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Senpai Is an Otokonoko (Japanese: 先輩はおとこのこ, Hepburn: Senpai wa Otokonoko, "My Upperclassman Is an Otokonoko"), also known as This Is Him or Senpai Is an Otokonoko: My Crossdressing Classmate, is a Japanese romance manga series written and illustrated by Pom. It was serialized digitally through Line Manga from 2019 to 2021 as a weekly series, and is collected in tankōbon print volumes by Ichijinsha since 2021. The story follows a love triangle involving Makoto Hanaoka, a cross-dresser; Saki Aoi, a bisexual younger student; and Ryuji Taiga, a childhood friend of Makoto's. Senpai Is an Otokonoko received an official English translation by Webtoon beginning on March 9, 2023. An anime television series adaptation produced by Project No.9 aired from July to September 2024 on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. An anime film titled Eiga Senpai wa Otokonoko: Ame Nochi Hare is set to premiere in February 2025.
| Senpai Is an Otokonoko | |
 First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Makoto Hanaoka | |
| 先輩はおとこのこ (Senpai wa Otokonoko) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Pom |
| Published by |
|
| English publisher |
|
| Original run | December 7, 2019 – December 30, 2021 |
| Volumes | 10 |
| Manga | |
| Senpai Is an Otokonoko: The Encounter | |
| Written by | Pom |
| Published by | Line Corporation |
| Original run | December 21, 2023 – present |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Shinsuke Yanagi |
| Written by | Yoriko Tomita |
| Music by | Yukari Hashimoto |
| Studio | Project No.9 |
| Licensed by | Crunchyroll (streaming) |
| Original network | Fuji TV (Noitamina) |
| Original run | July 5, 2024 – September 27, 2024 |
| Episodes | 12 |
| Anime film | |
| Eiga Senpai wa Otokonoko: Ame Nochi Hare | |
| Directed by | Shinsuke Yanagi |
| Written by | Yoriko Tomita |
| Music by | Yukari Hashimoto |
| Studio | Project No.9 |
| Released | February 14, 2025 |
Pom created the series with themes such as love regardless of gender, and originally came up with the concept based on how she had difficulties in drawing male characters. The series was popular with readers and well received by critics for its writing and characters, becoming the third-place web manga winner of the 2021 Next Manga Award and the third most read Line Manga series of 2021.
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Senpai Is an Otokonoko is a romance manga[1] following Makoto Hanaoka, a young man who dresses like a woman despite his mother's disapproval.[3] Saki Aoi, a girl attending the same high school as Makoto, falls in love with him under the belief that he is a woman, and only learns the truth after confessing her feelings for him and getting rejected.[4] She is bisexual and does not mind what his gender is, and still wishes to become his first love,[2][5] but he still does not reciprocate her feelings at all, and worries that she will be seen as odd by associating with a cross-dresser.[6] Ryuji Taiga, a childhood friend of Makoto's, is initially unsure about being with another man, but a love triangle involving the three forms as he warms up to it.[3]
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- Makoto Hanaoka (花岡 まこと, Hanaoka Makoto)
- Voiced by: Shūichirō Umeda[7]
- Makoto is a second-year student who is a crossdresser. He is often judged by many around him for his choice to dress up as a woman but still chooses to wear them anyway. He keeps it a secret from his mother. Initially, he does not like the idea of falling in love, and constantly pushes Aoi away, but as the story progresses, his views on love begin to change.
- Saki Aoi (蒼井 咲, Aoi Saki)
- Voiced by: Akira Sekine[7]
- Saki is a first-year student who falls in love with Makoto at first sight. She is considered to be bisexual, as she does not care about Makoto's gender and loves him for who he is. She is bright and energetic. Though Makoto does not reciprocate her feelings whatsoever, he eventually warms up to her and appreciates her being close with him.
- Ryuji Taiga (大我 竜二, Taiga Ryūji)
- Voiced by: Yuma Uchida[7]
- Ryuji is a second-year student who is Makoto's childhood best friend since kindergarten. He is secretly gay, as he has been in love with Makoto since they were young. Alongside Aoi, Ryuji is one of the few people who is able to accept Makoto for who he is and the choices he makes to become a crossdresser. Saki affectionally calls him 'Master'.
- Mika Hanaoka (花岡 美香, Hanaoka Mika)
- Voiced by: Mai Nakahara[8]
- Mika is Makoto's mother who strongly detests Makoto's interest in feminine qualities. She wants her son to be strong and manly, not to be girlish. Makoto keeps it a secret from her to further prevent her from causing anguish against him. The root cause of her distaste in feminine items stems from seeing her father as a crossdresser. She distances herself from her father and wishes for her son to never follow his footsteps.
- Konatsu Taiga (大我 小夏, Taiga Konatsu)
- Voiced by: Kaori Maeda[8]
- Ryuji's little sister.
- Masako Aoi (蒼井 雅子, Aoi Masako)
- Voiced by: Ai Satō[9]
- Saki's grandmother who is wary of Chihiro, Aoi's mother.
- Kaede Hanekawa (羽川 楓, Hanekawa Kaede)
- Voiced by: Azusa Aoi[9]
- Makoto's classmate who asked him out to a dance in the school prom. Like Aoi and Ryuji, she doesn't judge Makoto's feminine interests.
- Jun Saotome (早乙女 純, Saotome Jun)
- Voiced by: Gakuto Kajiwara[10]
- Saotome is Ryuji's classmate who holds strong feelings for Hayase. He enlists help from Makoto and Ryuji so he could get closer to her.
- Yūji Aoi (蒼井 裕司, Aoi Yūji)
- Voiced by: Yūji Murai[11]
- Saki's father who is interested in whales. He is often busy, and he doesn't see Saki much.
- Chihiro Ishikawa (石川 千尋, Ishikawa Chihiro)
- Voiced by: Hitomi Ishikawa[12]
- Saki's mother. After abandoning Aoi and her husband, she comes back into her daughter's life years later in hopes to fix what she has broken in the past.
- Ai Hayase (早瀬 藍, Hayase Ai)
- Voiced by: Ai Kakuma[13]
- Makoto's classmate who used to be a friend. After Makoto was exposed as a man, they became distant, but later fixed their relationship at a field trip.
- Eiichirō Kawasaki (川崎 英一郎, Kawasaki Eiichirō)
- Voiced by: Masahiko Tanaka[14]
- Makoto's grandfather who has a turbulent relationship with his mother. He was disowned by his own daughter after she discovered his feminine interests.
- Hiroshi Hongo (本郷博, Hongo Hiroshi)
- Voiced by: Toshiya Miyata (Kis-My-Ft2)[15]
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Senpai Is an Otokonoko was written and illustrated by Pom,[4] and originated in how she had difficulties drawing male characters, and received advice from an acquaintance to draw a series where a male character dresses like a woman;[1][16][17] prior to this, she had considered making a series about a lesbian romance.[1] Due to her difficulty with male characters, she had to dedicate a lot of time to the panel where Makoto shows that he is not a girl, and in the end still remained unhappy with it.[16] The setting was designed around Makoto's cross-dressing, with a school where female students wear sailor fuku, ensuring visual contrast against the male school uniform. Although Japanese high schools allowing male students to wear female school uniforms do exist, the one Makoto attends was not modeled after any specific real-world schools.[2]
Early in the planning of the manga, Pom considered making it a gag-based comedy, but decided to lean more toward a serious tone as that is what she personally enjoys reading, which is what led her to write Makoto's troubled relationship with his mother.[16] Among the major themes are human relationships, love regardless of gender, the importance of respecting diversity, being able to like cute things as a man, and the importance of taking care of oneself,[1][2][16] although Pom did not specifically write the story with the intent to combat prejudices against people who defy gender norms. She did not want the story to feel dark, so she was conscious about balancing darker scenes with lighter ones.[1]
Pom intentionally kept the story focused on just three main characters, saying that she dislikes when a manga's cast grows while its story gets less focused and goes off on tangents.[1] Makoto and Saki were designed to contrast against each other, with Makoto being an anxious person who does not move much, and Saki being a confident person who always moves;[2] Ryuji was created as a balance between the two.[16] She used voice actress Tomoko Kaneda as reference for Saki's movements,[2] and conceived of her as a proactive, immature girl who always is true to herself.[16] When writing and drawing Makoto, she was conscious of how Makoto only dresses like a woman because he likes the aesthetic, and so intended to portray him as male on the inside.[16] She intentionally tried to limit the amount of text in the series, and instead used visual storytelling whenever possible.[2] As Pom had only intended for the series to last for 16 chapters, she did not have a detailed plan for how to continue the story after that, and let it go wherever the characters took it after planning out backgrounds for them; she thought that they could not portray things believably unless she had experienced it herself, and described the characters as all having parts of the author within them.[16]
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Manga
The manga began as the four-page story Otokonoko ga Kōhai ni Kokuhaku Sareru Hanashi,[a] which Pom re-drew and expanded for a pilot in Line Manga's "frontier debut program" for independent creators in December 2019, and got signed for weekly digital serialization within four months of the premiere.[1][4][5][18] The series ended with chapter 100 on December 30, 2021; Pom had considered continuing it further, but wanted to end it at a high point and not stretch it out.[4] A prequel titled Senpai Is an Otokonoko: The Encounter[b] was released through Line Manga starting December 21, 2023.[19][20]
The first tankōbon volume collecting the series in full color along with a new 16-page chapter was released on November 25, 2021, by Ichijinsha;[4][21] Pom thought it would be difficult to prepare the series for print as it was originally created for a vertically scrolling digital format, and considered abandoning the idea, but proceeded because of reader requests.[4] The print volumes have been licensed in Traditional Chinese by Tong Li Publishing, with the first volume released on March 6, 2023;[22] and in Korean by Daewon C.I., with the first volume released on July 13, 2023.[23] At Sakura-Con 2024, Kodansha USA announced that the series was licensed for English language publication as Senpai Is an Otokonoko: My Crossdressing Classmate, with the first volume to be released in April 2025.[24]
Webtoon began serializing the series digitally in other regions in 2021, with a Taiwanese release beginning on December 25, 2021, a Chinese release on December 27, 2021, a Thai release on February 13, 2022, a South Korean release on February 18, 2022, a French release on March 28, 2022, as My Crossdressing Crush, and a German release on May 28, 2022, under the same title.[25][26][27][28] The series has also been released in English by Webtoon beginning on March 9, 2023, as Senpai Is an Otokonoko.[29]
Volumes
| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | November 25, 2021[30] | 978-4-7580-2313-9 | April 2025 | — | |
| |||||
| Saki Aoi confesses her romantic feelings for Makoto Hanaoka under the belief that he is a woman, but he rejects her and explains that he is a cross-dressing man. Saki is bisexual and still wishes to be with him, but he avoids her, worried that people will find her strange for associating with him. His childhood friend Ryuji Taiga later confronts her about how she follows Makoto around, but accidentally reveals to her that he too is attracted to Makoto, and makes her keep it a secret. Saki begins spending her lunch breaks with Makoto and Ryuji and becomes friends with them, and they exchange contact information ahead of the summer vacation. At home, Makoto does not wear his feminine clothes or his wig: his mother thinks men should be masculine, so he keeps his love for feminine and cute things a secret from her. | |||||
| 2 | April 25, 2022[31] | 978-4-7580-2387-0 | — | — | |
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| 3 | July 25, 2022[32] | 978-4-7580-2437-2 | — | — | |
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| 4 | November 25, 2022[33] | 978-4-7580-2468-6 | — | — | |
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| 5 | March 29, 2023[34] | 978-4-7580-2505-8 | — | — | |
| |||||
| 6 | July 25, 2023[35] | 978-4-7580-2563-8 | — | — | |
| |||||
| 7 | November 24, 2023[36] | 978-4-7580-2609-3 | — | — | |
| |||||
| 8 | April 1, 2024[37] | 978-4-7580-2609-3 | — | — | |
| |||||
| 9 | July 25, 2024[38] | 978-4-7580-2734-2 | — | — | |
| |||||
| 10 | October 25, 2024[39] | 978-4-7580-2790-8 | — | — | |
| |||||
Chapters not yet in tankōbon format
These chapters have yet to be published in a tankōbon volume.
- "Chūgakusei" (中学生, "Middle School Student")
- "Machigai" (間違い, "Mistake")
- "Bukatsu" (部活, "Extracurricular Activities")
- "Kore" (これ, "This")
- "Kirei" (きれい, "Pretty")
- "Nande" (なんで, "Why")
- "Urusai" (うるさい, "Annoying")
- "Yamanobori" (山登り, "Mountain Climbing")
- "Yūjō" (友情, "Friendship")
- "Koibana" (恋バナ, "Girls' Talk")
- "Chōsei" (調整, "Coordination")
- "Hasegawa-san" (長谷川さん)
- "Iraira" (イライラ, "Irritatedly")
- "Dōrui" (同類, "Alike")
- "Ichigakki" (一学期, "First Semester")
- "Sukāto" (スカート, "Skirt")
- "Kami" (髪, "Hair")
- "Junchō" (順調, "Going Well")
- "Taifū no Hi" (台風の日, "Day of the Typhoon")
- "Masumi-chan" (真澄ちゃん)
- "Buranko" (ブランコ, "Swings")
- "Hen na Ko" (変なコ, "Weird Girl")
- "Sōiu no" (そういうの, "Like That")
- "Mitsuki-senpai" (みつき先輩)
- "2-nensei" (2年生, "Second Years")
- "Kanojo" (彼女, "Girlfriend")
- "Natsumatsuri" (夏祭り, "Summer Festival")
- "Kawattenai" (変わってない, "Haven't Changed")
- "Kono Hito Dake" (この人だけ, "Only This Person")
- "Itsuka" (いつか, "Someday")
- "Henka" (変化, "Change")
- "Jōsō" (女装, "Crossdressing")
- "Sēfu" (セーフ, "Safe")
- "Niattenai" (似合ってない, "Doesn't Suit Me")
- "Hontō no Koto" (本当のこと, "The Truth")
- "Bunkasai" (文化祭, "School Festival")
- "Dōrui" (同類, "Alike")
- "Nigeru" (逃げる, "Running Away")
- "Itsuwaru" (偽る, "Lying")
- "Tadashii" (正しい, "Proper")
- "Komatta Kao" (困った顔, "Troubled Face")
- "Mitsukeru" (見つける, "Discovery")
- "Fukaku Kakawaru (深く関わる, "Deeply Involved")
- "Uranaishi" (占い師, "Fortune Teller")
- "Chikazuku" (近づく, "Getting Closer")
- "Sakura to Dango" (桜と団子, "Cherry Blossoms and Dango")
- "Uso" (嘘, "Lie")
- "Benkyō" (勉強, "Study")
- "Kankei Nai" (関係ない, "Unrelated")
- "Iwanai Hō ga Ii Koto" (言わない方がいいこと, "Something Better Left Unsaid")
Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced by Aniplex at AnimeJapan on March 25, 2023.[40][41] It is produced by Project No.9 and directed by Shinsuke Yanagi, with Yoriko Tomita as head writer, characters designed by Shōto Shinkai, and music composed by Yukari Hashimoto.[7] The series aired from July 5 to September 27, 2024, on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block.[42][f] The opening theme song is "Be a Good Egoist" (我がまま, Wagamama), while the ending theme song is "Shape of Love" (あれが恋だったのかな, Are ga Koi Datta no kana), both performed by Kujira, with the latter featuring Nishina.[43][8] Crunchyroll streamed the series outside of Asia.[44]
Following the anime series' finale, a theatrical anime film titled Eiga Senpai wa Otokonoko: Ame Nochi Hare[g] was announced on September 27, 2024. The staff from the anime series are returning to reprise their production roles, alongside director Shinsuke Yanagi, for which the film is to serve as his directorial debut. Serving the continuation of the television series, it is set for release on February 14, 2025.[45][46] The film's theme song is "I Can't Grow Up" (大人になれない, Otona ni Narenai) performed by Kujiura.[47]
Episodes
| No. | Title [48][49] | Directed by [48] | Written by [48] | Storyboarded by [48] | Chief animation directed by [48] | Original air date [50][f] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Senpai Is an Otokonoko" Transliteration: "Senpai wa Otokonoko" (Japanese: 先輩はおとこのこ) | Zi Hao Xuan & Keisuke Gouda | Yoriko Tomita | Shinsuke Yanagi | Shōto Shinkai | July 5, 2024 |
| 2 | "Cute Things Pilgrimage" Transliteration: "Kawaii Mono Meguri" (Japanese: かわいいものめぐり) | Lin Yingchen | Yoriko Tomita | Keiichi Ishikura | Shōto Shinkai, Eri Ogawa, Yuta Masaki & Tae Inotsume | July 12, 2024 |
| 3 | "Goodbye, Me" Transliteration: "Sayonara Watashi" (Japanese: さよならわたし) | Project No.9[h] | Yoriko Tomita | Zi Hao Xuan | Shōto Shinkai | July 19, 2024 |
| 4 | "I Realized Something" Transliteration: "Kizuiteshimatta" (Japanese: 気づいてしまった) | Keisuke Gouda | Yoriko Tomita | Keiichi Ishikura | Shōto Shinkai, Eri Ogawa, Susumu Watanabe & Yuta Masaki | July 26, 2024 |
| 5 | "Special" Transliteration: "Tokubetsu" (Japanese: 特別) | Kousei Hirayama & Shigeki Awai | Yoriko Tomita | Zi Hao Xuan | Shōto Shinkai, Eri Ogawa, Yuta Masaki & Haruki Moriya | August 2, 2024 |
| 6 | "I've Got to Decide" Transliteration: "Kimenakya Ikenai Koto" (Japanese: 決めなきゃいけないこと) | Seong Beom Kim | Seiko Takagi | Keiichi Ishikura | Shōto Shinkai & Yuta Masaki | August 16, 2024 |
| 7 | "Like That" Transliteration: "Sōiu no" (Japanese: そーいうの) | Project No.9[h][i] | Yoriko Tomita | Zi Hao Xuan | Shōto Shinkai, Eri Ogawa, Yuta Masaki & Haruki Moriya | August 23, 2024 |
| 8 | "Wound" Transliteration: "Kizuguchi" (Japanese: 傷ぐち) | Chuan Feng Xu | Seiko Takagi | Lin Yingchen | Shōto Shinkai & Pei Fei Wang | August 30, 2024 |
| 9 | "Christmas" Transliteration: "Kurisumasu" (Japanese: クリスマス) | Keisuke Gouda | Seiko Takagi | Zi Hao Xuan | Shōto Shinkai, Eri Ogawa, Yuta Masaki & Tae Inotsume | September 6, 2024 |
| 10 | "Their Feelings" Transliteration: "Futari no Omoi" (Japanese: ふたりの思い) | Fumio Maezono | Yoriko Tomita | Keiichi Ishikura | Shōto Shinkai, Eri Ogawa & Yuta Masaki | September 13, 2024 |
| 11 | "Used to Be Friends" Transliteration: "Moto Tomodachi" (Japanese: 元ともだち) | Shigeki Awai | Seiko Takagi | Keiichi Ishikura | Shōto Shinkai, Eri Ogawa & Yuta Masaki | September 20, 2024 |
| 12 | "The Real Me" Transliteration: "Hontō no Boku" (Japanese: 本当のぼく) | Mizuki Sakuma | Yoriko Tomita | Zi Hao Xuan | Shōto Shinkai, Eri Ogawa & Yuta Masaki | September 27, 2024 |
Film
| Title | Directed by | Written by | Storyboarded by | Chief animation directed by | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senpai wa Otokonoko: Clear After the Rain Transliteration: "Eiga Senpai wa Otokonoko: Ame Nochi Hare" (Japanese: 映画 先輩はおとこのこ あめのち晴れ) | Shinsuke Yanagi | Yoriko Tomita | TBA | TBA | February 14, 2025 |
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Senpai Is an Otokonoko was well received by critics and readers,[1] and was the third-place winner of the 2021 Next Manga Award in the web manga category.[51][52] It rose in popularity in 2020,[53] and became the third most read series on Line Manga of 2021, after Mayu Murata's Honey Lemon Soda and Yaongyi's True Beauty.[j][54] It was the third highest ranked in AnimeJapan's 2021 survey about what manga series published in the preceding year that readers would like to see adapted into anime,[55] and the highest ranked in 2022.[56]
The writing was well received for discussing potentially heavy topics like sexuality while managing to keep a light tone;[2] Oricon and Nijimen both thought it did a good job at portraying the characters' psychology, and their struggles in wanting to be open about themselves while fearing the vulnerability that comes with it.[5][57] Da Vinci wrote that they knew they loved the series when reading the Chapter 31 line "does it have to be one or the other?", and found the portrayal of Makoto's situation at home with his disapproving mother and how it affects his loneliness profound; they recommended the manga to everyone regardless of age or gender.[3] Critics liked the characters, with Magmix calling Makoto appealing and cute, and the cast as a whole depicted in a humanistic way,[6] and Da Vinci finding themselves invested in the characters' relationships.[3] Reviewing the manga for Model Press, Kira Yokoyama recommended it to readers who like coming-of-age stories and school settings, finding the story fresh and interesting, with well-written portrayals of the characters' feelings, and an appealing protagonist who is both cute and cool.[58] The artwork was also well received, with both Oricon and Nijimen describing the coloring as beautiful,[5][57] and Da Vinci calling the scene where Makoto reveals his gender particularly well drawn.[16]
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- Otokonoko ga Kōhai ni Kokuhaku Sareru Hanashi (おとこのこが後輩に告白される話, "A Story About an Underclassman Confessing to an Otokonoko")
- Line Manga only presented data for January 1–October 31.[54]
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