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Alright, let's just get this out of the way. It's porn, with a story. If you're reading this, read it with one hand on the mouse and the other on your genitals, any other way is objectively wrong.

And with that out of the way let's talk about this shit. So let's tackle this on MAL's patented system of rating and start with the story. "How is the story," I hear you ask. Well the answer is it doesn't matter, it's porn. No one looks up porn for the thrilling tale of how the a step mom tutored her step son on 'biology.' How's the ... art, well it's good. Van Gogh may not have treated it like I treat my toilet after a night of heavy drinking, but it's definitely good. What about the characters? Well a wise manga character once said, "There has to be a penis, it's what guys self insert with." That quote stands true In this, as there is a male MC. That's all you need, after that, there are three females. They are varied enough to be different characters, so hey they have that going for them. If you need more characterization then that go read "To Kill a Mockingbird" you cultured person you. Now we get to the most important part Enjoyment. Well I can say from experience, there was many a time I had to take a break, if you catch my drift.

Now for the most important part, the overall score. Well here's the deal if I read it as a manga, it's not great. But remember the first sentence, it's porn, with a story. When looked at that way there's only a single possible score i could give it

Overall score (Boner/10)

A brief summary of my thoughts is that, Kanojo ni Naru Hi isn't bad but it's not great either. Read it if you want, just don't take it too seriously.

With that out of the way, Kanojo ni Naru Hi is a manga that, more so then any other I've read, will vary depending on what you want this manga to be. Don't get what I mean, that's fine I'll try to elaborate.

The first thing you'll notice when you approach this manga is the premise, a guy spontaneously transforms into a girl and it's out of his, or her, control. After that it follows ... the misadventures of the guy who was best friends with the newly made female before she was a she. With this premise the first thing one might assume is that it's going to tackle gender issues, acceptance of oneself, and challenging common views on the two subjects.

But it really doesn't do that much. The manga portrays two sides, the side that thinks emergence is disgusting and the side that thinks it's fine. But neither side manages to portray their side outside of shallow emotional knee-jerk reactions.

In regards to the side that looks down on emergence, it's understandable the stance they take. Whether or not you support transgenderism or not, the reality is that it is a small subculture of human life. It's a foreign thing that very well may frighten or disgust people, especially if they have a preconceived notion of gender and sex. And on the other hand, if someone experiences transgenderism, or in the case of this manga 'emergence,' it's something that is outside of the individuals control. The individual likely didn't ask to be put in a position like they are in. And even if it was their choice, it is their choice and no one else should control their life.

See that previous paragraph is comprised of simple arguments for both sides that I came up with in maybe fifteen minutes, but the author couldn't manage to do the same in the entire publishing time. Instead of posing questions that challenges how people think on both sides of the issues the author goes down the path of "We should accept everyone," which is fine if that's what you want to read, but I was disappointed.

Instead when I look at it, and it's side story "Kanojo ni Naru Hi Another," both are much better read as stories about accepting oneself, especially Another. They both do decent jobs tackling how different individuals may feel, even if some of the romance is forced, and when read with that idea in your mind they're fun.

If you want to read something that better tackles the idea of sexual and gender identity, go read "Himegoto: Juukyuusai no Seifuku" or "Shimanami Tasogare." They tackle the previously mentioned ideas in real ways that help you understand what the characters face.

Other wise if you just want to read something that touches these issues on a surface level with average art but good character development, Kanojo ni Naru Hi is an alright pick.

What a wild ride this thing was. Never before has there been such sporadic highs and lows and moments of complete and utter confusion, yet i loved every moment of it.

Sekai Oni walks the balance beam beam between satire and serious, and it can be confusing as to which the focus is supposed to be. On one hand you have the typical troupes of power ups that make a character unstoppable, yet it avoids making the power ups based on the power of 'friendship'. It introduces characters that are supposed to be the elites of their groups only to quickly brush them away reducing ... them to below side character.

Mal seems to think that i can honestly give this manga a solid score, but I find myself unable to do so. The art is distinct and more of an acquired taste, the story is predictable, but somehow surprising, the characters are basic archetypes, yet somehow morph their mold into distinct shapes, and my overall enjoyment is left with a large question mark.

Another odd aspect of the manga is the genre. Where as most manga can be read by someone and the genre can quickly be picked up, Sekai Oni prefers trying to take on any and all possible genres and themes. It is tragedy, shounen battle manga, romance, psychological, horror,and much more. It's almost like the author was sitting at their desk and thinking to themselves, "what else can i throw into this Frankenstein of a manga."

My point likely hasn't come across so allow me to say this, Sekai Oni isn't bad, there are certainly worse series to read, but be prepared for a unique undertaking when diving into it.

Overall Enjoyment (confused/10)
Would read again

*Edit
So after sitting on this manga for about awhile now, I thought I'd update it a bit to better explain my thoughts on it. I still stand by what I said previously, and I have no intentions of removing it as it was my initial reactions after finishing it. But with time, I have a better appreciation for Sekai Oni. While re-reading it I had some revelations.

The first one was how attached I became to the many characters in the manga. It's a turbulent ride that makes no sense if I sit down and think about it, yet I still read it in it's entirety, and enjoyed it. Mostly it was the characters. Even characters that were only introduced for a single chapter before being killed off I was somehow drawn to them, and even more attached to the characters introduced in the beginning. Constant subversion of expectations is another strong point of the manga. Every time I think something will happen it doesn't, and I like it. constantly having hooks thrown at me makes for a surprisingly enjoyable experience.

So, two years later, if I had to describe Sekai Oni as simply as possible, I'd probably say "Satisfyingly Strange." It's an enigma, that you stumble upon and start reading, but before you know it you've fallen down the rabbit hole and rather then climb out you decide to see just where the roller coaster will go. To this day I can't quite come to agreement with myself on what exactly it is that I enjoy about it, but maybe that makes the appeal in it all the better

Overall Enjoyment, still a (?/10)
Did read again