Habara Takami is a young girl with good looks, but since she is constantly surrounded by male family members, she became boyish. Takami always wanted a little sister and she finds that in Sasaki Akira, a boy two years her junior and a talented pianist. Takami and Akira have been friends for the longest time and take the same piano classes. She treasures Akira dearly, after all, her “little sister” is quite a gentle and a delicate person. However, Akira suddenly kisses her out of the blue! How will Takami respond to Akira’s feelings when she only views him as a very important friend?

From the premise alone, Venus Capriccio will surely be a manga that you will enjoy if you want something similar to Otomen. Otomen’s Asuka and Ryo mirror Venus Capriccio’s Akira and Takami in a lot of ways. The obvious one is that Akira is more feminine, while Takami is more masculine in nature. Although that may be, Akira can be very intimidating if something happens to Takami, like how Asuka is very protective of Ryo. Akira is also the one who falls in love first and is very much loving and supportive of Takami despite her brash attitude and her obliviousness. While Ryo and Takami are very much alike, Takami can also be associated with Asuka too. Both of them do try their best to hide who they really are because their respective mothers are not in favor of them acting opposite to their gender.

Oda Shinobu also has the same role as Juta Tachibana. Both male characters seem to be the “third party” in the main characters’ relationship, but in truth, they help and support them in their own little way to further the protagonists’ relationship with each other. Venus Capriccio is definitely a must read! If you have finished reading this awesome manga, then we recommend that you read Cyboy which is also done by Nishikata Mai. Like Venus Capriccio and Otomen, Cyboy tells a story of a boy who tries to act cool so he can hide his nerdy side from everyone.

“Samurai” Sengoku Mei is admired by both male and female students. She’s brave, strong, and a very determined person overall. However, to her shock, the girliest male in the school, Fuji Shirou, unexpectedly confesses his love and admiration to her! She flat out refuses Shirou’s confession immediately and continues on with her daily life. Nevertheless, Shirou is persistent with his advances and stirs up Mei, especially when Shirou saves her from a certain incident. From then on, Mei questions what being strong really means. Is it the capability to fight with strength alone? Or is it about protecting someone even though they are weak?

Mizutama Honey Boy is another manga about a feminine boy falling for a strong boyish girl. Just like Asuka in Otomen, Shirou is exceptional when it comes to sewing and cooking. They have the same hobbies of loving and creating cute things. However, unlike Asuka, Shirou fully embraces this side of his and is very proud to show his feminine side to the people around him! His mother and sisters are very supportive of him, thus the reason why he doesn’t need to hide his inner self like Asuka does.

Meanwhile, Mei is the same as Ryo, she doesn’t know how to cook or patch things up like Shirou. Nonetheless, she makes up for it by being a badass heroine who can kick any strong butts out there! Let’s say she’s the more mature and calmer version of Ryo. If you love the hilarious comedy of Otomen, then Mizutama Honey Boy will not disappoint you! While it’s much funnier than Otomen, romantic and adorable moments are still a staple in this manga.

Every girl dreams of falling in love and having lots of friends during their high school life, and Sugina Hatsune is no different. She’s kind and is ready to assist anyone, but the catch is: her mouth is too vulgar and she acts too masculine for others’ taste. That’s right, Hatsune is too frank and unfashionable! That’s where Koganezawa Kirie, the school’s “gay guy”, comes in. Kirie accepts Hatsune as a member of the maiden’s club, a club that does everything that is girl related. Will she be able to fulfill her high school dream?

When you combine Asuka and Shirou, the result will be Kirie. Kirie isn’t nearly as girly as Shirou but also isn’t secretive about his true self like Asuka. Kirie usually shows his super feminine side when he sees a girl who needs major help with their love life or their fashion sense. Besides that and his random girly gestures, he’s just your average boy. Like Asuka and Shirou, he is proficient in anything that is girl related. He’s good with his hands, loves cute and fluffy things, he’s a total fashionista, and will not tolerate seeing girls who have bad fashion sense; which brings us to Hatsune!

Same as Ryo, Hatsune is pretty boyish. She acts more than she thinks and is quite rash in most situations. Even though she is like this, she is very helpful to other people and really wants to do her best to please those around her. Even though she usually doubts herself, reminding us of Ryo, she has Kirie by her side to accept and love everything about her, flaws and all!

Feeling the courage to confess her love swelling deep within her, Sakura Chiyo confronts her crush, Nozaki Umetarou, and tells him what she feels. Unfortunately, the guy is too dense and mistakes Chiyo as his fan! It turns out that Nozaki is the famous shoujo mangaka Sakiko Yumeno. Wanting to close the gap between her and Nozaki, she decides to be his assistant; and there, her funny adventures of love and silly interactions with interesting people begin!

Although Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun doesn’t fully focus on romance like Otomen, both manga have lots of things in common, but we will shorten the list and only write the prominent ones. The first one is that Mikoshiba is very similar to Asuka. Mikoshiba doesn’t have the same hobbies as Asuka, but he is kindhearted and delicate like him. He is like your typical girlfriend that you can converse with about cute things and, of course, your love life! Mikoshiba also tries to hide his adorable self behind a cool mask; however, like Asuka, it frequently slips away without him realizing it.

The second similarity is that Ryo is pretty much like Kashima! Both girls are very manly and strong. They also tend to misunderstand things a lot, which is a running gag in both of the series. Lastly, Nozaki is like Juta Tachibana. They are both shoujo mangaka who base their story and characters on their surroundings. They also do odd and silly things in order to find inspiration for what to write next. Juta is the author of Love Chick, which Asuka is a fan of, while Nozaki is the author of Let’s fall in love. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun and Otomen are manga that will entertain you endlessly. Even though the focus of both manga differs, both series showcase characters that are fun to read and interactions that are unforgettable!

A handsome boy, Shinohara En, confesses his feelings to Saotome Hinata. Hinata is on cloud nine when she fully processes in her mind that such a gorgeous man admires and likes someone like her. But she also realizes that En is the most beautiful looking “girl” in the school. She finds out that En likes to crossdress and hates all men in general, including his own reflection. To counter this, he crossdresses to avoid the impulse of smashing any mirrors he sees with his reflection on them. Even though she knows about En’s unusual hobby, Hinata still goes out with him anyway.

Usotsuki Lily is another romantic comedy that you need to write down on your reading list! Like our previous selections, it features a feminine boy but with an average teenage girl. However, En is different from our previous male leads in the sense that he loves to crossdress a lot! He loves girly things but will try to be a man just for his beloved Hinata. Hinata, on the other hand, is just your normal girl. But thanks to being in a relationship with En, she tends to crossdress as a boy and acts as En’s “boyfriend” when she does. There are some situations in Usotsuki Lily that will remind you of Otomen. Like Asuka and Ryo’s development, the manga also explores En’s and Hinata’s relationship and how their bond gets stronger throughout the manga. Usotsuki Lily is like Otomen, but more hilarious and even more ridiculous!

Ikeda Yoshinori is a part-time photographer who suddenly ends up in a mess thanks to his sister’s forgetfulness. He decides to crossdress as a bride in order to fill in a modeling job that his sister missed. However, he finds out that he loves to crossdress as a girl and chooses to continue being a model under the name “Yuki”. While trying to hide his other persona, things get complicated when he falls in love with Morii Hidari, his childhood friend and neighbor; and with Kurokawa Minamo, his classmate and Hidari’s home tutor.

Yubisaki Milk Tea is the same as Usotsuki Lily. We have a male lead who loves to crossdress. Still, he tries to hide his feminine hobbies because he is afraid of being judged by other people, reflecting Asuka’s tendencies to hide everything related to being girly from his mother. Although Yubisaki Milk Tea is listed as a comedy, it is still filled with dramatic moments and heavy scenes. In fact, this manga is the most dramatic manga on the list. So if you like something similar to Otomen but with a more serious atmosphere, then Yubisaki Milk Tea is the right choice for you!