These are all perfectly normal things to think of as a perfectly normal girl, right, no hidden gender stuff here!
Zach no Koi is a manga by Arashiyama Nori about a vampire who fell in love with a girl one night and who has returned to her — only to find out that was sixty years ago and she’s now a grandmother living with her two granddaughters. The girl in the page above is one of these granddaughters, Yumeko, who actually helped Zach the vampire be reunited with her grandmother Tsumugi. Most of the manga of course is about the rekindling of the relationship between Zach and Tsumugi, but chapter three focuses on Yumeko, who asks Zach to make her a vampire too, because “now us the cutest I’ll ever be”. The chapter actually opens with a flashback to when Yumeko and her sister Himari first came to live with their grandmother, the latter telling them that “while you’re at granny’s place, I want you to be the version of yourself you like the most”.
All of which made sense when I read this page, as Yumeko is slightly depressing leaving her friends behind and wondering if she can stay positive about herself as she will grow out of being able to wear the right clothes and ‘girly rings’. Clearly the author here is heavily hinting that she’s trans, right?
I like how well it’s done. You’re prepped by the flashback, but on its own it’s just about a granny making her grandchildren feel welcome. Yumeko asking to be turned too is a clue, but she also could be just a girl wanting to stay cute forever. Then, in just three pages, it becomes undeniable that Yumeko is trans without the author ever having to spell it out. These are not the thoughts of a cis girl. And to drive it home, the pretend vampire woman Youtuber that inspired Yumeko to become one too, is revealed to actually be a young boy using computer trickery to make himself a woman on screen. If you ever want to introduce a character as trans while keeping it subtle, these three pages are a great example of how to do so.
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