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It may be because I’m going to Yaoi Con this weekend, but for some reason I was in the mood for a gender-bendering manga, and Otomen perfectly fit the bill.

The cover illustration alone – featuring Asuka, the main character, wearing a flower in his hair – tells you that you are about to meet a different kind of male protagonist. On the outside, Asuka is a nationally-ranked martial arts competitor and is admired by the other male students. His handsome face and stoic appearance have the girl students falling all over him.

But secretly, Asuka Masamune loves to cook, sew, and stitch little stuffed animals. He makes beautiful bento lunches and is addicted to reading a shojo manga entitled “Love Chick” which – oddly enough – features a female protagonist named Asuka who has a hard time being her true self in front of others.

Asuka’s father left the family early on to become a transsexual, and Asuka’s mother is dead-set against Asuka being anything other than the manliest of men. Asuka tries his hardest, but he just loves doing typical girl-type activities. His friend Juta notices this and encourages Asuka in his feminine ways and to be who he truly is.

Once Asuka meets Ryo, however – a girl who only likes manly men – he is now faced with a dilemma. Ryo is a tomboy incapable of cooking or sewing or doing any traditionally feminine things. Can Asuka hide his girly hobbies and still win Ryo’s heart? And why is Juta seemingly pushing him towards Ryo? Could it be that the secret author of “Love Chick” is actually Juta… who is using Asuka as the perfect role model for his female protagonist?

I laughed out loud several times while reading Otomen, which is rare for me. When Asuka doubts his path and tries to return to being manly, he stops reading “Love Chick” and reads a manga called “Shonen Junk” instead. And his expression when a martial arts student tears his uniform is priceless. He so wants to sew up that rip!

As the back cover of Volume I says, “Having girly hobbies doesn’t make you less manly!” The gentle message of Otomen is that you need to be who you truly are to be fully alive – and happy. It’s also just a fun, fun read.

Otomen is published by Viz Media. Volume 4 of Otomen is due out next week.

Jan Suzukawa works in the manga industry as a freelance editor and English adaptation writer. Website: www.jansuzukawa.com. Blog: jansuzukawa.blogspot.com.

Vampires are in vogue these days, what with Twilight and True Blood, and a new manga series from TOKYOPOP falls perfectly in line with the new craze.

Bloody Kiss is about Kiyo Katsuragi, a girl who inherits a haunted mansion from her late grandmother. Unbeknownst to Kiyo, the mansion comes with a few extras: two vampires.

Kuroboshi is a bishonen who is looking for his “bride.” As he explains to Kiyo, vampires only drink the blood of one human, and that person is known as the vampire’s bride. Alshu, the other vampire, is Kuroboshi’s attendant. When the two were expulsed from their vampire clan due to Kuroboshi’s half-human blood (his mother was human), they were taken in by Kiyo’s grandmother and raised in the mansion.

At first Kiyo decides to sell the mansion and kick them out, but gradually she becomes attached to the two vampires. Kuroboshi and Alshu show up at Kiyo’s school and help her out of a few fixes, and Kiyo begins to fall for Kuroboshi. If only he would stop wanting to drink her blood!

Kiyo is an independent girl who can take care of herself, and she’s not above punching out Kuroboshi when he gets obnoxious. Kuroboshi pretends not to care about Kiyo, but of course he actually does. The art is cute and the growing attraction between Kiyo and Kuroboshi is believable, making Bloody Kiss a fun read for the shojo audience.

Volume 2 of the series is due to be released in November 2009.

Bloody Kiss was created by Kazuko Furumiya. Published by TOKYOPOP.

Jan Suzukawa works in the manga industry as a freelance editor and English adaptation writer. Website: www.jansuzukawa.com. Blog: jansuzukawa.blogspot.com.