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it's controversial because it's different, and that's what makes it GOOD

by bakemeat
2 years ago

Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

I picked this up because it had the "controversial" tag here yet wasn't loli, shota, rape, or senseless violence... After looking at some spoiler tags, I realized this sounded AWESOME. It sounded like the reasons it pissed everyone off were all things I'd LOVE. And, uh... I did.

This isn't the perfect manga. As a romance, it's not impressive. But as a comedy, I found it hysterical, and it kept me hooked from beginning to end just to see what madness would implode next. I adore the femc -- the girl in the boy's body -- because she's so goddamn DIFFERENT from shoujo protagonists (and, heck, shounen deuteragonists, josei protagonists...) that I'm used to. She's repulsive, unhygienic, rude, selfish, cruel... she's horrible, it's great.

I think there's definitely a trans narrative hidden in here that someone could dig out with the right credentials. Two people that find themselves more and more comfortable in the body of the opposite sex? This was not written to be a trans story, but I think it has something going for it. MC's struggles with his double-internalized homophobia also aren't as ridiculous as you'd expect from a gag manga.

What's interesting is that most gender benders have the wacky hijinks ensue from characters having to Act Like The Opposite Gender, which is silly and weird, because girls aren't used to misbehaving like boys! (etc), but in this one... they already were. Femc was already brash, violent, and dirty; MC was already dainty, quiet, and kind. Femc, given the body of a man, was able to flourish -- she found herself loving girls, goofing off, flirting, working out, doing whatever she wanted. MC, however, was straddled with the terror of being A Girl: periods, men making unwanted advances, societal expectations, men making unwanted advances, the conflicting desire to respect the body of the girl he loved and also to explore it given the opportunity, men...

Of course, this implies the concept that girls can't be gross and boys can't be delicate, but as a product of its time and place, I think it's amusing in its own right. It's a comedy, not a thesis.

My one gripe with the manga (putting aside the romance, which, in Senbongi's case, gets really creepy) is how it playfully toys with gender roles while also remaining remarkably (sigh) heteronormative. Femc does not, under any circumstances, want to return to her normal body, because she now has a girlfriend that she loves and fears losing. Despite a few poignant dokis around her female body, her girlfriend also isn't too into the idea of dating a girl (even though she literally is). Senbongi supposedly loves his best friend, but only if he has Girl Holes. It's really weird. I guess it's a straight people thing. Love doesn't overcome gender boundaries in this story about zany gender antics. Don't go in expecting BLGL or heartwarming romance. Love is very conditional for these people. It reminded me a bit of Ayakashi Triangle, the way the casts approach this "we're the same gender therefore No" dichotomy of, uh, "love". These manga would have gone entirely differently if the authors believed in lesbians.

One thing I think a lot of reviews fail to consider is that yes, the main romance doesn't work out, and that's a... good thing? MC would have been miserable with femc. She literally only had eyes for her girlfriend and didn't give a flying FUCK how he felt. If the manga rushed and contorted around enough to make that happen, it'd feel even more cheating than what people are mad about. Like... did you expect femc to just change her entire personality and disposition and fall in love with a dude after she's shown so much interest in women? MC also became more and more painfully aware of how much she didn't like him no matter what he did, so flipping that around and having them suddenly hook up would just be bizarre. It'd be a disservice to the characters she spent so long creating at that point.

The gags? They're fun. The art? It's nice. And some weirdos aside, the characters are endearing -- at least if you, like me, enjoy obnoxious assholes. I dunno, I feel like this is only controversial because people went in expecting the same shit they get from every shoujo manga ever and instead got something subversive.

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Don't bother

by Kachaoka
6 years ago

Rating: N/A

No character progression at all. By any means I don't get it if it's a satire since the comedy is so far repetitive and boring. If you don't like it after a two volumes or so, go check the ending and just don't bother again with this trash.

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Really?

by mlat26
8 years ago

Rating: 5.0 / 10.0

Everyone in this manga is selfish and annoying. The only decent people are Uehara and Shiina. The ending really sucked -_- If you really love someone you wont care about the exterior. I feel like I wasted my time readint this.

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SPOILER!!

by TheChickenLover
8 years ago

Rating: N/A

I guess i'm the only who is happy the mc's DON'T end up together? like the female(in the boy's body) is irritating, annoying, absolutely Rude and i couldn't stand her at all. I was so irritated with her that if she endedup with the male(in girl's body) i would hate it more, just sayin'

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Refreshingly unique

by MaZzAx
9 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

What I love about this manga is that it's not afraid to step outside the normal boundaries. Most gender benders avoid the whole 'guy switches into a guy's body and falls for a guy' (and visa-versa) because there's a boy's/girl's love undertone to it. But this one doesn't, and it's a scenario I've been itching to read. There are plenty of other manga you can go to for a normal gender bender story, so it's great to find one as brave as this one.

The characters are all loveable, particularly Akira (in Momoi's body) and Senbongi - you really root for them and hope that nobody gets switched back because it's clear from the start that Akira and Momoi made the switch for the better (even though it wasn't intentional to begin with).
The art isn't too bad, and the story's quite funny in places, though if I were to list one grumble it would be the slightly disgusting side characters, like the grandpa and the teacher with a gross infatuation for Momoi.

With regards to the ending and don't read on if you don't want to know anything, I liked it and I didn't. It isn't the sort of ending that would make me say 'Don't read it you'll be disappointed,' because it's a happily ever after deal, but I could have done with a bit more assurance that everything worked out. I'm just glad the mangaka didn't make it so all the romances died and Momoi and Akira went back to normal for good.

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I'll be generous

by ::WonderWoman::
9 years ago

Rating: N/A

This sure was a pain in the ass to finish but I did enjoy the begining so I won't give it anything lower than a 6. Still though, wow did it turn sour quickly... the mc and the female lead

don't even get together.

He got together with another guy and somehow turned gay? I can't even...

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absolute garbage

by asd12-
10 years ago

Rating: 1.0 / 10.0

I made an account specifically to rant about this manga, it's that infuriating.

I had been following this series for years, since before it finished, and I used to like it. I'm also not anti-shoujo if it's done right. I read all kinds of genres, romance included. Your and My Secret/My Barbaric Girlfriend (whatever it's called) starts off strong, with a good premise and intriguing characters. However, around volume 5 and escalating to a head at the end (volume 8) this series starts to get progressively worse.

Ending spoilers below! You shouldn't care because this manga has the worst ending of all time, but read on at your own risk.

What makes this manga so bad? It's simple,

the guy and the girl don't even get together!!!! I'm not even joking, the main girl of the entire series just says "lolnope" and stays with her secondary love interest. And to make things worse, she insists on making the MC body swap back because she selfishly wants his body and doesn't think her girlfriend would be ok dating her if she was a girl. Seriously! I couldn't fucking believe it, it ruined the entire story up to that point.

Also btw, the MC and the "barbaric girlfriend" protagonist referenced in the title/covers don't even date. So even the title of the manga is a straight up lie.

Endings are incredibly important, and this manga botches it in the worst way possible. None of the characters show any growth over the course of the series either. Which is particularly egregious because the Main Girl is a complete and total bitch at the beginning. She's not even tsundere, she's just straight up a bitch! And she's supposed to be a protagonist! She doesn't stop being a bitch, she doesn't learn how to appreciate the people around her (her family and friends), she doesn't change at all.

It's absurd. I've abandoned manga before that were too cliche/standard/boring or even bad. But "Your and My Secret"/"My Barbaric Girlfriend" is now the worst rated manga that I've actually finished (out of 4-500 series). The absolute worst. I would give it a 0 if I could. Actually, negative would be more appropriate. I've never been so mad at an author's ending, and I've read some pretty shit endings before. This one is particularly bad because it was being built towards for several volumes. I thought it was just the author ramping up the drama before she/he resolved everything in an epic climax/change of heart. NOPE! Just a big middle finger to every reader that was invested in this story.

Ug, I'm getting angry all over again just thinking about it. Screw this manga. 0/10 do not read under any circumstance.

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...

by CurryOnigiri
11 years ago

Rating: N/A

It's an all right manga, but gets less fun as you get older. I know some people here have said it's not a manga that should be taken seriously, but it's exactly these kind of materials that continue to perpetuate certain stereotypes and standards of the masculine and feminine role.

Like someone here said, this society is dominated by heteronormativity. Read it if you can stomach its message that sex defines gender (or vice-versa) and sexual orientation, otherwise I would say pass.

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Enough for some light laughs

by MangaGhost
11 years ago

Rating: 7.5 / 10.0

I found it to be reasonably funny, and the art was ok at times. I actually prefer the title My Barbaric Girlfriend, which I find funny to Your and my Secret. However, story wise it starts to feel stretched out and a little predictable. The story starts to pick up some momentum heading towards its conclusion, but then seems to end abruptly and open ended which left me feeling frustrated and a little robbed. It was weird almost like the story got axed or something. It wasn't till much later that I learned that there was a volume of extras that completes the story after volume 8 showing the characters in the future. Originally they were published online and then didn't get a tankōbon release till 2013 almost 2 years after the main story finished. Those last 7 extras were never released in NA, even JManga only carried the 8 original volumes and I've never seen the extras scanlated anywhere. So I guess there is more to the end of the story, but I will probably never see it.

Overall, the story is ok and the comedy is funny enough. If you are not too picky it may give you some light amusement. I don't think its a 10 (certainly not with how it ended), but its enough for some laughs so about a 7.5 for me.

... Last updated 11 years ago

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Ignored for a long time...read it and it was painful.

by monixchi
11 years ago

Rating: N/A

I've been seeing this manga pop up since the day I started reading manga (and it was 5 years ago). I ignored it plenty of times since I wasn't into Gender Bender at that time. But now I get to like Gender Bender genre these days, I thought I'd try this.

Now I got to say, IMHO, it was really painful to read around volume 5/6 all the way up to how it ended. It started really interesting but, seriously, the ending was just painful.

I apologize but I'm also one of those who found this manga ridiculous. It had potential but it just went shallow and shallower.

I know it isn't to supposed to be taken seriously as it's a Shoujo (A comedy one, on top of that) and in ain't really applicable in real life...but yeah, I can't here. I've tried putting myself in their shoes a few times but it just felt really saddening and painful. The comedy was good at first but it wasn't really funny anymore later.

I'm a fan of unconditional love so it was just really painful for me to see these characters have to switch body in order to be happy. I mean, come on. Regardless of gender, love is love. BUT NO; NOT HERE. And that what pains me.

If some people enjoy well that's good. To each of our own, I guess.

... Last updated 11 years ago

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