What do you think?
Rate this book
恋する（おとめ）の作り方 #2
I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl Vol. 2
SAME FRIEND, DIFFERENT FACE!
When Hiura agreed to let his childhood friend, Kenshiro, practice applying makeup on him, both of their lives were turned upside-down. Kenshiro comes to terms with the fact that his longtime friend is the same person as ever, despite a dramatically different look. Meanwhile, the introverted Hiura deals with a sudden surge in popularity. Both are learning that beauty—and makeup—can be more than just skin deep.
When Hiura agreed to let his childhood friend, Kenshiro, practice applying makeup on him, both of their lives were turned upside-down. Kenshiro comes to terms with the fact that his longtime friend is the same person as ever, despite a dramatically different look. Meanwhile, the introverted Hiura deals with a sudden surge in popularity. Both are learning that beauty—and makeup—can be more than just skin deep.
164 pages, Paperback
First published April 16, 2021
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 1, 2023
Super super cute. The characters are very fun and the story is very lighthearted you’re looking for a good romance manga this is a pretty good one to pick up.
April 17, 2023
Not my type of story but the writing was engaging and the characters 3 dimensional
May 14, 2023
More adroitly deciphering the rhythm and pattern of its comedy and drama, I THINK I TURNED MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND INTO A GIRL v2 is a stronger and more entertaining volume than the manga's initial offering. Hiura's venture into the liminal realm between male and female is wrought with peculiarity, but said journey is much easier to navigate when the character's biggest worries are joining the photo club or dealing with a bad hair day.
Middling almost-romance and fractious gay panic aside, this manga about two best friends who increasingly rely on one another to resolve their increasingly public insecurities may have found its rhythm. This manga is most fun when it doesn't try too hard to answer too many questions at once. The shallow secondary cast and the narrowly scoped premise can only do so much. And so, in the end, readers find themselves on one of two sides of the same query: Does the comedy emerge from the book's situational drama, or does the book's drama grow out of the extended, comedic nature of pushing atypical gender commentary to its furthest logical conclusion?
For example, I THINK I TURNED MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND INTO A GIRL v2 asks what would happen if a gender-mold-breaking student became the school's biggest sweetheart (e.g., Confessions? Hot whispers? Makeup advice?), and then pursues the humorous consequences (e.g., Hiura distracts his male students to the point where the student council gets mad at him). The manga is at its strongest when it's less about the more serious dynamics of gender parody and must instead troubleshoot the madness that bubbles up when characters interpret a broken norm to be the new norm itself (e.g., Mido's low-key jealousy is eating him alive).
The character art is stronger, more consistent, and the book's narrative continuity is more polished. The manga now reads like an ongoing saga of uncertainty than an episodic, querulous glance into the unknown. Slower pacing and a greater focus on the relationship between Hiura and Mido no doubt helps (as opposed to ripping through glamourous or upstart actions and simply feeding readers prepared reactions to plot points). When an upperclassman takes an interest in Hiura, the rhythm is plausible. When female classmate Yoimachi Hatori convinces the co-protagonists to join the photo club to exploit Hiura's good looks, the humor is good-natured and genuine. I THINK I TURNED MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND INTO A GIRL v2 may not read like a particularly strong or groundbreaking book, but the art is good and the storytelling is much improved.
Middling almost-romance and fractious gay panic aside, this manga about two best friends who increasingly rely on one another to resolve their increasingly public insecurities may have found its rhythm. This manga is most fun when it doesn't try too hard to answer too many questions at once. The shallow secondary cast and the narrowly scoped premise can only do so much. And so, in the end, readers find themselves on one of two sides of the same query: Does the comedy emerge from the book's situational drama, or does the book's drama grow out of the extended, comedic nature of pushing atypical gender commentary to its furthest logical conclusion?
For example, I THINK I TURNED MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND INTO A GIRL v2 asks what would happen if a gender-mold-breaking student became the school's biggest sweetheart (e.g., Confessions? Hot whispers? Makeup advice?), and then pursues the humorous consequences (e.g., Hiura distracts his male students to the point where the student council gets mad at him). The manga is at its strongest when it's less about the more serious dynamics of gender parody and must instead troubleshoot the madness that bubbles up when characters interpret a broken norm to be the new norm itself (e.g., Mido's low-key jealousy is eating him alive).
The character art is stronger, more consistent, and the book's narrative continuity is more polished. The manga now reads like an ongoing saga of uncertainty than an episodic, querulous glance into the unknown. Slower pacing and a greater focus on the relationship between Hiura and Mido no doubt helps (as opposed to ripping through glamourous or upstart actions and simply feeding readers prepared reactions to plot points). When an upperclassman takes an interest in Hiura, the rhythm is plausible. When female classmate Yoimachi Hatori convinces the co-protagonists to join the photo club to exploit Hiura's good looks, the humor is good-natured and genuine. I THINK I TURNED MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND INTO A GIRL v2 may not read like a particularly strong or groundbreaking book, but the art is good and the storytelling is much improved.
March 23, 2023
After all the debate and controversy over the first volume, I still decided to pick up the second just to see where it went and if it explained things a little better. I know a lot of folks were concerned about how the first volume flirted with being inconsiderate or offensive to those who are transgender; or may even put them in a bad light with how someone was supposedly "turned into" a girl. I don't think the series is inherently bad, nor is it trying to be insensitive; I definitely think it may be a translation issue or just a thoughtless title/verbiage choice. After reading the second volume, I don't think I'll continue with the series, it's just not holding my attention.
Unlike the first volume, nobody (except a student council president who didn't know Hiura was a boy) refers to Hiura as female; the pronouns used are strictly male. Towards the end of the volume, Hiura admits to someone that he originally started dressing "cute" to attract the attention of the person he likes (Mido). Hiura does say that this is no longer the ONLY reason as he has really come to like dressing in a feminine manner. At this time Hiura has had no thoughts about gender identity (that I remember or picked up on) and has no problem telling a couple different people that he's a boy.
At this point, I'm pretty sure this series is going to run along the lines of yaoi/BL, with a feminine presenting male character who may or may not be considered non-binary later down the line.
Unlike the first volume, nobody (except a student council president who didn't know Hiura was a boy) refers to Hiura as female; the pronouns used are strictly male. Towards the end of the volume, Hiura admits to someone that he originally started dressing "cute" to attract the attention of the person he likes (Mido). Hiura does say that this is no longer the ONLY reason as he has really come to like dressing in a feminine manner. At this time Hiura has had no thoughts about gender identity (that I remember or picked up on) and has no problem telling a couple different people that he's a boy.
At this point, I'm pretty sure this series is going to run along the lines of yaoi/BL, with a feminine presenting male character who may or may not be considered non-binary later down the line.
December 2, 2023
Sweat and cute
Another slice of Life high School story. I just really like the main characters a lot. I also like the idea of the main character potentially being trans in the making? The idea that the MC feels more comfortable and happier as a girl than as a boy is interesting. Sure the motivation is crushing on a boy but I think the self-transformation and learning more about yourself is the interesting part. You really don't get a lot of that in manga in this flavor. And in the social justice time of today, it's refreshing to see one like this..
Another slice of Life high School story. I just really like the main characters a lot. I also like the idea of the main character potentially being trans in the making? The idea that the MC feels more comfortable and happier as a girl than as a boy is interesting. Sure the motivation is crushing on a boy but I think the self-transformation and learning more about yourself is the interesting part. You really don't get a lot of that in manga in this flavor. And in the social justice time of today, it's refreshing to see one like this..
September 17, 2024
Sometimes, we care so much about somebody that we change ourselves to grab their attention. Even though I'm against going out of your way to match another person's taste, I'm glad Hiura finds something that makes him feel better about himself, and allows him to go out of his shell.
I hope Mido doesn't makes our little Hiura wait too much, and they get their happy ever after soon.
I hope Mido doesn't makes our little Hiura wait too much, and they get their happy ever after soon.
March 27, 2023
cute book, kinda mid plot but fun characters. Lowkey confused/annoyed about how you can't really tell if Hiura really wants to be a girl or is acting like it for the mc. Also kinda annoyed how the mc starts only having feelings for hiura after hiura wants to start dressing like that, the book is pretty good though
March 31, 2023
Less iffy that the first vol, with the main character stating that tho they started presenting as female because they wanted their friend to like them, it is now something they choose & want for themselves.
February 15, 2024
Still very cute. It’s quite slow moving so far so I have nothing more really to say since the first volume, I think they’re a really sweet pairing and I’m just waiting for them to both figure out their feelings properly and COMMUNICATE with each other 😅
February 13, 2023
SO CUTEEEE 😭
February 21, 2023
From one Pansexual to another- Mc pansexual king, I love him
February 22, 2023
flippin adorable. I love the two full-color pages sprinkled throughout, and the art continues to impress! also the friendships and relationships here are really wholesome
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2023
Excruciatingly adorable
August 14, 2023
The way I ate this book up 🤤
December 14, 2023
The cute continues! Hiura continues not seeing that Mido likes him, which is honestly fair since Mido is experiencing a lot of feelings but is bad at figuring out what they are.
February 12, 2024
this is actually a really sweet series ;__;
March 15, 2024
It was fun! A fun mess of a series. 😆
November 28, 2024
4 stars ‧₊˚☁️⋅♡𓂃ִֶָ࣪☾。
October 22, 2025
Check my review of the first three volumes at Well, Are They? A Queer Review Blog:
https://wellarethey.blogspot.com/2025...
https://wellarethey.blogspot.com/2025...
June 25, 2024
They talk about makeup so seriously it's kind of funny.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews