Ranked #4195

Boku Wa Ne (Manga)

I'll have you know that I'm rarely a fan of hardcore shoujo. But this is one has cunningly wrapped itself around my heart.

Young Tetsuta is at that precious age when parents are the most important thing in a child's world. That age where he is not ashamed of them, when he wants to spend time with them, and likes to have a good-night kiss as he's tucked into bed.

So Tetsuta is rather disappointed that his father spends so much time at work. His mother passed away a few years ago, leaving behind him and his little sister Aya. Now dad, you see, is also very affectionate toward his kids, and to help make up for his not always being there for them (and not being able to cook anything decent) he decides to hire a babysitter to help look after them. This babysitter is dad's kouhai from high school: the very beautiful, very graceful, very cheerful, and VERY MALE Aki-chan.

Since Aki doesn't have any family himself, he ends up moving into Tetsuta's house, and taking on a very motherly role for the household, and cooking, cleaning, and looking out for the kids (when he's not at his job as a kindergarden teacher).

Now, now before anyone starts thinking that this is a yaoi, I assure you that it is not. I kept wondering of it was going to turn into a yaoi or a shotacon (after all, everyone in here is very, VERY affectionate) but it never crosses that line. Everything stays familial.

This rather unusual shoujo series is all about family relationships: siblings, parents, cousins, and adoptive family members. What lengths should you go for the sake of family? What constitutes a family? When do you help, and when do you draw back? It's often melodramatic and over-done. But it still gives you a sweet cuddly feeling deep down inside.

As you might guess, there's a bit of gender-bending. At first I wondered why they bothered to make Aki male instead of female. But I guess if Aki was female, it would have meant a possible romantic interest, and I guess that the author wants to keep this light and fluffy. Aki-chan looks like a woman, and almost thinks like a woman too. Sometimes guys try to hit on him. Aki doesn't appreciate that, and always seems so surprised that guys see him that way. I want to tell him to cut his hair. It's all because of that long hair.

As I said, it's not a yaoi, but there's still a lot of affection between guys. Dad and Aki act very familiar and "huggy" together, making me wonder what kind of relationship they had during high school. But never mind that....what those two care about are the kids! They'll do anything for Tetsuta and Aya; even crossdress!

The art is actually pretty good for a shoujo. The only complaint I have is that in the first couple chapters, Tetsuya is drawn inconsistently. Sometimes he looks like he's 4; at other times he looks 12. But overall, it's not bad.

If you want some potentially addictive, light lovey-dovey-ness, and lots of affection, and LOTS of melodrama, put this at the top of your list! read more

You may think I am exaggerating the score but all I am doing is rounding to the nearest whole number. It's that good.
First and foremost don't forget the tissue box. It's a tearjerker...well for me it was.

The story mainly revolves around 9 year old (later on 10) Tetsuta and his view of family relationship. It is easily seen that he is very mature for his age or maybe it reflects the current generation children. But the purity of his world is what attracted me.
For example his quote "I think someone who would rather keep their pride then their loved one is disgraceful" [ch 10 pg 25 in Manga Fox] is something we know but once faced with the situation tend to forget.

We take relationship for granted and we get very prideful with fear of getting hurt. We forget that at times a simple sorry can dissolve fights that we need to express feelings in words for we are not telepathic creatures. Things that if we take time to realize, would make us happier. I would recommend this book for parents and children alike as well as people who are grumpy with life.

The art is easy on the eyes, female drawn beautifully and men good looking. The fun part is the cross dressing moments. Now some may think eeww-ww gay. No, the guys may loll their eyes at beauty and girls may just drop laughing. And then come to adore the characters. The children are sooo loveable and kawaii to the max!!!
With all the heartwarming family moments that is hard to find in the current world, this is a feel good book with a lot to learn from. read more