Boku wa Ohimesama ni Narenai

~~SPOILERS~~ So i'm gonna start by saying i was looking forward to this. The description sounded really interesting and unique. While it is a good story, It didn't meet my expectations. It falls short on a couple subjects that i was expecting/Wanting. Let's start out by saying this first. This is the same author who made Tsurezure Children So you will find things in common such as art/Humor/Dialogue. This doesn't take away from anything. Especially sense i like the Art/Humor/Dialogue of Tsurezure Children. Grievances : Now here is where the bad parts come in. I was really kind of expecting a story centering on the factthat the person everyone thinks is a boy is actually a girl and how peoples emotions get mixed up. While it does do this. It isn't like i was expecting. I came in thinking that this is gonna be a story of how a female who has liked males all her life starts to get feelings for the females that have a crush on her cause they think shes a boy. But the story doesn't really do this. It just has one obvious love interest and that's about it. I was was wanting something like that so we could see how the female character starts to feel more attracted to girls than boys because of how people think of her. In the end we would get a female confessing to her. Then have the MC reveal that they are in fact a girl. Then have the relationship be iffy and finally have them both realize they like each other. The characters : I can not remember the names for all of them besides the MC. Boy= Obvious love interest that is an alright character but not something you'd want as the love interest. Shy girl = She is one of the best characters in the story in my honest opinion. She is attractive and everything but she doesn't have any real friends from lack of social skill. She is also one of the characters i ship with the MC the most. Vanity girl = She is one of the least likable in my opinion. She isn't really that relevant to the story. Her gimmick is that she is in love with her self and that she also likes one of the fellow females in the story the Delinquent girl. Delinquent girl = Is one of my favorites in the entire story. Probably cause she reminds me so much of Ryouko Kaji from Tsurezure Children. She is one of my favorite in that story and has for the most part the same character design. Except in this she is like Ryouko mixed with Oga from Beelzebub Country girl = This is the second most annoying girl. She isn't really bad or anything. It's just she gets to much screen time for someone not that interesting. Her gimmick is that she isn't from the city and that she isn't used to city life. Over all i'd say Shy girl and Delinquent girl our my favorite. In fact i'd actually ship them together more. I'd find that a fun and interesting story or someone who is shy and not sociable being in love with a Delinquent girl who is more surprised by the fact her first person to confess to her is a girl let alone someone shy and top of the class. The Shy girl is also the only one able to make the Delinquent girl be flustered and not know how to react in front of her. You could even switch it around so it's the Delinquent confessing to the shy girl. But in the end the story is fun and a good read. It just wasn't what i was expecting sadly.

As expected from the author of Tsuredzure Children, this manga isn't deep nor have compelling plot, the characters are mostly one note, the art is just okay, etc; BUT the secret sauce is the absurdly high amount of juicy moments per chapter ratio. This is what make you continue reading. You know those moments that makes you go "hhhnnnnnnngggg so sweet/wholesome/funny/awkward"? Those are what I call "Juicy moments", and they result in burning sensation inside that some may call "moeru". The effectiveness of these moments will differ from person to person, but if it works for you, you can't get enough of it. Now thisisn't really unique to this manga, but Wakabayashi Toshiya-sensei is a master at cutting the fat and focus solely on the meat that is the juicy moment, using pure romcom and the right combination of character archetypes (this is important). Boku wa Ohimesama ni Narenai premise aren't exactly the most original thing out there, fairy-tale based characters and girl dressing as a guy at school are familiar premises for romcom at this point (including the time the manga is written) with the likes of Ōkami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi and Ouran Host-bu. As I mentioned before the characters are just one dimensional cliches, but the dynamic they have with each other are the main selling point. There's really not much to spoil but the gist of what happens in this manga is an almost endless barrage of character interactions that results in misunderstandings and (what I live for) juicy moments, the primary source being the 2 main leads Shindou Rei and Hakuba Ouji which by far are the most fleshed out and intriguing ones among the bunch. Rei and Ouji's conflicted feelings, worries, and guilt are the main driver of this manga. Rei have a past that make her actions in the story believable, her hiding the fact that she's a girl from Ouji is the main spice and also cause of everything. Ouji is a kind guy who's a bit of a weirdo, a dangerous combination that leads him to do the most ridiculous but hilarious things imaginable. The other characters aren't bad either (except 2 that are literally made to make filler chapters and pad out some chapters for page count), they complement the 2 main leads well and that's about the only thing I could say without getting into details and spoil some of the jokes or juicy moments. This is one of those "experience it to know it" kind of thing since there's no obvious draw other than it's just a very succinct and well executed romcom, or maybe you're like me and love genderbender comedy which is made to good use in this manga.

I was looking through my manga list the other day and spotted one I didn't recognize this one. I apparently read it years ago, and rated it highly but couldn't recall anything about it. So I decided to check it out on a whim. The moment I started to read it, I instantly started to remember this manga. Despite it's short length, it's absolutely great. I love the characters and their dynamics. There are moments that are genuinely hilarious as well. I am shocked this one doesn't have more attention. It deserves so much more. Check this one out. Just be warned that it isshort, so what most people would consider the end of Arc 1 in longer mangas is the end of this one. Would like to see more of it, but since it's been 6 years, I am doubtful.