520https://i.ur.com/6LrynPP.jpg 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 its supremely odd that Yukio doesnt even particularly like crossdressing he just does so for his boyfriend Kou. While many anime fans like this type of dynamic I cant help but find it a bit sad like Yukios wants and desires only extend to pleasing Kou. Theres also the running gag of Kou begging Yukio to wear a bunny girl outfit with Yukio always refusing. Its supposed to be funny but it just comes across as creepy. For a cute manga theres also a pretty notable undercurrent of sadness. While Kou refers to Kou as his wife its offhandedly brought up multiple times that they cant marry due to samesex marriage being illegal in Japan. 420https://i.ur.com/9MjVKi3.jpg 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 thinlycoded trans woman. While the characters including Kou himself constantly remind us that Yukio is a man its 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 theyre trans who are more common. I acknowledge that theres a cultural divide that I cant quite cross but I couldnt help but ponder this as I read and question the mangakas decisions. Beyond even this Im 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 theyre straight and that their love interests are the exception. Then theres 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 straightpassing couples. Its certainly a nonissue to some but I imagine some who are desperate for queer romances might find this too straight. 420https://i.ur.com/pgIQDkX.jpg All that said the second word Id use to describe Otokonoko Tsuma is cute. If youre not cursed with overanalysis you wont 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 Kous personalities at times theyre 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 its 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 isnt tied to gender that sexuality isnt so blackandwhite and that you shouldnt deny your feelings of love and attraction no matter who invokes those feelings. And if that isnt a progressive message then I dont know what is. 420https://i.ur.com/Hf3IZxZ.png Still note that your mileage may vary heavily. Similar to Bra https://anilist.co/review/6693Girlhttps://anilist.co/review/7403 there may be shortcomings I missed due to my identity. Its very possible that the only reason I found this cute is because Im a straight cis guy. As you can see I at least tried covering my ass but its still notable that I came out liking this more than disliking it. Im not sure Otokonoko Tsuma is much to write home about. Its a cute humorous manga with a good message but I still felt odd at times reading it and it didnt blow me away. Its a cute little distraction. 200https://i.ur.com/eoKhJtg.png 520https://i.ur.com/ScleB01.jpg Technically gynosexualhttps://www.d.com/sex/whatisgynosexuality::text=Gynosexuality2C20sometimes20spelled20gynesexuality2C20describes20someone20who27s20attracted20to20femininity.which explains why I ended up liking the manga it feels made for me but thats so close to just being straight that it would be insulting to consider myself LGBTQ+