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Okay so I think that episode 4 of Wonder Egg Priority was intentionally vague about Momoe's gender and sexuality bc we'll get a more exciting reveal later down the line (or perhaps bc she herself still isn't sure...?)
But for now I wanna do a little speculation thread. #ワンエグ
But for now I wanna do a little speculation thread. #ワンエグ
Okay so the most obvious thing is that Momoe hates being mistaken for a boy, but she wears a male uniform and keeps her hair relatively short. There could be many reasons for this. She could be a trans girl but be forced to conform to masculinity by her parents/school.
But we also see her wear a female uniform in a flashback, so we can probably assume that she borrowed one of the uniforms from someone (older sibling?).
By how she reacts to people mentioning typically masculine traits, you could also assume that she's a trans girl who feels self-conscious about anything that might out her (especially that she's 14 so she might be entering puberty).
On the other hand she does relax when Ai says that she likes Adam's apples and not only agrees, but says they're sexy - it's possible she admires masculinity and is self-conscious about not being masculine ENOUGH.
Or, on the contrary, she feels accepted bc she (might?) have one.
Or, on the contrary, she feels accepted bc she (might?) have one.
But let's abandon the trans angle for now and focus on this line bc I think it's most telling.
It could be that she's just an unusually tall cis girl who feels like she doesn't fit Japanese standards of femininity and therefore feels the pressure to be masculine instead.
It could be that she's just an unusually tall cis girl who feels like she doesn't fit Japanese standards of femininity and therefore feels the pressure to be masculine instead.
Or, she could be a gender nonconforming girl and hate that choosing to be masculine means that people immediately assume that she HAS to be a boy. Maybe she hates that dichotomy, society's need to put everyone into boxes and wants to be recognized as a girl despite her looks.
As far as sexuality goes - it's also really hard to assume bc we don't have enough information to understand this scene yet.
Does she feel assaulted by her friend? Is she scared by how much she WANTS to touch her that she rejects her bc of internalized homophobia?
Does she feel assaulted by her friend? Is she scared by how much she WANTS to touch her that she rejects her bc of internalized homophobia?
Really too early to tell but the imagery is really interesting. The sweat beading on her skin is meant to show how hot it is - not just the weather outside, but also the sweltering heat of the situation. Or, on the contrary, it could be cold sweat from not knowing how to react.
It's also interesting how close she is with the girls she saves and doesn't flinch when one of them tries to kiss her - but this could easily be because her rejecting her friend caused her death, so she's terrified of accidentally causing that same chain of events.
And lastly the way she talks to her friend sounds like she's distancing herself from any feeling towards women but then again this could easily be explained with her being in denial of her sexuality.
Sooo yeah, there's really no way to tell yet! I think it's very interesting how they give us all these hints but not enough information to come to one single conclusion yet. Perhaps this form of storytelling also represents the struggle to figure out who you are in your youth...?
Oh right I also completely forgot about the things the abusers/monsters say. Does Momoe feel like she's "deceiving" people by how she looks? And the second monster - was that an assumption based on her masc appearance or did she know something we don't?
(Also fyi I love Momoe and I'll continue loving her no matter what her identity will turn out to be. Even if she somehow ends up being cishet - which I doubt - she still embodies "queerness" in many ways.)
