おとこのこ妻

OTOKONOKO TSUMA

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
3
RELEASE
August 7, 2020
CHAPTERS
44

DESCRIPTION

The manga follows the daily lives of Kou, a slightly quirky man, and his wife, Yukio (often called Yuki), who is a cross dressing man. Read as this married couple handles the trouble that comes with cross dressing in modern Japanese society.

CAST

Yukio Kamiyoshi
Kou

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

Pockeyramune919
70/100
A cute, queer romance (terms and conditions apply, consult your doctor to see if Otokonoko Tsuma is right for you)

If I had to describe Otokonoko Tsuma in two words, one of those words would be "odd."

Otokonoko Tsuma, or "My Wife is a Man," is ostensibly a cute romance/comedy manga about a man and his crossdressing boyfriend, whom he refers to as his wife. The entire point of the manga is that Yukio is a crossdresser. With that in mind, it's supremely odd that Yukio doesn't even particularly like crossdressing; he just does so for his boyfriend, Kou. While many anime fans like this type of dynamic, I can't help but find it a bit sad, like Yukio's wants and desires only extend to pleasing Kou. There's also the running gag of Kou begging Yukio to wear a bunny girl outfit, with Yukio always refusing. It's supposed to be funny, but it just comes across as creepy. For a cute manga, there's also a pretty notable undercurrent of sadness. While Kou refers to Kou as his "wife," it's offhandedly brought up multiple times that they can’t marry due to same-sex marriage being illegal in Japan.

Beyond the oddities within the story itself, I found the act of reading the manga itself strange. I constantly found myself wondering if Yukio was supposed to be a crossdressing, feminine man or if they were a thinly-coded trans woman. While the characters (including Kou himself) constantly remind us that Yukio is a man, it's no secret that anime and its fandom has a weird, often contentious relationship with trans characters (so much so that a rule about this type of thing effectively broke the site in half, but I digress) and there are often debates if a character is supposed to be a "femboy" (who are quite rare) or if they're trans (who are more common). I acknowledge that there's a cultural divide that I can't quite cross, but I couldn't help but ponder this as I read and question the mangaka's decisions.

Beyond even this, I'm left wondering who this is for. On the face of it, this is a very queer pairing, yet Kou, Yukio, and other characters constantly insist that they're straight and that their love interests are the exception. Then there's the fact that all the "official ships" are between people that are masculine and feminine. Yes, queerness is based on identity, but when it comes to representation in fiction, appearance matters, and what we largely see are straight-passing couples. It's certainly a non-issue to some, but I imagine some who are desperate for queer romances might find this "too straight."

All that said, the second word I'd use to describe Otokonoko Tsuma is “cute.” If you're not cursed with overanalysis, you won't find much to object to. Overall, the manga is a positive depiction of an oft unseen type of relationship. While I might not like Yukio and Kou's personalities at times, they're rounded out with minor, yet recurring characters. While the jokes can be a bit grating (and a lot of this is due to repetition), they ultimately mean well and they tend to push the idea that sexuality is a lot more fluid than what society ordains. While the manga is primarily a comedy, it's a step above a gag manga and most of the jokes are interspersed with moments of genuine tenderness. The best chapter is the heartfelt flashback to how Kou and Yukio got together. Ultimately, while the story might not come in the queerest of packages, its primary theme is that one type of beauty isn't tied to gender, that sexuality isn't so black-and-white, and that you shouldn't deny your feelings of love and attraction, no matter who invokes those feelings. And if that isn't a progressive message, then I don't know what is.

Still, note that your mileage may vary heavily. Similar to Bra Girl, there may be shortcomings I missed due to my identity. It's very possible that the only reason I found this cute is because I'm a straight* cis guy. As you can see, I at least tried covering my ass, but it's still notable that I came out liking this more than disliking it.

I'm not sure Otokonoko Tsuma is much to write home about. It's a cute, humorous manga with a good message, but I still felt odd at times reading it and it didn't blow me away. It's a cute little distraction.

*Technically gynosexual(which explains why I ended up liking the manga — it feels made for me) but that's so close to just being straight that it would be insulting to consider myself LGBTQ+
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