More teen angst in this episode, though none of it really about the transexualism, directly.  Basically, Saorin is mad (and has been mad) at Yoshino for being the object of Shuichi’s affections even though Saorin likes him.  After Saorin is still pissy, Saorin and Yoshino’s shared friend Sasa says that she won’t talk to either of them.  This ultimately leads to Yoshino and Saorin making up in the end.

Saorin gets her tsundere under control

So we still have the Saorin-Yoshino-Shuichi love triangle going, though at least a bit more stable now after two episodes.  However, we also have some other minor things such as Makoto wondering if he’s gay, and Shuichi’s sister Maho seems to be conflicted or even jealous over her brother’s crossdressing (becoming rather agitated when her classmates remark that he looks cute).  However, this has a payoff later when a boy in Maho’s class uses the incident to complement her.

We also have Chizuru and her friend Momoko who have now joined the Saorin-Yoshino-Shuichi-Makoto-Sasa friend circle, with Sasa becoming friends with Chi and Yoshino still admiring her for wearing the boys uniform on the first day.

I guess there isn’t really very much to dwell on as far as the future goes as of yet, just observations of what’s going on.  Probably the only thing that is for sure is that the teen angst will continue.

Time for my second new show of the Winter season, and it happens to be the 2nd half of noitamina’a block (following Fractale), Hourou Musuko, or Wandering Son.  This is an 11 episode series about a pair of transsexual friends – one a boy who wants to be a girl, and a girl who wants to be a boy.  I thought it sounded interesting enough to give it a shot.

We Three Friends

This show started off excellently, I thought.  It’s nice that the pair, Shu and Yoshino have some friends who understand, empathize, and even support them with their gender identity, but it’s clear they still have to deal with those that don’t understand, such as Shu’s sister, who finds his liking to dress up as a girl sick (though it seems that even at some level she understands too).

I think the fact that these characters are just starting junior high school makes this story more interesting as it’s teens trying to figure out who they are and not a high schooler or adult, which might be more seen as a fetish than a real internal conflict.  Also, it seems like Yoshino gets a little bit of a break since it’s easier (and more acceptable) for a girl to dress as a guy than vice versa, though she still seems hesitant to try to wear a boy’s uniform to school.  Of course, wearing a girl’s uniform to school is out of the question, though Shu obviously went out in public dressed as a girl, where people wouldn’t realize who he was.

Also, not only are the pair trying to get through their gender identity issues, but Shu confessed to Yoshino (before the start of the series) and, while they made up at the end of this episode, that’s gotta be an awkward thing hanging over them as well.  It’s hard to know exactly what their sexual orientation might be with gender identity issues too.  Shu still seems to be attracted to girls, or at least he is to Yoshino.  However, we get no clue about how Yoshino feels in that regard.  It could be that Shu likes her just because she’s masculine too, who knows.  I figure that might be some of the issues the show ends up covering before it’s over.

Also, I thought Saori was cool.  She seems like she could be sort of a brat, but she understands both Shu and Yoshino and gave the boy trying to bully Shu what he deserved.