Interesting premise: a real man who is nevertheless interested in girly things. ( )

I sat and read this one at the library. I think I'm in love ( )

Masumune, Asuka 2nd year National Kendo Champion adores frilly soft things, and likes cooking and sewing. Due to a complex of his father's abandonment, and his mother's scorn he runs away from the things he loves.
Early on he saves our leading lady, Ryou, and instantly falls for her. This leads him going out and buying bags of stuffed toy needlepoint kits, and a series of shojo manga.
Don't miss this hysterical start.
Cheers! ( )

Asuka Masamune is a guy who loves girly things, but in order to keep the approval of family and classmates, he forces himself to hide it. But when he starts falling for Ryo, a girl who only likes masculine guys, he worries he'll never be able to show his true self to anyone.

It's funny and refreshing to see gender roles so completely switched in what is otherwise your typical shoujo manga romantic comedy. So far it doesn't seem like the series is concerned with a deep discussion of gender roles, and some might argue that the approach only reinforces stereotypes rather than breaking them, but at least it is sympathetic to the characters' insecurities about their unconventional preferences. The characters are likeable, the art is clean and pretty, and of course the endless drawings of cute things make this a fun read. Looking forward to what happens in the next volumes! ( )

I liked Aya Kanno's Blank Slate and wanted to try this series. Happily, the library had volume 1. Unfortunately, I could find no other volumes on the shelves - I loved this volume, and definitely plan on reading more. The only issue I can see is that this could end up being a one-note series that gets stale quickly. In this volume, Asuka appears to be the proper manly ideal. What others don't know about him is that he secretly likes girlie things, like handicrafts, cooking, and cute animals. He falls in love with a clueless girl who likes macho stuff and meets a guy who starts off as his romantic rival and becomes something like a friend. What Asuka doesn't know is that this guy is actually a manga artist and author who's been basing his hit shojo series on Asuka's life. In case this description hasn't already made it obvious, this series is nothing like Kanno's Blank Slate. Kanno is a brave person to tackle such completely different tones.

(Originally posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )