Claudine (manga)
Claudine is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda. It was serialized in two issues of Shueisha's Weekly Margaret magazine in January 1978 and later published in a single tankōbon volume under the Margaret Comics imprint on May 20, 1978. Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the series for an English-language release in North America, published on June 26, 2018. Claudine is notable for being one of the earliest manga to feature a transgender protagonist.
Plot
The story is narrated by an unnamed psychiatrist as he reflects on the life and loves of Claude, the child of an aristocratic French family in the early 20th century. Assigned female at birth, Claude has identified as a boy since the age of eight; Claude's parents take him to the psychiatrist, who befriends Claude after confirming that he is in good health.As a teenager, Claude falls in love with Maura, a servant in his family's house. Though Maura loves him in turn, she goes back to her home after the death of her father. As a high school student, Claude falls in love with Cecilia, a librarian at his school. Cecilia does not reciprocate his feelings, and is, in fact, secretly having an affair with Claude's father, Auguste; Louis, Cecilia's brother who himself had an affair with Auguste in his youth, kills Cecilia and Auguste out of jealousy.
Later, as he works towards his master's degree, Claude falls in love with a ballet dancer name Sirène. The two begin a relationship, though Sirène eventually falls in love with and becomes engaged to one of Claude's brothers. Believing that his female body makes him an "imperfect man", and with a final appeal to Sirène having been ignored, Claude falls into despair and commits suicide. In a closing narration, the psychiatrist confides to the audience that he has "no hesitation" in his belief that Claude is transgender.
Characters
; Claude; The Doctor
; Auguste de Montesse
; Madame de Montesse
; Andrew, Edward, and Thomas
; Rosemarie
; Louis Laques
; Maura
; Cecilia Laques
; Sirène Beige
Publication
Written and illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda, Claudine was serialized in Shueisha's shōjo manga magazine Weekly Margaret in 1978, with the first part published in the No. 4–5 combined issue, and the second part published in the No. 6 issue.Shueisha collected and published the chapters in a single tankōbon volume under the Margaret Comics imprint on May 20, 1978. Fairbell Comics reprinted the volume in 2006 and released a digital version in 2013. Goma Books released a new digital version of the manga, along with ten other works by Ikeda, in 2018.
On November 15, 2017, Seven Seas Entertainment announced they licensed Claudine for an English-language release in North America. It was published in a single volume on June 26, 2018. The manga is also licensed in Italy by RW Edizioni under the Goen imprint. It was published in a single volume on May 17, 2014.
Reception
Claudine received mixed reviews from English-language publications. Austin Price of Otaku USA praised Ikeda's artwork as gorgeous and baroque, singling out her "expressive character designs and cinematic panel arrangements." Amy McNulty of Anime News Network similarly commended Ikeda's iconic style of "large, beautiful eyes and fanciful attire", as well as "the finely detailed background art... similar to architectural drawings." The story itself was described by Amanda Pagan of the New York Public Library as a "powerful tale about identity, culture, and self-acceptance." Publishers Weekly believed the manga might be able to teach its teenage demographic "something important about believing in oneself".Critics also praised the fact that Claudine "stars an undeniably trans character" without it being relegated to subtext or ambiguous writing. Lynzee Loveridge of ANN felt that this "forthrightness is unique for a genre that likes to stay in the 'will they or won't they' category so often." Rebecca Silverman of ANN agreed, stating that "for a manga in 1978 to tackle this subject is impressive in and of itself, because there's not a lot of authors in 2018 who are trying, much less in a thoughtful way." Echoing these sentiments, Erica Friedman, the founder of Yuricon, called the manga "an extraordinary portrayal." She added that "it reads a bit old fashioned now, as society moves towards greater awareness and understanding of transgender people, but it’s not stale in the least."
However, Publishers Weekly and Silverman of ANN both cautioned that there are "some outdated terms and unfortunate attitudes" portrayed throughout the story. Most notably, characters often misgender Claude by referring to him with feminine pronouns. McNulty of ANN acknowledged that this "can be difficult to view... through a modern lens", but argued that the misgendering "makes the manga feel more realistic, especially considering the historical setting", and that, as a result, the rejected love interest Rosemarie's casual and determined references to Claude as a man feel more powerful. Conversely, Price of Otaku USA thought the manga didn't go far enough in depicting the prejudices of the era. He noted that Claude's family and friends are exceptionally understanding of his gender identity for members of the aristocracy in the early 20th century and that Claude himself is largely undaunted by the bigotry he does encounter, "freeing the story from either external or internal conflict." Price opined that Claude's unique circumstances often "seem entirely beside the point."
The ending—in which Claude takes his own life after his relationship with Sirène falls apart—has also been criticized as "too wantonly dark." Loveridge of ANN complained that "Claudine indulges in many of the same tragic gay-panic tropes as yuri manga from that time period" where "the only possible ending to a queer romance is one of utmost tragedy." In her review for Okazu, a website dedicated to news and reviews of yuri manga and anime, Friedman similarly acknowledged a "Well of Loneliness feel about the conclusion". However, she noted that "the end of life is presented not as an inevitability, but a crime committed upon by society."
Additionally, McNulty and Silverman of ANN thought the story "feels rushed confined to a single volume" and that "it doesn't have the impact of Ikeda's longer works." Price of Otaku USA agreed, stating that "there's no time for Ikeda to delve into the premise" or to "develop the historical setting and the ways it might affect the characters", given the manga's short page count. He added that "the book reads like the Cliff Notes to a more fully fleshed graphic novel that was never made."