The show starts off as a somewhat lighthearted comedy about a weeb, named Bong Gi, who – after coming home frustrated from work one night – magically transforms into an attractive, young woman. The first half of the show mainly deals with Gi coming to terms with the fact that he is now a woman, and we get to see how he adapts to this new reality as he establishes new relationships and overcomes various hurdles associated with being a young woman in modern Korean society. As you can imagine, many awkward situations and encounters ensue, which in turn, bring much hilarity to the viewer. That beingsaid, it is already apparent from the get go that the show is not your run of the mill gender bender comedy flick, as there is some rather serious (if not – at times – scathing) social commentary on modern Korean society, including topics such as bullying, sexual harassment, romance, suicide, and femininity. This can be understood almost immediately, as it is revealed early on that Gi has a very troubled past (in which some of these topics feature prominently), and this past eventually catches up to him in various ways as the show progresses. That being said, by the time you reach the second half of the show, it will also have become abundantly clear that there is something much larger and more sinister at work behind the scenes, beyond just social issues affecting Gi personally, but I will leave that to the reader of this review to experience first hand by watching the show.

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(There are some completely inconsequential details below that will not ruin your experience watching the series whatsoever, but I will still warn you, just in case you do not want to know anything else beyond what I have already told you)

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GENDER BENDER ASPECT
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In my opinion, this is where this series really shines most bright. For unlike most other gender bender anime series, where men who turn into women are essentially still men because they still think and act like men, Gi undoubtedly undergoes a fundamental change during the course of the series, as he gradually behaves and thinks more like a woman as time goes on. This actually goes so far that it even has an effect on Gi’s romantic preferences, but to what degree I shall not spoil. The tool that the show uses most extensively to convey these changes in Gi are his thoughts, for Gi has a lot of internal monologue, and he constantly comments on whatever predicament he currently happens to be in. This provided a very good window into what he was thinking at any given time, and it really made you relate with him.

The aforementioned withstanding, the series is still a gender bender, so supernatural elements obviously play some part in the series. However, the series is smart and keeps such elements to a minimum, and I can say, personally, that they did not in any way detract from my own enjoyment of the show.

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DIALOGUE, CHARACTER INTERACTION and the PORTRAYAL of WOMEN
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The way in which the characters in this show communicated and interacted felt especially organic and believable. This is best demonstrated by how, whenever the show took on a serious – or less jocular – tone, the characters usually spoke and gesticulated more or less as you would have expected of a real person. This was also extended to how the characters acted and spoke when verbally confronting each other, and to most of the physical altercations (except for some of the scenes involving bullying). All that being said, you obviously have to make an exception to some of the comedic skits, in that this is an anime.

Another thing that also impressed me was how believable the female characters felt. They did not yammer on constantly about men (as you see in many Shoujo anime), they were not afraid to get confrontational – or, to at least not just stand completely still and act helpless – when confronted with a threat or challenge, and the chugging of beer by – and subsequent realistic portrayal of intoxication pertaining to – female characters was not an uncommon sight, especially during moments of anxiety or unease. The comedy in the show also took many subtle jabs at skimpy female clothing, and it definitely made me laugh on more than one occasion.

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TONE
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The series is rated PG-13, but do not let that deceive you, for the show is definitely aimed at a more mature audience, as evidenced by the very realistic and direct nature of verbal and physical altercations, as well as by the type of comedy that the show features. Needless to say, I feel that most of the social issues explored in the series can be far more well understood by an adult than by a teen.

Moreover, there are a couple of scenes of men forcefully grabbing women in a very direct and physically intimidating way, often with an underlying threat of sexual violence, and the way the show handled these portrayals was surprisingly realistic and intense. Not going to lie… I did not know that the show was merely PG-13, so two of those physical altercation scenes actually made me a bit anxious. That is not coming from a place of frailty, but from a man who is used to seeing a lot of violence and gore.

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VOICE ACTING
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I normally only watch anime raw in Japanese, but since I do not know how to speak Korean, I had to watch the subbed version. Nevertheless, my impression is that the voice acting was of very high quality, and the voices seemingly matched the characters well. None of the voices seemed out of place or artificial.