Now that I'm done, I'm just left with mixed feelings. I did enjoy it in the beginning and liked the cast of eccentric characters, at least when it comes to the male characters. The female lead is unfortunately underdeveloped and underused. This is a story about men who look like typical male leads but all have feminine hobbies and likes that they hide, but embrace when they come together.
The female lead, Ryo, is the opposite. A woman who is very boyish. However, since we've seen this trope in stories before, she just feels there. It's honestly weird. Despite being a catalyst for the male lead, Asuka, for accepting himself, she's really nonexistent and has little to no development throughout the 74 chapters here. It kind of feels like it she wasn't in the story, Otomen wouldn't have changed much.
The other characters are a lot and have unique traits, but while it was fun at the beginning, they didn't change much. I guess that's okay, but I wanted some more growth.
The romance is...I guess it's there, but I don't get why they're together when they're hardly together.
I feel like if I was younger, I would have enjoyed this more. But as it stands now, I just find myself disappointed. No growth. No change. Everyone feels one note and the female lead is just there.
But I did finish it, so I guess that counts for something.
