Speak for yourself, I fucking hate the "tomboy is actually cute and girly but is to shy to admit it". Its a trope for people who likes handsome women but somehow needs them to also be feminine because they need to be reminded that the handsome person is a female or some shit.
No tomboys irl are actually like that. They are either completely veing honest about their preference in masculine stuff, or completely honest in liking feminine things while still be masculine.
Her "appeal as a girl" is that she is expressing herself the way she wanted to, even if it is not in line with what is considered "girly".
Like, you are basically saying tomboys who are not conventionally girly in any way shouldnt be treated as women, and thats kinds messed up.
My point is that there is zero point in her being a girl if no one acknowledges it, not even the girl herself, or the MC. It is simply labelling her as a romance character with nothing else. Her masculinity is not interesting if they don't acknowledge her as a girl. 'She' is just boyish, her gender doesn't matter. She might as well just be a man, almost zero changes. I'd argue it'd be a lot more enjoyable if she was a man because embarrassed handsome boys is cuter and more interesting. BL can handle gender roles better, as girls can appreciate the appeal of an embarrassed boy. This has failed to appeal to either men or women, it is just romance with zero substance.
I think its fine to create a story where you want a character who wants to approach their identity in their own way and stick to it, but this doesnt concentrate on how she approaches her identity as a girl much, and focuses on her 'cute' romcom with another 'handsome' guy. It's weak in its vision and execution
I should've also mentioned another trope of tomboys is the MC getting embarrassed by his childhood friend because he is aware of her as a girl while she isn't. There are many ways to handle a tomboy character, this does not acknowledge her as a girl or boyish or anything.
Check out nozaki-kun, it features these two side characters, Hori and Kashima, which are exactly this trope and it's done in a much cuter fashion. Kashima is a handsome ikemen who Hori wants to support and bring out her full potential. They have a really interesting relationship of actor and set dresser as kashima wants hori to acknowledge her (platonically(?)). So often, kashima would dress beautifully and femininely, but hori would correct her costume and bring out her handsome-ness. They also form such a strong bond as best friends and hangs out a lot to the point where hori often forgets that kashima is a girl, so when hori remembers and acknowledges her as a girl, the pay-off is massive and adorable to see.
Again, there's zero point to your character being a girl who acts tomboyish, if you don't want gender roles to matter to every character. Then it is just a person who acts a bit manly. There is no depth to this character or the story
