I guess this is to be expected of older manga, and infused with Western influenced East Asian cultural stereotypes to boot... -_- 1i2q40

but having just started reading this manga up to chapter 5 so far, I am disappointed in the mangaka's presentation of what had potential to be a much better story. I believe most transvestites and people with gender dysphoria would not appreciate this manga. Unlike the story Hourou Musuko for instance so far the mangaka just seems to rely on slapstick gag humor and doesn't really delve into the psyche of the characters at all (save for the main character).

Then again, this aspect of limited omnipotence in itself wouldn't be so much of a problem if the main character wasn't such a spineless lead. This new kind of "go with the flow" male protagonist archetype in manga is a far cry from the gentlemen scholars of ancient Eastern epics of the waring states period.

In my opinion, as a story so far this manga just doesn't really portray interesting characters readers might want to aspire to or follow, but I've only just started reading this so maybe it will get better.

You have to think that the concept of tolerance at the time was really different from what it is today; thus in the same way as "Stop!! Hibari Kun" most dilemmas typical for these types of stories are present but are completely watered down to their minimum.

Personally I did find the story pretty calm and enjoyable and it's pretty much the "fantasy tale of some folks that act differently" and at the end of the day the message in there is "it's totally fine" completely plastered all over the place.

And while I do agree that Masahiko is totally weak and pretty much his only function in the story is "to have proper manners & sexual conduct", it's Shion the one that will completely carry over the story as a great character and was pretty much the interesting point that kept me reading until the end.