Otomen, Vol. 1, 1

It is a very easy read. I finished it in an hour and a half. It was very lighthearted and exactly what I needed at the moment. Not normally the genre that i enjoy, but this one was great. I really recommend everyone to read it.

So far this manga is sweet, cute, and I absolutely LOVE Masamune. He cooks, sews, reads shojo, and has a very soft boy demeanor that he feels forced to hide to appear masculine (as he is a kendo/martial arts master of sorts) and the fact that his mother doesn't want him to turn out like his 'father'. If you're looking for a nice little read, I'd say this is good. Maybe it's not for everyone but this is just some sweet bliss shojo (so far, but no complaints :)

I read a ton of manga, but I recently stumbled across this one & picked it up because of the cutsey artwork. The characters are very well made, it is very funny, and the relationship aspect is very sweet. I wouldn't be into it if the main character acted 'girly' but he just has girly hobbies.. he is actually quite manly in the way he speaks and treats others. I HIGHLY reccommend this manga to anyone looking for something funny with great characters. The artwork is just great too :)

Instead of all those manga where the girl has guy hobbies and wants to get a boyfriend, its the other way around! This guy has girlish hobbies! The story plot is so surprising and unpredicatable, and the art is great! I would reccomend this to anyone who absolutely loves a great story with a great purpose. When I first saw this book at the bookstore, i thought,"hmm the art looks intresting, but the books description doesnt sound exciting". So I put it down. That was a mistake. 3 weeks later the library got it, I read it and was hooked forever! So to simple things up: Unique book Great art Surprising story AMAZING for ANYONE to read.

Seriously, I LOVE him. OK, this manga is a bit slow to get started - if I hadn't known the plot, I would have been very confused about it. Luckily I read the synopsis a couple weeks ago, before buying the book. The artwork is very nice, on a par with Cherry Juice, which to date is the nicest art I've seen in a manga. As a woman I find the female character Ryo to be a bit weak - perhaps it's simply that she doesn't get enough screen time (so to speak), but I look forward to her future development. But Juta is a hilarious friend and character, and he has shot to the top of my favorite manga characters list: 1. Juta 2. Tamaki Suoh (Ouran) 3. Dr. Umeda (Hana Kimi) 4. Dr. Manabe (Pretty Face) Yeah, well, it's a weak list, but if you like any of those other characters you'll like Juta. I will definitely continue with this series just for the funny Juta value. I really burst out laughing when Asuke is trying to read a shonen manga to help himself be more manly, and the title of the magazine is "Shonen Junk"!

Part of Viz's "Shojo Beat" line of manga (Japanese comics) aimed at girls and women, volume 1 of Otomen introduces readers to an unlikely teenage trio. Asuka Masamune is a decidedly heterosexual guy who loves girly things, from sewing and knitting to making stuffed animals and reading girls' manga; he has a severe crush on Ryo Miyakozuka, a girl who can't sew or bake at all, and who likes guy things such as martial arts. Their mutual friend is a playboy who secretly uses them both as inspiration to create his own best-selling shojo manga! Trapped in a culture that values men who act manly, how can Asuka learn to accept his own "otomen" (i.e. guy who likes girl stuff) nature, when almost no one else will accept it - not even his own mother or Ryo's father? Otomen is a lighthearted romantic comedy with a serious underlying message - that it's okay to be secure in one's gender and sexuality without conforming absolutely to rigid gender roles. Highly recommended to shojo manga fans.

Otomen is the story of Asuka, manliest of manly high school students on the outside, but on the inside he's a romantic, shojo manga reading, cooking, sewing dynamo. He would like nothing more than to sew cute stuffed animals and make delicious bento lunches. Unfortunately because of past events he feels that he has to keep his "girly side" locked away and put on a front of extreme masculinity. So begins our story. Asuka is hard at work being his manliest when he meets Ryo, the new girl in school. He likes her and it awakens his inner romantic. Suddenly he's buying shojo manga and making pot holders. He just can't help himself. If Asuka is the romantic then Ryo is the clueless one. She has absolutely no idea that Asuka likes her as more than "just a friend." Then we add Juta, the school flirt, to the mix to make things more interesting. Juta has decided to pursue Ryo too. He comes right out and tells Asuka even. This could be pretty cliche and to some extent it is. However, there are some interesting insights into what is and is not "manly" in Japanese culture (apparently real men don't like sweets) and there are some legitimately entertaining and funny parts. A lot of the best parts are in the latter half of the book. Namely Asuka's attempt to win over Ryo's father and the bit about fortune telling. Asuka is just adorable when Juta catches him being "girly". It's very endearing when he blushes. In fact, Asuka and Juta are my favorite parts of the manga. Ryo just seems a little TOO clueless. She has two gorgeous boys around her all of the time and she doesn't feel ANYTHING? Seriously. Poor Asuka. So I give volume 1 of Otomen 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. I would knock off a half of a star for what's lacking in Ryo's character.