I’m constantly impressed by the range of anime and manga stories and art work produced by our neighbors from the Western Pacific. Also by the sameness of scenes and gimmicks which seem to get “borrowed” from one another more often than not. TG themes run the gamut from reluctant crossdressers to forced feminization and characters who are seriously moving into transition. There are also lots of ideas that might suggest new directions for you TG authors, and perhaps even loosen up a writers’ block or two.

MY BARBARIC GIRL FRIEND: This is a scanlated manga on the MANGA FOX site (information obtained originally from the Forum Column on the TG COMICS site). The theme in this one is body swap. A hell raising high school girl is followed home by a love sick boy. On coming to the door the boy hears the girl scream and rushes to the rescue. He finds her tangled in an evil-looking contraption presided over by her dingbat scientist grandfather. Some how the boy gets caught up in the machinery and the switch takes place. In the process the machinery is wrecked and grandpa is unable to rectify the error.

To the boy’s horror he is now forced to live as the girl, but since he is not as reckless in personality as the former girl he appears “girlie” now to her friends while his old body becomes more “manly” in behavior. The story twists and turns as the boy realizes that he may well have to go on living as girl, struggles with boy relationships etc. One of the tiresome TG manga gimmicks used in the plot is a version of Romeo and Juliet though with its own twist. The art work is good and so is the dialog. Nothing serious in this one but it’s well done and fun to read.

Also on the MANGA FOX site are two other TG manga: RETURN and ICHINENSEI NI NACCHATTARA (what a mouthful) which I have not finished reading. Both employ the common gimmick in which a school boy rescues a girl from being hit by a bus or car and gets killed himself. To the boys’ horror they find themselves resurrected in the bodies of girls. So far these two manga aren’t as interesting as Barbaric Girl Friend but may turn out to be more so when I’m done.

PENGUIN REVOLUTION (by Sakura Tsukuba): The seventh and final volume of this series has just come on the market. The story centers around a young woman who gets a job as the manager of a young, rising film actor. She has the uncanny ability to tell whether or not someone has star quality because she sees wings on their shoulders. The word “penguin” refers to the entry level of actor within the talent agency.

The young actor is required to attend school dressed as a girl and must pass as a girl or get fired. In turn when the woman gets the job she must dress and pass as a boy. Eventually the boy becomes a talented film “actress.” There are no gender changes in this one, strictly cross dressing for the sake of career development. Over time a love relationship evolves between the boy and girl and the story conveys a limited idea of the dog-eat-dog atmosphere of the Japanese film industry. Once again nothing serious in this one but a good read and enjoyable art work. I bought the hard copy mangas so don’t know if it’s being shown on any of the websites.

GACHA GACHA: The Next Revolution (by Hiroyuki Tamakoshi): The seventh and final volume of this well-known series was recently released. The story revolves around a rather dull and otherwise untalented high school boy, Akira, who falls in love with a high school beauty, Sakuraba. She seems impossibly out of reach for the likes of him and he despairs. One day he gets into a game machine which covers his whole body. The machine shorts out and Akira is knocked unconscious.

On awakening he finds that when he sneezes he turns into a cute blond girl. Realizing that as the female Akira he can get closer to Sakuraba then he ever could as a boy he plots his conquest. The story fluctuates back and forth as Akira changes each time and the adventures go round and round. Lots of panty art work in this one for crotch watchers. The front covers even bear the warning “Mature Content,” though no actual sex scenes are shown. The drawings are strong and very professional. Nothing serious here either, just lots of hijinks.I'm sure it's shown on the websites.