Sunday, March 3, 2024

REVIEW: My Androgynous Boyfriend (manga, vol. 2) by Tamekou, translated by Jocelyne Allen

My Androgynous Boyfriend is a slice-of-life manga. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Meguru visits Wako's parents' home (they love him). Wako tries to convince Meguru to apply to be a Log House resident (something like the show Terrace House?) in order to get an even bigger fanbase. Then Meguru agrees to debut as an androgynous boy duo with equally cute Sasame. There's also a brief flashback to Wako and Meguru's high school days - he thought they were dating while she thought they were just going on a series of photo shoots.

The flashback underscored one of my main issues with this series, which is that Wako tends to treat Meguru like some kind of fantasy idol she's a huge fan of, rather than as her boyfriend who she lives with. I really liked that, in the flashback, Meguru called her out on it, reminding her that he's a real person and not some fantasy character. That said, Wako hasn't really stopped doing it. During the Log House portion of the volume, she even had full-blown fantasies of Meguru as a Log House resident being so perfect and cute that he somehow charmed everyone, becoming the first Log House resident to be beloved by all.

On the one hand, we have Wako practically pairing Meguru up with any pretty person he might come across, despite the fact that he's made it clear he's only interested in her (Wako) and even wants to be open with his fans about their relationship. The prospect of Meguru's debut makes her genuinely happy, as Meguru's first and biggest fan. On the other hand, a part of Wako still worries that he's going to become untouchable by someone like her once he becomes super famous.

I'm 100% sure that Meguru would choose Wako over fame if he had to make a choice. What would he do instead? My guess is become a professional makeup artist or something - all we really know about him is that he likes clothes, makeup, and Wako.

I'm still iffy about this series. The artwork is lovely, but the rest of it is...meh. On the plus side, it's a low-stress read that's pretty to look at.

No comments:

Post a Comment