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Hi! Please do elaborate on butch transfem Ryuzaki!
alright, doomed t4t yuri time
as a disclaimer, there is nothing really substantial to support trans reading of ryuzaki, it's completely accidental and relies entirely on accepting trans reading of yashiro first, which is already asking a lot. i'm working with scraps here, so don't take this as a serious analysis of the text, this is just me reading into it a narrative that i find compelling and purposefully looking at certain things from the perspective that doesn't necessarily align with the authorial intent
i say "butch" specifically because in terms of gender expression, ryuzaki doesn't experience any discomfort with masculinity per se nor does he want to present more feminine. which is why talking about trans reading of the character is a bit trickier than it is with yashiro, isn't it? for many people there's this... expectation, or demand rather, of femininity that comes with the words "trans woman", so a trans butch's womanhood is easily denied on the basis of her "not being enough of a woman" or "basically just being a man". similar logic can be extended to a transgender reading of a character who isn't feminine "enough" or at all, because, well, if they don't want to wear a dress, then what's the point? and i guess part of the appeal of this interpretation for me is that it goes against those notions about gender and transfemininity. obviously you don't have to accept it, but if you don't see why this reading can be compelling, then it's worth asking "why, thought?"
there is just one thing about ryuzaki's gender presentation that stuck with me since the moment he was introduced (and i'll have to thank the movie for that) and it's how particular he is about his accessories, or at least the earring. it's not really the type that i'd normally expect a (cishet) man to wear, and it stays unlike the ring he was wearing in the first two volumes, so there's significance to it. now, i'm not saying that a man wearing accessories means that he must be a woman, and ryuzaki's ring(s), bracelet and necklace in the flashbacks and the cover for ch 26 are what you'd see men in the yakuza wear, but the earring? i think about it a lot, about its implication of homosexuality, and how you can take it a step further, make it about gender, too, and performing masculinity not the same way men do
so, sexuality. in the context of cis reading ryuzaki is very compelling as a gay man, and i've talked about it before, but, as the word "butch" implies, here i want to take it in a different direction and say that he genuinely prefers women. it recontextualizes his feelings for yashiro, because rather than a man falling in love with another man, it's a woman falling in love with a woman like her, because she is like her, trapped and dying just the same. which leads me to ch 14 and the question that sent me down this rabbit hole in the first place
"do you want to become a woman?" do you, ryuzaki? because now this isn't about internalized homophobia and desire for a "yes" just so it would make his feelings for yashiro "normal", as in straight, but then again, even if you were to try to read that intention into it - he's not asking if yashiro is a woman, the question is about wanting to become one. allusion to transitioning aside, there is a connection between becoming a woman or becoming a yakuza, the latter in a less literal sense being about submitting to a violent patriarchal system where the only role you can play if you want to survive is that of a man. ryuzaki is only two years older than yashiro, so he's what, 21? in that flashback, and yet for him everything has already been decided. he's asking as someone who no longer has a choice and has been condemned to rotting in a cage that is manhood, but yashiro still could take a different path, from ryuzaki's perspective at least
there could've been something there, maybe a conversation that would've made things easier for both of them, but yashiro replies with his usual simplification. yes, it would be nice to be a woman, but the only difference is that it would make having sex with men easier, that's all there is to it. and what does it leave ryuzaki with if he's not even attracted to men to begin with? nothing. there is nothing to being a woman for you, so don't think about. and he doesn't, neither of them do, and yashiro ultimately walks into the same cage as ryuzaki. you've got to wonder how much it hurt to see the only person who is inexplicably like you end up the same way
i'll leave reading into other scenes for another time since i have too much to say on the topic, but hopefully this gives a general idea to go off of if you want to look at the character from this perspective as well. one last thing i do want to mention here is that ryuzaki's first name is atsushi, 篤士. the first kanji can be read as "kind, cordial, faithful, warm", and if you look at the second kanji, you'll see that it has some connotations with manhood, which is why i'm bringing it up. in the context of transgender reading, there is some irony to "man" being implied in your name. we still don't know yashiro's, so it's like there is still some hope, but knowing ryuzaki's means that there might be none left for him. the way he is now, in prison, with his hair forcibly cut short, the earring likely taken away, maybe there isn't, maybe it is too late. and that's fine. there are certain expectations when it comes to trans narratives, that of a moment of realization, transitioning and a happy ending, and those narratives are important, of course, but i personally want to talk more about those of us who were doomed to rot. not because i enjoy the suffering, but because i find some comfort in being able to look at a character who is not intended to be seen that way and say "i still see you, despite it all"