Fantasy Bishoujo Juniku Ojisan to
Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout

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"Fantasy Bishoujo Juniku Ojisan to" is a comedy-isekai series about two, male, white-collar office workers who get swept away to another world to save it from an evil demon lord. Also one of them gets turned into a cute girl and the two desperately try not to turn their bromance into a romance, so there's that too.

There's really not much to say about this series other than it's cute and pretty amusing. I wasn't laughing on a regular basis, but I did have a smile on my face for most of my time reading this series. It's very silly, verging on stupid (which is not ... a bad thing), but also unexpectedly sweet at times.

The two main characters are very charming with their antics, and it's fun seeing them tackle their feelings- with the two trying to figure out if the one friend's gender-swap was the impetus for their newfound mutual-attraction or if they already had it deep down to begin with. The humor that stems from their confused relationship is probably the best and most memorable part of the series, as a lot of the humor surrounding the fantasy-isekai elements feels almost too familiar at times.

Some gags feel almost lifted from Konosuba, and while that's certainly a great influence to take from, it does show how we're getting to a point where even the isekai-parodies are falling into cliche. This isn't to say there aren't funny moments, or things that I haven't seen elsewhere. The joke with one of their special, heroic powers merely being a portal to their apartment back on Earth is really simple but opens up for a lot of great gags.

Similarly I think the side cast has some pretty fun characters with good gimmicks, even if they do border on being one-dimensional.

All in all, I wouldn't say this is an essential read, but if the plot synopsis sounds funny to you, I think you'd be doing yourself a favor if you checked the series out. I'm not sure how much mileage Fantasy Bishoujo will get out of its core concept, as we're now over 100 chapters in and I can feel it retreading old ground a bit already, but for now it's a fast read that's fun and will get at least a few laughs out of you.

[] Final Verdict: Recommended, but not essential.

While not the most original or creative isekai ever convinced, the story is drenched in so much satire that it is impossible not to chuckle at the comedic humor and situations the characters find themselves in. Despite looking like the late night caffeine induced creation of a high school or college student, the manga truly puts the "com" in romcom.

Jinguuji and Tachibana have more chemistry together than most other protagonists will have in their entire runs. While their relationship isn't the most though provoking or mature, they play off each other in ways that not many authors can manage which is itself praise worthy. ... The strait laced Jinguuji is a welcome relief to the tired isekai trope characters with his holier than though attitude and impenetrable wall of stoic behavior that comes from being a 32 year old man. Even among middle age protagonists, he is more rounded and relatable than most.

My mine issues with the story as a whole can be summarized in two gripes. One is that the gender bender that he story hinges on is not only completely unnecessary for the story (which is good enough on its own comedic merit to not have to resort to such cringy tropes) but actively hinders the story from reaching greater heights. To be honest, having a normal boy/girl romance where they are constantly bickering but secretly harbor feelings for one another would have been perfectly fine and possibly even better for this story.
The second gripe is the constant harping on the characters age. We understand that they are 32 but the way they act, its like either a badge of honor or a major character flaw depending on the beat of the story. Not only is this fact brought up almost as often as the reader is reminded that yes, Tachibana is in fact a 32 year old man in a loli body, but is completely irrelevant to the plot as a whole. Even when the two men are put in conjunction with the usual teen protagonists, their age is neither remarkable or interesting. They are no stronger or weaker than the teens.

All in all, the story is so much of a parody of the isekai genre that it both succeeds as an isekai and a romcom despite the unnecessary inclusions of weird quirks. Could it be better and more original without relying on standard tropes (even if they are played as satire), yes. Personally, I'm curious to see what else comes down the line as the series continues.

I understand the premise might seem generic or strange to fans of either GB manga or the isekai genre and I thought so too but this manga is actually a very fun read and nice diamond in the rough among others in the genre. The characters (2 men in their 30s, childhood best friends, single virgins of completely opposite characters) find themselves in a fantasy world after a goddess finds them and then curses them because they pissed her off.

It’s a fun rom-com, the two mains have a good relationship and the writing is good at balancing the “two best friends” dynamic and the “cursed ... to fall in love” situation given to them. The comedy is on point, not leaning too much into gags but still having fun with tropes. I enjoy seeing the romance develop while also seeing their friendship grow stronger and gain more trust in the other.

The side characters aren’t bad either, funny and even given a decent amount of focus leading them to not be so one-note and tropey. The plot is basic but it’s interesting enough and the first few arcs don’t make it seem like they’re just stalling before the main plot actually starts.

Overall, it’s a fun isekai with good characters and fun comedy and I don’t think the GB premise or the romance takes away from it at all.