trans woman doi... again!
i've already made a post about this headcanon, but i wanted to revisit it to articulate my thoughts a little better. i will be referencing extra material, like tsudoi and the stageplays. i may edit this at a later date if i can think of any more points.
as always, this is just for fun! don't take it too seriously. i hope you enjoy! i'd love to hear people's thoughts about hanko-chan.
crossdressing
there are only a handful of characters that have a strong hesitation / resistance to crossdressing, doi being one of them, and... you have to wonder why, right? doi doesn't have any issues with passing as a woman as hanko, so what's really the problem? you could easily reason it's just something he doesn't care for, but if it's something he's so against, like eating fish cakes, he just wouldn't do it at all. doi has his childish moments, and this easily could be another, but... it's interesting how he ends up presenting himself once he does put a kosode on.
( eps: 30-11, 28-10 )
…doesn’t seem so against it now, huh.
crossdressing in nintama is seen as an art in itself. it isn't just a matter of having long hair and wearing makeup, as illustrated by some... less successful attempts at it. like any skill, you have to hone it! which is why it's interesting that feminine mannerisms seem to come easily once hanko is in the picture. we can assume either that it is something doi has practiced extensively before, or it comes to him naturally. either one is good.
in regards to physical appearances, it's established that doi doesn't dedicate a lot of time to cleanliness. his room is a fucking mess. his clothes are always wrinkled. his hair is damaged. but, again, as hanko, he really values looking pretty! the difference in the way he presents masculine versus feminine really intrigues me. little regard vs genuine enthusiasm...
( eps: 32-60, 30-11 )
i like this line from the 1996 movie because i think it's got a fun 2nd meaning if you see it from a slightly different angle-- hanko isn't denying womanhood outright, it's more of a dig on her age. she's not an obaasan, she's an oneesan, get it right!!!
( eps: 1996 movie )
speaking of earlier seasons, it's been interesting seeing hanko's design changes over the years. it's nothing super important to note, but just as doi's personality has changed to be gentler (though still scolding), hanko has grown more feminine.
( eps: 1-9, 13-2, 28-10 )
i like to imagine doi's tsundere-ness to crossdressing is more repression than actual disdain. doi is a very self-sacrificial character, and i think he would prolong his happiness if it meant keeping up the image of a reliable, older brother/teacher figure for his students. the guilt of preferring women's clothes paired with his apathy of men's clothes manifesting as neglecting self care... doi-sensei!!!!!!!
names
it's established in rookie that "doi hansuke" is not doi's birth name. in ninmyu 12 he's given the name "yogiri" while in his former ninja squad. doi taking on a new name make sense given his circumstances, but, conceptually, abandoning a name that doesn't serve you anymore plus the euphoria of finding one that's right is incredibly transgender. the "han" of hansuke, meaning half, symbolic of how much still has to grow, and maybe that extends to discovering things about himself, too. a bleak life rife with tragedy and violence, it makes sense that doi wouldn't know the kind of person he was outside of being a ninja.
after consulting my good very smart friend duck, doi's last name appears to be a topographical name. they came up with the idea that since doi is trying to lay low, it would make sense for his last name to be from a location rather than anything pointedly identifying. the kanji in doi, "earth" and "well" also evoke some images of support and life. someone who is grounding and providing... it very much suits him! this tweet also notes that "tenki" and "yogiri" have kanji that suggest intangible concepts, "heaven" and "fog" respectively, and it's only with "doi" that he has a name based on something concrete.
i like the idea of doi honoring denzou naming her, keeping "han" as a keepsake of her new beginnings, and choosing to live as hanko.
nurturer
in 19-90, one of my favorite episodes, it gives a glimpse of how much doi and kirimaru mean to each other. the neighborhood lady and landlord gossip over their relation, whether they’re siblings or parent and child, and kirimaru denies both. to me, doi encompasses both roles, the playfulness of an older brother, the guidance of a father, and i don’t think it’s too off base to assume doi fulfills traits commonly attributed to motherhood, too. gentle scolding, loving honesty, warm affection, that sort of thing!
i wrote about doi's natural affinity with caring for children here, but i wanted to dive a little deeper. it's pretty obvious that after five years of teaching, he's gotten used to taking care of kids, but that child rearing also extends to babies, too! kirimaru has doi help out with his part-time jobs frequently, babysitting included, and doi is really, really good at taking care of babies. don't believe me? hear it from kirimaru.
( eps: 23-51 ) look how sad she is when she has to give the baby up. i'm gonna die.
in my previous post, i talked about how easily doi would be able to settle down with a family. a wife and kids of his own, isn't that what he would want? in tsudoi, amako-sensei states that after 1-ha graduate, doi retires and opens up an orphanage. kirimaru comes by to help out. rikichi drops his own baby off. (crazy.) and while this isn't concretely canon, i see it very fitting for doi's character arc. teaching brings him a lot of joy, obviously, but considering how worried sick he gets of his students, it makes sense he would want to find another way to give back the kindness he's received in a less sending-children-off-to-war kind of way. doi values childhood, his own was cut very short. to care for children without families would bring him a lot of fulfillment.
what does this have to do with gender? well. it doesn't have to! but i just find it curious that doi doesn't seem interested in marriage or having biological children. he could just be happier single, or, in my mind, maybe there's no use in having biological children if it's not the way he really wants. doi longing to be a mother, but he doesn't have the body to carry or birth a child... we have to make womb transplants possible in the sengoku period.
movie 3 spoilers below
after my watch (and few consecutive rewatches) of the third movie, i wanted to jot down a few things i thought were fun in this section, too.
what kicks off the main events of the third movie is the fight between sonnamon and doi, in which sonnamon ends up 'winning' because doi is thrown off a cliff, thus making him vulnerable to dokutake's brainwashing (sexy). i find the circumstances of this to be very fun to examine in a gender lens. throughout the course of the fight, doi is for the most part on the defense, while sonnamon is aggressively on the offense. it's cute how doi humors him, almost treating sonnamon like a child in the playful, scolding way he handles sonnamon's obsession attacks.
there is one moment where doi does become forceful, though, and it's when sonnamon's movements threaten the safety of a bird's nest. the mother bird, pictured below, also doesn't reveal herself until she realizes the danger her babies are in. i find it incredibly fitting that the bird and doi seem to mirror each other, both devoted and only provoked when it comes to protecting their children. this comes up again at doi's light threat to happousai after he regains his memory. doi loves her babies don't fuck around too much.
( 2024 movie. )
speaking of, and i'll try to keep this brief since i want to write a full review of the movie someday, tenki is a peek at a doi without the warmth, kindness, and love of the yamadas, his students, and, of course, kirimaru. tenki is cold and calculated, yet devoted to maintaining peace. he wants to prevent the tragedy in his childhood from happening to anyone else. despite tenki's violence, his motivations are rooted in kindness and empathy, though misguided due to dokutake's true ambitions.
( 2024 movie. )
but such a narrow path is a very empty way to live, and it's clear that tenki's happiness is pushed aside for the 'greater good.' a very huge stretch here, stay with me on this one, but something that comes to mind is how some trans people will put aside their want to transition because it seems so far from reach. unrealistic or inconvenient to people around them. it's easier to do the 'right thing.' the familiar light in doi's eyes only returns once he remembers the bonds he's formed, and that despite how cruel the world can be, there's a lot of love to give and receive, too. hardships and joy go hand in hand, and i think that's very relevant to being trans, too. all to say, doi's heart is warm and big enough to care for any child in need, and i couldn't imagine a life where she isn't surrounded by babies.
( 2024 movie. )
let's glow serenely with mama.
misc
these will be little points that don't really fit in with other categories.
in ninmyu 12, when doi is describing his own image of a peaceful scenery, he uses the lyrics, "swaying a flower basket in her hand, with a smile on her face, a maiden joyfully gathers mugwort." curious.
in an interview about the design of the tenohira tenki figure, the sculptor noted that tenki's outfit is reminiscent of yamabushi... as well as binan-kazura. binan-kazura's were men playing female roles in kyogen. curious.
all credit to jellyfishlover on dreamwidth for this (who wrote a lovely review of the 3rd movie, go check it out!)-- if we assume tenki is what doi would be like without the influence of the yamadas, kirimaru, and the rest of his students, it's fair to assume that deep, monotone timbre might be closer to his natural voice, and he may be pitching his voice up. curious.
my good very smart friend azul brought up the fantastic point that the first person to recognize doi's potential as a caretaker was another woman, rikichi's mother. curious.
( eps: 30-35. )
