Jul 21, 2021
I want to start off this review commenting on the title on MAL since i heard complaints about it. "Genderless" is misunderstood by people going into this expecting a genderless character. The official English title is, "My Androgynous Boyfriend", which is more accurate for him personally. BUT to clear the misunderstanding, it was likely titled this due to a Japanese sub culture called "genderless fashion". Self explanatorily, its fashion with no gender and as he is androgynous appearing, and tends to gravitate towards stereotypically feminine clothing, this title makes sense.
SO if you're going into this manga expecting it to be about a non binary
...
character, or something of the like, you will be disappointed. BUT if you are going into this expecting it to be about gender stereotypes and gender expression, then you should be delighted. Onto my review now, im sorry its long lol
I feel like there isn't enough discussion about gender expression. You don't need to be part of the LGBT to like fashion. Trans men are not men who like dresses, enough of that in anime. This is a straight male, who just likes what he likes and thats okay. In Japan, there are lots of heavy gender stereotypes, and for people out of the "norm" of that realm, they get called gay or transgender. It is wholesome to see a manga about it being okay to like what you like, no matter what your gender or sexuality is. You can express yourself however you want, as he does and other characters in this series do.
So far, this story hasnt been stressful. Not about the struggles of being different, its just been about acceptance. Characters being okay with him being him, and thats just plain wholesome. It touched my heart to see him being happy to be himself, to see his girlfriend and her family, okay with him too. Him being fashionable is nothing deep, and thats sweet to me. Maybe it will get darker and show him struggling at some point, but lots of people can relate to that so if it does get deep, i think that'll be realistic and growth for the story, If it goes through that development i'd rate it 9/10.
Meguru, so far hasn't stated that he's part of the gender umbrella, so im sure people can relate to wanting to have a partner who supports their expression despite their gender. Majority of the story is just the wholesome relationship between to the two and how much she loves/supports him. Wako, his girlfriend actually encourages him to be as cute and stereotypically feminine as he is.
If at some point in the story he does come out as part of the gender umbrella, then good for him, thats sweet too and i'm sure people will relate. BUT it definitely does not take away from the message about gender expressions/stereotypes, and acceptance towards oneself that this story presents. We need more manga about this and I am happy to read this. I hope my review helped and cleared some misunderstandings.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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