The High School Life of a Fudanshi, Vol. 1

腐男子高校生活 #1

by Atami Michinoku

An all new comedy about one man's obsession with BL!

Ryo Sakaguchi has a deep, dark secret: he's a fudanshi a straight(?) boy obsessed with boys' love (BL), the genre of stories revolving around the romance between two men. While he has trouble understanding how others don't find the same bliss he does from his unusual hobbies, that doesn't make it any easier for Ryo to buy his precious manga from the girls section of the store, or any simpler explaining the world of boys' love, shipping wars, and doujinshi circles to his best friend Nakamura. Will Ryo find other fanboys to share his hobby with, or is he doomed to sit alone on his throne of BL romance?

Genres: Manga, Humor, Comics, LGBT, Graphic Novels, Yaoi, Comedy

180 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2017

About the author

Atami Michinoku (みちのくアタミ) is a Japanese mangaka.


Pixiv: アタミ

Reviews

[Adri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, I loved the format and the tone, and there's good stuff in here about being supportive, being open minded, and the validation that comes from finding your people. Buuuut there were still some things that made me feel squicky as a queer reader, which probably stems from the way Japanese culture reveres Yaoi/Yuri manga. So idk. Idk how to feel.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book's pretty rife with gay stereotypes, but all things considered it isn't as cringe worthy as I feared, and it was often pretty funny. I do wish that Sakaguchi was more written to be bi/pansexual (listen, Gucchi, I remember the days when I too was "straight" and "randomly" obsessed with gay content for "no reason." We've all been there). I don't have any reason to think the series will be more nuanced than this, so I don't know if it's worth reading more of. It makes me sad that there won't be anymore My Brother's Husband, Volume 1 ;-;

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the sort of book where every time you laugh, you feel kind of badly about it. I understand what the author was getting at, at yes, social stigma on the subject of who can read what IS stupid, but it isn't quite handled correctly.


Full review eventually appearing on ANN.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light and silly. If my library has more I’ll check them out, but not in a rush to binge the series. I had fun

[Namratha · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the tail-end of 2022 had me discovering a genre hitherto unknown to me :BL Manga. As I enjoyed the stories, some excellent and thought-provoking, others steamy for no particular reason other than titillation, I realized that I could call myself a low-key Fujoshi : a Japanese term for (straight) female fans of manga, anime and novels that feature romantic relationships between men.
As a natural progression, I was intrigued to read about the Fujoshi’s male counterpart : a Fudanshi. And so I picked up this cute and humorously audacious read.

Ryo Sakaguchi is a high-school Fudanshi and is frustrated that he cannot pursue his passion openly for fear of being judged. His bewildered but non-judgmental best friend Nakamura tries to be as supportive as a non-BL fan can be but Ryo wishes he had a fellow Fudanshi fan to happily geek over “Semes and Ukes”, shipping wars and doujinshi circles. When he luckily stumbles upon such a person, Ryo is ecstatic and gets to do all the otaku things that his BL-loving heart could only dream of.

While the book is replete with sometimes unnecessary gay stereotypes, it also has its fun moments and Ryo is an adorable nut. I remember wishing that I could find a fellow BL fan who I could geek over without being eyed skeptically and when I did, it was fandom heaven. So I “get” Ryo and all his madcap quirks.

I don’t know if I will be picking up more books in this series but I might just out of affection for a fellow BL fan. Cute and relatable.

[SwedishGeekGirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had some fun moments but I did not enjoy it as mutch as I do with other manga series.
The high school life of a Fudanshi volume 1 by Atami Michinoku get a 6/10 stars.

[Sol · Rating 2 out of 5]

"I read shonen manga and shoujo manga, too. What else...? I'm also into anime, video games, drama TV series, and movies... after all, you never know where moe will pop up."

2.5 ⭐
Gah, I'm caught between a rock and a hard place here. From a queer standpoint, this book is so harmful in so many ways (fetishization of real gay people, acting like being gay IRL is gross while being gay in fiction is hot, extremely stereotypical sexually-predatory 'queen' gay character, people who creepily fantasize about their friends and classmates being gay 'for BL reasons', etc., general fudanshi/fujoshi stereotypical creepiness and weirdo behavior).
But from a fellow fujin standpoint, I can't say the main character is totally unrelatable. When he dropped his doujinshi on the floor of the train by accident and cried out "MY GAY!" I giggled so hard, ngl...

The art in this is really nice and I thought the character designs work very well! The overall tone reminded me a bit of Monthly Girls Nozaki, which was really nostalgic. The 4-koma format really works well for me. I also really liked how this book prominently featured a male-female friendship with no hint of romance. But overall, I don't know if I could recommend this based on the fact alone that the attitude towards gay people in it is very outdated. Despite this book being a total celebration of queer books and the people who passionately love them, I do feel like it's ironically extremely homophobic in tone, which is pretty uncomfortable.

Kinda makes me sad. I hate it when people sexualize real people and speculate about their sexualities, so it makes a lot of the characters in this feel insufferable and over-the-top at times. The bad parts of this feel pretty bad, but the good parts are decent for a laugh. Worth a shot if you're curious -- it's a quick read with nice art, can't go too wrong!

[Rebo · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this one is a tough one. On one hand, I feel like the mangaka could easily have made this a traditional manga (as opposed to the 4-panel style). Also, it’s a bit disappointing how much it relies on (harmful?) stereotyping despite its (positive) message that “anyone can like anything they want and that’s OK!”

(Do fujins in Japan *really* ship real people all the time???? Bc I’ve seen this be a recurring theme in humor manga with fujins... 😬)

I think the biggest disappointment, as other reviewers have mentioned, is that Gucci isn’t queer. While I like the message that you don’t need to be queer to enjoy BL, at the same time, M/M fiction is a way many queer people (myself included) were able to discover their sexuality/gender identity. It would have added a bit more depth and realism apart from the (bad) stereotyping if we could see a kind of character we don’t often get in manga. It would also make the homophobic bits a little more palatable, if Gucci was in denial about being bi/gay/pan.

Despite the failings, the characters are likable overall, though I do find myself cringing over the “Queen” flamboyant gay (maybe trans? It’s a bit confusing, at least in translation) character.

Honestly, I think Gucci’s best friend is my favorite character. I love his design and the fact that he stays friends with Gucci despite his tastes/questionable behavior.

The art is really nice and I adore the visual humor with all the little details on the covers of the various BL poking fun at genre staples or famous mangas.

I do kinda wish there was a translator’s note section, because I have not heard of a “circle” before and I wasn’t entirely clear on what that was, for example.

This series is absolutely better than Mabusasa, and I may read another volume.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fudanshi representation hell yeah.

[MaDoReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carcajada en bucle xDDDDDDDD

[Mileena · Rating 4 out of 5]

The High School Life of a Fudanshi
4/5 stars

This was simple and cute. As soon as I seen this cover and then read the synopsis, I knew this was something that I'd relate to.

The plot:
Is basically about a guy in high school who's obsessed with media that portrays two males in love. Like I said, simple.

The Characters:

Sakaguchi-
He is literally me. Like I tabbed so much in this first volume because I kept wanting to yell SAME so much. The charm so this story is because of him. I do think he can be straight and enjoy these things, but I do hope at the same time that they explore the possibility of a relationship between him and that crush he had on who ended up being that effeminate guy in drag that he thought was a girl.

Nakamura-
I adored him. He is so accepting and the cover of the next volume with him excites me! He was so chill amongst a cast of characters that are so out there and I loved that about him.

Nishihara-
Was such a princess, and exactly the kind of friend our main character needs and deserves.

Shiratori-
Is such an interesting character, because he is so authenticity himself. I'm not sure if his sass vibes well with me but I am interested in seeing more of him.

Overall-
This didn't necessarily blow me away but I do see myself picking up the next volume in the future.

[Tiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It's also rude to treat me like a perv-blocking wall!" "Don't you dare up the rating on this series!!"

Let me start by saying that I'm sick and feel terrible and quite sad/down, so I wasn't feeling up to reading a full book. Instead, I turned to this manga and I'm quite thankful I did! Reading this had me giggling like a school girl! It reminded me of my time on AarinFantasy (a bl focused forum), so it made me feel nostalgia while also laughing.

I love how Guuchi isn't ashamed of what he likes and dives in full circle. My heart swoons knowing that Nakamura, my favorite character, is so laid back about it. A lot of people would judge Guuchi for it, but Nakamura accepts it! It makes me so happy~

If you like BL, you'll like this series. If you don't, you may not understand more of the subtle discussions that take place, but I'd still recommend checking it out, it's a good read.

Comedy and school life, my two favorite things ♡ Then you have Guuchi expressing his love for something most guys don't like. It's so refreshing! I love this series ^_^

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Japanese manga about Fundanshi. What is a Fundanshi? I needed to learn that as well. There is a small class of people in Japan called Fundanshi. These are straight men who like reading Boys Love. They are straight. There are some guys who are even content creators who are Fudanshi. I find it very odd.

So, our main character sneaks around the manga store trying to sneakily buy BL. That is amusing and some of the best parts of the story. BL is mostly a genre for women. Through the story, our guy finally gets a girlfriend and he and she go shopping together for BL stuff and he finally feels he doesn't need to be ashamed to buy BL. He can say it's for his girlfriend.

An interesting story. Some people around the main character appear to be gay. Interesting. I'll go forward with this series.

[B. Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gotta make a comedy shelf or something. This isn't really romance either, but the books he likes to read are romance books. Nothing creepy or anything - just humor, there isn't a plot either. It picks apart the genre in a way fans can laugh at.

I watched this anime a few years back. The episodes were only 5 minutes long because it's just a bunch of short comics. The mangaka apparently started off on...pixiv? Or something. It's really a rather funny series, and I moved onto the second after finishing this.

[Rosa Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this an impulse and it was only cuz I heard it was going out of print, but only the first volume probably because of Covid. But I got it sometimes last year and I’ve just read it. I did read a couple chapters a few years ago but definitely didn’t remember while rereading.
Overall it was so funny and relatable. I kept saying “lol that’s me”. I really enjoyed it. I’ll definitely pick up the rest of the series and read them. It’s not a serious series either which is good. It’s just comedy and it’s good. :)

[Yue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny and silly, just what I expect from a yonkoma. I think I was hoping it would be MORE funny...

I shelved this in my manga-shoujo shelf, since I am not even sure what genre this is it. A plus is that this is not set in an all-boys school, so the MC forms a friendship with a girl based on their love for BL. Oh, and there is no romance, just the MC being a fanboy XD

[DrCalvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Not quite my thing. The humor is often based a lot around stereotypes, and that combined with the short vignette format (it's not a 4-koma, but similar in feel) makes it hard for the characters to become more than gags. I don't find it offensive or anything, but not very funny. Reminds me a bit of "Merman in My Tub", but that one had a slightly better comedic timing.

[Jillian -always aspiring- · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy how this series reminds me of a cross between Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun and Genshiken — but there are some twinges of homophobia where the main character gets offended when people think he is gay because he loves BL. I just don’t care for those instances. It is still an enjoyable series, though!

[Forthright . · Rating 4 out of 5]

He's your typical high school boy, except that he's a huge fan of BL manga, which skews how he sees his friends, often in amusing ways. Fanboy slice-of-life with gag tendencies, mostly arranged in short, 4-panel comics. It doesn't take much of anything seriously, and thus far, no actual plot has emerged. Fun in small doses?

[PurplePixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find this series so hilarious since I'm a fujoshi myself. I really liked the anime and glad they released the manga in the states. I will say that I like how Shiratori is more openly gay than he was in the anime. Hopefully, we get more volumes.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely has more content than the anime, but I'm not sure if I found it as funny? I've started this one before and just didn't finish it so reading the same jokes multiple times might've made them less funny to me. Nothing really made me laugh out loud. Hopefully the next volumes are funnier.

[Bobby Stringini · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very fun four panel comic series. Each set of panels has a solid set up and punchline, but the story still flows well from four panel to four panel. Actually made laugh out loud a couple times. Really loved this one.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny and cute.

[czai · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a fun read. i enjoyed it although it felt a bit repetitive but i'm sooooo reading the next volume just because it's funny. i'm also watching the anime just for the LOLs.

[Banafsheh Esmailzadeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious!

[Ericka annamarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple story that is easy to follow but will still have you laughing out loud.

[Bee (BacchusVines) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This was way more fun and exciting than I thought. I love these kinds of books.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think is pretty funny.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than expected! The 4-koma format really did the work.

[Anthony Chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was HELLA funny!! i'm here for it. that 1 groping part was problematic tho.