“Manly kendo captain Asuka secretly loves cute things and falls for tomboy Ryo, rediscovering his "otomen" identity.”
Otomen
オトメン(乙男)
Would You Love or Hate This?
AI-powered analysis tailored to your taste
Based on your preference for character-driven stories with layered emotional arcs, this title's exploration of identity and belonging would deeply resonate. The pacing mirrors series you've rated highly, and its thematic depth aligns with your appreciation for nuanced storytelling...
However, the slow initial episodes might test your patience given your history of dropping shows that don't hook you early. The art style shift in the middle arc could also be a concern...
Synopsis
Manly kendo captain Asuka secretly loves cute things and falls for tomboy Ryo, rediscovering his "otomen" identity.
Asuka Masamune is a boy who loves all things cute, fluffy, sparkling, and sweet, much to his mother's dismay and horror. Due to an incident surrounding his father leaving the family, Asuka was pressured into abandoning his hobbies in favor of kendo, judo, and karate. Resigning himself into living his life as someone who exudes manliness, he becomes the nationally ranked captain of his school's kendo team. Unfortunately, Asuka finds himself falling back on his old interests after crossing paths and falling in love with transfer student Ryo Miyakozuka. Ryo is the exact opposite of Asuka. She has no interest in cooking, sewing, nor anything else that is "girly" in nature; however, she has a fierce kick and an equally tough attitude to match. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to collect material for a shoujo manga he is secretly publishing, Asuka's friend, Juta Tachibana, convinces Asuka to befriend the girl. As the relationship between the two begins to blossom, so does Asuka's true nature as an "otomen."Included one-shots: Volume 10: Glass no Otomen: Sen no Kamen wo Motsu Otomen Volume 11: Love-Tic
What people say
Community consensus
Derived from 10 sampled reviews
What 10 readers settled on.
Polarized
σ 1.92 · split reception
5.7 pts
Recommenders 8.7 · others 3.0
↓ 0.90
Running avg · Jul 2009 → Jul 2020
- 9 “Otomen is quite an outstanding shojo manga. It's clever, cute and, in my opinion, very original :) It's not your average shojo manga in many different ways. For starters the story itself revolves...”
- 8 “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...”
- 10 “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....”
Read Order & Related
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A Manga Publication
- Format 74 × 18 ch × vol
- Total read 9h 52m approx
- Published Mar 2006 – Nov 2012
- Source Manga media type
- Ref. BS-M0814 catalog