- #1
Any genderbender novel is TS. So please dear god, why the hell is there a genderbender novel that does absolutely nothing with the concept of a male being in a female body? No, I don't really need a social commentary in my fantasy novels or magical novels where someone transmigrates into the opposite s*x, but seriously, the surface level depth that this show goes into with Kotone is staggering.Our main character doesn't feel very much different despite being the opposite s*x. There's practically no adjustment needed, and none of the different problems that men and women face are reflected in this novel. She "glares" at people and suddenly s*xual harassment is gone. Kotone rejects even wearing clothes that expose her skin. Despite there being a blatant mismatch between the MC's former body and personality and her current one, there's never a reconciliation. The novel even starts off with saying that the MC was very effeminate, even in his previous life. Why not have a curious main character learn the differences? It's just one of the many charms of reading gender bender slice of life. "The Struggle of a Young TS Yuki-Onna" does a much better description of this. Having to deal with female classmates, male ones as a different gender, it's a different experience. Even g*ooming yourself and conducting yourself is completely different. And oh no, I can't even imagine the novel talking about romance! Now, I really don't care about romance in a gender bender, and I honestly think it's better if it's left untouched. However, coming terms with your s*x is completely different than this novel being about romance.This novel is set in modern Japan, so forgive me if I expect more realisticness. In other novels where it's reincarnated in a fantasy world, my suspension of disbelief is more forgiving. After all, noble houses, going to a school meant for nobles, and there being an inherent power disbalance in medieval society makes more sense. This show basically just shoves in "there are 12 great families" in modern Japan as if it's not the most haphhazard BS worldbuilding that's ever happened. Finally, the happenings in academies fit more. After all, people can die when they're fighting monsters in a fantasy world, or there's an inherent threat to humanity or something. If there's drama, fights, or straight up discrimination that happens, you can kind of just chalk it up to how society was formed. Most importantly, it's a fantasy setting, while real world settings I can directly relate to, making it a much more harsh assessment of this garbage world that Kotone is in.Now, let's take a look at this novel. It kind of just takes those tropes from those transmigrated to a swords and magic world and puts it in modern Japan. The entire novel is just Kotone, our MC trying to repair the reputation that the previous owner had accumulated over her life. And it's very predictably boring. Kotone is a damsel in distress She gets bullied, her class is forgiving, she's given many chances, etc. All the people she interacts with tends to be very friendly and nice. I don't care, actually. I wish there were actual characters that felt real. EYou have extreme cliches, like Kotone being pushed off the stairs and the school body defending her, or a blatantly corrupt teacher making her life miserable. Are you trying to make Kotone appear more likeable? I wish instead of these cringe scenarios, you just had Kotone go about her life in a slice of life manner. Other characters are even worse. We have one character whose presence is very weak and hard to notice. Ach character feels like they belong in a comedy rather than reflecting the real world. You have a principle taking love advice from Kotone. Kotone cooking dinner for her neighbor everyday. The student council president always causing problems, in a comedic way. At some point, you have to actually write good character rather than pursuing archetypes that's been done over and over again, and this author certainly doesn't do it better.