*takes a deep breath* Let's break down this terrible review of Love Me For Who I Am / FukaBoku by Anime News Network, that even goes so far as to outright lie about the manga at least once. https://twitter.com/Anime/status/1278010422390644738

I don't know this author, never heard of or encountered them prior to this review. But they tell us that they had a dislike for the book before reading it based purely on the author's gender identity, but they're 'intensely jealous' of the thing the characters do every day.

I'd like to get to the *manga* but here we have the reviewer not knowing what 'Otokonoko' means outside of the utterly simplistic definition usually used to categorize hentai.

'Otokonoko''s usage in Japan vaguely and broadly covers so much gender variance it's hard to quantify.

It's like we aren't even reading the actual book. Reading everything Mogumo does as specifically gendered is the 'easy' and 'lazy' way to read it but with the 'red flags' the reviewer decided existed before even opening it, I'm not surprised. Let's look really close at Mogumo.

Mo's thing is specifically 'cute' but not necessarily 'feminine'. If the cute thing is feminine, it's fine, if the cute thing is masculine, it's fine. The biggest example is in Vol1 where they pass on suggested 'feminine' shoes and opts for 'cute' ones. ...They also hurt a lot.

But if we stop obsessing over the uniform Mo wears at work or school, let's look at who Mogumo really is. This isn't 'lazy Mogumo' this is who they are. It's usually shorts, but with cute hair toys, and a mix of gendered clothing. Whatever is 'cute'.

Later in V2 we also have Mogumo requesting modifications to a costume for a themed event. Mogumo doesn't want the 'feminine design' and wants shorts and longer sleeves.

Cute ≠ Feminine is a routine theme for Mogumo if you actually *read* the manga.

Honestly, I think the reviewer 'seeing red flags' based on the author alone biased them to a point that it blinded them to this element that is, frankly, my favorite part of the whole manga. It's great. If you aren't following Mo's fashion, you're missing 20% of the manga.

We even get into this where Mo defends their fashion choices which turns out is mostly used, thrift shop finds that nobody else thinks is cool, but Mo thinks they're cool.

A bunch of young queer teens, who inhabit a strongly gendered society, are trying to figure things out, try things out, in an effort to reduce social friction on each other and find acceptance.

Nothing to 'Unpack' here, this is, ugly and kinda real. Welcome to dumbass teeens

I dunno, maybe the reviewer just forgot all the dumb weird things they tried as a teen. But I assure you, teens trying to be like what you think the person you like would like... It's so common it's cliche.

This is a lie. Very simply the reviewer has lied to the reader. Mogumo is never forced into anything and there is no 'debatable fetishism of a dressup party'.

It's right here on the page, Mo requests it as Mo wants to experiment with more feminine looks for Tetsu's sake. Mo's friends simply facilitate the request of their friend.

I do not understand the motive for the reviewer lie to the reader like this.

This is not 'debatable fetishism' this is experimenting with gender expression. How a reviewer who claims to be a 'Nonbinary Transwoman' I don't understand how they see fetishism in this. ...No, wait, I do, because they said they expected it before they opened the book.

Look at Mo's face in this outfit. It's not them and they don't like it at all. They are feigning a smile and it's not working. They asked for this and it's not working.

...I think that's the expression my cat made the time I put her in a cat sized sailor fuku...

The only way this experimention reads as 'fetish' to the reader is if they were already concluded that's what it was before reading.

Also, my closet has everything from authentic police uniforms with body armor to Tripp NYC dresses. Sometimes friends try stuff on. It's fun.

Again in Volume 2, we see Mo explaining their preference to girls uniforms. ...Cause their life is spent entirely in BOYS uniforms and they hate them.

This isn't the fetishism that the reader tries to convince the reader that it is.

On the last day of pride month and ANN drops a review where it demands a detailed justification behind a non-binary character. Wow, fuck you.

If I asked that of any non-binary person on twitter, I'd def be the asshole. And I've recently become the expert on being the asshole.

This is another lie by the reviewer. This one I particularly hate as it was then used to attack the mangaka's authenticity. At this point I think the author has decided to lie simply to drive people away from the book.

The 'random, haphazard Google search' was actually the author struggling with common tropes and performing new research, to the point where the manga dropped the common 'Otokonoko' tropes and seriously explores the X-Gender identity.

Why is the reviewer lying to the reader?

There is never a love triangle in FukaBoku but I don't think this one is a lie. The reviewer however fails to grasp what's going on. Mogumo and Kotone never had a romantic relationship and nither holds romantic feelings.

Kotone kept Mo close as a 'Plan B, cause she can't date girls and Mo is not a girl but not a boy either'. Their jealously comes from their horrendiously unhealthy idea being popped by Tetsu's relationship with Mo. She's not angry that Mo loves Tetsu, it's that no one loves her.

To be fair, Tetsu is def 'The Guy' for the first volume. But this blind attack because he's a 'cis dude' is ultimately unfounded. The reviewer just really wants to hate on 'cis' people and this review is their vehicle to do it.

Because Tetsu proves to struggle significantly with his sexuality as he gets closer to this queer made family at the restaurant. Realizing how ugly this stuff is but the implications on himself.

Cause they're teenagers and they're all figuring things out still.

Of course, if the reviewer, who's gone so far as to lie to the reader to drive them away from this series, they'd not see the best part of Volume 2.

Then he breaks and has a panic attack.

And yes, then these two queer idiots fall in love, cause with all the pastels on the covers of these books, you knew that would happen.

The 'the ultimate arbiter of understanding for queer identities' as the reviewer called them is just another queer kid figuring stuff out.

But let's look at the damage that a review like this can do. It's attracted a lot of negative attention from queer people who feel directly attacked by the reviewers words. Who chooses to attack the queer readers on the last day of pride month?

Happy pride from ANN, I guess?