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.

I Wanna Be Your Girl is a beautiful story of a trans girl, Akira, finally coming out and living life as a girl at her new high school. Her best friend Hime, who's been secretly in love with her since childhood, acts as Akira's protector and in trying to prevent further bullying starts dressing as a boy in support of Akira.
This book was an extremely heartwarming and it often had me kicking my little feeties as I was reading it. I not only will be suggesting my library to pick this series up, but I'll also be personally purchasing the series and continuing on as more volumes are translated. I've not seen personally many trans stories come out of Japan so far, with this being my first exposure, but it was such a fantastic read and has me excited for future volumes!

This is such an interesting concept for a manga series and I'm very excited to read more. All of the characters feel distinct and important to the narrative. I'm most excited for our POV character's exploration of both their sexuality and own gender identity. They've spent so long focused on their friend/crush that now that we're seeing some introspection it's clear there's a lot more going on inside. The artwork was also consistent, and the length was about what I expect from a manga volume. Great first volume, I hope the series continues at this level.

Incredible concept for a manga and I hope we see more queer coming of age stories like this.

While I loved the concept Hime was very hard to like as a character. She is just constantly angry and yells at everyone which was very annoying after the 3rd time. I wish the book focused more on Akira but I did like how it was focused on Allyship. I will say there was really good character development Hime did get better as it went on/

I will continue with the series if given the opportunity since I am interested in seeing how much more these characters can grow.

I am still getting used to the format of mangas as I am pretty new to the manga world, but this was a really unique coming of age and queer story. I loved the character dynamic between Hime and Akira, and the way Akira is so proudly herself, but it was Hime's journey through the book that was most intriguing. Going from a very reactionary, scared girl, and coming into herself, learning to listen more, and hear out the people around her instead of always assuming the worst in them. This was a really refreshing coming out story. The art style was beautiful on this manga, and I loved the unique look of each character.

I wanna Be Your Girl by Umi Takase is a heartfelt story of two childhood friends facing high school as one of them begins her transition into a girl. It tackles the subject with grace and tact but still manages to have conflict an humor without belaboring the point. A small amount of finesse is lost in the translation from its original form, but not enough to detract form the story. There are also very helpful cultural and translation notes included in this publication that help to keep the integrity of the message across the language barrier. Overall, this translation into English was done quite well and the story is worth a read.

A manga featuring a trans main character? My expectations were on the floor for this one, but I was still hopeful enough to give it a go. The world needs more diverse manga out there that actually respects the characters and doesn't make them the butt of the joke. Akira is no joke, but Hime sure seems like it. This first volume felt a little bit all over the place with Hime jumping down anyone and everyone's throats about Akira being trans. She is taking allyship to an extreme to the point it almost feels like a complete swing from one caricature to another, so I don't really know how to feel about this series. I'm interested in seeing how the story plays out in further volumes to see if the pacing will settle in and let the story and characters breathe and grow. It's definitely worth a read and will get put on my list of queer manga recommendations.

This is a queer coming-of-age manga. I have never seen anything like this before and I adore the concept. I think some parts are heavy-handed (and maybe they need to be). The only thing I didn't enjoy was how much anger Hime had, but I guess she's a teen so I get it. I want to see more plot. The girls didn't do much in this volume. There was no goal and no motive. I am definitely giving this another chance in the second volume because of the uniqueness of the topic!

I fully support a coming-of-age manga about a trans girl! I hope to see more books like this in the future.

The set up for this manga is wonderful and I love having a trans main character, but I found Hime a little annoying especially in the beginning. I know she's young and also dealing with her first crush but I hope we see a lot of character growth from her in the future. Also I wish this was from Akira's POV since this should be her story but instead this is more Hime's story.

I Wanna Be Your Girl follows two highschool students, Akira who considers herself a girl and Hime who is her closest friend. Akira takes the step of wearing a girl's uniforms and after getting questions and comments not understanding gender, Hime wears a male uniform as a way to protect Akira. The two explore gender, friendship, and learn about each other in these important years and I cannot wait to continue reading this series.

Ahh, young love. Thanks so much for the DRC!

Hime-chan is a true ride or die for her trans best friend, Akira-Chan. Except, she's kind of in love with her which confuses her so much.

The first volume was so juicy. We got to know so many characters and to delve into our MCs back stories. It's funny that Hime-chan never thought to ask Akira-Chan what type of people she was attracted to. Seeing her blush over a guy sends Hime into shock. She ended up cheering her friend on but I wonder how it'll all unravel in upcoming volumes.

I'm so happy to see Akira -chans mom is at least accepting and supportive.

Also the title is hilarious. Two chapters in and I could tell Hime was head over heels and didn't even realize it.

I loved this Manga! I want more volumes right now! This may actually be one of my new favorites. This was cute and still deals with some serious subjects. I loved the characters even the side characters were great. Seriously this was an amazing manga and I can not wait for volume 2!

this is such an important, insightful, and heartfelt manga for teens (or really tweens and up) to read with all the great lessons and diversity it includes. The internal conflicts are very realistic with a touch of lighthearted silliness to them and the relationships are already complicated in a reasonable way. It kind of annoyed me how much jealousy there is being included, but it ended up being one of the many great lessons of this manga and I'm super excited to see where it goes

"There are more than two ways to be human" (182).

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's, Random House Graphic, and Umi Takase for the opportunity to read this manga in exchange for an honest review.

Akira and Hime have been friends since childhood, but when they were twelve, Akira shared her identity as "she" with her best friend. Now in high school, Akira wants to openly be herself, not wanting to feel like she needs to hide. Best friend Hime is a gung-ho supporter and yells at anyone who so much as looks at Akira the wrong way! When another girl comes onto the scene, Hime starts to feel something she didn't quite expect: jealousy.

This is a wholesome manga that explores key themes of identity, such as finding oneself and exploring who one is. This seems to go for not only the main characters, but secondary characters as well. This manga offers a great way for teens to understand what transitioning and identity might be like for someone who doesn't fit the gender they were assigned.

A great manga with educational value for teens!

Hime and Akira have known each other from childhood. Hime knows Akira's biggest secret: Akira is a girl. When Akira decides to start wearing a girl's uniform to school, things shift within the friendship. Hime is desperately trying to hide her crush and Akira must now deal with the general confusion and sometimes outright hostility living as her true self creates amongst her classmates. Hime decides she's going to start coming to school in the boy's uniform in support.

I think there are several things this first volume has going for it, but I'd like to see more of the story. Instead of following Akira, the main point of view is Hime, so the manga, while focusing on trans ideas is really an exploration of allyship. Hime's decision to start coming to the school in a boy's uniform seems a bit misinformed and her first reaction to just about everything is to yell at things hoping the problem will go away. She also has trouble separating her personal feelings from her judgement when it comes to truly supporting Akira. Many of the 'lessons' Hime is learning in the first volume is that true support for Akira means thinking of Akira first rather than herself and it's honestly pretty refreshing.

I think Hime has the potential to be an annoying protagonist, but I want to keep reading to see where the story goes.

The most note worthy aspect of this series is Akira, who is doing her best to be the girl she's always known that she is. While I wish we had more of her perspective, I understand the focus on overprotective Hime, and her determination to keep her friend happy and safe in their new school life. She's forced to tackle her own feelings, and perceptions when Akria gains more friends by being herself. I'm glad more series like this are coming out in English. Variety is good!

This was a sweet title that I think would be excellent for teenagers to get more perspective on the lives of trans teenagers and the people who love them. It carefully deals with the topics laid out, while still keeping a sweet and hopeful theme throughout. The main character not only learned how to be a better ally/friend to her trans best friend, but a lot about herself in the process.

I greatly appreciate how complex the emotions are in a book that is often over the top with exaggerated expressions. Hime and Akira's relationship is incredibly deep and challenging (especially for Hime). I loved the art and appreciated how the story often pulls back to take a moment and process emotions. I can't wait to read more!

This was a good start to the series. I enjoyed the characters and the topics that were discussed. The book reminds me a bit of Confessions of a Shy Baker, where it addresses topics within the LGBTQIA+ community but also discusses what it means to be a supportive ally and understanding what is helpful and what isn't. I'm interested to see where the story goes and what additional conversations and topics that it covers.