This was the first manga I’ve ever read and honestly I had a hard time taking it seriously. You punched your friend in the face because he started to hit on you? You assaulted HIM and then YOU struggle being touched by men? No, that doesn’t sit right with me. I can’t say I’ll be picking up the next one.

Hal Osaka’s That Beauty Is a Tramp 1 introduces readers to an intriguing premise with its unique blend of romance, self-discovery, and personal healing. The story revolves around Nagi, a tomboyish woman struggling with an unusual dilemma—ever since a traumatic incident in college, she has been unable to touch men without her body instinctively rejecting them. This seemingly insurmountable barrier to romance leaves her feeling isolated and frustrated, especially when all she wants is to experience a normal relationship.

The narrative takes a turn when she meets Aran, a beautiful and androgynous male model who defies traditional gender norms with ease. His ability to seamlessly move between masculine and feminine styles is not only captivating but provides a refreshing twist on the typical male lead in romance manga. Nagi’s shock at realizing she can touch Aran without any discomfort opens the door to a fascinating relationship dynamic, setting the stage for a romantic and emotional journey.

The premise of Nagi asking Aran to be her "practice boyfriend" is both amusing and poignant. On the surface, it’s a playful arrangement, but underneath, it’s clear that Nagi is grappling with deeper issues of trust, vulnerability, and self-worth. Aran, with his unconventional beauty and charm, represents the ideal partner for helping her face her fears, while also challenging traditional notions of romance and attraction. The one-month time limit adds an element of urgency and tension to the story, as readers are left wondering whether Nagi will overcome her trauma and what kind of relationship will ultimately blossom between the two.

Osaka’s art style is striking, particularly in the way Aran’s androgynous appearance is portrayed. His fluidity in fashion and modeling makes him stand out in every panel, and the chemistry between him and Nagi is captured with subtlety and care. The story’s use of both humor and emotional depth allows the characters to feel well-rounded, avoiding clichés while still embracing the romantic tropes that fans of the genre love.

However, while the premise is strong, the pacing can feel a bit uneven at times. The story moves quickly from Nagi’s problem to her "solution" in the form of Aran, and some readers might feel that her decision to ask him for help happens a little too conveniently. The emotional groundwork for Nagi’s trauma is hinted at but not fully explored in this first volume, leaving a lot of room for development in future installments. Hopefully, subsequent volumes will dive deeper into Nagi’s psychological journey and provide more background on her college experience.

The dynamic between Nagi and Aran is intriguing, but it’s clear that their relationship has only just begun to evolve. While Nagi’s development will undoubtedly be a major focus of the series, Aran’s backstory and motivations remain somewhat mysterious in this first volume, leaving readers eager to learn more about him as the story progresses.

Final Thoughts:
That Beauty Is a Tramp 1 presents a fresh take on romance manga by exploring themes of trauma, androgyny, and unconventional beauty. Hal Osaka sets up a promising dynamic between the tomboyish, emotionally scarred Nagi and the androgynous, effortlessly charming Aran. While the pacing may be a bit rushed, the unique premise and engaging characters make this first volume an intriguing start. Fans of slow-burn romances with emotional depth and humor will find much to enjoy here, and the potential for growth in both Nagi and Aran’s relationship is enough to keep readers invested in the series.

A very entertaining ‘pretend boyfriend’ story about a woman who meets her match, but her match is actually kind and caring and willing to help her experience love and emotions. Great artwork with humour and lovely characters.

I'm not sure what this series is trying to do, but I'm not interested in it. I'm good with a feminine male love interest, but I'm not trying to read about gender as the main focus of a story. I read the first 3 pages and was already seeing that the central theme here is not a romance, but a gender story. No thank you.

I love how this is going and how they are all consenting adults! A lot of time in Manga, sexual themes and romances are usually in high school settings or younger, so this is a nice breath air.

Also loving the androgynous vibes both characters give off.

Thank you NETGALLEY!

I enjoyed this manga from beginning to end I love how not toxic the characters are each other. Also learning what each other likes and don't like but also learning that they might like each other more than they expected. I will be purchasing this manga soon as possible.

Thank you Kodansha Comics and Netgalley for the e-ARC!

On paper, this manga has one of the tropes that I enjoy from shoujo manga: a romance betwen a tomboyish girl with slightly boyish looks and an androgynous, slightly feminine guy. I have read multiple shoujo mangas with this trope, and one of the reasons I enjoy them so much is how they deconstruct gender roles and tropes, especially in a genre that puts those roles on a pedestal (although this has slightly improved in recent times). When shoujo mangas don't put that emphasis on gender, the romantic interactions feel more genuine to me as their actions are based on their emotions and feelings towards each other instead of the need to adhere to certain gender norms.

When I first saw the cover, I was intrigued by the beautiful art, and the synopsis sounds exactly like what I like. So I was really disappointed at the lack of depth this manga has. It felt very trope-y, in the sense that the characters' motivations and behaviors felt ridiculous and shallow and based on certain shoujo tropes instead of understandable actions from believable characters. There is not much dimension to the story, and it makes the characters' relationship feel artificial. When this all adds up together, the trope that I usually find refreshing in other shoujo mangas doesn't work in here; it just falls flat. As a result, we get a cliched, stale manga that I really didn't enjoy much.

Having said all that, the art is still beautiful. But that is exactly what infuriates me: with such a high caliber of art, it definitely deserves a better story. I'm not going to get into other stuffs like the way the sexual harassment is pushed aside and how the narrative normalizes victim blaming. I just think that there is so much more shoujo mangas that have better writing and that this one just isn't one of them.

2 ⭐️
TW: sexual harassment, victim blaming

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha for providing this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Tomboyish Nagi wants a boyfriend, however she recoils from the touch of any man due to an incident in college. That's when androgynous model Aran comes in, who immediately finds Nagi intriguing. The two make a deal: Nagi will participate with Aran in his upcoming photoshoot, and in exchange, Aran will pretend to be her boyfriend for a month to see if it will help her overcome her issue.

The pacing of the plot goes at whiplash speed, especially the first chapter. Things just escalate between Nagi and Aran way too fast. Instant lust to actually considering being in a relationship towards the end of the book.
As the chapters progressed, it made me feel more unsettled, especially Aran's behavior. I just did not care for his personality. He's arrogant, sleeps around, and is a bit pushy. The end of the volume made him seem possessive, which is immediate red flags for me.

The art style is very pretty and high quality. I enjoyed looking at the colored chapter illustrations the most than the actual story.

Very typical plot for a romance manga.

Overall Rating: 3/5

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars.
"Sono Otoko Fushidara ni Tsuki" is a funny story about a tomboy girl Nagi who dreams about living a romance but due to an incident that happened to her with a boy classmate, she can't stand now any man touching her. One day, she met Aran an androgynous male model whom touch doesn't bother her, so she asked him to help her by being her boyfriend.

I must have read so many shojo or josei and gender bender manga with the same plot and tropes of this manga that I can't remember but it doesn't mean that I did not enjoy this one. It was a cute story.

Rating: 3/5 [Gifted a copy on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review]

Volume 1 of <i>That Beauty is a Tramp!</i> is a pretty if slightly disappointing start for its romance story.

Nagi, a “tomboyish” (?) woman who struggles with physical touch from men, desperately wants a boyfriend. Aran, androgynous model and playboy (our titular tramp), is down to play a couple with her. One volume in and besides that “fake” relationship becoming very real very quick, not much has happened. There haven’t been a lot of sticking plot points (what happened to the modeling gig that initially brought them together?) and it's clear the series will be light, sweet, and a bit silly going forward. I wish I liked it more. Nagi and Aran are beautiful to look at, with some stunning art and paneling. But nothing has stuck. Nagi’s touch aversion hasn’t really been explored and I can not tell you much about Aran. The series seems to be setting itself up to be a fun if unserious read and while I can see a lot of readers liking it, I struggled to get enough in the first volume to want to see more of our couple.

Gorgeous visuals and plenty of shoujo tropes to mlae your heart squee! I love seeing tomboy x pretty boy couples. More physical intimacy than I expected, but I loved it.

Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I really didn't care for this. The story moved to fast to really make much sense and I didn't feel like there was much chemistry between the characters.
Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read it.

A little bit too fast of a burn for me personally. The art is gorgeous and I love the concept, but I would have enjoyed digging into their respective characters more and seeing them build trust before jumping right into the physical aspects.

e-ARC from NetGalley

This story follows a woman who, after a traumatic incident in college, can't stand to be touched by men. Even a polite handshake is too much. When she discovers her favorite female model is actually an androgynous male model whose touch she can withstand, the pair comes to an agreement: He'll teach her how to be in a relationship and she'll costar in an important upcoming photoshoot.

I've read quite a few tonally similar manga over the years. The hot guy taking a sudden, dramatic interest in a shy, inexperienced girl is a common premise and a popular one.

There were elements of this that worked for me. I liked the exploration of trauma and the protagonist's confusion when her love interest did not behave in a stereotypically pushy male way when exploring physical intimacy. I thought the art style was beautiful and depicted the sensuality beautifully.

What didn't work for me was the instalove. Almost immediately, our male lead is extremely jealous and possessive. Though he never forces himself on our mc, he does manhandle her often. It's presented as being for her own good, but I found it pretty jarring. It would have made more sense, from my perspective, for them to have progressed more quickly physically without realizing how tied up they were emotionally.

This manga definitely has its audience. If I stumbled upon the first few volumes at the library, I would doubtlessly read them one after another. I'm not sure they'd rank much higher than a 3 star rating without some significant emotional development, though. I've learned that my tastes in romantic manga tend more towards a sense of gentle, growing admiration. Which this might have. In time.

This was such a fun read. I have been craving a good cute romance manga, and this fulfilled that craving. I am obsessed with Aran and Nagi I love them 🥹. This was taking me right back to middle school when I was obsessed with “The One” and “Ai Ore”. This is about a girl who struggles with any attention or physical touch by men. She happens to come into contact with one of her celebrity crushes and learns the shocking truth that she is actually a he. She realizes even though Aran is a man she isn’t repulsed by him and he can touch her without any reaction. They enter into an agreement to fake dates until she’s over her issues with men. Will it stay a fake relationship or become more 👀 read and see people read and see.
It’s very cute. I can’t recommend it enough. I’m excited to keep reading.


review posted Wednesday August 28th 2024

Sadly not for me. The art style was good. Having difficulty finding anything positive to say about the story arch.

So the representation here deffo could have been better, I think having an androgynous MMC who likes to dress in both male and female gendered clothes could have made for some really interesting dynamics in their relationship and challenged some gender roles/stereotypes too.

Instead in the relationship he is very forceful, bordering on controlling.
Also not a huge fan of insta love, especially when there’s no need for it as this isn’t a standalone manga. There would have been plenty of time to develop their relationship over a few volumes.

Ultimately though the art is beautiful and I enjoyed it. Will likely check out the following volumes to see where it goes.

3.5 rounded up

The story is really sweet I love the fashion aspect of it! The art is really nice and clean too I’d really like to see where this series goes. The one down side was that this volume only seemed like an introduction and not a story within itself but that’s common in manga.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me the arc in exchange for an honest review.

The arts in this manga is very beautiful! The story is very fast-paced. I think i read this one in like 30 minutes.

Nagi is a very insecure girl that dresses most of the time as a guy and feels comfortable in that kind of clothes. She doesn't want to be touched by other men. I feel curious about her, why she acts the way she does.
Aran is an androgynous model who might be interested in Nagi. It's an insta love. I didn't like the fact the he is sleeping with multiple people to be honest. Also i would be more interested in their love story if it was more slow-burn.

I really one know what is going to happen so i would pick up volume 2 too.

Despite the unusual title "That Beauty is a Tramp" is a fun, fast paced, and enjoyable story! The characters are very likeable especially the FMC, Nagi. This story feels original and new. The art style is so pretty! I enjoyed meeting and getting to know these characters. It was sad to see the reason behind Nagi's discomfort when she interacts with men. This manga is a bit InstaLove but it didn't bother me at all. I thought it was rather well done! The romance is sweet, swoony, and cute! I like seeing that there is emotional depth there. Despite how much the MMC and FMC try to tell themselves that they aren't falling for each other it is oh so clear to the reader that they are! I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next in this series. It is fun, lighthearted, emotional, and very cute. 4 stars!

Thank you very much to the mangaka Hal Osaka, Kodansha, and NetGalley for the wonderful opportunity of reading this manga and for providing me with a digital copy to read and review honestly!