My Androgynous Boyfriend Volume 1 Review

In My Androgynous Boyfriend, the protagonist Wako works hard as an editor in a publishing company before cheerfully going home to her androgynous boyfriend of seven years, Meguru. In this new romantic slice-of-life series from Seven Seas, we explore the daily lives and love between these two adorable protagonists. 

As the title of the manga suggests, Meguru is androgynous. He identifies as male but shares many female traits, leading many to accidentally mistake him for a woman. Meguru works as a model and loves fashion and make-up, which he indulges in to make himself look pretty for Wako. 

For her part, Wako is deeply in love with Meguru and enjoys guiding him in fashion and taking photos of him when he’s particularly cute. Meguru has quite a following of fans on the internet and Wako insists he always looks his best for them, oblivious to the fact Meguru just wants to look his best for her.

Volume 1 of My Androgyous Boyfriend contains 10 chapters and while they’re not episodic, they do feel relatively close to it. Each story revolves around a day in Wako and Meguru’s life – be it Meguru worrying about what to cook for Wako, Wako following a new lead in her job or the two going shopping in the equivalent of Ikea. 

The volume offers a peaceful, heartwarming tale that brings a smile to your face. There is no real drama in the relationship between the characters and the fact it’s an on-going, long term relationship is refreshing. It reminds me of Wotakoi minus the reference-laden comedy of that series.

One of the nice thing about this series is that although its focal point is that Meguru is androgynous, it never mishandles the subject. It’s never treated as being something strange or abnormal, which is so important. Meguru is just who he is and Wako, too, has never thought anything more than ‘Meguru is adorable’. 

His beauty does sometimes make Wako insecure and leaves her wondering if she’s good enough for him, but it’s never overly dramatic. Deep down she knows her fears are unfounded and brushes them away as quickly as they come. I do think that this would be an interesting subject for the series to explore in flashbacks, because perhaps at one time these fears were a bigger thorn in the couple’s side (it would be realistic), but we’ll have to wait and see!

So the story is great, but what about the art I hear you cry? Well, fear not, as mangaka Tamekou has done a splendid job here too. The artwork is attractive and easy on the eyes. Backgrounds are detailed where they need to be, but a lot of panels zoom in on the characters’ faces and expressions instead. 

Perhaps most importantly here I think that Tamekou deserves praise for how well they’ve drawn Meguru. Neither too feminine or masculine, his design sits perfectly in the middle of the two genders. It works nicely in contrast to Wako too, whose design isn’t all that girly but is still a pretty woman in her own right.

As previously mentioned My Androgynous Boyfriend comes to the West thanks to Seven Seas and has been translated by Jocelyne Allen. The translation reads well with no issues to note. The series is on-going in Japan at 2 volumes and Seven Seas currently has Volume 2 scheduled for release in August. 

My Androgynous Boyfriend offers a sweet and compelling read for those looking for a new romance series. The series handles the topic of being androgynous well, while also proving refreshing for its focus on a couple in a long-term relationship.