I really liked this manga, especially the role reversal scenes! I loved how the manga was pro-feminist and how there's no objectification of women. For example witchcraft works has similar scenes, but it soon goes into "a woman should listen to her man" mode and goes downhill. In otomen, the girl's boobs aren't DINOSAUR SIZE and the characters are interesting and unique. I like to use Ryo as a character insert cuz we're really similar ^^. Anyway, the art style is wonderful and some scenes really triggered emotions. I feel like Asuka's mom should be less hated, as she was actually an owner of a company and not some stay-at-home slave when she was still with Asuka's dad. Despite her rather traditional views, I kinda like her. Like, she's not afraid to voice her opinion and support it. If she wasn't so traditional, I would've thought she was a 100% feminist character. Pretty inspirational if you ask me.

...but it ended up being a bit... too shallow. The characters are all flat, and it became boring.
Too bad... he is really cute.

I'm the sort who loves light, rom-coms (given that it has good art and this manga has good art). It doesn't even have to be completely coated and focused on the romance and I'm already in love. This is that sort of manga. It's funny and nothing deep. And I love it when mangakas make their side characters involved in funny adventures with the other protagonists. It's a refreshing read and good change of pace for shoujo manga readers.
If you're into this, I recommend for you to check out other stuff of the same sort such as 'Oresama Teacher' and 'Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun'.

... Last updated on May 18th, 2016, 11:21pm

This story was not a masterpiece by any means, but it was cute, and the art was lovely.
I LOVED ASUKA's girly side, but..... the author overdid it. Seriously. Even normal girls don't think the way Asuka does.

PROS:
- The author tried pretty hard to reverse gender roles. His message of accepting men with effeminate characteristics definitely got across to me.
- The art was cute
- The main character is easily lovable

CONS:
- The story was unbelievably CLICHE, underdeveloped, and (believe it or not) STEREOTYPICAL!!
- flat, one-dimensional characters (including main characters)
- WAY too long
- ridiculously convenient situations (random characters would pop out of nowhere in order to get the plot moving)
- very LITTLE on-screen romantic development (other than Asuka's constant blushing, there were few scenes involving romance.


My biggest disappointment with this manga is that it FAILED to reach its potential. The premise was so interesting, but the author decided to flatly categorize the characters without fleshing out different aspects of their personalities. ... Everything felt very... superficial and fake

Here's the ending if you wish to be spoiled:

(i actually really liked the ending... but the amount of poor quality story-telling I had to suffer through made me dislike this manga)

... Last updated on December 12th, 2014, 6:40pm

This was such a great read! ^_^ I had already seen the live action version of Otomen and so I was worried that it would let me down. Boy was I WRONG! This was SO much better then I was expecting. The only thing I regret is the fact that I had been putting off reading it is for so long. Totally worth the time I spent reading all the chapters.
The ending was brilliant. There were no loose ends. All the characters were well fleshed out and very lovable. It was funny, heartwarming, sad at times and even a little crazy. The romance was this mangas icing on the cake. Asuka and Ryo where an amazing couple with unparalleled chemestry. <3
PLEASE. READ. THIS. MANGA. You will not regret it!! If you love shoujo manga, you need this in your life! 10/10 5 Stars!

I can't remember when was the last time I had so much fun reading a shoujo manga! First I thought this is going to be just your typical shoujo, but with the roles reversed. And it kinda-sorta was, but to me Asuka and the other characters were just so refreshing that I had to fall in love with this.

I especially like the fact that there's no typical crybaby girl in this. I'm also glad that although Asuka is girly, he still feels like a boy, and Ryo is manly, but feels like a girl. This manga is actually about peoples' hobbies and interests and accepting people for who they are. I often complain how shoujo is unrealistic, cliched and over the top, but this manga reminded me that the reasons why I liked shoujo in the first place are because it's innocent, naive and it makes my heart flutter.

Although at the beginning I wanted to smack Kanno sensei for not making this into a shounen ai (seriously the bromance at the beginning was so good...), but eventually Ryo won me over, and Kanno sensei stopped with the teasing.

If all of this isn't enough to convince you to give this a shot, read it for the sole purpose of seeing an otomen who looks like Nappa from DBZ (yes there is a character like that).

... Last updated on August 29th, 2014, 3:58pm

the story is kind of interesting but.. I'd rather read a BL story. No matter how I look at it, if he was involved with a guy, he'd leave her just like his father did to his mother. He's a girl after all, and I don't believe Ryou-chan can always be strong like a man. Their relationship looks very weak to me, even if it works for a few years, it won't work longer. It can't convince me that he's totally a straight man. *sigh* even if he'd change later, I don't believe his change will last long, because he's always been a girl since he was born.

Well it's not my cup of tea, I gave it a shot but it is out of my so called "comfort zone". I only managed to read two chapters, I couldn't continue on. The gender swap was kind of disturbing and irritating, in my opinion but the manga plot was a different approach. The guy's personality was a little too much to handle lol. It is worth the try because it's different from your average shoujo mangas.

I had really high hopes going in to this manga; especially as - due to what some other reviewers has mentioned - I was expecting the female lead to be as "boyish" as Asuka is "girlish" (something like a female banchou/delinquent) thus making it a really interesting and unique concept.. but not only is the female lead pretty stereotypical (how many shoujo manga feature cute girls who can't cook - that doesn't make them any less girlish) with nothing particularly special about her, she's not boyish whatsoever.

This was the major letdown for me because I envisioned a really captivating love story between two androgynous characters with clashing personalities that found themselves drawn to one another. I guess I should really learn to take the tags listed with a grain of salt. It was only later that I even realized that the 'love story' was a weak and minor part of the 'action' at best.

Asuka - or the concept of him, and not how he actually turned out - had potential too, but all in all it seemed to skim over everything too quickly and lacked any kind of depth or real characterization. I couldn't connect or feel anything for any of the characters (I would have liked to like Asuka, but he had such a bland personality) and just ended up boring me to tears very quickly.

On another note: A couple of times, at least in the parts I read, it almost seemed as if it could drift off into a BL (which could only have been a good thing) but even that quickly turned out to be a bland old tease.. sigh..

I ask my library to get every volume. I love the characters, interactions, difficulties, resolutions, and the new elements added just before things get stale.

For a while it looked like it was going to start focusing less on the main characters and more on the "new elements" ensemble, but it actually was a set-up for the latest US volume, #12. And, I teared up. Yes. Yes I did. Unabashedly, and later in front of a friend when I caught him up on the volume.

The story has returned to the core events with more impact than ever, without letting up on the humor. And, if like me, you there are two full-page door images that, when contrasted, will make you feel the distance that can be so stupidly difficult to close.