Family Compo
Ordinary college student Masahiko goes to live with his aunt and uncle, Yukari and Sora Wakanae. While excited about meeting his relatives for the first time, he is surprised to discover that his lovely aunt Yukari is actually a man, and his handsome uncle Sora is really a woman. Their plucky daughter, Shion, is revealed to be... whichever gender she feels like (Though for the time being she's sticking with female).
However, given Masahiko's current fate: living alone in a fetid apartment that he can't afford and with no family to return to: he decides to stay anyways. Eventually, Masahiko's desire for a real home coincide with with the Wakanaes' surprising generosity to anyone who is willing to accept their family at face value, and he quickly becomes Happily Adopted into the household.
By the mangaka Tsukasa Hojo, Family Compo is a Slice of Life manga that, perhaps, has a more realistic than average depiction of transsexuality, and at the same time has a remarkably positive tone with tremendous emotional poignancy.
Available to read here.
The entire manga, albeit in Chinese, is available here. Click on the chapter you want and use Google Translate to find the “read” link if you don’t want to download.
Tropes used in Family Compo include:
- Ambiguously Gay: A bunch of young hooligans question the sexuality of one of their members when he says he wants to have sex with Kaoru.
- Arranged Marriage: Yoriko
- It works out for her, though. She gets together with Kenji.
- Attractive Bent Gender: Sora and Yukari Wakanae, Shion, Masahiko, arguably Kaoru
- Ironically, Sora and Yukari (well, definitely Sora) look terrible and like transvestites when they dress as their birth sex.
- Author Avatar: Not the author, but the character Sora Wakanae has Sora Harukaze, who's idolized by people like Yoko. And Harukaze isn't secretly a woman.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: All three in Shion.
- Betty and Veronica: Asoko and Shion, respectively, with Masahiko as Archie
- Berserk Button: Don't screw up Sora's work. And imply that he's a woman. And, in turn, talk about the beach.
- Bifauxnen: Kaoru
- Cast Full Of Crossdressers: Everyone wears outfits of both genders at one point or another.
- Except Kaoru, and Tatsumi, and Saki for that matter.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Saki
- Black Comedy Rape: The film club gets raped by the transvestites at a bath.
- Boobs of Steel: Sora, a muscular guy who gets into fist-fights and knows Kendo, hasn't had his substantial breasts surgically removed. As a result, he cannot go to the beach, much to his chagrin.
- It's a mystery how he managed to grow so tall and muscular, and his feet so big, without the aid of hormones. He was manly even in high school.
- Also true for Yukari, who isn't a strong as Sora, but stronger than she looks, because she's a man.
- Buxom Is Better: Shion, who has breasts too big to be a transvestite, that is, if they are natural.
- Must get it from her, er, father, heh.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Sora to his father, Kaoru to Tatsumi. Neither are biologically men.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Sora passes out after a single shot. Would make sense in the context of his sex, but it's probably just because he's Sora.
- And Shion, if she's a he.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: In volume 5, when Sora has appendicits, he insists that his period isn't an excuse to finish his work late. Even when he collapses and is dragged to the hospital, he resists seeing a gynaecologist because he's a man.
- Double Standard: Sora seems to get a lot more attention than Yusaki. Sort of makes sense, because Yusaki’s more feminine and quieter.
- Dragged Into Drag: Masahiko, initially for the Film Club's movie... then it becomes a theme.
- Drives Like Crazy: Much like another Yukari, Yukari Wakanae. She hasn't been behind the wheel in several years
- Dropped a Bridget On Him: Yukari and Sora's assistants on Masahiko.
- Face Fault: They happen frequently.
- Flanderization: Tatsumi becomes a less and less serious character, despite attempting to rape and enslave "Masami".
- Girl-On-Girl Is Hot: Kaoru attempts to rape Shion, but Shion breaks out of Kaoru's hold and starts molesting her. And, yeah.
- Kaoru was getting into it too. She could have broken out earlier, she only chose to when somebody came in. Especially when you consider how strong she can punch.
- Gratuitous French
- Guy-On-Guy Is Hot: Averted by Asoaka, who is disgusted when she thinks she sees Masahiko and Tatsuya kissing.
- Good Parents: Despite how freaked out Masahiko is initially by his new parents, they turn out to be positive role models who do their best to treat himself and Shion with the love and respect they deserve.
- Happily Married: Sora and Yukari
- Have I Mentioned That I Am Heterosexual Today: Masahiko primarily, but most of the characters invoke this trope at one point or another, which is odd considering the manga's focus on transsexuality and alternative gender expression. It's justified at least with Sora and Yukari, who are clearly monogamous and straight, but are far more comfortable with switched gender roles.
- Insistent Terminology: Sora is a man. Sora is Shion's father.
- However, Yukari recognizes that no matter what she does, she is still biologically a man. Which is why she gets so emotional over having a child.
- Insufferable Genius:Shion is very smart (and hot, as a girl), but at times will create messes out of fun, especially for Masahiko, and will say she doesn't feel responsible.
- I Want to Be a Real Man: Kaoru.
- Jerkass: Kaoru and Shion have their moments.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kaoru only acts tough a lot of the time. See how she reacts to finding out her Tatsumi really is her father.
- Karaoke Bar: At one is where Masahiko learns the family secret, since he forgot it due to being drunk.
- Kissing Cousins: Masahiko and Shion. However multiple times Masahiko has mentioned he wanted them to be Like Brother and Sister, he's constantly referred to as Shion's brother, and Shion's parents do act as his parents.. So it seems like adopted Brother-Sister Incest.
- Lethal Chef: Sora, and apparently evenmoreso Shion.
- Love-Obstructing Parents: Sora and Yukari play this role for Masahiko, at times
- Manipulative Bitch: Saki.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Sora and Yukari invert this trope, but for practical reasons since Yukari is the guy but far better at being a domestic than Sora on her best day, and Sora is rather adept at being a bread winner and father figure despite being a woman.
- Mister Seahorse: Sora sees himself as a man, but is technically Shion's mother. He initially refused, because men don’t give birth (and also a thing about his job), but agreed when he saw how saddened Yukari was by her inability to conceive. His pride is greatly damaged when he's reminded of this.
- Momma's Boy: Masahiko. Definitely justified.
- Muscles Are Meaningless: Shion seems to be abnormally strong for herself. Or maybe she's just that technically skilled and athletic.
- Same goes for Yusaki, even if she is really a man.
- Moment Killer: Too many to count
- Ordinary High School Student: Masahiko, though technically it's college.
- Overly Long Gag: Shion's Ambiguous Gender.
- Not really. In Volume 10, Yukari refers to her as a "she", just after she's born. I doubt that they of all people would force a baby boy to be assigned to a different gender, I guess it's possible since they're a reverse couple.
- It may just be a translation convention. It's possible in Japanese to speak about someone in the third person without ever revealing their gender. The scanlaters may have just found it too awkward in English and just defaulted it to her chosen gender.
- Not really. In Volume 10, Yukari refers to her as a "she", just after she's born. I doubt that they of all people would force a baby boy to be assigned to a different gender, I guess it's possible since they're a reverse couple.
- Pettanko: Masahiko notes that Kaoru has small breasts.
- Psycho Lesbian: We get some of that from Shion in volume 8.
- Rated "M" for Manly: Sora, in a more toned down version. There are several moments where either the author or Masahiko asks if Sora really is a woman.
- Rebellious Spirit: Shion, and evenmoreso Kaoru.
- Recursive Crossdressing: Masahiko asks Sora and Yukari to come to his college entrance ceremony dressed as "what they really are". He swiftly regrets this, as they look so awkward that everyone assumes they're crossdressers.
- Schoolgirl Lesbians: They're college age, but
MasahikoMasami picks up a fangirl in addition to all the drooling guys. Naturally, she thinks Masami crossdresses as a man. - Sequential Artist: Sora Wakanae
- Smoking Is Cool: Sora, Kaoru, Tatsumi sort of Susumu, and Saki.
- Spit Take: Sora and his father do spit takes.
- Stupid Sexy Flanders: Normally caused by Masahiko or Yukari. And possibly Shion.
- The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Totally averted/ inverted (The Body Is A Plaything Of The Mind). Shion's neck even becomes manlier just from dressing as a man.
- Transsexualism: Sora and Yukari Wakanae, Kaoru "half-assedly", and Sora's assistants: Susumu (no "lance and balls"), Hiromi ( Shion's first love no operation, has long blond hair), Kazuko (Judo champion), and Mako (wears glasses).
- Triang Relations: Variant 3: See Betty and Veronica above
- Unintentional Period Piece: The manga just reeks of The Nineties Japan, the most obvious indicators being the clothing and the lack of DV Ds.
- Unwanted Harem: Masahiko just keeps collecting suitors. For his female persona, naturally.
- Unsettling Gender Reveal: Sora and Yukari, and the assistants. And Kaoru.
- And sort of toward Mori, who realizes that she thinks of Sora as a man after he sleeps in the same room as her. After the event, she insists that she still sees him as a woman, but starts working him harsher.
- It happens to Sora far more frequently than Yukari: Twice in front of Masahiko and almost a third time at Christmas, in front of Yoko, to the husband of a stranger, to a gynaecologist, and to Saki.
- Four of those times he was drunk.
- Wannabe Gangster: Kaoru. She's "half-assed".
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Masahiko is a good guy in a dress.
- Will They or Won't They?: Masahiko and Shion
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Yukari
- Yakuza: Tatsumi
- Younger Than They Look: Kaoru is strangely tall for a girl, taller than both Shion and Masahiko, but is the youngest one of the group, having just turned 17 at the time of introduction.