What would you do if you had the power to change someone’s gender with just a kiss!? That’s what this TOKYOPOP shounen rom-com series is all about! Can love overcome perceived gender roles?
This manga is called 彼氏時々彼女 in Japanese.
Looking for something new to read? Let me recommend you a yankii series!
Before we start the review, let’s look at some info about this volume
Who wrote this manga?
This manga was written by the author of Koi to Uso, Musawo.
What is the mood?
- Love conquers all
- “I can be a good boyfriend regardless of my outwardly appearance”
- First loves, understanding how relationships work
*Note* this is a shounen romance series, which I typically don’t enjoy. There are parts of this story that I did really enjoy, but please read my review understanding this isn’t my preferred demographic of romance.
You can check out this series for yourself here!
What happens in volume one?
Chihaya is the girl at school that all the boys want to date, and all the girls want to be friends with. A 高嶺の花 (flower on a cliff), if you will. So, naturally, she’s a rather intimidating presence in the field of romance.
One day after school, our protagonist Hodaka is finishing up his club activities alone when the power suddenly goes out, leaving him locked in a pitch-black room. Luckily, he isn’t completely alone, as a girl makes her way to his room upon hearing him. As the two can’t see each other apart from their silhouettes, they decide to sit down and chat until the power comes back on. Not being able to see each other, the two easily break off into conversation, and they lose track of time moving from one subject to the next.
When the lights come back on and they finally see each other’s faces, they leave the school together, say goodbye, and go their separate ways. As they’re from completely different social circles, this should have been the only time they interacted, but Hodaka is smitten with Chihaya, and he asks her out the next time he sees her.
She agrees to be his girlfriend, and they begin a somewhat awkward relationship. It’s pretty obvious that this is their first time in a relationship, and we get to watch them slowly understand how to behave around each other. They have light-hearted arguments about who likes the other more, they have lunch together, and are generally happy together. Things become a little bit awkward when they almost kiss… As Chihaya suddenly runs aways.
While she doesn’t explain why she ran away for the next few days, we learn exactly what her fears were when they do eventually kiss – he kiss somehow turns Hodaka into a girl. She explains that the effect is temporary—he should be back to normal by the next day, and he is. To help his confusion, she invites him over to her parent’s house, where we get the full explanation about what’s going on with Chihaya.
They explain: the women in Chihaya’s family are cursed. Whenever they kiss a boy, that boy transforms into a girl. This typically only lasts for a few hours, but a few hours is enough to freak anyone out. Chihaya’s parents expect Hodaka to also freak out upon hearing this, but he’s surprisingly calm. He explains that he really likes Chihaya, and that his physical body doesn’t change his feelings.
To help move their relationship along, Chihaya works to help Hodaka get more comfortable in his female body, as she doesn’t want to have to avoid kissing him when she wants to.
My thoughts about this volume
There were parts of this volume that I really liked, and others that I thought were just okay. I really like the overall message that it’s what’s on the inside that matters. Both Chihaya and Hodaka express their feelings for the other on a deep level—neither likes the other purely for aesthetic reasons, and I enjoyed this! We hear a lot about how Hodaka likes Chihaya for her straightforwardness and kind personality… But we really don’t hear all that much about exactly why Hodaka likes Chihaya. We know that it’s clearly not a surface-level reason, but we’re left in the dark nonetheless.
In terms of what I didn’t enjoy all that much, I would have to say the biggest thing that stopped me from really enjoying this volume was how quickly the romance ramped up. The first half of the volume was about how scared Chihaya was to kiss Hodaka, so I had assumed this would be more of a slowburn story, focusing on the two characters learning how to accept each other. I was incorrect in this aspect, as we quickly move onto Chihaya helping Hodaka buy a bra as his chest is too big when he’s in his female form. I really wasn’t interested in watching the two of them try to shove his too-large chest into a small bra. This part felt rather fanservice-y.
Art Sample
What I liked most about this volume
❤️ The two getting to know, and subsequently fall for, each other in the dark at the start of the volume was very nice to see! I like that this made it clear that they genuinely enjoyed each other’s company.
🧡 Hodaka always doing his best to stand up for Chihaya when rumours about her make their way around school.
💛 Chihaya’s parents – I really liked her relationship with her father!
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