Yasuko. Volume 1 Cover Art, 晃くんかもしれないし晃ちゃんかもしれない, Shogakukan.
Maybe Akira-kun Maybe Akira-chan – Information
Author of Story: Yasuko
Chapter Count: 2 volumes, 8 chapters
Status: Completed
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below; only the literary work itself.
- Topics of gender identity, gender roles, and homophobia
- Pregnancy-related topics of loss
- Topics of death
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
Plot Summary
This shoujo story primarily follows a male lead by the name of Iwagami Kazuma, who wants to truly start his love life now that he’s entered college. By chance, he is taken care of by a gorgeous girl after being beat up on campus by some rowdy boxing club students.
For Kazuma, it was love at first sight after being rescued by such a beautiful, kind person!
He becomes determined to thank this woman and pursue her, but when he meets this person—named Akira Haruna—he becomes confused and unsure if they are actually a woman. While Kazuma’s feelings for this person are strong even at the start, he feels very hesitant on whether or not he should try starting a relationship with this person!
While this may seem like the common gender-bender trope many of us readers love to see in manga, the plot actually takes a different path than what that trope usually follows.
I feel like many mangas often use gender-bending as a sort of comedic feature—and while many of them seem to portray hobbies such as crossdressing in both positive and negative lights—I feel like the ending is always the same, with no exploration of the character’s actual gender identity or experiences being perceived by others.
Not that they are all like that obviously, but it is just less common (at least in my own personal experience) to see a deeper plot.
In the case of Maybe Akira-kun Maybe Akira-chan, it was very nice to see the gender bender trope turn into something more meaningful than comedy, allowing characters to actually discover themselves and break out of the restraints of the binary gender roles society forced them into.
Why I Enjoyed Maybe Akira-kun Maybe Akira-chan
Plot:
The plot of this manga is very good, although it scared me a little at the beginning due to the heavy gender-biased language that is used by the main character. I don’t want this to discourage you from reading! After all, it leads to some great character development.
This sort of language is actually part of the main message of the story. Many of the characters go through a massive learning experience about gender roles that is not often expressed in manga. I don’t see many mangas that explicitly portray or teach a progressive gender ideology, so this shoujo manga was super refreshing.
Maybe Akira-kun Maybe Akira-chan surrounds its plot around the message of being oneself, regardless of your appearance, gender, or how others think you should act. It’s a wonderful story that really portrays the struggles of gender identity and being yourself in a world filled with others’ expectations.
As for romance, this short story balances it out nicely within the main plot and message. It isn’t too in-your-face, and I guess can be considered a slow burn—although it’s contained within only two volumes of content, haha. Overall the romance was sweet, wholesome, and light.
Lastly, although this shoujo manga series does take on very serious and important topics—especially related to the emotional and physical struggles that people experience under societal pressures—the mangaka has done a pretty good job at sprinkling in a light amount of comedy to keep things less heavy.
I think the occasional humor, coupled with a cute romance, helps balance out the more serious tones found within the main message. Very well done!
Characters:
Because Maybe Akira-kun Maybe Akira-chan was a rather short manga series, I don’t have a whole lot to say about the characters, but here are some of my thoughts:
The main character of the story, Kazuma, experiences a slow transformation that is a delight to witness. He starts out with a rather common style of thinking, but this ultimately has led to strained relationships, a not-so-great reputation, and a dissatisfaction with himself.
Even though his character has flaws that are showcased throughout the series, I really enjoyed how his character acknowledged these flaws and his biased thinking, and was open to change. Through this change and his efforts to look within himself, I feel that Kazuma grew more confident and even more happy in the end, too!
Next we have the secondary protagonist, Akira. This character is a beautiful, androgynous person who has a big appetite and an adorable smile. Akira never corrects anyone when they are referred to as “he” or “she,” and unintentionally helps two different characters in this short series break out of the restraints of gender roles.
Although we don’t see Akira’s inner thoughts the way we do Kazuma’s, this seems to be an intentional plot design, as Akira’s gender identity is meant to be a mystery for a lot of the story.
At the end, (spoiler warning) Akira’s gender is never actually revealed to the audience. I really liked this sort of ending, as it re-solidifies the main message of the story, and doesn’t allow readers to lean into any sort of bias, either!
Art:
The art of this series is very nice. It is polished and clean, but doesn’t exactly have a unique charm or level of detail that makes it stand out from other series. However, this wasn’t a problem as the main focus for this manga was the story, anyway—plus, the art wasn’t necessarily bad!
I will also say that the character design is well done, especially when considering the overall message of this manga. I loved Akira’s androgynous design, and even Kazuma’s design which felt very appropriate for his personality. He stands out, but not in the same way Akira does, if that makes sense.
Yasuko. Volume 2 Cover Art, 晃くんかもしれないし晃ちゃんかもしれない, Shogakukan.
Any Cons?
The one con for this story is that it was too short. And I don’t just mean that I want more story (which I do) but rather that some of the topics and the progression of the romance are squished into only two volumes, so it feels a bit too fast-paced.
The last chapter especially brings new characters and backstories that felt sudden, although it does fit the main theme of the story.
Final Thoughts
I was pleasantly surprised by this very cute and short series. I love finding little gems like this that just exceed your expectations! I hope that you will enjoy Maybe Akira-kun Maybe Akira-chan as much as I have, and continue to follow RMR for future romance manga recommendations. (＾▽＾)
Disclaimer: Any images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Yasuko. Maybe Akira-kun, Maybe Akira-chan, Betsucomi, Shogakukan, 2020.
