Tensei Pandemic is unironically good

there’s only one other guy talking about the manga on Cohost. it’s mostly negative, talking about how trash it is. they’re not wrong, but I don’t think they gave it enough credit.

when you read gender manga you usually prepare for the worst - fetishization, internalised homophobia+transphobic, making fun of people who don’t pass, fatshaming, etc. you wouldn’t trust the author to actually advocate for trans rights. they’re also usually painfully heterosexual, you get two possible scenarios:

• “b-but we’re both guys” “it’s fine, you’re crossdressing as a girl’, and I’m a man, therefore making it heterosexual and fine™️”
• “b-but we’re both girls” “actually, I’m an ex guy. therefore making it heterosexual and fine™️”

watching queer people be in denial is entertaining, but turns into sad when it’s never resolved. the entire genre is filled with unresolved internalised homophobia. ​this is the key difference between Tensei Pandemic and everything else. Tensei Pandemic is proud to be a LGBTQ (especially yuri) manga, and it’s super up-front about it.

don’t get me wrong, Tensei Pandemic is still ecchi trash. everyone gets naked nearly every chapter. if you’re looking for any serious deep dive into gender, this is Not It. BUT, the combination of sexualisation and the pride of being trans and yuri reminds me of… horny internet transbians. if that sounds like you, you’ll definitely like this.

if you are looking for any serious deep dive into gender, maybe check out The Choice Is His & Hers? it surprised me by how serious it takes TS issues. the scans are pretty slow tho.

the trash / annoying troupes that still remain

• forcefem
  • the readers are here for the transfem, you have to give them the transfem. the choice is determined from the very beginning. anything else will be betraying the audience, just like how coming out in real life is a betrayal of everyone who has ever known you. on an semi-related note, Tatsuki Fujimoto’s trans characters are so compelling for the very same reason. I think I’ve written a post about it somewhere.
• transmasc “erasure”
  • I mean, there are transmasc/ftm characters, but they’re written like transfems. ​one of them is an analogy for real life trans women. the other one acts like nothing has changed and dresses fem in front of their family (I think it’s great that transmasc femboys got represented, but let’s be real, this isn’t the intention).
• intersex erasure
  • to be fair i have never seen a single ts manga mention the concept of intersex at all. I just wanted a place to mention this observation.
  • which is super weird. it’s hyper relevant. like, ​what if you get stuck halfway? what if it fails? why has no none handled that yet?

the scans

there are like, 3 groups scanning it, so the quality fluctuates

• the first group
  • you’ll sometimes see some awkward sentences
• Kurisu took over in the middle. shoutout to her.
• the last couple of chapters are scanlated because someone had to. meaning: it’s not good

the ending (spoilers)

• as expected, turns out the MC wants to be a girl deep down, so the forcefem is not actually wrong 👍🏻
• the “tensei virus being reversible” thing feels like what they call, a cop out. cause turns out the problematic premise is actually not problematic at all cause they wanted it all along. also kind of expected.
• the DID. I’m not sure how well is that handled cause I obviously know nothing about the topic. I knew “villain being the separate identity” a harmful troupe, thought the “villain” here is portrayed positively that they feel more like a trans anti-hero. I guess it has some level of care put into it?
  • there are a few other aspects that I find interesting:
    • DID caused by trauma caused by intense gender dysphoria
    • giving up on your own personality, trying to let the other one fully take over, as a form of suicide
• virus is an analogy for transgenderism itself. people fear it would create chaos, but it only freed people. and it’s something that can be reversed
• the manga takes a firm stance that the cure of gender dysphoria is being transgender

conclusion

Maybe this is what it’s like to be an Onimai defender going “hey this trash is actually good i swear”.

Original post on Cohost