Shuichi Nitori is a boy who wants to be a girl - a secret that so far, only his childhood friend Yoshino Takatsuki knows about. Shuichi has a tendency to cross-dress, and gets quite a bit of attention as a girl (he pulls it off well), but he also knows that it's perhaps not quite right. That said, Yoshino has a similar problem of her own - she's a girl who would feel much more comfortable as a boy - and while Yoshino's less daring with her feelings (no cross-dressing for her yet) she's always been able to trust each other with their feelings. Now, they've started middle school together - which may turn out to be the greatest test for their friendship... Hmmm. Depending on your view of cross-dressing and gender issues, this one may carry a certain amount of the squick factor, particularly as it's played completely straight and not as a comedy piece. Shiuchi and Yoshino both have their issues - wanting to be the gender they're not - and the series is going to be about how they deal with those issues. What direction the series is going to go in (will they "come out"? will the taunts that Shiuchi gets about being "sick" from his sister "scare him straight"?) is a mystery so far - this episode devotes itself to introducing the main characters and showing how they've been dealing with their situation so far. And it does that really well - underplayed, never sensationalised or mocked, simply dealt with in a factual and almost understanding matter. That underplayed feeling is helped along by the art style, which is simple, heavy on the pastel colours and almost looking like watercolour paintings at times. Just watching the show makes you sit back and relax and just take it all in. On the downside, I did have a hard time keeping track of people in this episode - some characters look similar, and there seems to be a certain amount of skipping back and forward in time while the situation is explained that I couldn't quite keep track of. But that could just be my trying to watch a sensible show when I'm dead tired. The Good: Takes a sensitive issue - the problem of personal identity - and explores it in a sensitive, non-confrontational way. And looks good doing it. The Bad: If you have personal prejudices in this area, you're not going to like it. Timeline confusion didn't help me, but that may well have been my problem rather than the episode's. I like it, though. Some have already labelled it a trap trap ready to create a crOss-dressing horde who don't know what they want to be, but that's just spouting off Daily Mail style at a series that really doesn't deserve it. Check your own ideas at the door and enjoy Wandering Son for what it is - a coming-of-age, slice-of-life tale where the protagonists just happen to have a problem that's a little more personal than some. Worth checking out.
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