Talk:Tooru Mutsuki/@comment-173.51.123.20-20150117195051/@comment-10733658-20150117202535

There's a lot of unanswered questions, to be sure. However, I don't think Mutsuki is afraid of men since living as a dude requires being constantly surrounded by men. Rather, we already know that Mutsuki isn't comfortable living as a woman so obviously this situation -- dressing as and being viewed/treated as a woman in an environment with a sexual undertone -- is going to leave him feeling extremely uneasy.

Besides that, let's not forget that what Torso did. So very recently, he's been physically attacked and stripped by a man in a life-or-death situation. Pretty much the early stages of a sexual assault. Considering that Ishida doesn't ignore the psychological impact of trauma in his characters, I wouldn't be surprised if Mutsuki is feeling especially vulnerable after that ordeal.

I'm waiting to see actual discussion among Japanese-literate fans before I pass judgement on the alleged "man's heart" line. We'll see where things ultimately go, but right now we have more evidence of how uncomfortable Mutsuki is with being treated as or viewed as a girl.