Satoru Akahori

Hasumu used to be a boy but got turned into a girl by a space alien (officially), or was a trans girl all along. She has to choose between her two best female friends who are in love with her. (So is her best male friend, but he’s mostly there for comic relief and it’s unfortunately not funny).

One is her athletic childhood friend Tomari, who always protects her. The other is her first love, Yasuna, who’s gentle and artistic, but suffers from a never specified condition where she can’t “see” men. This caused her to turn Hasumu down before the story starts because she thought Hasumu was a guy.

It’s sweet and silly and very nostalgic to reread. I always wanted a polyamorous relationship with the three of them, but if that failed, for Hasumu to end up with Yasuna. In this volume, we do get a developing friendship between Tomari and Yasuna that I enjoyed. The story is very much about figuring feelings out and sharing them. They learn to recognize each other as friends even if they’re competing for the same girl:

Tomari: “Last time, I declared war on you. But this time... It’s an offer of alliance. Together we can’t lose.”

Yasuna: “Exactly” (chapter 18).… (mehr)

It was odd. A boy who's kind of girly (in that he talks to plants?) is hit by a flying saucer. But the aliens manage to keep him alive, by turning him irrevocably into a girl. Then the alien and his spaceship-turned-girl start living with the guy-now-girl, whose parents are totally cool with it.

Then there's also two girls who are interested in him, especially since he's now a girl, and he can't make up his mind. And weirdly one of those girls can't see guys. Like literally cannot see their faces or anything.

IMO, he accepts the switch to girl too readily. Why can't the aliens turn him back into a boy? Why can't, y'know, human doctors turn him back into a boy? Why can't he live as a boy with a girl-sexed body if he wanted to? Though it doesn't seem he particularly wants to.

So I'm not sad I read it; it was interesting enough. But I'm not inclined to seek out more of it, as I'm only marginally interested in which girl (s)he chooses, or if (s)he goes back to being a boy, or if the alien figures out how to have sex. (Because apparently that's why he came to Earth in the first place...)… (mehr)

[This review is for the whole series.]
Kashimashi is a sweet story about true friendship and finding first love, with a detour through coming to terms with gender identity (one's own and that of a friend). Features farcical sci-fi elements as plot catalysts. The love triangle that is formed settles into true polyamory throughout the middle of the story arc, but the protagonist is artificially forced to choose between his/her two loves by the aforementioned SF deus ex machina. This might not bother most, but I found it bittersweet and a tad contrived, though thankfully not preachy.… (mehr)

[This review is for the whole series.]
Kashimashi is a sweet story about true friendship and finding first love, with a detour through coming to terms with gender identity (one's own and that of a friend). Features farcical sci-fi elements as plot catalysts. The love triangle that is formed settles into true polyamory throughout the middle of the story arc, but the protagonist is artificially forced to choose between his/her two loves by the aforementioned SF deus ex machina. This might not bother most, but I found it bittersweet and a tad contrived, though thankfully not preachy.… (mehr)