or she gets to come to Canada to visit Mike.

And now I venture into personal territory. My Young Gentleman Caller, Rob, is 34 (thirty-four) years younger than I am. We might as well be Canadian and Japanese, since I understand his culture about as well as he does mine. The Moon landing was 50 years ago. I remember it vividly. I had to YouTube footage for Rob, who had sort-of heard about it. His FATHER was born two years after it happened. So we both relate to the "...say what now?" moments between Yaichi and Mike.

We talked at some length about the way it feels to be so different from someone you care very much about, and how that puts strains on one's inner sense of peace and quiet. We both worry about the other's feelings being hurt when we're being our separate selves...we both worry about the way our beloved handles the need we have to be understood. Am I trying hard enough, too hard, do I even know what he means? And it was this manga that called that conversation into being.

If you don't read the series for any other reason, read it for that one. It is good enough to start a life-altering conversation between people too different to know where or how to begin to do that for themselves.

THAT's good storytelling!

Also! Extra! May the US be blessed with the live-action TV series! Here's a promo photo of the amazing casting:

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This manga duet is one of my favorites from hundreds of graphic novels and manga selections that I've read over the past year. I had read, and adored, volume 1 months ago and I treated myself to a read of this conclusion to the duet as part of my Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month reading. This middle grade graphic novel is endlessly cute and so important in its exploration of what family means. I find myself rooting for all of the central characters: Mike Flanagan, his niece Kana, and his brother-in-law Yaichi. The book takes a deep, honest, and heartwarming look at confronting bias. Yaichi's journey is beautiful, both as the brother of an out gay man and as a single parent raising a daughter, and Kana and Mike's relationship is show more so special too. I also learned a lot about Japanese cuisine and Japanese customs and pastimes including onsen and washitsu. Highly recommend! I am grateful that the book, originally published in Japanese, has been translated to English by Anne Ishii. show less

Yaichi finds himself mourning for his twin brother, Ryoji, and coming to terms with his brother's gay identity when his Canadian husband, Mike Flanagan, comes for a visit to Japan. Yaichi is raising his daughter, Kana, as a single dad and finds that's she's instantly accepting of her uncle while he has more complicated feelings.

This slice-of-life manga explores the way Japanese culture treats - or perhaps more accurately, ignores - the LGBTQ community, primarily through Yaichi's working through his own complicated feelings about his brother and brother-in-law and how he navigates parenting Kana. The manga-ka is an out gay man, and through this story, he reveals the ways in which both Japanese and North American culture can accept, show more ignore or harm. The art is realistic, and I didn't have any trouble following the panels from right to left, though it's been awhile since I've read a manga besides a reread of Fruits Basket. I especially enjoyed how some panels would show what Yaichi actually wanted to say through a thought bubble, and then what he actually did. Though there are sad moments, it's a heartwarming read of acceptance and one I would recommend. show less

Mike is a Canadian man who’s husband Ryoji has passed away. They had plans to visit Japan one day so that Ryoji could mend his relationship with his twin brother Yaichi. They never had the chance to do that together, so Mike decides to take the trip alone.

In the beginning, Yaichi, who is a single father, is very reserved and battles with his homophobic attitudes, but his manners won’t allow him to turn Mike away. His young daughter Kana takes to Mike right away and doesn’t have any trouble accepting Mike as his uncle. Through volumes 1 and 2, Yaichi comes to realize that his own homophobic attitudes are based on nothing but culturally accepted prejudices, and that he is fully capable of figuring out what’s actually right on his show more own. He’s helped in coming to grips with his own attitudes through conversations with his daughter, his ex-wife Natsuki, and of course Mike.

Mike, on the other hand, gets to finally meet his husband’s family and to mend some fences on Ryoji’s behalf. He also gets to work through some of his grief, and gains new family members for himself.

This book takes a relatively light approach to really heavy topics, and is a decent, age appropriate guide book that gently teaches you in how to rid yourself of being a homophobic jerk. What really got to me, as is often the case, was the parts about grief, and regret. How you don’t want to leave for tomorrow the rifts that you could mend today, because sometimes tomorrow comes too late.

My five star rating is based on how sweet this was, as well as how hard I cried reading certain parts. The art style is also very lovely. show less

The second volume of this omnibus knocks it out of the park. In the first volume, I had wondered why the story focused so much on Yaichi. Here, it becomes clear that the strategy of focusing on the thoughts that people have as they begin to learn about and encounter LGBT people works. Yaichi's continuing arc is relatable and understandable as he explores both the source of his tensions around Mike and reevaluates they way that he treated Ryoji. The culmination of this maturation is Yaichi's willingness to stand up for Mike and Kana, and his final ability to learn about Ryoji's life in Canada. I still wonder what Mike must be feeling inside, but what he displays is an incredibly admirable unflappability that will bear him in good stead. show more Kana and Natsuki round out the story and make it apparent that this is not just about Mike and Yaichi, but about the family they are building together. I was really hoping for a cute epilogue where they visit Canada, but I guess there's always something to keep waiting for. Read this for a touching, happy, beautiful conclusion to the story. show less

This is volume two of this two-part series so if you haven’t read it yet, please understand that there may be spoilers!

So go go go! Go read the first part!

Ok!

So since you’re still reading, I’m guessing you know that this is a continuation of the stories of Mike, Yaichi and Kana. Mike is still staying with Yaichi and Kana.

Yaichi continues to understand more about his feelings towards Mike’s relationship with his brother. He’s starting to realize that they make a family too, even though they may not look like your typical Japanese family.

The three of them, as well as Kana’s mother, take a trip to an onsen and you’re going to want to start booking a trip to Japan because oh, I definitely did after reading those pages!

But show more wanderlust aside, I loved how Yaichi continues to grow in this volume. His talk with Kana’s teacher is a lesson in calm and sensibility. His realization about his treatment of his brother is devastating and yet also redeeming.

And I shed many a tear as the book drew to an end.

What an absolute pleasure this series was to read.

(I just found out that there is a TV series based on the book – three episodes were aired in Japan in 2018 – hopefully it’ll be something that will be available in the US??) show less

Yaichi, Mike, and Yaichi's family go to an onsen. Afterward, Yaichi meets one of Ryoji's old high school friends, who asks to come by and drop some stuff off - and who secretly arranges to go out with Mike to talk about Ryoji. Yaichi deals with a phone call from Kana's teacher about Mike, and Yaichi and Mike finally sit down and really talk about Ryoji.

Well, I cried. A large part of it was thinking about the relationship Yaichi and Ryoji could've had but didn't. Mike's 3-week trip to Japan was a healing experience for Mike and Yaichi, but it couldn't change the past.

Mike got more food for thought after meeting with Ryoji's old high school friend, a deeply closeted gay man who had no intention of ever coming out. Although Mike didn't show more like keeping secrets from Yaichi about what he was doing and where he was going, at the same time he didn't want to out someone who wasn't ready for that. Unfortunately, then he had to consider that even just a friendly greeting from him could count as outing them.

This ending is a bit rushed-feeling. Mike's last few days in Japan passed by really quickly, and some things (like the issues with Kana's friends' parents) were never fully addressed. Still, this was a really good, short series overall.

Extras:

Several pages of the author's pencil art from this series.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less