Mateo, Alex (2022-12-23). "North American Anime, Manga Releases, November 20-26". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2022-12-17 . Retrieved 2022-12-17. Nothing about this premise could survive outside of a manga - these two are fooling one another and basically nobody else. I do like the way that the story takes pains to explain how Shuumei knows how to do Mei’s makeup so well though, but they’d have discovered one another’s identities five times over. Mateo, Alex (2021-12-08). "Seven Seas Licenses 7th Time Loop, Crossplay Love, SHWD Manga". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2021-12-09 . Retrieved 2021-12-08.

Les nouveautés de septembre en manga chez Piccoma". Manga-News.com (in French). 2022-09-18. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22 . Retrieved 2022-12-22. Right now, it's really enjoyable. There's no real explanation (yet?) of why Hanae chose to take a job crossdressing in a cafe, or if any of his coworkers know. His boss is a man, and the rest of his coworkers seem to be cis girls, so it's not a themed cafe in that way. Since he doesn't change at work, it seems like he might be keeping it a secret from everyone - but I'd think his boss would have to know his birth name etc for employment purposes. (This came up in Boys Run the Riot, Vol. 1, where the main character was trans and had struggled to find a workplace that'd accept him as a guy.) Crossplay Love: Otaku x Punk, known in Japan as Josou-shite Mendokusai Koto ni Natteru Nekura to Yankee no Ryou Kataomoi [a] and abbreviated Nekuyan, [b] is a Japanese romantic comedy manga series written and drawn by Toru, originally released independently since April 18, 2018, and published by Mag Garden on MAGXIV since September 10, 2018. The series is also published in collected tankōbon volumes, which are released in English by Seven Seas Entertainment since September 2022. You can generally expect each situation for one character to have a parallel shortly afterwards, so both girls admit that they absolutely hate the type of person who their crush appears to be in the real world in separate chapters. One meets the other while the other isn’t in crossplay, that sort of thing. I’m pretty open about the fact that BL is not really my genre, so I will also be pretty open and say that having the two guys crossplaying as cute girls is probably the most effective silver bullet that could ever be used to have me exploring the genre again.Bonus #3: Udon and his Merry Men" ( 描き下ろし③ うどんと愉快な仲間たち, Kakioroshi 3: Udon to Yukai na Nakama-tachi ) This is less true for Shuumei, whose personality, mannerisms, and basic looks remain the same when he's dressed up as Mei. He's actually so similar in both roles that a feverish Hana(e) even recognizes his voice and hands when he's not in his makeup and wig. I like this, because it means that Hanae is falling in love with a personality that's not going to be much different once he finds out who Mei actually is. He might hate Shuumei the delinquent right now, but he admires similar things in Mei: the blunt and somewhat crass language, the strength, the protective tendency towards violence... Anziehend anders ist leichte Kost und kommt gerade Recht, wenn man einfach nur etwas entspanntes lesen möchte. The side characters are surprisingly strong, it’s an all male main cast, but everybody is full of secrets or a little more layered than you’d expect. Except that one guy they introduce at the end, who I didn’t especially like, but on the balance this is a good group.

Crossplay Love: Otaku x Punk Vol. 7". Edelweiss+. Above the Treeline. Archived from the original on 2023-03-31 . Retrieved 2023-04-01. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. 2020-05-09. Archived from the original on 2021-05-20 . Retrieved 2021-05-21. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. 2019-02-10. Archived from the original on 2021-05-21 . Retrieved 2021-05-21. Höpfler, Melanie (2021-11-07). "Kazé Manga stellt weitere Lizenzen für das Frühjahr 2022 vor"[Kazé Manga announces more licenses for spring 2022]. Crunchyroll (in German). Sony. Archived from the original on 2022-10-17 . Retrieved 2022-10-17.

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Another complication is that while Shuumei's Mei is mostly a feminine and somewhat softer version of himself, Hana presents a very different personality than Hanae. This book knows how to weaponize its silly premise for all it’s worth. Hana and Mei, aka Hanae and Shuumei, keep their sparks flying, but it’s not without complication after complication because of just about everything, including their preconceptions of one another’s male selves. Does cosplay and/or crossdressing permit people to express themselves as they would not otherwise be able? Absolutely. But where among this means of self-expression are the limits of willful articulation (desire) and the boundaries of experiential wonder (need)? CROSSPLAY LOVE: OTAKU x PUNK v1 is shallowly written and focuses closely on these two characters' dynamic, with a passing glance to their best-friend circles and their bland school lives. But bubbling beneath the surface is an intriguing slice of contemporary discourse on the application of (gendered) costuming to express or receive genuine affection. Yuuma Hanae, [c] a gloomy student, works at the Taishō era-themed maid café Roman as a waitress, where he as part of his job cross-dresses in a kimono-inspired dress and goes by the feminine name Hana. [d] Shuumei Satogiri, [e] a delinquent at the same school, mistakes Yuuma for a woman and falls in love with him, but is afraid of approaching him, so he disguises himself as a woman, and becomes a regular at Roman as his female alter ego Mei. [f] [1] [3]

Mateo, Alex (2023-05-02). "North American Anime, Manga Releases, April 30-May 6". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2023-05-13 . Retrieved 2023-05-24. Mateo, Alex (2023-11-01). "North American Anime, Manga Releases, October 29-November 4". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2023-11-04 . Retrieved 2023-11-01. What follows is a comedy of errors and "will they or won't they find out?" as the boys run into each other in different combinations of both personas, and as their very different friends become involved, too, taking things into Shakespearian-comedy territory. Ridiculous, cute fun, that falls apart if you think about it too much but it's not like the series is trying to be a hard-hitting documentary. It mostly plays as comedy. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. 2022-02-09. Archived from the original on 2022-02-09 . Retrieved 2022-02-09.

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Both Hanae and Satogiri also fall in love quite easily. When Satogiri spots Hanae (as "Hana") tending tables at a maid café, the delinquent (as "Mei") pursues the otaku via the not-so-subtle pretenses of workplace patronage. It's up in the air as to how soon these two idiots will actually realize the other person stresses over how the other thinks and feels, but that's part of the gag. Importantly, in CROSSPLAY LOVE: OTAKU x PUNK v1, crossdressing isn't the joke; crossdressing is the vehicle through which all of the manga's humor and social commentary traverse. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. 2023-02-09. Archived from the original on 2023-02-11 . Retrieved 2023-02-12. a b c d "女装して谷上 弓弦事になってるネクラとヤンキーの両片想い". Mangapedia (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on 2021-01-25 . Retrieved 2021-05-21. In the bonus chapters, we find out that Hanae - who goes to cosplay events as himself, rather than as his alter ego Hana - really loves the art of crossdressing, or just of cosplay in general. There's a famous male cosplayer he adores, who does both male and female cosplay, and has huge numbers of equally adoring fans. Nonetheless, it’s silly fun and really kind of charming. Hanae’s initial narration is pretty savage and I thought we were in for some serious judgemental manga, but it’s thankfully just a reflection on his self-loathing and poor esteem. There’s basically zero hesitation on Shuumei’s part to shed his punk aesthetic and dress like a girl if it gets him closer to Hana.