| My Brother's Husband | |
 The cover of the first volume ofMy Brother's Husband. From left to right: Mike, Kana, and Yaichi. | |
| 弟の夫 (Otōto no Otto) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Gengoroh Tagame |
| Published by | Futabasha |
| English publisher | |
| Magazine | Monthly Action |
| Original run | November 2014 –May 2017 |
| Volumes | 4(List of volumes) |
| Television drama | |
| Directed by | Teruyuki Yoshida Yukihiro Toda |
| Produced by | Keiko Ogata |
| Written by | Yukihiro Toda |
| Studio | NHK |
| Original network | NHK BS Premium |
| Original run | March 4, 2018 – March 18, 2018 |
| Episodes | 3(List of episodes) |
My Brother's Husband (Japanese:弟の夫,Hepburn:Otōto no Otto) is amanga series byGengoroh Tagame. Serialized inMonthly Action from 2014 to 2017, and adapted into a live-action television drama byNHK in 2018, the series follows the relationship between single father Yaichi, his daughter Kana, and Mike Flanagan, theCanadian husband of Yaichi's estranged and recently deceased twin brother.
The series, which focuses on themes ofhomophobia, cultural difference, and family,[1] has been noted as a significant departure from Tagame's previous works, which focus onerotic andsadomasochistic subject material.[2]My Brother's Husband has received overwhelming acclaim from critics, and has won anEisner Award forBest U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia, aJapan Media Arts Award, and aJapan Cartoonists Association Award.
Yaichi, a stay-at-home single father, lives with his daughter Kana in suburbanTokyo. They are visited by Mike Flanagan, the widower of Yaichi's estranged twin brother Ryōji, who has traveled from his nativeCanada for three weeks to learn about Ryōji's past. Kana is fascinated by Mike and is immediately accepting of him, though Yaichi is hesitant to accept Mike as family.
While Yaichi is not overtlyhomophobic, Mike suggests that his tacit discomfort over his brother's sexuality drove a wedge between them that led to their estrangement. Mike's interactions with the family and neighborhood over the subsequent three weeks prompt Yaichi to confront his own prejudices around sex and sexuality, as his growing tolerance and eventual acceptance of Mike parallel his overcoming of his own homophobia.
Shortly before Mike's departure, he reveals to Yaichi that Ryōji expressed guilt over never reconciling his relationship with his brother, and promised Mike that they would one day travel to Japan as a couple to meet his family. As Ryōji died before the promise could be fulfilled, Mike traveled to Japan alone so that he could honor Ryōji's wish of becoming family with Yaichi. Yaichi and Kana bid Mike goodbye as family, and he returns to Canada.
My Brother's Husband was serialized inFutabasha'sseinen manga magazineMonthly Action from November 2014 to May 2017, and later published as fourtankōbon.[3] An English-language translation byAnne Ishii was released as twoomnibus editions, published byPantheon Books in North America[4] andBlackfriars in the United Kingdom.[5] A French-language translation was licensed in France byDelcourt, under its Akata label.[6]
| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 25, 2015[7] | 978-4575846256 | May 2, 2017[8] | 978-1101871515 |
| 2 | January 12, 2016[9] | 978-4575847413 | May 2, 2017 | 978-1101871515 |
| 3 | October 12, 2016[10] | 978-4575848632 | September 18, 2018[11] | 978-1101871539 |
| 4 | July 12, 2017[12] | 978-4575850055 | September 18, 2018 | 978-1101871539 |
A three-episode live-action adaptation ofMy Brother's Husband was announced in December 2017, and aired in March 2018. The series, which was directed byTeruyuki Yoshida andYukihiro Toda, starredRyuta Sato as Yaichi andBaruto Kaito as Mike, aired onNHK BS Premium.[13][14]
| No. | Episode title | Director | Writer | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "First" "Daiikkai" (第一回) | Teruyuki Yoshida | Yukihiro Toda | 4 March 2018 (2018-03-04)[13][14][15] |
| 2 | "Second" "Dainikai" (第二回) | Teruyuki Yoshida | Yukihiro Toda | 11 March 2018 (2018-03-11)[16] |
| 3 | "Final" "Saishūkai" (最終回) | Teruyuki Yoshida | Yukihiro Toda | 18 March 2018 (2018-03-18)[17] |
James Yeh ofVice commented on how the series deals with the issue of gay marriage, whichis unrecognized in Japan, and wrote that Tagame's artwork, writing and muscular male characters makeMy Brother's Husband "a beautiful, stirring, and deeply human work".[18]
Rachel Cooke wrote inThe Guardian that "Not only is it very touching; it’s also, for the non-Japanese reader, unexpectedly fascinating."[19]
Charles Pulliam-Moore, writing forio9, commented on how the manga deals with homophobia in modern-day Japan, saying that, "My Brother's Husband gently alludes to the sort of small, everyday aspects of homophobia that ultimately drove Yaichi's brother to leave" and that: "The message the Tagame's trying to get across—that quiet, subtle bigotry can be just as harmful as loud, bombastic bigotry—isn't always an easy one to process. Tagame understands that and hopefully, as the rest of the book unfolds, readers will too."[2]
Rebecca Silverman praised the series inAnime News Network, giving it an A− grade, writing:
My Brother's Husband is an honest, quietly emotional look at how prejudices and preconceptions can hurt not only the people we're biased against, but also ourselves. Both heartbreaking and heartwarming, this first volume is well worth reading, and Tagame's solid, clean artwork with attention to details like body hair that we don't often see in mainstream manga, help to ground the story in reality. It's the kind of book that you can devour in one sitting but wish that you didn't – not only because there's so much to think about, but also because it's good enough that you don't actually want it to end.
However, Silverman criticized the length of time it takes for Mike to develop as a character, and some issues with the artwork.[20]
Ian Wolf gave the series 10 out of 10 inMyM, commenting positively on how the manga manages to confront homophobia, and how it stands out from most LGBT-themed manga released in English, which are normallyyaoi series depictingbishōnen.[21]
American comics authorAlison Bechdel praised the comic.[19]
The French edition has been reviewed by a prominent gay magazine,Têtu, which regarded Tagame's foray into gay rights positively.[22]
My Brother's Husband received an Excellence Prize at the 19thJapan Media Arts Festival in 2015.[6] In December 2016, the French edition of the manga was nominated for the "Best Comic" at the 44th annualAngoulême International Comics Festival.[23][24] In 2018, it received the Excellence Award at the 47thJapan Cartoonists Association Award.[25] The first volume of the Pantheon edition of the manga won the 2018Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia.[26] TheYoung Adult Library Services Association listed the English edition of the manga as one of their Top 10 2018 Great Graphic Novels for Teens.[27]
[...]and it arrives in the UK garlanded with praise from, among others, Alison Bechdel.