Wandering Son Volume Two is a manga by Shimura Takako, and it was published in North America by Fantagraphics Books in 2012. I don’t see a rating listed anywhere on this volume, but I would personally recommend Wandering Son to manga readers who are 13 or 14 years of age and older.
At the beginning of Volume Two, Shuichi and Yoshino, along with their friends, enter the sixth grade. Shuichi continues dressing as a girl, and also purchases a long-haired wig to help out with this.
One day, Shuichi is home from school with a fever, and has dressed up in the wig and girl outfit. One of Shuichi’s older sister’s classmates comes over to return a notebook, and becomes interested in Shuichi. Unfortunately, this event ends up revealing Shuichi’s secret to Maho.
While Yoshino and Shuichi are out on the town (with Yoshino wearing boys' clothes and Shuichi wearing girls' clothes and the wig), they meet an adult woman named Yuki who Yoshino had met in the first volume while dressed as a guy. They continue seeing Yuki, and learn that there’s more to Yuki than meets the eye. The volume ends with Shuichi and the other sixth graders going on a class trip, and Shuichi being bullied by one of the boys that’s on the trip.
I have to say that I hadn’t anticipated the twist with Yuki, so it was something that genuinely caught me off-guard. This volume also shows a realistic depiction of bullying; even though the boy doing the bullying doesn’t know Shuichi’s secret, the bully relies on stereotypes to start calling Shuichi an insult that is hurled at gay men.
I was a little concerned for Yoshino and Shuichi when they started hanging out with Yuki and Yuki’s partner. When they both come home later than expected one evening after spending time with them, I was glad to see their parents acting realistically.
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