Ranked #1236

Ai wo Utau Yori Ore ni Oborero! (Manga)

This review will be relatively short. I'm actually reading translations and have gone as far as Vol. 4 chapter 18. This is a note to say that I have not completed the work but there's not much more for me to go...roughly 11 more chapters.

This story is actually very good. I am pleasantly surprised. I tried to read this story about 4 or so times before I buckled down and finished up to the translations so far which is the amount I have read up to. The problem had nothing to do with any sort of confusion. It's to do with the acclamation towards seeing the abrupt difference in gender roles. For example in most gender-bender stories the male and female role are rarely juxtaposed. Normally it's one character who's swapping gender and in those cases the lover knows about the change early on or eventually finds out early on.

In this case these two are not even swapping genders they just get mistaken for different genders and when they're together the contrast is more striking. Mizuki is the girl who looks liike a guy until she actually puts on girls clothing and is most definitely a girl...one of the most beautiful. Akira is a guy who gets mistaken as cute young girl and when he wears female clothing---which he's inclined to do through some extenuating circumstance, or another---he's uber cute as a girl.

Even Mizuki when she first met Akira she thought he was a girl and was confused by him. The story really reflects the insecurities of growing up, puberty and gender, sexuality and sexual roles. Mizuki's complex is something that started in elementary school when she grew taller than the other girls in her school. So she's been dealing with those issues and understanding them. In one scene you can tell she was having gender role problems because she can't bring herself or even think of another girl in a sexual manner but due to her looks you can tell that she feels life would be easier if she did. This is the same as when another male has an interest in her, who 'looks' masculine. When she's with him she's a girl and her role is defined as such.

Akira has no such problem dealing with who he is, since he seems extremely confident. So even his issues of playing gender roles bugs him, like dressing like a girl since he's a guy; and even having male admirers. It isn't displayed as some sort of insecurity. Just a nuisance. However he's in his predicament because he's the baby of his family of four boys. Coming from a line of renowned fighters he's extremely strong but being the youngest and probably due to the lack of milk in his diet (you'll get what I mean there) he's a bit stunted resulting in his feminization.

Take note though this does take getting used to. I had to struggle to realize that she's a girl not a guy since she fits SM's role of the ideal guy and Akira is definitely ieal girl for SM. However, after that the story flowed it was good.

There are, as with much of SM work attempted rapes...surprisingly one by a girl onto another girl. Mizuki's character is almost very similar to any other girl. However, she's extremely innocent/naive to sexuality. So that can be a bit annoying for the reader but luckily SM managed to make it more comedic, so her naivete doesn't grate---as testimony to this at times she appears to be a tease when she just doesn't realize the affect she has on her guy. Nonetheless she does love him. For Akira is extremely strong and confident in himself. It makes you wonder if he's been with a girl before due to his confidence. Either way he's your typical guy who comes on a little strong but I think it's because he doesn't realize how naive Mizuki really is.

All in all it's actually a fun read and I really enjoyed it. It's not long by any stretch of the imagination or complex topics to understand. It's just familiarizing and realizing that gender swapping is a bit extreme here. ^_^ read more

Most people think it's hard to understand at first, but don't let it confuse you! The "gender-bending" is easily overcome once you get into the second and third chapters when more happens between the characters Akira and Mizuki. Personally it won't take much time to read and it is extremely enjoyable, I'd recommend it!