Hikaru to Hikaru - Vol. 1 Ch. 1 - It's growing~!

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Hmm... Good concept for a gender bender manga but I doubt the manga will last that long. It's still too early to judge this work but if the manga able to pass 20 chapters with no problem I guess the author is cooking something good or it will get an early axe and become just another trash among pile of forgettable trash.
 
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Bro's tuck game needs work apparently.

That said I want to be excited about this but good genderbend/crossdressing stories deal with the protagonist growing and learning about themselves in the process. After all, the subject matter is inherently transgressive. From the 5 girls shown in the "you need these qualities to be a good kunoichi" it feels like it's just gonna focus on whacky harem nonsense instead. Building a good harem requires balance and finesse and at the moment I dunno if it can do that. My guess is that it'll mainly focus on "damn I'm aroused but I'm gonna blow my cover" jokes.

We'll see what happens. I'll keep an open mind for now.
 
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I can feel that Ranma feeling,
  • MC martial artist
  • Easy gender bender trigger
  • A lot of fan services
  • Terrible parents
  • Future wedding
I Love it!!!! Delicious old recipe
Honestly the Ranma feeling seems spot on.

Especially given what I've seen in the raws. I don't think any of the girls shown when the father was talking about what Hikaru must master are girls.
 
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Bro's tuck game needs work apparently.

That said I want to be excited about this but good genderbend/crossdressing stories deal with the protagonist growing and learning about themselves in the process. After all, the subject matter is inherently transgressive. From the 5 girls shown in the "you need these qualities to be a good kunoichi" it feels like it's just gonna focus on whacky harem nonsense instead. Building a good harem requires balance and finesse and at the moment I dunno if it can do that. My guess is that it'll mainly focus on "damn I'm aroused but I'm gonna blow my cover" jokes.

We'll see what happens. I'll keep an open mind for now.
It's rather strange, but unlike most of the other gender-bending works I follow, I genuinely want Hikaru to remain a guy at the end of this series. Sure it's only been one chapter, but for some reason, the stereotypical genderswap tropes and forces pushing our protagonist into remaining a girl actually feels abusive for once, rather than merely mean-spirited or self-reflectory.

Basically, most of the memorable gender-bending protagonists give off impressions of being effectively non-binary, closeted trans girls, or occasionally cis guys that treat their genderswap like cosplay. Yes, there is often some rather mean-spirited gender stereotyping and discrimination in there, but there's still introspection there.

This doesn't feel like what is happening with Hikaru. If anything, Hikaru feels like a trans guy who is stuck in an abusive situation and is routinely forced by his parents and society to present as and act like a woman, despite being a straight trans guy.

I'm actually somewhat curious about how this manga will play out now, because the actual premise of this manga is rather contrary to how it feels the protagonist should progress. I want to see Hiraru either completely fail at (or alternatively succeed beyond reason) at girlmoding their way through this rather toxic ideal woman he has to become.
 
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It's rather strange, but unlike most of the other gender-bending works I follow, I genuinely want Hikaru to remain a guy at the end of this series. [truncated for brevity]

You know, you make a good point.

Tying into that is the fact that when you usually have a series with genderbending, the series will literally or figuratively show that the protagonist enjoys being feminine. While Mahiro from Onimai claims she wants to return to being a guy, her life has improved so much while being a girl that she still wants to stay that way. Mizuki’s whole story in Boku Girl is figuring out her gender issues. Matsuri in Ayakashi Triangle had their life improved by being a girl, as it allowed them to have a social life and relationship with their childhood friend. Even Ranma, who still hates being a girl, found at the end of the series that it has its perks somewhat (plus the whole reason he wanted to be a guy was because of a stupid goal his dad set up to be “the manliest of all men”, and masculinity is not inherently tied to gender).

Point is that at this point of the story, Hikaru is being roped into this against his will. So unless the plot has him go “hey being a girl isn’t all bad”, I agree I want him to just be whatever he wants to be.

That said this is an ecchi series written by the guy who previously wrote “guy has a demon living in his testicles and must not ejaculate” and “guy is being trained by his brother’s girlfriend, who forces him not to ejaculate”, so I don’t expect much.
 

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