My Journey to Her recounts the author’s experience with gender identity, obtaining gender affirming care in Thailand, and the necessary proceedings to be legally recognized as a woman.

There’s a lot of bureaucracy and hell to navigate through before obtaining the proper care, and Hirasawa manages to showcase her experience with humor and ease.

Very informative in regard to surgical details of medically transitioning (specifically vaginoplasty), both in the physical and emotional level.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you Kodansha for the ARC.

My Journey to Her is a story all about a young trans woman traveling to Thailand to receive her gender affirming surgery.

I think this story was just a bit too heavy with medical jargon and overwhelming amounts of words on a page for me. So I would say if that is something that interests you and you have an easier time wrapping your head around medical terminology I'd definitely give it a read. I did think it gave a great insight to what it is like to get gender affirming surgery and everything that goes into it with all the steps and feelings alongside recovery. In the end though, I just think it was a bit overwhelming for me.

This was really cute! I read "The Bride was a Boy" earlier this year, and I think these graphic memoirs pair well---Hirasawa focuses less on the social logistics of transition in Japan (at least at the time of the original writing) than Chii does, and more on the physical realities of surgery. This skips over many of the personal revelations that let to Hirasawa seeking surgery and got right into the nitty-gritty of her time in a Thai hospital, with some flashbacks to explain how she came to that moment.

I don't think that this is a great introduction for people who don't know much about the trans experience, but for folks who want to a) explore some uncomfortable physiological questions with someone who has undergone MTF bottom surgery, b) is considering pursuing this themselves, or c) is curious about how Japanese (and Thai) care differs from their own experience, this is quite enlightening. Hirasawa intentionally steers away from making broader statements about overall social norms or how to fix pitfalls in gender-affirming healthcare and confines her subject to her personal experiences.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book. It came onto my radar earlier this year, and I was excited to learn that there was already an English translation in the works! I believe this came out originally in 2016, so some things have already changed in terms of Japan's approach to trans healthcare since the time of its first publication.

Best known for her manga Terrarium, Yuna Hirasawa has written a moving autobiographical essay in which she traces her gender transition with honesty and sensitivity. It's a perfect read for pride month!

I really like the title of the manga, ‘My journey to her’, which is very simple and represents the whole process of making this transition and finally being aligned with oneself.

The manga is also very educational, without ever being heavy-handed. You learn an enormous amount about the stages of the transition, the types of vaginoplasty that are possible... details that are rarely covered elsewhere, but explained here with clarity and respect. I didn't know that there were two types of vaginoplasty and that you could choose the depth of your vagina for sex reassignment surgery!

The culture clash between Japan and Thailand is interesting even if it's not the main focus of the book. I wasn't expecting the Thai hospital staff on rollerblades, I would have panicked too. I didn't know that Bangkok wasn't the official name of the city! It's so long!

We can't fail to recognise the strength of trans people. This story is a reminder of just how courageous trans people's journeys have been. Their resilience in the face of social and medical norms (and pain) commands admiration.

This manga is a must-read because it enlightens, moves and educates, all at the same time.

Thank you to netGalley and Kondansha for the eARC.

My Journey to Her is an autobiographical graphic novel about the author's experience going through a transitional surgery in Thailand.

I thought the whole novel was fun and informative, and the author's ability to shine a light on the societal, personal, and informative nature of this topic was both inspiring and enlightening. I think for people who aren't familiar with what transitioning entails, this is a good segway into the topic itself.

Thanks to Kodansha Comics and NetGalley for the ARC.

“My Journey To Her” by Yūna Hirasawa was the perfect book to read at the start of Pride Month.

Detailing the process that the author went through in her experience with gender dysphoria, gender-affirming medical care, and the subsequent legal processes to be recognized by her preferred gender.

This type of story is one that I have read many times before. As someone who seeks out LGBTQA+ stories, I have encountered stories similar to this one. Yet, to say this feels incredibly inauthentic to the unique aspects present in this manga.

I truly wish this could be a story I could put in the hands of many bigoted or uninformed individuals. The authorial voice used throughout is both humorous and incredibly informative. This culminated towards a demystification and humanization of a process that many find scandalous and confusing. Not only does the story help others understand the perspective of someone experiencing gender dysphoria, but it also shows exactly what is involved when someone decides to make a physical transition. Much care was put into explaining the process in an accurate and precise manner.

For me, particularly interesting were the details surround the legal process involved, both in Thailand and Japan. Even as someone who understood the medical procedures involved, I was kept engaged by these details and considering how they different from those in the United States.

This is all to say, there is something for everyone to enjoy in this book. Informative, personal, and full of self-love. Highly recommend.

I got this as an arc on Netgalley and it has since come out. I'm trans myself bit definitely still feel I learned a lot from this, especially as it comes to how transitioning might look in other countries.

My Journey to Her is an informative, insightful, and funny memoir in manga style. Yuna shares her experience getting diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder and going through gender affirming surgery. I thought her story was really well told - both full of facts and the real feelings attached to every part of the process. She never claims this is the only way to feel, but I think it gives really good insight into the whole process at the physical and emotional levels. Plus, it’s funny and great to hear about all of the supportive staff involved in making the process as smooth as possible. If this is a process you want to learn more about for yourself, a friend or family member, or just your own edification, check out Yuna’s graphic memoir.

This was an insightful look at Yuna's journey transitioning in Japan and her gender affirming surgery. As someone living in the US, this was incredibly powerful to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

This was a pretty good manga memoir! I liked how honest and reflective the author was about her situation. It was really illuminating on the state of gender-affirming transitions in Japan.

Wow, wow, wow. This is my first in-depth learning experience of how gender affirming surgery works for some individuals (assuming that certain countries handle things differently) and it was interesting to see all of the steps that needed to be taken in Japan to achieve such a transition.

Although this was an informative narration, there were still moments of humor I enjoyed. When Yuna depicted describing how the surgery worked while using food items, I couldn’t stop giggling at the reaction of one of her friends. Seeing the guys instantly grab their crotches was top tier comedy.

It was also intriguing to hear about the healing process. Having to hear about dilators made me cringe (absolutely no one likes them) but some of her experiences were relatable to my own. Even during a checkup with her surgeon, hearing him ask her to scoot down made me giggle because….why do all doctors need us to be near falling off the table for them to perform their checkups. It’s insane.

Japan seems to have made way more progress legally in accepting LGBTQIA+ folks, and I appreciated that many of the facts were given with the caveat that these things were true at the time but may have changed. I imagine depicting one’s gender affirming surgery to be a very intimate and personal experience, and I’m happy to have a glimpse of what mangaka Yuna wanted to share. While I would love to read more stories with topics such as gender affirming care and such, it’s insensitive to expect humans to bare their souls to an already judgmental crowd. But, I’d like to see if pop up in fictional stories, given that the writer did adequate research.

Thanks so much to Kodansha for the DRC. Starting off pride month strong in the publishing land.

My Journey to Her is a biographical manga about the author's journey to becoming a woman, with most of the book covering her gender-affirming surgery in Thailand. It's highly informative but also entertaining, going into details about the experience without getting graphic. There is an explanation using processed food as a visual guide, but it is accompanied by disclaimers about its accuracy. The main takeaway that I got is that Hirasawa wanted the reader to know how it felt to go through their experience. She was required to do certain things before and after the surgery, but she kept at it through the pain and bureaucracy, all to live as her true self.

3.75/5
Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a very sweet story about a trans woman’s journey undergoing bottom surgery (aka vaginoplasty). As someone who is transmasculine and lives in the states, it was very interesting to see a different perspective on the process of medically transitioning. The art is very cute and the process is described in a way that I think would be easily approachable for people who don’t have any pre-existing knowledge about gender affirming surgeries!

This manga is a memoir of Yuna Hirasawa and all the steps she took to get her gender affirming surgery and recovery. I appreciated that she also touched on how she legally transitioned as well. While I found it to be repetitive at times, it was insightful and detailed how trans people (specifically trans women) transition in Japan. It took a lot of courage for her to live her true authentic self, even in the face of prejudice. Happy to have read this during Pride month!

On one hand, I’m not super keen on trans stories that mainly focus on medical transitions. On the other, this memoir featured so much trans joy and hope depicted through this transition that I actually really enjoyed it!

It was super informative about trans experiences in Japan and I am so thankful to have received this ARC from Kodansha and Netgalley!

Intriguing to see more of the transfem experience in Japan and Thailand. This autobiography covers a similar surgical journey as shown in The Bride Was a Boy, with extra supplemental information (assisting companies that help you book every thing for your surgery and recovery, hospital attendants zipping around on roller skates, post surgery recovery when part of the intestine is removed and used in vaginoplasty!) And the technique of checking how well you pass which made me realize just how gendered some things in Japan are (and has me wondering how distressing it must be to an enby X-gender and being misgendered in both directions).

Plus there's a neat little concrete example here for the argument "when trans rights are prioritized, cis rights also improve." The narrator encounters a trans woman with facial hair in Thailand, then notices there are cis women that haven't bothered with removing their facial hair and concludes "must be more socially acceptable here not to do that."

My Journey to Her is a memoir following Hirasawa Yuna's gender affirming surgery and all the complexities it entailed for her. There's always a lot of trans stories that center tragedies or struggles with dysphoria so it was really refreshing to read a story like this of trans joy in her transition. This was a really interesting view into how Japan handles trans care, gender changes and the bureaucracy involved at every step. It left me hoping that Japan will change the rules regarding how invasive its requirements are for legally transitioning.

Hirasawa's journey in manga format was really approachable and even if you aren't familiar with trans terminology, this manga does good job of defining things for the reader. It does a fairly good job of explaining why terminology that feels outdated to many Western readers is still used throughout the story as it's standard (as of the time of writing) in Japan. I would have loved to know more about Hirasawa's personal life a bit more before and after her surgery to flesh out her life more with a bit less focus on the forced medical aspects but the story still reads as authentic to her experience in a moment in time.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha comics for copy for review*

This touching comic explores a woman in Japan going through gender dysphoria and reassignment surgery. Seeing the whole process of overcoming the prejudices and pain in order to become your true self was really inspiring. Also seeing her being rejected by hospitals to get her hormone injections was really sad. She has to go through a lot to be herself. I'm glad I was able to read this at the beginning of Pride Month. Trans voices are always important and hearing about them from societies that try to silence them is so important.

I missed this in its years, and I'm glad I was able to read it now.
Yuna Hiraswa's story is a vivid, funny and hopeful read, but also, sad and, at times, painful.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for providing the e-ARC of this manga.