With time, Mori-kun started to get used to Yamori-kun’s new uniform. But this just brought out his protective instincts.
First-year high schooler Mori doesn’t have any friends – except for Yamori. So when Mori vows to change his look over summer break, Yamori says he’ll do the same. School starts once more, Mori shows up and everyone (especially the girls) is impressed by his new appearance; who knew he could [look] so cool? Then Yamori appears – in a skirt. He’s grown his hair and has begun to act in a strangely flirtatious way. What’s stranger still is that everyone in class accepts the new Yamori without any real fuss. Except Mori who is perturbed by this unexpected side of his new friend.
Mori’s new cool look leads to him receiving his first ever love confession from a girl. Will he go out with her? To his surprise, his honest answer is not what he would have expected. Meanwhile, Yamori-kun is turning heads too – but not always in a good way. His tendency to feel hot (flushed face, opening his shirt a little in a suggestive manner) gives the wrong impression time and time again. So when a stranger approaches him one evening as he waits for Mori, sits next to him and asks for his number, he’s very uncomfortable indeed. When Mori appears, Yamori hurries over and, flinging his arms round him, shouts out, “Bro, I have a boyfriend. Sorry ‘bout that!” and the stranger retreats. While Mori is recovering from this unexpected declaration as they walk back to Yamori’s home, Yamori apologizes with a grin and then, as a parting shot, says, “But… I was just thinking how nice it could’ve been if you were my boyfriend” before skipping away up the steps, calling back, “We’re back to normal friends tomorrow!” leading to ‘a sleepless night for Mori’. What’s really going on between the two?
Gender confusion and cross-dressing have been around in manga for a long while now, so what does Don’t Confuse Me, Yamori-kun,Shina Inoguchi’s first manga series, bring that’s new to the table? First impressions are that it’s really rather charming – and the suggestive image of Yamori in zombie nurse costume that’s been used to promote the title is a little deceptive. That scene comes from the school Cultural Festival <a href="https://comicvibe.com/one-piece-chapter-1193-spoilers-manga-plot-leaks/” title=”One Piece Chapter 1193 Spoilers & Manga Plot Leaks”>chapters where Yamori steps into the breach when classmate Sumaru-san fails to turn up for the class Haunted House (she overslept… again…). But Yamori obviously enjoys the role of zombie nurse and gives it his all.
Yamori often feels hot (he doesn’t have a summer uniform) and is often depicted with flushed cheeks complaining, “HOTTTTT” yet radiating a rather more suggestive aura than maybe he intends to? The schtick here is that Yamori in girl’s clothes brings out Mori’s ‘protective instincts’ so that he has to walk Yamori home as if he were a girl and fend off unwanted attention, including from the upperclassmen. But we don’t as yet have any real understanding as to why Yamori-kun has decided he’d like to dress as a girl and the overall tone is light-hearted. Or why Mori feels so protective towards him…
Shina Inoguchi has a distinctive and attractive art style; her chibi versions are cute too – but this first volume is quite short at 160 pages and it feels like early days. Yamori-kun alternates between being naively unaware of the effect his outward appearance has on other people, some of them far from trustworthy (which means that Mori feels he must come to the rescue) – and sometimes just mischievously delighting in deliberately provocative behaviour. Then cover art is interesting too as it seems like something of a homage to the iconic and much imitated original covers of Syundei’sGo for it, Nakamura-kun! The introduction of Sumaru-san, the stand-offish female classmate, is an interesting and promising addition to the cast as in spite of her cynical/disaffected attitude, there are suggestions that she’d really like to be friends with Mori and Yamori.
Translation for Yen Press is by Leighann Harvey with lettering by Katie Blakeslee and their expert work makes this a great read. There’s a page of helpful translation notes, a two-page preview of Volume 2 (no date yet) and a four-page bonus chapter; the series is ongoing in Japan and is up to Volume 4.
Don’t Confuse Me, Yamori-kuncleverly manages to be more than just yet another cheeky ‘oo-er missus’ story about a boy who enjoys dressing as a girl and his confused friend. The humour is cheeky in places but the mangaka also manages to convey some genuine feelings bubbling under which make it ring true. A series to watch…
Read a free preview at the publisher’s website here.
Our review copy was supplied by Yen Press.
Sarah
Sarah’s been writing about her love of manga and anime since Whenever – and first started watching
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