This is hard to review. I was drawn to this for the title story, which deals with the MC, Chiaki, and his gender dysphoria and eventual transition as a trans man. The depiction of hunting/butchering and the metaphor of removing flesh was a bit intense (I was glad it was drawn in black and white). However, I can understand that some readers might relate to this aspect and connect with it more. The relationship Chiaki has with his father was also handled in an interesting but also maybe problematic way. There’s a certain “ideal” of manliness hinted at here which I just couldn’t relate to. As for the other stories, they were not very interesting to me. ( )

I enjoyed the titular To Strip the Flesh story, but I found most of the other short stories to be out of place. I was great disappointed that more of the stories didn't share any LGBT themes. I suppose there was some tentative connection of things not being exactly as they appear on the surface, but it's a bit of stretch. I found most of the other stories unappealing, some simply because I found them a bit bland, but others because they were disturbing. Hot Watermelon was very graphic and I was not expecting that level of body horror in this LGBT story. ( )

I’m not sure if my copy of this book is the complete copy or just serial highlights. To strip the flesh is nothing like what I thought it would be based on the cover. I saw the meat hanging in the background, but I was somehow thinking this would about a serial killer, and it is not. It is about a character who has known their entire life they are a boy but was born biologically a girl. Mother has died, and their father cannot see the truth about his son. The story ties itself to hunting how to strip the flesh off the hunted animals. It also relates to stripping the body of unwanted/necessary body parts. Overall, I liked what I’ve read of this story, but there seems to be giant gaps. Especially since the story only takes up the first 89 or 90 pages. Then there is like nine other stories, and another five or 10 shorts that do not fit with Strip the Flesh. ( )

The first half of the book is a thoughtful meditation on gender affirmation as a trans man who has bonded with his father over their passion for hunting and field dressing their game is issued an ultimatum that threatens that bond.

The rest of the book is filled out with a variety of entertaining shorter works that range from fantasy to humor to horror. There's a couple clunkers, but this is a very promising debut manga. ( )

*reviewed from uncorrected e-galley (some text not finished yet)*

graphic fiction, short stories--Japanese manga translated into English by trans-male author/artist (the shorter comics that follow "To Strip the Flesh" in this volume do not have to do with LGBTQAI+ issues). Content notes: contains respectful nudity.

Loved the dynamic artwork and thoughtful storytelling, in both the title story (about a trans man who eventually gets gender-alignment surgery) and in the shorter stories that follow. I would definitely read more from this author/artist and would recommend to others. ( )