Senpai wa Otokonoko

Much like the other students at her school, first-year student Saki Aoi finds herself captivated by the beauty of her senior on the school board, Makoto Hanaoka. While she worries that Hanaoka would be uncomfortable receiving a confession from another girl, Aoi musters up the courage to tell her anyway. However, Hanaoka's response surprises Aoi for a completely different reason—Hanaoka is actually a cross-dressing boy!

Fully expecting Aoi to be abhorred by this revelation, Hanaoka is shocked to find that she has no issues with it. Though Hanaoka rejects Aoi's request to go out with her—citing his identity and the fact that he has never fallen in love before—Aoi insists that she will become his first love. Taken aback by Aoi's determination, Hanaoka wonders if he can really fall in love with her if he cannot find it in him to truly love himself first.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hanaoka, Makoto Main

Umeda, Shuuichirou Japanese

Aoi, Saki Main

Sekine, Akira Japanese

Taiga, Ryuuji Main

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Taiga, Konatsu Supporting

Maeda, Kaori Japanese

Hayase, Ai Supporting

Kakuma, Ai Japanese

Saotome, Jun Supporting

Kajiwara, Gakuto Japanese

Otonari-san Supporting

Hasegawa, Ikumi Japanese

Aoi, Masako Supporting

Satou, Ai Japanese

Taiga, Miki Supporting

Yoshida, Asami Japanese

Yoshida, Miyo Supporting

Hayase, Yukimi Japanese

Enomoto, Kana Assistant Producer

Tabei, Miwa Assistant Producer

Fujimoto, Noriko Assistant Producer

Yanagi, Shinsuke Director

Reviews

Sep 26, 2024

KANLen09

Recommended

Senpai is an Otokonoko – In the age of emerging societal issues about sexuality, this show couldn’t have come at a better time to define the current age of the fragility known as the collective human society. And I’m all here for it.

Cross-dressing and bisexuality are only some of the better-known terms when it comes to this sensitive topic that’s called sexual orientation. I’m sure that you’ve often heard terms like queer/LGBTQIA, homosexuality, and same-sex marriages all around given the rapid (and unfortunately rancid) age of the internet shoving and forcing ideals that regardless of your sexual orientation, we as humans should all be loved ... one and the same, and that we should have our own ways to deal with anything that’s outside of the norm. Case in point, the very conservative Land of the Rising Sun that is Japan, experiencing yet another boom and resurgence of the known phenomena, especially within the 21st century. In the current day and age where people are more outspoken, the majority of which comes from the younger generation, they’re quite vocal in support over the years that same-sex relationships and marriage should be constituted into the National Diet (that is Japan’s government legislation), despite the ongoing views for and against LGBT rights that continue to this very day. And despite the awful and discriminative bigotry that is the Western view on LGBTQ+, Japan hasn’t had an issue with said term for decades now, which is seen throughout its culture, most especially in the AniManga industry where Yaoi and Yuri a.k.a Boys and Girls’ Love works are rampant, thereby creating an even deeper subculture of the infatuation of people who are sticklers to same-sex relationships and marriages to this day.

From the many Yaoi and Yuri works that are out and about in the AniManga industry, one such series stands out. And the surprising bit? It’s not even categorized as either genre. This is mangaka Pom’s Senpai wa Otokonoko a.k.a Senpai is an Otokonoko (or This is Him), a deconstruction of the LGBT genre, and simultaneously a coming-of-age story of accepting who you are regardless of gender norms, and its creation is quite the unique story of fascination. All of this was enough to win the hearts of its readers, thus increasing its popularity, as well as being well received by critics for its writing and characters, taking 3rd place in the web manga category of Kadokawa and Niconico’s Next Manga Award (of which its winner was mangaka Naoya Matsumoto’s Kaiju No. 8), as well as being Line Manga’s 3rd most read Webtoon series, all in 2021 alone.

Senpai wa Otokonoko: My Crossdressing Senpai tells the story of 2nd year student Makoto Hanaoka, a young man…who’s not really what he seems to be. His physique may be the fact that he’s a born-bred boy, but everything else is as otherwise. He’s best described as a tomgirl: someone who fancies the feminine side of things that girls often dress themselves with, to the point that he even wears his school’s standard female sailor uniform, despite from being shunned by everyone around him, to getting used to seeing him as such: a crossdressing boy. And that captures the attention of 1st year student Saki Aoi, who falls in love with him at first sight, thinking that he’s a girl, until the eventual reveal that he’s not, leaving her rejected. But she’s fine with whatever orientation he is anyway since she’s bisexual, being able to love both his heterosexual traits all the same in the hopes that she will become his first love, even though Makoto doesn’t reciprocate as much, even sometimes to the point of being judged by hanging out with a cross-dresser. And then there’s Ryuji Taiga, Makoto’s childhood friend who has been through the way with him since kindergarten, but his sexual orientation forces him to constantly question if he’s alright going all-in with the childhood friend-to-lovers trope, being that he’s secretly gay and in love with Makoto since their childhood days. This is quite the unusual love triangle as Makoto, Aoi, and Ryuji dig deep into their hearts into trying to understand and support each other as people who are unorthodox to their typical sexual orientations, and the drama in this anime does reveal a similar likeness of real-world discussions on what it means to be homosexual.

What started off as a manga draft for a lesbian romance, as both writer and illustrator, Pom had difficulties drawing male characters, and had to receive advice from an acquaintance on drawing a series where a boy dresses up as a girl, even if that meant that she was at times unhappy with her presentation of Makoto as a bona-fide boy. This is especially in Japanese high school culture where male students crossdress as female students and wearing the school’s female sailor uniforms does occur, though the school in her series is fictionalized and not based off of real-life high schools, down to the specifics. Pom also conceptualized the series in a way that instead of making a gag-based comedy (of which the manga, and now the anime, does have elements of it), she chose to tackle the theme of not obfuscating one’s sexuality when it comes to human relationships – the diversity of love and romance regardless of gender; being forward about liking feminine things as someone of the opposite sex and taking care of oneself. To note, however, this is NEVER the subject of litigation against people who try to defy gender norms, balancing the dark elements with lighter ones, and this is one of the key reasons why the mangaka herself kept the cast to as few characters as possible, stating her dissent when character-driven stories outpace the bigger picture of the actual story itself.

Regarding the love triangle that is Makoto, Aoi, and Ryuji, this is where the aesthetic of the series truly (and I mean TRULY) shines the brightest. Pom intentionally designed Makoto and Aoi to contrast against each other, with the former being constantly apprehensive and distressed, while the latter is assertive and poised, and Ryuji is the weighted balance within the two’s love life that got away but stood for the long run. You can tell that this unique trio of friends have a bond that’s like a balloon that no matter how much it inflates or deflates, it holds them altogether, but when it bursts, it bursts in a colossal way that it’s near to impossible to repair their close-knitted relationship. This is one of the reasons why Pom opted for visual storytelling rather than text-based storytelling as much as possible. The contrasts of Makoto liking the feminine side because of its aesthetic whilst being portrayed as a male in the inside; Aoi just being the typical high school student with a personality being that of a proactive and immature childish brat who always stays true to her values; and Ryuji just trying his best to counterbalance the insanity that is his childhood friend and the rejected heroine who loves them both the same (and even calling Ryuji her “Master”). This is a trio of characters planned to the precise detail, and Pom ultimately decides to “go where the others go” since there’s essentially no story to begin with, with her conceived characters being the ones to dictate the progress of the story itself, it’s all based on her experiences on the belief that they could not portray things believably unless she had experienced it herself, thus with each character having a part of the life and vision of the mangaka herself. And I mean, what can I say? This is a VERY well-thought-out plot, and characters designed for the intention to tell a story that’s larger than life itself, and I respect Pom for what she’s done here with this work that earned her the credibility and fame that is absolutely well deserved in the first place.

Running a tight ship like Senpai wa Otokonoko is a fine but ludicrous job, and having a subpar studio like Project No. 9 who’s doing 2 shows this season (this and the horrid animation presentation that is Naze Boku no Sekai wo Daremo Oboeteinai no ka? a.k.a Why Does Nobody Remember Me in This World?), both aspects will eventually crash and burn…but unexpectedly not for the former. With the backing of a big conglomerate like Aniplex, in-house director Shinsuke Yanagi and his staff team are undoubtedly blessed with a big budget to work with, being able to present the manga in anime form to a crisp, beautiful, and gorgeous display of both the gag comedy (which is taken off from the manga) and its world itself, which is just chef’s kiss. If anything, this anime is one of the best produced shows this Summer season, and I’m not exaggerating when Sakuga this fluid (even in a minimalistic way) is a treat for the eyes.

The OST also is really good and provides the deep and rich atmospheres, that’s all thanks to veteran music composer Yukari Hashimoto, having done prior high-profile series the likes of 3-gatsu no Lion a.k.a March Comes in Like a Lion and more recently with Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu. a.k.a Komi Can't Communicate, and this Winter's Yubisaki to Renren a.k.a A Sign of Affection. But if there's just one complaint, the OP and ED songs from Kujira are hit and miss, even if the ED (feat. Nishina) displays lighthearted feelings. It's decent, but forgettable.

Senpai wa Otokonoko a.k.a Senpai is an Otokonoko is a show that you CANNOT just enter into blindly because of its subject theme, thinking that you'll understand the motivations of the characters, and even far down to their personalities and such. This is NOT a show for the easily offended, and it takes a whole deal of maturity to put yourself in the shoes of a fellow LGBT who's been harassed, assaulted, or even judged to the point of hate, having to deal with feelings that are so far out of the typical straight human, and that's not an easy feeling for the Makotos, Aois and Ryujis in our fragile human society to overcome the constant plaguing issues of discrimination.

However, with that said, the anime, in my opinion, is one of the best shows of the Summer 2024 season, and all it takes is the heart of sympathy and understanding to see from their POV, then you can be guaranteed that Senpai wa Otokonoko is more than just a great show. It's a story about what we can do as the collective human society to help these people get along in this defecting, cancel culture of an egregious, sensitive society, to embrace and love them one and the same, regardless of who and what they are. It's a story about love and acceptance, and I'm glad to see that light and be better at treating people all the more.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 27, 2024

CaptainKenshiro

Mixed Feelings

Funny

I initially started this anime because part of its premise reminded me of Hourou Musuko, a 2011 coming of age and romance anime about two transgender protagonists. But as it turns out the main character in here later on does not see themselves as either a boy or a girl, so I guess we’re talking about a non-gender conforming non-binary protagonist here instead.

I mean this anime still shares some things with that one, such as the main character dressing with feminine clothes half the time and being initially rejected by most people around, and having a supportive parent while the other does not accept them, ... but they have nothing in common beyond that and their approach are vastly different.

The romance part of the anime is peculiar, as the protagonist is part of a sort of a love triangle with both a boy and a girl, having the male character being conflicted by his feelings and afraid of being homo or at least bisexual, and of being seen as a creep, both by his friend and society. The female character has no issue with the main character’s identity but her feelings end up being different from what it’s initially shown.

Thus despite being a romance, the approach in here seems like an anti-genre sort of thing, as the characters go in and out of relationships without actually being in love with the others and instead being afraid of losing their bonds, and desperately want affection that was neglected to them at some point in their lives.

So, it’s the anime like KareKano? Which took the premise of a high school romance between two seemingly perfect characters to explore their real selves and their psyche behind them? Not really, hardly, as the series is mostly comical and leaves its themes in the background for the sake of focusing on something else, and when it does focus on them, it feels like a surface level of exploration.

KareKano was a comedy as well but it knew when and how to separate its humor from its psychological introspection, while this show only has the character feeling kinda sad yet doesn’t miss the chance to throw some jokes every few minutes.

Aside of the messy tone, another issue is that, despite its peculiar love triangle and themes it wants to explore, the execution still comes down to awkward teenagers being unable to resolve most things just by talking them out, which is why the resolutions of every conflict there is end up being very easygoing:

-The main character is bullied lightly only in the past on another school, and rejected just at the beginning of the story, they quickly become popular and supported by everyone in the school.

-Ryuji and Makoto’s relationship and conflicts get two episodes tops of focus. Exactly because there isn’t much content to explore about that, at least not in this anime.

-Related to that, characters faking their feelings does not lead to any interesting change in dynamics or a major conflict between them, as they are still around the others and keep accepting each other no problem.

-Aoi’s loneliness does get some focus throughout several episodes, but that can and is in fact resolved simply by having the other two mains around. And the most important part of that aspect, the absence of her mother, gets resolved extremely easily and in an easygoing and very lighthearted way by the end of the series.

-Want to talk about the thing between Makoto and their mother? It gets completely sidelined until the very end of the series, it is looked deeper only when the show is about to end, and just like with Aoi, for how big it seemed to be, the resolution leaves a lot to be desired.

Plus the adaptation isn’t even complete as there is a movie coming out next year to adapt the final bunch of chapters of the source material.

Apparently, the anime covered the whole source material by rushing through all of its content in just one season, so that could be part of the problem, but that does not change the end result of the adaptation.

I can’t even say that the aesthetics are remarkable in any particular way, the backgrounds and artwork are good, the special effects and character designs are one of the same you can find anywhere else. The main issue is the chibi art style the series goes for half the time, which negatively affects everything else.

Just like with Human Bug Daigaku, which I reviewed recently, I appreciate how this show properly captured the main aesthetic of its source material, but by itself it kind of sucks. For the comical moments, the style feels tryhard, and when it is used in between more serious scenes, it ruins the mood completely.

And that goes for the sound as well. The main character having a clear male voice is a nice touch, but everyone else sounds very typical, except for Aoi, who has a weirdly raspy or something like that voice and sounds unnatural a lot of the times to me. The opening and ending are cute and fitting but the rest of the music, as well as the sound effects, are mostly unremarkable.

So, if you’re up for a romance series with a somewhat unusual love triangle with some LGBTQ+ themes thrown in there, and with an attempt at exploring some more serious stuff to make it dramatic enough to feel like something might happens, while still having wholesome resolutions for you to not feel bad while watching it, this is your show. If otherwise you want an actual serious and more complex look into any of its themes, I think you should try somewhere else.

Recommended stuff

Products about the identities of LGBTQ+ and how they are seen by people around them:

-Hourou Musuko
-Yo nena, yo princesa (Argentine movie about the first legally recognized transgender girl in the country).

Romcom series about characters afraid to reveal their true selves:

-Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou
-Horimiya

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Sep 30, 2024

Chuy_diazz

Not Recommended

Well-written

A very interesting premise but one that didn't have the necessary space to develop.

A simple premise, a boy who likes to dress as a girl and pretty things. This will lead to an identity crisis and family problems, which would be the driving force of the story. Unfortunately, the story explored this theme halfway and in a very superficial way. The first 3 chapters are a bait where they give you a little of what you came to look for, but the rest of the story is divided into 3 subplots. The friend in love with the protagonist who denies the idea that he could ... like men, the cheerful and energetic girl with family problems and the story of our protagonist begins to develop in a secondary plane. The whole season I saw it more like a Turkish soap opera, since there were many subplots with high doses of drama and exaggerations to lengthen the plot just enough to announce a movie that closes the story.

What is most disappointing is that the protagonist's story becomes blurred during 6 episodes, because space has to be given to the other two stories. Honestly, those stories weren't bad but it's not what one came looking for. The girl's family problems have already been seen in many other media and the boy, although it works for the "romantic" factor that they want to give to the story, it doesn't feel right that they force a relationship when the protagonist is still lost in his life decisions. In the final stretch, the same story remembers who its protagonist was and tries to rush the pace so that everything is centered on Makoto again. Unfortunately, it doesn't end up having cohesion, since in the end everything is resolved with the power of family, love and friends but without really facing the reasons for the rejection that our protagonist suffered at the beginning.

If you just want to watch a soap opera, here you will find them and you may become a little fond of the characters. If you're looking for a story of acceptance and self-love while trying to fight against society's prejudices, there's none of that here. What's more, they're going to try to sell you the idea that society has never made a negative judgment of that magnitude.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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