Sunu Sumu is sympathetic to experiences of gender dysphoria and confused sexuality. There is no fanservice nor fetishizing, just mixed feelings from teenagers struggling with their gender and sexual identities in a heteronormative society. The lead characters, Nono and Nao, are childhood friends who promised to marry when older. Only they never anticipated the backlash that a male/male relationship would face, and this prevents them from consummating their love for one another. Even if Nono effectively performs the gender roles of a female in all public areas of their life, and is often assumed to be a girl by their body type/facial features, they cannot escapethat stigma no matter how hard they try. The struggles of Nono to feel comfortable within their skin is the crux of this manga and all the drama that unfolds.

This manga pulls no punches when describing the anxiety felt by those suffering through dysphoria. Nono's constant lament of being born a male results in a series of measures to feel at peace....including self harm and risky medical treatment. This isn't for the light hearted, needless to say, as Sunu Sumu isn't interested in sprinkling fairy dust over issues just for the sake of maintaining a lighthearted mood.

That said, this manga is certainly not without its flaws. The chapter length being only six results in a fast paced, increasingly melodramatic story that feels disjointed towards the end. The supporting characters outside of the two leads aren't particularly interesting. One of which appears to serve little purpose other than to be a proxy for the author to preach their ideology on self identity with no transparency. Then there's the all too common lack of adult decision making concerning a serious topic that clearly required more experienced intervention than what was given.

Some of these issues are things you have to tolerate in this medium, considering there is just as robust a market for vanilla stories that are entirely bereft of popcorn fanservice or exaggerated melodrama. So for what we do get here, and the presumed margins the author was given, I think this is a solid work that is recommended for all interested in gay fiction.