Otome Danshi ni Koisuru Otome

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Otome Danshi is about Mayu, a shy girl who is scared of men and Yuki, a boy who is into cross-dressing (how convenient!).

One thing you should be aware of; cross-dressing plays a big part in this, at least visually. For a vast majority of the time, the male lead Yuki is dressed up as a girl. Together with his mannerisms the manga often gives off some Yuri vibes. However, he is still very much a boy, and shows that on many occasions as well, especially since his female mannerisms are just a part of the whole cross-dressing getup in a way.

The general story-telling reminded me ... a lot of Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko, both with one-page chapters and a quite similar feel to it. However, I much prefer the pacing of Otome Danshi, since their is some really good romantic development occurring instead of purely focusing on comedic aspects.

The story itself mostly focuses on their development and interaction as a couple, but also introducing some side characters and a slight love-rivalry (but in a very good way). It also sheds some light on their past and surroundings, explaining why Yuki likes to cross-dress, or why Mayu is scared of men.

Overall, it is very light-hearted, with only slight sprinkles of drama to it. A really enjoyable read if you just want something simple to feel good.

Firstly, this is a daily-published strip: one page of usually four panels per day; thence the huge number of chapters; be not put off by that too much.

I will say that it started off not as great as it became, but it progressively became better. It started as a typical trap love-story: character meets other character; mistakes other character's sex; other character casually reveals actual sex, and they get closer together.

The story quickly gets more political however: the author originally wanted to call the story "Freedom" — in English — but the publisher recommended against this. At first, I was not too impressed with the ... supposed "freedom message" — what is there to be found in "freedom from gender roles" be all thereof merely males trying their hardest to be indistinguishable from female social expectations, wearing female clothes and taking effort to adopt female social mannerisms? That's not freedom; that's conformance yet again — however, in the end the strip did put my concerns to rest as that's the twist. Yuuki starts out basically being indistinguishable from "female" but it's eventually revealed that Yuuki isn't actually trying to act and sound female, and that apart from the clothes that's just how he naturally behaves, and he's an otokonoko Wunderkind that needs not in any way alter his mannerisms or voice — eventually, Yuuki appears more and more in male coded-clothing and anything in between as well and just dresses however he pleases.

Yuuki's backstory in flashbacks and his relationship with his grandparent is also very moving; I also like that the strip doesn't make it all about gender, but also highlights the parallels with Yuuki being pressured to dye his natural blond hair black, to conform more to Japanese expectations.

There are also many other relationships apart from the Yuuki–Mayu relationship that are given prominence and development, and many other characters do find more of their freedom throughout the story and learn to cast aside various expectations they placed upon themselves for no good reason.

So i just finished this manga and i liked it.

It starts off with our main protagonist Mayu Minakuchi, a cute and shy girl. getting molested by an old Guy on the train. Coming to her rescue is Yuki , a also cute looking, girlish boy. For a matter of fact , Mayu mistakes him for a boy at first ,since he also wears typical girl clothes. So in case you didn't know yet ,yes this is a manga about cross-dressing, but it is foremost a story about romance.

The cross-dressing aspect is handled very maturely though and is a staple of our times being more ... progressive then the past by showing how it is just another part of the person and not an all defining characteristic. The author also knows when to play it for laughs ,like with one of our supporting cast ,Kei.
Kei gets dragged into the cross-dressing world trough Yuki ,and is initially acting as our springboard to recognising the lightheartedness of it and that some people do it for money (as in a job) or a hobby (fun/fulfillment). He is paired up with Asuka ,Mayu's best friend, who is a bit of a genki girl (meaning she has energy to spare and is mostly straight forward). I enjoyed their dynamic as well that they enriched the plot by a lot, daring our main couple to move things along.

Jumping forward in time by a lot so you may enjoy this Manga for yourself ;)

I enjoyed the ending ,a lot of people seemed to want more ,but i felt the author told us probably everything they wanted too with this story and it ended on a high note for me. Showcasing that it is better to end it while still at your best.

I would have given this a 7,5 if not for the kinda unconnected story threads. This seems to be the case ,because of the format of it's release. It was my first manga where they would release a single page everyday instead of a chapter for the week/month and i think it hurt the story a bit as a whole.
It wasn't to bad, but recognizable.

Story: 5. Nothing special (except for the obvious) but sufficient since other area's shine.
Art: 5. It looks fine ,nothing extraordinarily though.
Characters: 7. This is the pushing grace of it all. They are all very lovable and just put a smile on your face.
Enjoyment: 6. I read most of it while at work so it enriched my day their by quite a lot :P
Overall: 6. A fine read worth recommending to anyone who enjoys laid back atmosphere in their media ,at least every so often. A must read for people who don't see the normality of guy's wanting to dress like girl's yet or are on the fence about it =) it'll give you some insight.