Summary
- Don't judge a book by its cover - love can surprise you in unexpected ways.
- Mistaken identity and cross-dressing add spice to these romantic manga tales.
- Embrace differences and discover the true selves of those around you for genuine connections.
The problem with love is that some people judge books by their covers. They’ll assume one thing or another by someone’s looks and go with it until they get in trouble. Or at least end up having to ask themselves some questions. In which case, Aya in The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All would end up with a rough pop quiz.
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As the title suggests, she’s fallen for someone who isn’t actually a guy. Her classmate, Mitsuki, wears a mask and a baggy hoodie to avoid getting recognized at her record shop job. But this ensemble made Aya think Mitsuki was a guy, and she grew very close to ‘him’ over their shared interest in rock music. To date, Mitsuki is trying not to let Aya know the truth. But there are other manga that follow similar paths.
8 Takane no Hana wa Usotsuki Desu
MyAnimeList Score: 6.66
- Written and Illustrated by Ameno.
- 1 Volume, 6 Chapters.
- Fan Translations only.
Takane no Hana wa Usotsuki Desu is an unlikely romance that’s short and saucy. Like The Guy’s Aya, Meguru is a gyaru who people think has a long and storied love life. But in reality, she’s been unlucky in love for as long as she can remember. Each partner she ends up with seems worse than the last, either cheating on her or just being scumbags in general.
Things take a turn when Meguru saves a prim and proper office lady from a creep. She learns her name is Yukiho, and she befriends her in the hope she can learn to be more strait-laced too. However, Yukiho has a dark side Meguru is unaware of. Given the term 'takane no hana' (mountain peak flower) is also a term for an unattainable goal, and 'Yukiho' is also the name for a snowy mountain bird, things don’t bode well for Meguru.
7 Company and Private Life: On & Off
MyAnimeList Score: 6.94
- Written and Illustrated by Shinnosuka Kanazawa.
- 2+ Volumes, 9+ Chapters.
- Fan Translations only.
If The Guy’s accidental yuri isn’t quite spicy enough, Company and Private Life: On & Off takes a straight couple and twists things a bit. It’s about Akira, a less-than-friendly office lady, and Sōtarō, the most handsome man in her workplace. Neither thought they had much in common with the other until they discovered they’re both very different people outside the workplace.
Off the clock, Akira crossdresses as a masculine-looking punk, while Sōtarō dresses in gothic lolita clothes. Which explains why, before it got serialized, it was published as a web comic bluntly called ‘Brolita and Woman Crossdressing as a Punk’. When the two accidentally discover each other’s secret lives, they gradually form a friendship that becomes something more.
6 Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl
MyAnimeList Score: 7.74
- Written by Mochi Au Lait.
- Illustrated by majoccoid.
- 2 Volumes, 14 Chapters.
- Fan Translations only.
It’s nice when a title can sum its work up with a sentence instead of a paragraph. Like The Guy, Satomi mistakes her classmate Mizuki for a boy due to her more masculine-presenting appearance. Which leads her to ask ‘him’ for help when her friend needs guys for a cross-dressing event. Mizuki agrees to join…if Satomi agrees to go out with her.
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Satomi readily agrees, feeling over the moon that she’d be asked out by such a handsome guy. But will her luck run out when she finds out the truth? Or will it just be different? Instead of going for gay/trans-panic melodrama, the manga plays the trope in a more sympathetic, meet-cute way. It’s an easy-going mistaken identity GL tale that’ll soothe anyone burnt out on its more toxic equivalents.
5 How I Attended an All-Guy’s Mixer
MyAnimeList Score: 7.77
- Written and Illustrated by Nana Aokawa.
- 7+ Volumes, 52+ Chapters.
- Available in English via Comikey and Square-Enix's Manga UP!
When Tokiwa got invited to a mixer by his female classmate Suo, he and his friends Hagi and Asagi thought they’d get to meet other girls. Instead, they end up being greeted by three very handsome men. Hence, the title How I Attended an All-Guy's Mixer. Or so they think. It turns out Suo works at a crossdressing bar, where she and her friends Fuji and Kohaku prove to be convincing guys.
They’re convincing enough to confuse Tokiwa, Hagi, and Asagi when the trio start flirting with them. But once they figure out what’s going on, they expand their horizons instead of getting upset about it. There's more to a person than the clothes they wear, after all. On top of the manga and the live-action TV drama, it’ll also receive an anime adaptation, which will begin broadcasting in October 2024.
4 My Dress-Up Darling
MyAnimeList Score: 8.00
- Written and Illustrated by Shinichi Fukuda.
- 12+ Volumes, 102+ Chapters.
- Available in English via Square-Enix's Manga UP!
The Guy is also a tale of a social butterfly finding love with a social outcast, a trope that’s fairly common in romantic tales. Even if fans narrow it down to a gyaru (basically a Japanese valley girl) and an otaku, they’ll find a few manga that follow its trademarks to the letter. Even so, some might have a few unique features, like My Dress-Up Darling.
It’s about Wakana, a guy who likes to design outfits for hina dolls, which he keeps a secret after his childhood friend bullied him over it. He expects the same treatment when Marin, the archetypical gyaru, finds out about it. Instead, she encourages him to expand his skills by designing outfits for her, and gradually helps him out of his shell by introducing him to the cosplay community. For all its fanservice, it’s got a sweet center.
3 Whisper Me a Love Song
MyAnimeList Score: 8.25
- Written and Illustrated by Eku Takeshima.
- 9+ Volumes, 48+ Chapters.
- Available in English via Kodansha USA.
Blurring gender lines isn’t the only way a manga can resemble The Guy. Whisper Me a Love Song sees its leads bond over a different kind of mistake, which also involves music. Only instead of listening to records, Yori keeps things live as she’s the lead vocalist and guitarist for the SSGIRLS, a rock band who performed for her school’s freshers’ welcoming party.
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It impressed new student Himari so much that, the next day, she confessed her love for Yori’s music. Except Yori, not versed in love, mistook it for a romantic confession. By the time she realizes her mistake, she’s fallen for Himari too. The two still hang out as friends, though Yori hopes Himari can reciprocate her feelings, unaware she’s got her own admirer on the sidelines too.
2 Horimiya
MyAnimeList Score: 8.42
- Written by HERO.
- Illustrated by Daisuke Hagiwara.
- 17 Volumes, 139 Chapters.
- Available in English via Yen Press.
Horimiya’s couple aren’t a yuri pairing, but like The Guy, its story is about its leads being completely different characters outside polite society. In school, Kyōko Hori seems like the typical, outgoing, popular girl, and Izumi Miyamura is a gloomy nerd. At home, Kyōko is a quieter, more withdrawn figure who's more interested in looking after her younger brother Sōta than going out and partying.
When Sōta gets hurt coming back from school, he’s led back home by a punk covered in tattoos and piercings, who turns out to be Miyamura. Despite his nerdy looks, he’s more of a delinquent with a heart of gold outside school. The two agree to keep each other’s true selves a secret, but it causes them to grow closer, which seems inexplicable to their unaware classmates. Their secrets might not stay secret for long.
1 Given
MyAnimeList Score: 8.53
- Written and Illustrated by Natsuki Kizu.
- 9 Volumes, 58 Chapters.
- Available in English via Viz Media.
If readers like The Guy’s musical aspects, but prefer BL to GL, chances are they’ve already checked out Given. If they haven’t, it’s well overdue as it’s one of the most popular BL stories around, receiving an anime and live-action TV adaptation, alongside two movies, a stage play, and audio drama CDs. Its decade-long run has gone through three acts as the members of the titular rock band tackle the pitfalls of romance.
The first act sees guitarist Ritsuka bringing in Mafuyu, a talented singer but one still grieving the death of his boyfriend Yuki. The second act focuses on bassist Haruki and his feelings for drummer Akihito, who’s already in a relationship, causing tension within the group. Then it finishes off by following Mafuyu’s friend and old bandmate, Hiiragi, who has some unresolved feelings for his old friend.
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