Otomen

When I was walking along in the manga section of the library, I saw this odd manga. I picked it up and thought it looked stupid. (Never judge a book by it's cover.) Still, I checked it out just for grins and giggles. This is by far the funniest manga I've ever read! Story: 8/10 It is a basic love story, only with a girly male and manly female. There are a few "dramatic" moments, but, overall, it's a light-hearted story. Art: 7/10 Personally, I wasn't too keen on the art because...well...it was too "girly" for my liking. But, it is a shoujo manga and it fits the story. Characters:8/10 Oh how I love these characters! Each one is so lovable! They all have their cons, but not to a point where they're annoying. Of course, they have their pros too. Most of the male characters you meet have their own little otomen side. Also, the characters develop a bit along the way. It's nothing major, but it's still fun to see certain characters grow closer. Enjoyment: 9/10 Like I said earlier, this is the funniest manga series that I've read! I was actually laughing out loud, and it takes a lot to make me do so. Otomen also gives me the warm fuzzies at points too~ It's worth the read if you want a hilarious, light-hearted story. :3

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 couldbe 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!!

"I love waiting for the batter to bake. I think of the smiles and the pleased looks of the people who eat it. When i do that...it warms my heart" Story: 9/10 Art: 10/10 Character: 10/10 Enjoyment: 9/10 Overall: 10/10 A slow start for the story while characters were introduced, this story built up into something truely heartwarming. The plot idea, as most who are interested to read this manga can tell, is very original and you probably have yet to read anything like this. However, I do feel that the story lacked a tiny bit of development in terms of the plot. And if you want to see very loveydovey scenes, well you won't get it from this manga (you'll get really heartwarming scenes though, which i feel is just as good) The characters are very unique and what made me come to love this manga is the character development, especially in the later part of the manga (since, as i said earlier, the manga started pretty slow and slowly built up). The main (male) character slowly came to be (and love) himself for who he really is through the different experience with his friends and other characters. What I love the most from this manga is how every character is developed, not so much so that it is overly draggy, but enough for you to understand their actions and how they change. See, character development right here for you. While the side characters were being developed, the main characters weren't left out either, and you could see the relationship between each character grow. Art was beautiful too. Look at it. Enough said. If you have time and some patience (to get through the front part of background infomation and slow build up) please pick up this manga. I promise you you will not regret it. Honestly I dropped this manga for a bit after the front part because of how slow it was, but when i picked it up again boy did i regret dropping it. So if you ever get bored of it, just stop reading it and leave it for another time. ps. it's quite funny here and there too, especially with how "manly" Ryo is and how Asuka can just randomly break out with sparkling eyes (he's so cute!!)