Otomen Vol. 12by Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 8 Asuka's mom finds out about his cooking class and his dad's identity is revealed! There's also an extra little story at the end about the school's resident otomen poet.Asuka's mom is so hypocritical; it makes me quite mad! She has no problem dressing in drag to make sure her son is not doing un-manly things! She's not feminine at all. She's domineering and masculine in her demeanor. And as far as I can tell, Asuka's father didn't run off to become a woman since we find out for sure in this volume who he is, and he still seems to be a man. That just makes me think Asuka's mother is even crazier than I already thought. This woman is completely nutso … and controlling. She seemed to love Asuka's father and enjoy his yummy sweets, until one day when she snapped; he didn't betray her; she just lost her mind. Now she has a strange and condemning filter on how she sees the world, and I really can't find anything about her to like, and I certainly don't pity her despite the forced guilt that Asuka and his dad both shoulder. She's the perfect villain for this story. Thankfully, Asuka and his dad are able to bond through their love of the "un-manly" act of cooking and baking sweets. The part that makes this reunion that much better is that the reveal happens because of an otomen yakuza (or at least he's an otomen father of a yakuza). The yakuza son has to open up to his own "sweet" side in order to accomplish his goal, and it's just perfect. I love the memories it brings out of Asuka as a child helping his dad in the kitchen. Of course, these are accompanied by memories of his mom bashing his dad because "he was like a woman." They could probably tone down the angst a little (i.e. tone down his mother) and the story would still be a great read. Overall, I still love the story; each volume is entertaining and really works the angsty plot well. The eyes make this art unique, and certainly fans of series like Bleach will enjoy that aspect. It's a fun twist on "girly" manga. Written: March 4, 2012
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