Oh myyyyyy. Man. Every time I finish a volume of this series, it makes me so excited and impatient for the next volume. I could finally feel the story inch forward. I keep thinking about their relationships and how The Big Reveal will happen, and I think I am absolutely COOKING. Most of the volumes are more yuri focused, with Hana x Mei obviously being the forefront. Sometimes there’s hetero hijinks, whether it’s Shuumei x Hana or Mei x Hanae, but rarely do we get a peek at the yaoi meal of Shuumei x Hanae…… I was EATING. I think it’s really funny and smart to have the “punk” be the one that’s actually softer and more forward about his feelings, and having the “otaku” be a little more cold and deflective. I don’t want to have to wait so long for more volumes. I want it all and I want it all right now!!!!
I’m getting seriously anxious about the reveal. Like, WHEN are these two knuckleheads going to figure it out? But I spent this entire volume laughing, so my patience has been restored. Except I read this volume within hours of its release and now I have to WAIT for the next one.
What did I just say about patience? Nevermind. I was lying. I have NO patience. Next volume, please! ;-)
This accomplished so much of what I was hoping for. The cover art didn't disappoint! This is a whole volume that's pretty much dedicated to Hana and Shuumei - in their male forms - drawing closer to one another, now that Hanae is actively avoiding Mei.
To my relief, Mei/Hanae doesn't seem super likely to happen before the "reveal." Hana actually ends up talking to Shuumei about it, and about the fact that even if she and Mei dated, they'd have no future together. Shuumei of course doesn't know this is because Hana is actually Hanae, and would need to tell Mei this at some point, but we transition nicely into an important conversation between the two of them and Shizuku/Shizuki.
Shizuku is finally able to talk to her family about the crossdressing - the secret that broke apart a marriage, when it really never needed to. Nagi's still trying to come to terms with the fact that her ex-husband had "a sex change" - which Shizuku says isn't the case. But it does seem true that Shizuku is the "true self" and the person she's more comfortable being.
And while Nagi can't immediately wrap her head around all of it - "do I need to dress as a man when I'm out with you as a woman??" she offers - she strongly emphasizes that it doesn't really matter. She's never stopped being in love with the person at the core, and whether that's Shizuku or Shizuki, her feelings won't change.
This is both a beautiful message and something that Shuumei and Hana are both completely bowled over by. The idea that someone...might love them for both sides of who they are? It's too much to hope for, and yet each of them does...
Hanae/Hana is still a whole lot more complicated than Shuumei/Mei, because I really get the impression Shuumei would drop the crossdressing without a thought. It's not something he's terribly attached to, and it's really mostly just been a way to get closer to Hana. (He might continue it in the scope of this series; I just don't get the sense he'd really care one way or the other.)
But Hanae needs someone to love him as either Hana, too...or perhaps even more so as Hana? It really seems like Hana is more similar to Shizuku, in terms of feeling truly free in a female form. Then again, we see a lot of gloomy otaku Hanae in this volume, and he genuinely feels like a totally different person...I love how rude he is to the punks, and how sparkly he gets about haunted buildings and creepy settings.
And the thing is, Shuumei genuinely likes both Hanae and Hana, and makes a very strong point of telling Hanae that he cares about him. As a very dear friend, which is already too much for Hanae to swallow...but based on how open and accepting Shuumei is about gender roles and sexuality throughout this volume in particular, it doesn't seem like it'd be a very big leap for him to fold Hanae into his more romantic affection for Hana.
The bigger shift is in Hanae's attitude towards Shuumei. He's still fighting himself over it, keeping an internal monologue about how much he dislikes Shuumei, but it's pretty obviously not true at all anymore. He catches himself thinking Shuumei is sweet, and he goes out of his way to make sure Shuumei is okay after a big rival punks battle - where he ends up fully panicking and pulling an unconscious Shuumei out of the rubble.
I was expecting the cuts on Hanae's hands to become some sort of a reveal, with Shuumei being the one who finally draws the dots between the two of them - especially now that his half-unconscious brain already linked Hana with Hanae. Maybe that'll happen in the next volume. It feels like it might finally be drawing to a close.
The goofy rival punks were fun, although I missed seeing more of Yuzuru in this volume. The final bonus story was honestly my least favorite part of the series - the whole cosplay group. Maybe it's weird to say while loving a whole series about crossdressing, but cosplay just isn't my thing at all. (It made the 2nd Wotakoi couple my least favorite of the three, as well.) I just find that group a little bit boring, with none of the emotional impact of the rest of the characters' journeys.
Wahhh wir drehen uns im Kreis. Ich hab das Gefühl es passiert immer und immer wieder das selbe. Entweder muss sich einer der beiden verkleiden oder Shumei prügelt sich. Prinzipiell stört es mich gar nicht, dass der Plot nur sehr zähflüssig voran kommt, aber ständig wieder die selben Dinge zu lesen wird langsam anstrengend. Wann erleben die beiden mal was neues, so wie im englischen Themenpark? Das fand ich gut!
Wobei wir uns ja auch nicht im Stillstand befinden... Shumei und Yuma fangen an auch außerhalb ihrer Zweit-Identitäten miteinander zu interagieren. Ich bin echt gespannt auf den nächsten Band, weil die Begegnungen der beiden immer seltsamer werden. Wann hat Shumei beschlossen, dass er Yuma so toll findet? War sehr fasziniert wie offen heraus er diesmal wieder war. OH UND die Szene in der Lagerhalle, bei der er Yuma mit Hana verwechselt hat mich fast umgelegt. Oh man die beiden sind echt schlimm, ich hab noch gar keine Idee, wie es da zu einer Lösung kommen könnte.
Ich hoffe wieder auf mehr Hana und Mei Content im nächsten Band, wobei ich mich natürlich auf die Kombination Shumei/Yuma und Yuzuru/Tsubaki echt freue. Man kann nicht alles haben.
Ich hatte trotzdem Spaß beim Lesen und ich bin sehr gespannt auf den nächsten Band! :3
Mi pagina web de confianza se ha caído y este lo he leido en otra donde estaba todo un poco desordenado pero bueno, creo que he leido este volumen entero. De todas maneras, aunque estaba un poco perdida sigue siendo peak y ahora encima se han hecho amigos por fin (13 volúmenes xd) osea que peakpeak nada mas que añadir.
I love this series so much but I DESPERATELY need like a breakdown of everyone’s names and their relationships if any series needs it this one does. I remember most people but it’s a lot 🥲