Your opinion of the series - Bokura no Hentai

What do you think of the series?

Sep 1, 2023 5:11 AM

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Nov 2010

1393

Spoilers may be included in this thread. Read the contents at your own risk.

Just post your opinion about the series.

The story starts the scene three junior high school boys who wear female dresses meet at a cafe. All of them have different background to behave as female. Two of them are involved in incidents and the rest has natural-born personality to do so. This kind of story can be started easily, but it's hard to find a proper landing point as they lose delicate physique. Although the author tended to write kind of sex-related gloomy stories, this series finished with a light tone. But the last one third of the story seem supplemental for me.

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kuroneko99Feb 15, 2024 5:33 PM

Sep 1, 2023 9:11 AM

elgatosaika

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Aug 2021

1151

i liked it enough to read it twice, and marikas in my favs
my opinion is that it kind of shows its age nowadays, like our conceptualizations of gender have already evolved a little bit since then, obv im viewing this from a westoid lens, but i dont think that in current discourse and understanding japan is that much different
its still a must read when it comes to gender stuff totally
the predicaments and identities of Marika and Parou are quite prevalent, many people can relate i think, not a big deal u know
but its kind of weird how Ryousuke fits into the trio, like their reason for crossdressing seems to be something exceptionally rare; while with the other two its different kinds of queerness that are examined, with Ryousuke its some strange trauma related situation that doesnt really have much to do with the other two, kind of like theyre the odd one out in the story, like they totally got their own thing going on

Dec 24, 2023 8:14 AM

trochanter

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Feb 2022

Just reread it, was thinking to myself for like 80% of it "holy crap this was even better than I remember" but then around volume 8 or so it starts to meander off in a few random directions that ultimately aren't that interesting, and I start to remember why my impression from years ago was "good, but doesn't leave much emotional impact".
Most of the appeal of the earlier volumes was the characters working through their trauma and pain and gradually climbing their way out of the hole. So, when they climb out of said hole, the whole point of why we read is sort of lost, and it becomes a slice of life that occasionally delves into queer drama. The vibe shifted, and honestly I wasn't really about it. I suppose I'm a bit gloomy myself, lol.

I unfortunately get the impression that a lot of the plot was sort of written on the fly, hence why we have characters that get their own side stories that either don't really affect their character, or in the case of Mai Asakawa, are almost completely irrelevant characters to the plot as a whole. The plot wouldn't have been that drastically affected if Hachiya and Akane's backstories weren't given, or frankly if Mai didn't exist in the story. In general, the point past Ryousuke having his mom sent away could've been trimmed a lot (the cooking club bits felt like a drag to go through) It probably would've been less cheery, but more tonally cohesive.

I also agree with some of the sentiment about chapter 40 as well, with Marika joining the crossdressing comtest. It's not...completely out of the blue, I guess.? Marika does talk about multiple times throughout and even pretty close to this chapter that she still struggles with feeling completely like a woman, and her demeanor after the contest feels like she isn't really comfortable with the whole thing. But with no one asking if she shouldn't do it, and with everyone just laughing at the end saying "yeah guess we're all just degenerate weirdos hahahaaaa"... it's just weird.

Oh, also, since I almost never see this mentioned, but I absolutely love the visual storytelling, especially in the earlier volumes. The paneling, the images evoked, some of the slow progression of emotion through panels, the visualization of detachment and disconnection... Fumi Fumiko at her best is a brilliant visual artist. It's a shame this never got adapted into an anime, as there are just some fantastic cinematic moments that deserve the treatment. It's also funny to think about, because Fumiko-San was told by her editors to try to make it end on a more lighthearted note, but her visual acumen is best suited to depicting her characters at their most miserable lmao.

Speaking of miserable, her extra doujinshi ending with Parou is a must read and is a far better ending than the original one in the final volume. Yes it is insanely depressing for Parou but it ironically resolves his arc by showing how utterly unresolved it is. His trauma still lingers with no real support system, and he continues to indulge his sexuality in a completely unhealthy way. Of the trio, we are probably let in the least by him. Always trying to conceal, trying to bury, now turning his trauma into his occupation through theatre. Just a mess.

See All Discussions

Poll: » Bokura no Hentai Chapter 25 Discussion MorsPulchra - Sep 19, 2014	10	by elgatosaika »» Dec 2, 2022 3:15 PM
Poll: » Bokura no Hentai Chapter 10 Discussion SwimminglyDone - Feb 29, 2016	1	by VivillonFanClub »» Oct 30, 2022 11:17 AM
Poll: » Bokura no Hentai Chapter 32 Discussion LeeTailor - Oct 27, 2017	1	by surprisedspace »» Oct 10, 2022 7:33 PM
Poll: » Bokura no Hentai Chapter 41 Discussion Tzu - Apr 28, 2016	4	by elgatosaika »» Nov 27, 2021 4:24 AM
Poll: » Bokura no Hentai Chapter 1 Discussion ToG25thBaam - Feb 24, 2014	2	by luvfevr »» May 11, 2021 1:38 AM

Your opinion of the series - Bokura no Hentai

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