By Hiroshi Aro (Studio Ironcat)
ISBN: 978-1-9290-9000-6
This deceptively charming if saucy tale dwells on the Japanese fascination with gender-roles, but does it in a slapstick manner devoid of much of the cloying coyness of other manga series.
Futaba Shimeru (Kun is a suffix denoting maleness – like Futaba-boyo or Futaba-mate) is an average high-school student plagued with all the usual problems that beset boys. He’s trying to do well academically, he’s trying to shine on the school wrestling team and he’s blissfully unaware that one of the teachers is smitten with him, as is his cute but superstitious classmate Misaki. I should specify here that Misaki is a girl but the teacher isn’t. I’m not sure about the implications of a homoerotic fixation by a teacher for a student in a Japanese context; it’s played broadly and for laughs and the book is not meant for children anyway, but still…
When a boy sneaks some American porn mags into school Futaba’s life changes forever. Excited despite himself he suddenly turns into a beautiful girl, loses all his (her?) clothes and is chased naked through the school. She only escapes by using her wrestling skills, causing the captain of the school team to declare that he will never rest until she joins the wrestling squad! Everybody else just wants to see her naked again…
When Futaba gets home after many adventures, his father reveals that they all have the genetic disorder and it simply means he has come of age. He also lets slip that he was the one who gave birth to the boy, not his mother! Moreover, the headmaster, a part-time superhero, is also in on the secret…
Racy, rude and very funny, this is social and culture-shock at its merry best, incorporating traditional manga school hi-jinks, with a knowing nod into hormonal, adolescent humour. If you like manga, aren’t easily shocked and love to laugh, this strange, strange tale could be just your cup of tea…
™ & © 1990, 1999 Hiroshi Aro. All Rights Reserved.