Kasane to Subaru

Another very wholesome romance from Yamada that mixes up gender norms. I came from their Sweat and Soap/other series. I'll try to keep spoilers vague, here is my review: This was a very cute, very sweet series about two adults navigating toy design (careers), dating, and learning to be true to yourself. For Subaru's case, it was his secret crossdressing hobby. For Kasane, it's her creative job and the challenges that come with it ("failing" as a professional artist, and being a woman that likes boyish things and how that effects her art and her job). They're both actually quite genderfluid, Kasane's not particularly girly andSubaru's not traditionally masculine. I love stories that change up gender norms so I was hooked. The main gimmick of this manga is crossdressing, so many story issues surround that subject. Despite being about quite a "fetishized" hobby, it actually didnt go that direction. It dove into the insecurities that could come with that hobby (especially doing this as a man in a Japanese society). Kasane's issues aren't focused on as heavily, but Yamada did give her some gender-related ones as well--liking blue and green vs pink, sexual expectations, etc. Vague for spoilers. As for romance, it is so sweet and adorable. You can tell they care a lot about each other the deeper they fall in love. Kasane pursues his hobby with such supportive enthusiasm, and then Subaru throws that same amount of support back to her. It's not all sunshine and daisies for them, as the story does touch upon themes of miscommunication and jealousy. It's not a dramatic rollercoaster but it's a beautiful pattern of nervousness, happiness, catharsis, and growth as a couple. The milestones did feel rushed, but more on that below. I loved Kasane's character and design so much--I saw a lot of me in her. I'm also quite "boyish," and an artist that loves gacha toy designs (I also look forward to working with a company soon). I swear, she's an alternate universe me. Of course, I'm not exactly like her but she felt like a real person that could exist. I found Subaru to be adorable but he did feel more like a manga character than a real person (mostly because crossdressing is just not that common in my area, I also have not met a man that has a passion for it, hopefully soon, haha!). This does not impact the story negatively however. However, what does impact the story negatively was the change of pacing around chapter 30. Before that, we had pretty normal "arcs" that focused around a certain event or theme that the characters grow from afterwards. The arcs felt fleshed out and the character development felt complex. However for some reason around ch 30, the pacing became a bit jumbled, it would move fast or slow (in my opinion) with the series ending quite abruptly with some loose ends. It wasn't a bad ending, but it left me wanting more development and content. I had a feeling that maybe the creator was notified their company chose not to continue the series much longer (or however this works for Yamada's works) so the ending and romance milestones were rushed. (Spoilers ahead) The "loose ends" were information about his family/past trauma and what became of Kasane's roommates, and well, seeing what happened to all the characters. Both characters back stories weren't fleshed out that much, Subaru's was touched on but didn't have a heavy focus. I would have liked that. Call me sadistic, but show me the character trauma! Like, more of it! How did Kasane become an artist? What's her family like? I would have loved to see information about each character a lot more fleshed out because I really liked these characters, even more than Sweat and Soap's. Even the side characters seemed unique. I think this manga's story was just a victim of cancellation or deadlines, because it was actually quite with it's storytelling. Overall, it's a very cute, wholesome romance about two adults navigating their troubles together, but it's not as fully fleshed out as I wish it was (but I'm the type of person to like those kinds of stories). The storytelling and romance is endearing, and I fear the author just didn't have enough chapters to fully express these character's lives. I'll miss these characters! Worth the read.