Fashion-lovers know that the magic of clothes and makeup is their ability to turn us into someone else for a while. 15-year-old Yoshinori (Nori for short), discovers this unexpectedly when he agrees to fill in for his beautiful older sister at a fashion shoot. No one knows that the beautiful bride in the wedding gown is really a boy, and Nori becomes addicted to changing identities with a change of clothes. It s not that he wants to be a girl he s got girl trouble enough as a boy. His childhood friend Hidari is growing up, and their friendship might be developing into something more, but brainy classmate Kurokawa gets his teenage hormones raging. Things get even more confusing when Hidari meets Yuki a really cool girl who mysteriously appears when Nori’s not around. Hmm…
Yubisaki Milk Tea (milk tea is the drink Nori and Hidari always share) is an unexpectedly sensitive and realistic story about first attraction, friendship, and identity. Nori s conflicted feelings and changing crushes are painfully true to life, and Tomochika Miyano is one of the few creators to explore cross-dressing without resorting to cliche’s or jokes. What prevents me from recommending this series whole-heartedly is the fan service while I can buy Nori’s gorgeous big sister walking around naked, the shots of pre-teen girls accidentally showing their underwear or posing shirtless cross the line between innocent and creepy. While these kinds of images are to be expected in some manga, they push Yubisaki Milk Tea into mature readers’ territory.
Yubisaki Milk Tea Volume 1
by Tomochika Miyano
ISBN: 9781598162905
Tokyopop , 2006
