IS (short for intersexuality/intersex, pronounced Aiesu in Japanese) - Otoko demo Onna demo Nai Sei (roughly translated as The Gender that is neither Male nor Female) is a shoujo/josei drama Slice of Life manga series written by Chiyu Rokuhana. It deals with intersex people and their everyday life issues. The series consists of cases, each dealing with different people, but only for the first two volumes—when it eventually ends up being exclusively a coming of age story about Haru, an intersex child.
This manga won the Kodansha Manga Award for Shoujo in 2007.
This example provides examples of:
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The first two volumes are oneshots. Afterwards, it becomes a Coming of Age Story about Haru.
- Edutainment Show: The manga does teach about issues concerning intersex people.
- First Period Panic: Ryoma starts getting her period, which causes trouble because she was raised as a boy. She panics because she didn't even know she could have periods.
- Intersex Tribulations: The manga is about intersex people. The first two volumes are one-shots about various individuals, such as the female-identified Ryoma, who was raised male and ended up having her first period in her late teens. After volume 3, it becomes a Coming of Age Story and Queer Romance story about an intersex boy named Haru.
- Outfit-Rip Sex Check: As a child, this was attempted on Ryoma when a group of boys make fun of her for being sensitive and feminine. She stopped it by beating up the assailants.
