But he doesn’t have anyone to confide in about the confusion he feels. High schooler Ryuu knows he’s transgender. This personal, heartfelt, fictional story from a Japanese transgender manga creator is completely unique, and comes presented in two extra-large, 400-page volumes. The story is just as much about Ryo's own self-acceptance and personal growth.A transgender teen named Ryuu finds an escape from the expectations and anxieties of his daily life in the world of street fashion. 1 is two-fold: The story doesn't just focus on Jin learning to be more sensitive about trans issues - part of his journey to being a good friend and important ally to Ryo. The acceptance theme in Boys Run The Riot Vol. With Jin and Ryo's friendship, Gaku introduces one of the manga's major themes: acceptance. This creates strong story potential for Ryo who is not used to being validated by others, let alone cisgender people. Related to that question is whether or not a cisgender person is willing to learn to understand a trans person's feelings, and take a genuine interest in getting to know them as a person. Specifically, Gaku seeks to answer the question of whether a cisgender person can admit to not understanding the internal struggles of a transgender person and still respect that person's gender identity. Through Ryo's friendship with Jin (who is himself an outcast), Gaku explores meaningfully connecting with another person in a way that doesn't force a trans boy to hide major aspects of himself. Ryo's friendship with Jin is the major focal point of Boys Run The Riot Vol. The only outlet for his frustrating circumstances is wearing men's clothing, which allows him to befriend his classmate Jin Sato - a repeat second-year student - who shares his fashion tastes. With such persistent invalidation of his identity, Ryo feels like he can't be his authentic self around even his closest friend, Chika, whom he has a crush on. Readers are made aware of his feelings and experiences right away: he hates being forced to wear a female school uniform, he is constantly misgendered by teachers, friends and family alike, and he is even deadnamed.

In the opening pages of Boys Run The Riot's first collected volume, we are introduced to Ryo Watari, a transgender boy who is a second-year high school student. Most of these aspects are at the heart of Boys Run The Riot, a coming-of-age manga by Keito Gaku, who is himself, transgender. In the worst-case scenarios, trans and non-binary people are subjected to government policies that seek to restrict their identities and lives in very invasive ways.

Boys Run the Riot, Vol. 1 by Keito Gaku