#fukaboku

For our first mange review, we'll be covering Love Me For Who I Am or for short FukaBoku. Despite the cover looking abit questionable, the manga itself is actually very good and wholesome and explores a few lgbt identities. Spoilers ahead.

FukaBoku plot revolves around Mogumo who is nonbinary (amab) was invited by a classmate Tetsu to work at a cafe that features "crossdressers" but had mistaken Mogumo as one. Due to Mogumo insistence on not being considered a crossdresser, many of the workers of the cafe began to rethink what they know about their own gender and sexualities.

My initial read of the manga was quite intrigued as I heard that this manga featured a nonbinary person as the main character so I wanted to check it out to see what it was about. To my shocked it really resonated with me and helped me explore my gender identity. Mogumo's confidence in being who they are was very uplifting as they knew who they were at a young age. Mogumo is treated as the catalyst for many people's identities and figuring out who they are. For example thought out the story the classmate Tetsu who first suggested the cafe to Mogumo ended becoming their boyfriend after he figured out He liked Mogumo regardless of gender and helped him understand his sister's gender identity as a trans woman. another character would be Mogumo's coworker Mei who believed she was a crossdresser but after talking to Mogumo and Tetsu's sister Satori, she realized that she was a trans woman. The story also shows how Mogumo's family reacted to their gender which at first was homophobic and transphobic but near the end of the story they learn to accept and love them which is really great.

For the pros of the manga is the showcasing of many people figuring out themselves and identities. Mogumo is non-binary but presents more feminine, Satori and Mei are trans women, Testu who could be identified as Pansexual, Kotone who is Mogumo's childhood friend came to realization that she is a lesbian. The are also two other coworkers who identify as cis but have their own reasons to crossdress such as Suzumi who is gay who likes crossdressing for his boyfriend and Ten who, while sexuality is not mentioned but likes to crossdress due to liking cute things. all in all it's nice to see so many identities being explored and talked about as there could be a character for someone to attached to and see themselves in, I for one related to Mogumo; as a kid I never really fit into my assigned gender at birth but when he said to Mei that they while necessarily did not identify as a girl despite dressing feminine, they did not want to be labeled as a boy really resonated how I felt as a person.

For the cons, my only complaint would be that the story was to short for the subject matter as it felt fast paced and not enough. Certain things such as the growth of Mogumo and Tetsu relationship could have a few more chapters to see more moments with them as partners would have been great. The other characters could have used a bit more fleshing out such as Satori, Ten, and Suzu who is in a closeted relationship who expressed wishing to be out so I would like to see where that would go.

Overall I really enjoyed this manga and its help toward me in learning my own gender identity and helping me grow as a person because of it. While the series talks about heavy topics such as self-harm, bigotry, and internalized homophobia it still had its wholesome moments and giving people an understanding on how gender and sexuality is binary and very much an individual thing. I fully recommend this manga for those who are questioning their gender and see where they fit and if any of the characters resonate with you. If I were to rate the manga I would give it an 8/10, if only there was more chapters and fleshing out it would have been great.

-Ten chan, Fukaboku