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I love this manga!!!

When I first started reading it a few years ago, the plot really struck me. I found it interesting, but ended up dropping it because I had my own gender biases at the time. Interestingly, about 2 weeks ago, I started thinking about this plot and wondered about the name of the manga. I ended up finding it while looking up other mangas to read! I was thrilled to have found this manga again, and actually finished it in a week!

Regardless of your nationality, it might be hard for some to understand the imagine how the stereotypes depicted in this story could ... be possible. However, I can testify that the biases, social norms, and social pressure to act according to your own gender is no joke in some places around the world. Because of this, I am thankful for Kanno sensei for bringing this contradictory issue to light. It is not only important to those who face discrimination to be heard, but also to those who have no idea of their own subconscious biases to read about a different point of view.

This manga has taught me a lot about how to stay true to yourself and love yourself while you love others. All the characters were lovable, and the relationship between Asuka and Ryo was epic! The ending was also very satisfying!!

One of the hidden gems of Shoujo manga which I think it's more borderline Shounen since the main character is a guy and yet another guy and a girl whose traits similar to a guy.

This manga tells a story about a masculine, nation's top kendo athlete, Masamune Asuka, who has it all: tall, rich, cool, not a playboy, dignified BUT he actually favours feminine hobbies: collect and make dolls, embroidery, cooking, decorations, house cleaning. When Asuka was young, his father left the family to become a woman. His mother felt disappointed and betrayed by his actions and swore never to let Asuka turned into his ... father - feminine and all. Lucky for him, his mother is a succesful business woman who travels a lot and whenever she is not home, he lets out all his doll and cross stitch collections.

The other character is Tachibana Juuta, school playboy who is secretly a shoujo mangaka under a pseudonym. He loves women around him and dates many of them because he is looking for inspiration for his manga. He wants to find this perfect girl who is feminine but alas he cannot find her, until one day he discovered Asuka's secret. Juuta then realized that there are no person more feminine than Asuka, the feared and respected Kendo captain. Juuta is also struggling to keep his identity hidden so that he can live a normal life and provide for his big family.

The girl of the story is Miyakozuka Ryo, daughter of a tough policeman, who was raised only by her father after her mother passed away. Her father raised her the only way he knows, tough and street fighting-style with a deep sense of justice (well, he is a policeman, anyway). One of the funniest part of this manga is when a teacher visited Ryou's house and went into her room and found out that the room looks more like a dojo instead of a girly room.

The romance is a triangle in this manga: from Asuka to Ryou and from Juuta to Asuka, although the last one is not evident but the way Juuta realized that no other person would made such lovely bento, stitch his loose buttons, make teddy bears, than Asuka. He is the one for him but in a personality kind of way. Juuta also admired Ryou and very supportive of the budding romance between the two.

The message is clear on this manga: love and embrace who you really are inside. Don't be afraid to be yourself because other people is also struggling to be who they are, as well.

I've only read the first book of this series, but it was pretty darn terrible. Basically, the story is about a boy who secretly loves "feminine" things, but feels he has to hide that side of himself and instead be overly masculine. Inexplicably, his friend is a secret manga artist drawing a manga based on the main character.

I'm all about breaking gender roles and stereotypes, trust me, but this just felt like it actually *enforced* those stereotypes more than anything. It still felt very binary and only marginally progressive, in spite of the opportunity for this to be so much ... more.

Not to mention, the characters are all fairly one-note, and remained undeveloped through the entire book. I realize it's only the first book of many, but there was still plenty of story and time to make the characters more three-dimensional and less shallow.

I don't believe I will continue on with this series.