This was a really interesting read! It’s obviously not meant to be a didactic text on gender in Japan but it’s cool to have a little window into a different world — but not THAT different considering that I also love dessert! A very sweet (no pun intended) story about friendship-or-maybe-more.

I am a huge fan of graphic novels but I have never read Manga before. Not sure if it is that I just don't like the genre or if this one just lacked a lot of plot. I felt like there was not much that happened in this Manga and that much of the conversations were not necessary .

This was absolutely adorable! I loved the idea of the boys being able to cross-dress and not be shamed for it. And they're not acting creepy about it either. They just want to feel and look cute and eat sweets.

Cocoa enjoys cross-dressing to escape from his daily life, Cocoa meet up with some newfound friends in their all-girl monthly meetup group to enjoy the best sweets on offer. However, this meetup goes in a completely unexpected direction, when Opera the girl he likes finds out he’s cross-dressing and shockingly he is too.

This cute, light-hearted manga celebrates self-discovery, friendship and embracing one’s true identity.

Cute story but I did not end up finishing it as I just didn't get really involved in the main characters. Our main character also gets found out right away without any buildup to it. Others may enjoy this one, but it just wasn't for me.

This manga was so adorable! I really loved all the characters! I could totally see this being turned into an anime and I would definitely watch it! If you want to read a cute manga that’s about friendship and acceptance this is right up your alley. Definitely a 5 star for me! Thank you so much NetGalley, Kurano, and Kodansha Comics for this book to review! I will definitely be recommending this to all of my fellow weebs!

It was cute ! I think that it is the first time that I read something about cross-dressing . Especially as a main topic.
It is a first volume in a series so it is still introductive and was introducing every characters.

We are following a group of women that met online in a forum like site for people with an interest in sweets. They meet up once a month to eat tone of sweets and But one of them is not here for the same reasons, Cocoa, is only going because they’re interested in Opera.
Cocoa is actually a female cross-dresser (male dressed as a female) and go to those meeting hiding his identity.

The representation of cross-dressing is really cute in it.
They are not portrayed as gross men wanting to lured people .
They are men that want to feel cute and/or need to feel like a totally different person for a couples of hours.

There is also some hint toward different romantic relationship but so far no more than blushing and confusion .

It also touch some interesting topic such as bisexuality, gender identity, transgender issue and neutral bathroom. Those issues have been brought up and merely talked about and it is good . It was not a long monologue about being trans or bi . It was simple and direct to the point.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this cute, sweet take on gender fluidity and expression! The setup of it being “easier” to show up to an IRL meetup for lovers of sweets as a girl is a perfect gateway to an exploration of both gender expression as well as societal expectations. I also loved the notes at the end explaining some of the word, tone, and pronoun choices, since that’s always a tricky thing to handle in translation. It’s definitely on the lighthearted end of the “manga that addresses LGBTQ issues” spectrum, but it approaches the topics with no less sincerity and heart.

ACKKK— THIS IS SO WHOLESOMEE!! 😍 I was a bit hesitant to pick up this manga because of the title. Crossdressing isn't always portrayed in a good way in media, so I was cautiously optimistic when I started reading it. Thankfully, this manga did not disappoint! 𝘐 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴-𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘙𝘓 𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘱 is about four people who met online because of their shared love for sweets who all decided to meet each other in person. Every character in this manga was so pure and endearing. I absolutely adore all of them, including the side characters!! They are very different personalities but all of them are comfortable in the way they present themselves. I also liked that this manga's exploration of gender identity, gender presentation, and self-expression is both thoughtful and insightful. It delves into the complexities of gender and how it can be fluid and varied. I appreciate this book for challenges stereotypes and promoting acceptance and understanding.💗 Overall, this manga is a delightful and heartwarming read that celebrates individuality and self-acceptance. If you're looking for a lighthearted and fun manga, I definitely recommend checking this out!

[Thank you so much to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for providing an eARC of this manga in exchange for an honest review.]

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC! This was really good and super sweet definitely have to read more as it comes out!

Four girls meet up on-line and decide to get together in real life to try out various sweet shops. They meet once a month and try different shops and different sweet treats. Cocoa has gotten interested in Opera, but she has a problem. Cocoa is actually a cross-dressing guy, but then he finds out that Opera is also cross-dressing. Which brings up the question what about Lemon and Kantentaro? As the story unfolds and the characters' backstories are revealed, their motivation to cross-dress becomes clear and so does their friendship. There is drama and problems, but that is life. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next volumes of this tale!

Thanks Netgalley and Kondansha for the chance to read this manga!

The title was sending me some TERF-y red flags, but very quickly it becomes a delightful journey of exploring and sharing experiences of gender identity exploration, including a spectrum of nuances to genderqueer expressions. The plot has very managa-esque situational humor, and isn't preachy, and actually very cute. I adored how it still managed to create a joyous support group of people who just love sweets and want to be who they are. A really pleasant surprise.

It’s pretty okay. It’s a group of friends who meet up about sweets and happen to be mostly cross dressing men (the last is a trans woman so not the same). The art is cute and the nuance of gender is done fairly well. Anything problematic is mostly done unintentionally and light hearted. It’s very basic but cute. Nothing groundbreaking.

This is a fun queer manga that explores the fluidity of gender expression and identity and how it can be different for different people. Four women come together for a regular meetup to eat sweets, only for it to turn out that three of them are cross dressing (and the fourth is a lesbian trans woman). The plot explores their relationships and some of the realities of their experiences, including how people can make the wrong assumptions about each other even when they have similarities. It does well to explore different identities, not just the two main crossdressing characters, but also the other two characters who are a trans woman and a femboy respectively, and it's interesting to see how this is impacted by Japanese culture and gendered expectations, such as Valentine's Day and White Day. I'll look forward to reading more of this when it is translated.

This was a cute read but it lacked substance. The story centers around four "women" who met each other online and have decided to spend time together once a month, at cafe's or bakeries. They share a love of sweets and also have each kept a secret from one another. Volume one introduces the characters, mostly features their meetup's but doesn't delve very much in each character's personal lives. Perhaps this is something that will be introduced in future volumes.

**ARC Provided by publisher via netgalley**

This is a cute and fun book. Just like the food it depicts, it was sweet and lovely. I loved how this book treats the crossdressing and gender-nonconforming characters. It balances the line well with manga shinanigans and not treating their presentation as a joke. Also, the one trans woman is treated wonderfully. I would love to read more and see where their relationships go. There were also interesting backstories that could be expanded upon in the future. The art was well done though it was a little hard to tell the 4 friends apart in the beginning. I am looking forward to continuing this series if I get a chance.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC read!

This was a super cute story overall. I loved the characters and enjoyed being able to watch them learn more about each other and themselves. The only thing I will say is that I wasn't a fan of how abrupt the beginning starts. Otherwise, it was a great and funny read!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

I LOVED THIS. WHAT EVEN IS GENDER?? (As one of the characters said lol). I think I remembering reading this before??? Or hearing about it??? I'm not sure but it was way more fun than I expected and really, really cute. I loved that they all wanted to meetup and eat sweets and dress in a way that felt natural to themselves (For Opera, Cacoa, and Lemon that is.) I'm excited to read more like this in the future!!

It's a cute cross-dress story with nice art but there are too many plot holes for my liking, especially in the beginning.

[Thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha for an ARC of this manga in exchange for an unbiased review.]

A group of online women with an interest in sweets decide to meet in real life. Except one of them, Cocoa, is only going because they’re interested in Opera. But Cocoa is a male dressing as a female. But so is Opera. But there’s even more to the story than that…

There have been a couple of cross-dressing manga I’ve read over the last little bit, typically involving guys dressing as women, but this one manages to boldly step forward as the best of them that I’ve read by a wide margin.

And you wouldn’t think it from the start, which promises two guys who are portraying themselves as women and misunderstandings ensue. This is the long, tedious, drawn-out pattern that <i>Crossplay Love</i> has been dutifully following.

Well, both these two have their genders revealed (at least to one another, not to their foursome of a group) early on and the question of just what constitutes attraction comes to the fore as they seem to be into each other, but they were women, but Opera is pretty outgoing and… so it goes.

Except there’s more to this than just that and I wouldn’t want to spoil this narrative, but it goes where you think it might (and I was dreading that moment until I saw where it lead)… and then goes farther and farther until everybody in that little group is so interesting and having such a good time that it’s infectious.

And the story will soon be touching on gender neutral bathrooms, bisexuality, transgender issues, and the various reasons why Opera and Cocoa do what they do. It’s entirely more than it appears.

Bundling the first two volumes of this together was a treat because I was engaged fully after a couple chapters and just devoured it. There’s a weird style of presentation here, with both regular chapters and short chapters, that I can’t explain, but works really well for the story.

I especially liked the woman that they keep bumping into in the shorter, omake-style bits. She’s mostly there for comedy relief, but, like everything else in this volume, there are some surprising layers there.

We even get more of a nod to real-life issues with cross-dressing, like shaving concerns, makeup use, being discovered, etc etc. This still has typical manga female designs, but it at least acknowledges these things, which puts it way ahead of most of the others I’ve read.

It’s hard to say that there’s a lot of romance here; everybody is mighty confused and Cocoa is dealing with self-esteem and confidence issues, which are surprising (yet also not) as we learn more about their background.

Everybody here is interesting and I want so much more from literally everybody. Even if it just stayed this friendly it would be an incredibly worthwhile read, but I am hoping for more than a couple of these couples to be a little bit more besides.

The story can get silly, but ultimately treats its characters with respect and big props to the translation for including a thoughtful statement about how they chose the pronouns they used at any given moment. It’s a nice addition.

When I thanked Kodansha and Netgalley at the top, I mean it more than usual. I would have let this pass me buy, I have some busy weeks ahead for manga, and that would have been a mistake. If this sounds at all good, well, I assure you it’s better than that.

4.5 stars - there’s nothing here that screams ‘classic’ so I won’t round it up, but this was so inclusive and wholesome and delightful once it got going that I just loved it. A very pleasant surprise.