Highly recommend Otomen if you are looking for a story that has reverse gender roles, great characters, and lots of cute art! I am 100% here for this romance and can't wait to see where the story goes! Cheering for everyone in their own endeavors and ultimately the romance between our best boy and girl! Outside of Ryo, it seems everyone is hiding a secret they don't want others to know about, which adds a little bit of angst to the overall story but also makes it more interesting to see how certain characters will handle things. I really really enjoyed the story as well and am super curious to see where it goes because every character is interesting. Honestly goes to show that the people we surround ourselves with really DO make a huge impact on how we view ourselves. I LOVED the reverse gender roles and 'tackling' those expectations that are set by society because Asuka is AMAZING and NO ONE should ever tell this young man he can't be his real self! 😤😤😤 He is so pure and precious and absolutely love how his friends are helping him to be proud/confident of who he is deep down. I mean: When I was growing up I liked to bake and write poetry and act in plays and read shoujo manga. I also related to it on a personal level. This is one is meant to be hilariously funny because he is shown to be SO different, but I found him kinda charming and the series opener interesting, though not very deep. This doesn’t quite fit, since it features a boy, but it raises similar gender issues. I’m just putting my little toes into the water of this huge manga area for a class I am teaching on comics and graphic novels with kick ass girls for main characters. Will they get together?! In the process, Azuka quietly finds other otomen to befriend. Ryo Miyakozuka, on the other hand, is a girl who can't sew or bake. Which is to say he is the embodiment of stereotypical samurai warrior AND samurai wife! Which is also to say he must hide these interests. Which is to say he likes what society sees as “girly” things: sewing, knitting, making cute stuffed animals and reading shojo comics. The title, 'Otomen' is a pun made of the Japanese word otome, meaning 'young lady' or 'mistress', and the English word 'men'.

Asuka Masamune is both the epitome of Japanese masculinity - captain of the kendo club, judo champion, academic star-and an 'otomen.,”

Shoujo manga series about gender and societal expectations.

Otomen, Vol. 1 by Aya Kanno