Highlights

• Don't judge a book by its cover – love can surprise you in unexpected ways.
• Mistaken identity and cross-dressing add spice to these romantic manga tales.
• Embrace differences and discover the true selves of those around you for genuine connections.

The problem with love is that some people judge a book by its cover. They'll assume one thing or another based on someone's appearance and move on until they get into trouble. Or at least end up having to ask themselves some questions. In this case, Aya in The guy she was interested in wasn't a guy would end up with a difficult surprise test.

As the title suggests, she has fallen in love with someone who isn't actually a guy. Her classmate Mitsuki wears a mask and baggy hoodie to avoid being recognized at her job at the record store. But this ensemble made Aya think Mitsuki was a guy, and she became very close to him because of their shared interest in rock music. So far, Mitsuki is trying to keep Aya from finding out the truth. But there are other mangas that follow similar paths.

8 Takane no Hana wa Usotsuki Desu

MyAnimeList Score: 6.66

• Written and illustrated by Ameno.
• 1 volume, 6 chapters.
• Fan translations only.

Takane no Hana wa Usotsuki Desu is an unlikely, short and sassy romance. As The guyFrom Aya, Meguru is a gyaru who people assume has a long and storied love life. But in reality, she's been unlucky in love for as long as she can remember. Each partner she ends up with seems worse than the last, whether it's cheating on her or just being a general jerk.

Things change when Meguru saves a prim and proper office lady from a scoundrel. She learns that her name is Yukiho and befriends her in the hopes that she can learn to be more strict as well. However, Yukiho has a dark side that Meguru is unaware of. Given that the term 'takane no hana' (mountain peak flower) is also a term for an unattainable goal, and 'Yukiho' is also the name of a snowy mountain bird, things do not bode well for Meguru.

7 Business and private life: on and off

MyAnimeList Score: 6.94

• Written and illustrated by Shinnosuka Kanazawa.
• 2+ volumes, 9+ chapters.
• Fan translations only.

If The guyaccidental yuri is not spicy enough, Business and private life: on and off takes a straight couple and twists things a little. It's about Akira, a not-so-friendly office lady, and Sōtarō, the most handsome man at her workplace. Neither of them thought they had much in common until they discovered that they were both very different people outside of the workplace.

Off-duty, Akira dresses as a masculine-looking punk, while Sōtarō dresses in gothic lolita clothing. Which explains why, before being serialized, it was published as a web comic bluntly titled 'Brolita and Woman Crossdressing as a Punk'. When the two accidentally discover each other's secret lives, they gradually form a friendship that turns into something more.

6 Pretty girl and sheltered girl

MyAnimeList Score: 7.74

• Written by Mochi Au Lait.
• Illustrated by majocoid.
• 2 volumes, 14 chapters.
• Fan translations only.

It's nice when a title can summarize your work in one sentence instead of a paragraph. Like The guy, Satomi mistakes her classmate Mizuki for a boy due to his more masculine appearance. Which leads her to ask 'him' for help when her friend needs guys for a cross-dressing event. Mizuki agrees to join... if Satomi agrees to go out with her.

Satomi readily agrees, feeling overjoyed to have been asked out by such a handsome guy. But will her luck run out when she finds out the truth? Or will it just be different? Rather than opting for gay/trans-panic melodrama, the manga interprets the trope in a more sympathetic and cute way. It’s an easy-going GL tale of mistaken identity that will soothe anyone who’s been exhausted by its more toxic counterparts.

5 How I Attended an All-Guy's Mixer

MyAnimeList Score: 7.77

• Written and illustrated by Nana Aokawa.
• More than 7 volumes, more than 52 chapters.
• Available in English via Square-Enix's Comikey and Manga UP!

When Tokiwa was invited to a party by his classmate Suo, he and his friends Hagi and Asagi thought they would meet other girls. Instead, they ended up being greeted by three very handsome men. Hence the title. How I Attended an All-Guy's Mixer. Or so they think. It turns out that Suo works at a crossdressing bar, where she and her friends Fuji and Kohaku prove to be convincing guys.

They are convincing enough to confuse Tokiwa, Hagi, and Asagi when the trio starts flirting with them. But once they find out what's going on, they expand their horizons instead of getting upset about it. After all, a person is more than the clothes they wear. In addition to the manga and the live-action TV drama, it will also receive an anime adaptation, which will begin airing in October 2024.

4 My dear dress up

MyAnimeList Score: 8.00

• Written and illustrated by Shinichi Fukuda.
• Over 12 volumes, over 102 chapters.
• Available in English via Square-Enix's Manga UP!

The guy It’s also the story of a social butterfly who finds love with a social outcast, a pretty common trope in romantic tales. Even if fans limit themselves to a gyaru (basically a Japanese valley girl) and an otaku, they’ll find some manga that follow their trademarks to the letter. Even so, some may have some unique features, such as My dear dress up.

It’s about Wakana, a guy who likes to design clothes for hina dolls, which he keeps a secret after his childhood friend bullied him about it. He expects the same treatment when Marin, the archetypal gyaru, finds out about it. Instead, she encourages him to expand his skills by designing clothes for her, and gradually helps him come out of his shell by introducing him to the cosplay community. Despite all its fanservice, it does have a cute core.

3 Whisper me a love song

MyAnimeList Score: 8.25

• Written and illustrated by Eku Takeshima.
• Over 9 volumes, over 48 chapters.
• Available in English via Kodansha USA.

Blurring genre lines isn't the only way a manga can resemble The guy. Whisper me a love song sees its protagonists come together over a different kind of mistake, one that also involves music. Only instead of listening to records, Yori keeps things lively as she's the lead singer and guitarist of SSGIRLS, a rock band that performed at her school's freshman welcome party.

This impressed new student Himari so much that the next day, she confessed her love for Yori's music. Except that Yori, unversed in love, mistook this for a romantic confession. By the time she realized her mistake, she had fallen in love with Himari as well. The two remain friends, though Yori hopes that Himari might reciprocate his feelings, unaware that she also has her own admirer.

2 Horimiya

MyAnimeList Score: 8.42

• Written by HERO.
• Illustrated by Daisuke Hagiwara.
• 17 volumes, 139 chapters.
• Available in English from Yen Press.

HorimiyaThe couple is not a yuri couple, but like The guy, its story is about its protagonists being completely different characters outside of polite society. At school, Kyōko Hori seems like the typical outgoing and popular girl, and Izumi Miyamura is a dark nerd. At home, Kyōko is a quieter and more withdrawn figure, who is more interested in taking care of her younger brother, Sōta, than in going out and partying.

When Souta gets injured on his way home from school, he is taken home by a punk covered in tattoos and piercings, who turns out to be Miyamura. Despite his nerdy appearance, he is more of a delinquent with a heart of gold outside of school. The two agree to keep their true selves a secret from each other, but this causes them to grow closer, which seems inexplicable to their unwitting classmates. Their secrets may not stay secret for long.

1 Given

MyAnimeList Score: 8.53

• Written and illustrated by Natsuki Kizu.
• 9 volumes, 58 chapters.
• Available in English via Viz Media.

If readers like it The guymusical aspects, but prefer BL to GL, it is likely that they have already checked Given. If you haven't already, it's about time it was one of the most popular BL stories around, receiving an anime and live-action TV adaptation, alongside two films, a stage play, and dramatic audio CDs. Its decade-long run spanned three acts as the members of the titular rock band navigated the pitfalls of romance.

The first act sees guitarist Ritsuka bringing in Mafuyu, a talented singer who is still reeling from the death of his boyfriend Yuki. The second act focuses on bassist Haruki and his feelings for drummer Akihito, who is already in a relationship, causing tension within the group. It then ends with Mafuyu's friend and former bandmate Hiiragi, who has some unresolved feelings for his old friend.