There's been an increasing influx of LGBTQ+ manga in more recent years, but I feel like really good trans representation has been lacking. Well, here it is! This was a joy to read. I'm looking forward to following our protagonist duo and their friends through more stories.

Published by Random House Children's Books and available July 1, 2025, I Wanna Be Your Girl is a little late for Pride Month, but it's never too late for trans stories. Hime's best friend Akira is beginning her social transition as they start high school. As a queer person I was immediately drawn in and repeatedly punched in the gut, but in a good way. The art is adorable and I love the characters, especially Hime and Akira (Anzu is a little annoying so far so I'm not a big fan of her). Aside from the issues that arise from Akira being a trans girl, the kids experience the usual high school drama -- crushes, jealousy, defensiveness, and anger. It has a good message of letting people figure things out on their own time, and not making people's identities about your own feelings (too often the loved ones of trans people are concerned with how they feel about the trans person in their life, rather than how the actual trans person feels). This is going to be an amazing series for younger readers, both LGBTQ+ kids and young allies.

This book's premise IMMEDIATELY drew me in. As a trans person, cozy manga with transgender main characters are so few and far between! I was overjoyed to see this book in the catalogs, and was even more excited when I was approved for the Netgalley ARC for it.

I really enjoyed the characters in this manga. The side characters didn't have much depth quite yet, but I expect that they will be more developed in future volumes, since this is only volume one.

I will definitely be reading more, as I'm interested in the journey of Hime and her identity, as well as Akira's journey with her gender presentation!

Akira has decided to transition and live as a girl now they she's in high school, and has Hime, her close friend and protector to cover her back. When the first day is particularly challenging, Akira strongly considers going back in the boy's uniform her dad bought for her. Hime, in order to support Akira fully, decides she'll wear the boy's uniform instead. Along the way they deal with prejudiced kids, and Hime has to deal with her own jealously as Akira makes new friends and has a crush on a boy.

This is really Hime's story more than it is Akira's, and charts a number of awakenings of her own as she discovers her own feelings about gender and sexuality (and for Akira). Hime nearly bowls over a teacher at first seems like a stuffy old curmudgeon, but ultimately ends up being surprisingly sensitive and giving the most nuanced view the comic has of these issues (beyond messages like: jerk class-clown is a transphobic jerk, etc.). It gives me hope that the story will continue to evolve in a positive way in future volumes.

There is some pretty real-feeling normalized homophobia and transphobia on display, so reader beware.

This was an overall cute manga that explores the lives of two friends: one, Akira, who is exploring her new gender identity as a girl and her best friend Hime, who is struggling to identify her sexuality and specifically her feelings towards Akira herself. I feel like with this first volume, those discussions on gender and sexuality were handled carefully. I did find Hime to be a difficult character to follow because of her more brash and aggressive nature, but I enjoyed that she started to be more kind and considerate of the feelings of people around her. This was cute and fun and I am happy that an American publisher has taken on this book for translation because I think this can be a great manga for young adults (especiallyyyyyyy right now).

This was a great start to a series and talks about so many important subjects within the LGBTQ community. Our main character was a lot at many points, but I'm excited to see how she grows and learns how to be a good friend.

This is so good! I love that Hime is such a great friend and fierce ally, and that she's always accepted Akira and stood up for her. But she does have a lot to learn - about herself, her feelings, and her new classmates. While some of the students and adults don't accept Akira as a girl, they soon become the minority. One teacher in particular watches out for Akira and Hime, and offers good advice as Hime tries to navigate her feelings and what she thinks her role is as Akira's best friend and defender. I feel like this story, for all of its humor and slapstick moments, does a great job of getting into complex relationships, emotions, gender presentation, and more. It's cute, fun, thought provoking, and I can't wait to read more of the series!

This LGBTQ+ themed manga explores issues of identity and social perception. Unfortunately, the execution fell flat for me. I wasn't very invested in the characters, and the story dragged a lot. I wish the author had found a more dynamic way of explaining the concept of gender identity and self-expression to the audience. I don't see it holding a lot of readers' attentions. Hopefully, there is more action/plot in the second book!

A fantastic and fun start to a pivotal series that makes me really emotional on every page. I loved the characters, and identified so deeply with some of the frustrations, but it remained a mostly chill experiential read. Excited to see where this series goes.

This was too cute!! A sweet shoujo manga following two girls, one who is trans and the other who is realizing she is in love with the first. It packed a lot of emotional growth in just a few chapters, I never felt bored! I read the Ink Pop edition from RH Graphic, thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC!

If you're looking for trans positive manga and comics, here it is! Hime has been best friends with Akira for a long time and always saw Akira as a girl after she confided that to her. Now the two are in high school and Akira is the girl she always wanted to be. When the first day goes badly, Hime jumps in with anger and decides to wear Akira's cast off boy uniform because she thinks making a statement is helping. This book handles nuances of being trans in a culture that doesn't get it while also being a typical romance manga. Acceptance comes for Akira and Hime starts to realize how important Akira is to her.

Solid title for LGTBQ+ manga collections. Really happy to see more titles like this hitting the market now.

This was a surprisingly cute and sensitive story about the relationship between a trans girl and her... probably cis girl? Possibly genderqueer or genderquestioning? best friend, who may be going a little overboard in trying to protect her from their classmates. I was expecting a very preachy afterschool special-style "trans people are people too" story but this went in a different direction, which I appreciated. I'll keep an eye out for the next book in the series!

This is such a sweet series so far. Hime is rough around the edges but well-intentioned and protective of Akira. Volume 1 spends a lot of time exploring this aspect of Hime as she tries to be supportive of Akira's transition but sometimes misses the mark in her rush to defend Akira. The art style features some great, over-the-top reaction images and facial expressions, and the additional supporting characters introduced in Volume 1 are well done and bring their own approaches to supporting Akira. I especially enjoy the moments of joy on Akira's face when she experiences typical high school girl get togethers and activities for the first time with Hime and new friends. Looking forward to Volume 2!

Hime has long held feelings for her friend Akira, and her overzealous nature causes her to explode at people who mean her harm. When Akira decides to enter high school as an out trans girl, Hime does everything she can to defend her, even when she doesn't necessarily want it. In this first volume, Hime and Akira navigate the first several weeks of high school, make new friends, and discover new clubs. This is a promising start to a fun slice-of-life story about navigating gender and relationships in high school.

I was a bit skeptical when I saw that this title was on the children's imprint of the publisher, but after reading it, that classification is reasonable. Identity doesn't have to be something deep or complicated, in Akira's case, it's just who she is. Hime is trying to be supportive, as she always has been since they were children, but with this significant change, Hime has to sort out if she's really on the defensive for Akira's sake, or is it for herself? This is indeed a family-friendly title, and has a promising set up for the next volume.

I'm a bit undecided on how I feel about this book's portrayal of the trans and LGBTQ+ communities. I think it does realistically show the many social obstacles that come up for trans folks who are beginning the transitioning process (esp. considering how this would influence more gendered societies with language, uniforms, etc) and I appreciate the intended allyship of the main character. I also did find some parts a little problematic; it seems like there is some internalized homophobia that might be coming up from the MC in future volumes and I also felt like the MC deciding to wear a boys uniform to support her transitioning friend (who was wearing the girls uniform) might actually have the opposite effect in reality (i.e. I think clothing shouldn't be gendered in the first place, but the MC also switching uniforms when she doesn't actually identify as a male felt counter to the message intended when her friend switched uniforms). I was excited for the trans and LGBTQ+ representation in this new manga series, but I'm not sure that this is a series I would continue reading given some of the problematic representation in this first volume.

This manga is about a girl named Hime who has a childhood friend named Akira that she's secretly been in love with for a while. Akira admits to Hime that she's actually not a boy, but a girl. For a while this is a secret shared between them but at the start of secondary school Akira decides to come out by wearing a girl's uniform to school. The story navigates their school experiences combined with them growing as individuals and processing their emotions.

I have a hard time with Hime, as she's confrontational and likes to jump to conclusions. The story started off in a way that made me lose interest quickly, but I stuck with it and can say that the direction it's heading in by the end of the volume is one that ended up piquing my interest.

This is such a lovely manga. The art style is a motive and vocative. The storyline explores what it means to support the people you love, unwaveringly, and also how to learn to be yourself. I loved the characters and look forward to seeing where this series goes.

I was given a copy of this manga to read by net Galley and exchange for an honest opinion.

A sweet story with straightforward and open characters. Everyone is so forthright in this book! I found it refreshing how protective and supportive Hime is of Akira, and the side characters that were introduced are interesting and bring a fun dynamic to the group. The topic of identity is handled really sensitively and well, and I can see plenty of potential for strong development in the cast of characters.

I Wanna Be Your Girl by Umi Takase
This is a manga about a girl's struggle with her best friend's transition.

Akira and Hime have been best friends since they were very little. For years, Hime has been crushing on Akira. But when they are 12, Akira tells Hime they feel more like a girl. Hime is surprised but immediately understanding and suggests they start using more feminine pronouns.

We see, three years later, Hime and Akira are starting high school, and Hime is supportive of Akira, who is now going to start living as a girl and wearing a girls uniform to school. Akira is immediately called out, and Hime comes to her rescue, scolding the teacher and other children for criticizing her. Hime also decides to wear a boys uniform in solidarity with Akira.
The two meet Taneno, a girl who thinks Akira is cute. Hime is skeptical of Taneno offering her friendship. But Hime has to learn that she can't always come to Akira's rescue. She does some self reflecting and realizes she needs to consider Akira's feelings and let her handle her own issues. Hime also realizes she is still struggling with crushing on her best friend, but she understands she is a girl and doesn't know what that means about her. It's interesting to see Hime's self reflecting.

The story isn't so much about Akira and her transition as much as it's about Hime learning to deal with her emotions and be a supportive friend while someone close to her transitions. It's an interesting look at a point of view that I hadn't really thought about much before. I definitely want to keep reading this series and see where Hime and Akira and their friendship ends up.