Wandering Son (2002)

Blurb:
The fifth grade. The threshold to puberty, and the beginning of the end of childhood innocence. Shuichi Nitori and his new friend Yoshino Takatsuki have happy homes, loving families, and are well-liked by their classmates. But they share a secret that further complicates a time of life that is awkward for anyone: Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy. Written and drawn by one of today’s most critically acclaimed creators of manga, Shimura portrays Shuishi and Yoshino’s very private journey with affection, sensitivity, gentle humor, and unmistakable flair and grace. Volume one introduces our two protagonists and the friends and family whose lives intersect with their own. Yoshino is rudely reminded of her sex by immature boys whose budding interest in girls takes clumsily cruel forms. Shuichi’s secret is discovered by Saori, a perceptive and eccentric classmate. And it is Saori who suggests that the fifth graders put on a production of The Rose of Versailles for the farewell ceremony for the sixth graders — with boys playing the roles of women, and girls playing the roles of men.

Source: www.anisearch.com/manga/1543

Der Fünftklässler Nitori Shuuichi ist ein ziemlich femininer Junge, der mit der Art gleichaltriger Jungen wenig anfangen kann und deshalb vor allem Mädchen als Freunde hat. Als er an eine neue Schule wechselt, freundet er sich dort mit der burschikosen Takatsuki Yoshino an. Schon bald erkennen die beiden, dass sie ein Geheimnis verbindet: Sie beide würden in Kleidung, Aussehen und Verhalten lieber wie das jeweils andere Geschlecht auftreten.

Quelle: www.anisearch.de/manga/1543