The Fall 2023 Manga Guide

Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated Into a Total Fantasy Knockout

What's It About? 

Nerdy office worker Hinata has once again blundered at a singles mixer, no thanks to his hunky best friend, Jinguji, who's always by his side. While he's grumbling about it on the way home, a naked goddess appears out of nowhere and sends the two friends to another world--while also turning Hinata into a hot young woman! To regain Hinata's original body, Hinata and Jinguji set off on a journey to defeat the demon king, even if Hinata's new feminine form gives them...unexpected feelings. Can they save this fantasy world before their lifelong bromance becomes a romance?

Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout has a story by Yū Tsurusaki and art by Shin Ikezawa. The English translation is by Mario Varo, adapted by Benjamin Wilgus, and lettered by Carl Vanstiphout. Published by ‎Seven Seas Entertainment (September 12, 2023).

Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

Although at first blush this can look like a sneaky way to avoid writing a same-sex relationship, the truth is a bit different: it's not that Jinguji can't fathom himself in a relationship with his best friend Tachibana; it's that he can't quite picture that relationship if Tachibana suddenly turned into a woman, thus making it more “acceptable.” But even that's way too serious a description for this because it's a ridiculous story about two guys in their thirties who get isekai'd away by a peculiar goddess and have to figure out both the whole isekai thing and whether or not their sudden attraction to each other is the product of the goddess' curse. Here's a hint: I don't think it is.

I'm having a hard time writing about this because every time I set down what this is about on paper, or what the jokes are, I feel like it sounds incredibly awful, like it's “Gay Panic: the Manga.” And yes, a lot of the humor comes from Jinguji desperately trying to deny how incredibly attracted he is to Tachibana while conveniently forgetting that he wondered back in Japan if he wants to be with him romantically – and that he doesn't want him to find a girlfriend. Both the writing and the art play this aspect up really well, and one scene where Tachibana and Jinguji are trying desperately not to show how much they want to hold hands is excellently drawn. The book is at its best when it's leaning into the absurdity of the story and world, from the utterly terrifying bunny-bear they meet in the woods to the truth about said bunny-bear and their ill-fated meeting with a noble elf. Even the way Tachibana gets a crash course in being a woman when a group of bandits become enamored with them is pretty great, and it's much more rote than the rest of the story.

The pacing here helps – the book moves quickly, and the jokes don't wear out their welcome, even if they return after a few pages. Mostly the translation helps with this, but I don't love that Jinguji twice uses the word “slut” to refer to women he doesn't like. It's presumably to show that he's what used to be called a “woman hater,” which is at least partially coded language for queer but also has connotations of someone who prefers to be single, but frankly, the word is so loaded that I feel like a better one could have been found. But that aside, this is both fun in its own right and a good accompaniment to its anime adaptation. If you liked the latter, it's worth picking this up.