Wandering Son is an anime series based on the manga series written and illustrated by Takako Shimura.

The two main characters of Wandering Son are Shuichi Nitori and Yoshino Takatsuki. While Shuichi physically looks like a boy and Yoshio looks like a girl, they identify with the opposite gender and like to dress as the other gender. Both of these characters made this discovery back in elementary school. The series begins with these characters at the start of middle school, and the stories feature struggles with puberty, gender identity, and transsexualism.

At the time I watched the first episode of the anime, I had only been able to read the first three volumes of the Wandering Son manga series. Unfortunately, all three of the volumes that I read take place while Shuichi and Yoshino are in elementary school, so the first episode was a "time skip" for me and provided me with some spoilers for what will be coming up in later volumes of the manga series.

However, the way the anime series is written, it doesn't require that the viewer have previous knowledge from the manga; there are short flashback sequences and some expository dialogue that fill the gaps to help the viewer understand why the characters act the way that they do. Unfortunately, if you don't already have some familiarity with Wandering Son through the manga, the storytelling in the anime may feel a little slow right at first.

The animation is rather interesting to me. As I watched the first episode, I kept thinking it looked like a watercolor painting that had come to life. Not only is this a different animation style than you would expect to see in anime, but it really fits in with the tone and writing of the series.

I think the Wandering Son anime series shows potential; however, I have to admit that I'm a little biased, because I've enjoyed what I've read of the manga series so far. Personally, I would recommend Wandering Son to anime viewers who are 13 or 14 years of age and older.

Title	Episodes	Release Year(s)	Director	Studio	N.A. Licensor
Wandering Son	12	2011	Ei Aoki	AIC Classic	N/A