History Main / OtokonokoGenre

"Otokonoko", also known as "Otoko no Musume", is a Japanese genre of romantic and/or erotic stories for men, focusing on AttractiveBentGender male {{Crossdresser}}s. The name is a pun.[[labelnote:Details]]The word "otokonoko" normally means "boy" (literally "male child"), but swapping the "ko" meaning "child" for a different "ko" meaning "girl" gives a compound that Japanese sites like to translate as "male maiden".[[/labelnote]] It is sometimes called '"josou" ("women's clothes"), a more generic term for male crossdressers. Western fandom uses the terms "trap", [[note]] Deriving from how otonoko or other similar male characters tend to appear convincingly female due to their effeminate appearance and [[DelicateIsBeautiful delicate figures]], until the male audience is caught off-guard by the fact that they ''aren't'' female. Some people find the term offensive due to perceived UnfortunateImplications involving the UnsettlingGenderReveal trope and the negative connotations of the normal meaning of "trap".[[/note]] "femboy", and -- less often -- "tomgirl" (as the opposite of {{Tomboy}}).

* If you were to explain otokonoko to someone, Bridget from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' would probably be the first character to come to mind for many, but he's not the focus of the series and the series predates the genre by a few years.

* ''Manga/LoveMeForWhoIAm'' - The series is about male assigned at birth people working in dresses at a cafe, and the characters do call themselves "otokonoko" sometimes, but it's not officially in the genre. The manga is also queer-themed as the protagonist is explicitly non-binary and at least two other characters are trans girls.

* ''Manga/PrincessJellyfish'' - Kuranosuke is an icon, well known for being both incredibly fashionable and a rare adult crossdresser, and the series does focus on the SiblingTriangle. But it doesn't quite fit the genre, being a {{josei}} aimed at young adult women.
* ''Manga/WJuliet'' - It is about a boy pretending to be a girl at school so his father will let him become an actor. His LoveInterest is technically the lead, though.

* ''Josou Jinja'' is a fairly generic otokonoko gay {{Hentai}} KineticNovel which is mainly notable for being the first one in the genre to be not only released in English but also given a widespread release on ''UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}'' (under the name ''Trap Shrine''). [[index]]

* ''Manga/IThinkITurnedMyChildhoodFriendintoAGirl'': A guy's childhood friend lets him practice makeup on him, and discovers that he likes presenting femininely. The guy finds himself attracted to his friend's new feminine appearance.

* ''Manga/OokamiShounenWaKyouMoUsoOKasaneru'' is about a NiceGuy with the FaceOfAThug. Being rejected by the girl he loves he runs to his CoolBigSis for help. She drugs his coffee and makes him look like a girl. Now he saves the girl he loves from some real thugs and LoveInterest reveals she has a cripling fear of boys. After a while he finds out that he actually likes being dressed like that more as he can be himself without people fearing him.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Happiness}}'' - Jun is pretty much the type-model for the "guy meets cute girl, finds out girl isn't a girl, decides he doesn't care" plot. Doesn't quite fit into the genre, as Jun is only one of a number of possible {{Love Interest}}s in the game and is mostly a side-character in the anime adaptations. On the other hand, Jun is also heavily implied to be transgender and can be romanced as a boy or, via magic, a girl.
* ''Manga/NoBra'' - Like ''Happiness!'', a model for the "guy meets cute girl, finds out girl isn't a girl, decides he doesn't care" storyline. Predates the genre, sometimes grandfathered in as it otherwise fits quite well (though like ''Hibari'', Yuki seems to be transgender).

* If you were to explain Otokonoko to someone, Bridget from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' would probably be the first character to come to mind for many, but he's not the focus of the series and the series predates the genre by a few years.

* ''Manga/NoBra'' - Like ''Happiness!'', a model for the "guy meets cute girl, finds out girl isn't a girl, decides he doesn't care" storyline. Predates the genre, sometimes grandfathered in as it otherwise fits quite well (though it's implied that Yuki is transgender).

An otokonoko character must be anatomically male (no {{Hermaphrodite}}s or {{Gender Bender}}s) but look convincingly like an attractive girl. Most identify as male, but even when the character identifies as female, [[TransgenderFetishization few works try to deal with]] actual {{Transgender}} issues in anything like a realistic way. Since otokonoko is mainly an {{otaku}} thing, otokonoko are quite likely to wear SailorFuku, {{Meido}}, {{Miko}}, CatGirl or {{Naughty Nurse Outfit}}s as well as "ordinary" female clothes.

* ''Manga/WanderingSon'' - The three "crossdressers" are all {{transgender}}, but the series is often mistaken for at Otokonoko series. ''Waai'' did run some articles and ads for the anime adaptation.

* ''Manga/BokuraNoHentai'' is light on the {{Fanservice}}, but it's {{seinen}} and therefore fits the "targeted towards men" part. Notably, one of the three main characters is explicitly {{transgender}}, while the other two are boys who are crossdressing for personal reasons. The series comes off as a GenreDeconstruction as with its cute art style and "Middle school crossdressers" premise it seems to be normal game, but the cast has a serious case of DysfunctionJunction and the series handles its topics seriously.

* ''Manga/StopHibarikun'' - Hibari is well-known as a classic in the genre, but the series predates the genre by at least twenty years, being from TheEighties. Hisashi Eguchi has commented on the fact that Hibari is supposed to be read as a openly gay feminine boy, however.

"Otokonoko", also known as "Otoko no Musume", is a Japanese genre of romantic and/or erotic stories for men, focusing on AttractiveBentGender male {{Crossdresser}}s. The name is a pun.[[labelnote:Details]]The word "otokonoko" normally means "boy" (literally "male child"), but swapping the "ko" meaning "child" for a different "ko" meaning "girl" gives a compound that Japanese sites like to translate as "male maiden".[[/labelnote]] It is sometimes called '"josou" ("women's clothes"), a more generic term for male crossdressers. Western fandom uses the terms "trap", [[note]] Deriving from how such male crossdressers tend to appear convincingly female due to their effeminate appearance and [[DelicateIsBeautiful delicate figures]], until the male audience is caught off-guard by the fact that they ''aren't'' female. Some people find the term offensive due to perceived UnfortunateImplications involving the UnsettlingGenderReveal trope and the negative connotations of the normal meaning of "trap".[[/note]] "femboy", and -- less often -- "tomgirl" (as the opposite of {{Tomboy}}).

"Otokonoko", also known as "Otoko no Musume", is a Japanese genre of romantic and/or erotic stories for men, focusing on AttractiveBentGender male {{Crossdresser}}s. The name is a pun.[[labelnote:Details]]The word "otokonoko" normally means "boy" (literally "male child"), but swapping the "ko" meaning "child" for a different "ko" meaning "girl" gives a compound that Japanese sites like to translate as "male maiden".[[/labelnote]] It is sometimes called '"josou" ("women's clothes"), a more generic term for male crossdressers. Western fandom uses the terms "trap"[[note]]Some people find the term offensive due to perceived UnfortunateImplications involving UnsettlingGenderReveal and the negative connotations of the normal meaning of "trap".[[/note]] and, less often, "tomgirl"(as the opposite of {{Tomboy}}).

"Otokonoko", also known as "Otoko no Musume", is a Japanese genre of romantic and/or erotic stories for men, focusing on AttractiveBentGender male {{Crossdresser}}s. The name is a pun.[[labelnote:Details]]The word "otokonoko" normally means "boy" (literally "male child"), but swapping the "ko" meaning "child" for a different "ko" meaning "girl" gives a compound that Japanese sites like to translate as "male maiden".[[/labelnote]] It is sometimes called '"josou" ("women's clothes"), a more generic term for male crossdressers. Western fandom uses the terms "trap" and, less often, "tomgirl"(as the opposite of {{Tomboy}}).[[note]]Some people find the term controversial due to perceived UnfortunateImplications involving UnsettlingGenderReveal and the negative connotations of the normal meaning of "trap".[[/note]]

Otokonoko features both girl-on-crossdresser and guy-on-crossdresser stories (it's one of the few places where you will find m/f stories and m/m stories side-by-side in the same magazine). The target audience is men who crossdress (or are interested), and men who have a fetish for crossdressers, and the art styles and tropes are typically those of male-oriented romance / {{ecchi}} / {{hentai}} material. There is also a significant PeripheryDemographic of female readers. (Although guy-on-guy otokonoko is often mistaken for BoysLoveGenre, and some Shoujo, Josei, boys love works, and [[OtomeGame otome games]] do include characters that identify as otokonoko, anything targeted to women is ''not'' the otokonoko genre.)

* ''Manga/StopHibarikun'' - Hibari is well-known as a classic in the genre, but the series predates the genre by at least twenty years, being from TheEighties. Also, Hibari is implied to be transgender.

"Otokonoko", also known as "Otoko no Musume", is a Japanese genre of romantic and/or erotic stories for men, focusing on AttractiveBentGender male {{Crossdresser}}s. The name is a pun.[[labelnote:Details]]The word "otokonoko" normally means "boy" (literally "male child"), but swapping the "ko" meaning "child" for a different "ko" meaning "girl" gives a compound that Japanese sites like to translate as "male maiden".[[/labelnote]] It is sometimes called '"josou" ("women's clothes"), a more generic term for male crossdressers. Western fandom uses the terms "trap" and, somewhat less often, "tomgirl"(as the opposite of {{Tomboy}}).[[note]]Some people find the term controversial due to perceived UnfortunateImplications involving UnsettlingGenderReveal and the negative connotations of the normal meaning of "trap".[[/note]]

"Otokonoko", also known as "Otoko no Musume", is a Japanese genre of romantic and/or erotic stories for men, focusing on AttractiveBentGender male {{Crossdresser}}s. The name is a pun.[[labelnote:Details]]The word "otokonoko" normally means "boy" (literally "male child"), but swapping the "ko" meaning "child" for a different "ko" meaning "girl" gives a compound that Japanese sites like to translate as "male maiden".[[/labelnote]] It is sometimes called '"josou" ("women's clothes"), a more generic term for male crossdressers. Western fandom uses the terms "tomgirl" (as the opposite of {{Tomboy}}) and, somewhat less often, "trap".[[note]]As this term carries some UnfortunateImplications involving UnsettlingGenderReveal and an actual trap generally being a terrible device, the use of this term is controversial, especially amongst people who are transgender.[[/note]]

* ''Franchise/TheIdolmaster'' - It has two iconic otokonoko characters, [[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterDearlyStars Ryo Akizuki]] and [[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterSideM Saki Mizushima]], the latter whom is voiced by an actual otokonoko. However, they are but two characters in a huge franchise; ''[=SideM=]'' is mainly aimed at women (though Saki is very popular with men), and Ryo stopped crossdressing in the TrueEnding of ''Dearly Stars'' and his subsequent appearances in ''[=SideM=]''. The two are total opposites when it comes to why they came to do it: Ryo was forced into it at first but came to love the people he knew while on the job, and Saki adores the practice, but was inspired to start crossdressing in the open after Ryo confessed the truth to his fans.

* ''Manga/BokuraNoHentai''[[/index]] is light on the {{Fanservice}}, but it's {{seinen}} and therefore fits the "targeted towards men" part. Notably, one of the three main characters is explicitly {{transgender}}, while the other two are boys who are crossdressing for personal reasons. The series comes off as a GenreDeconstruction as with its cute art style and "Middle school crossdressers" premise it seems to be normal game, but the cast has a serious case of DysfunctionJunction and the series handles its topics seriously.
[[index]]
* ''Manga/BrockenBlood''[[/index]]: a borderline example, started off as a gag comedy with a crossdressed [[MagicalGirl Magical Boy]] but has increased the crossdressing-fanservice levels to appeal to otokonoko fans.
[[index]]
* ''Manga/HikarutoHikari''[[/index]]: A young boy is made to crossdress by his childhood friend for a singing contest, and discovers that he is far more confident in himself as his new alter-ego.
* ''Manga/{{Himegoto}}''[[/index]] by Norio Tsukudani, a rare 4-koma work (at least the first few chapters). The first in the genre to get an anime, though it was badly received.
** ''Himegoto Plus'': A spinoff focusing on the main character's little brother.
* ''Josou Shounen'', An ongoing (as of 2014) manga anthology featuring cross-dressing boys. The majority of the stories have romantic elements to them. Some more notable recurring series include the following-
** ''Hatsu Kokuhaku'': A boy is [[DraggedIntoDrag roped into cross-dressing]] in order to get closer to a classmate he likes... initially, anyway.
** ''Zenryoku 'Otome''': A cross-dressing boy becomes infatuated with the person who saved him from a perverted train passenger.
** ''Haruno to Natsukawa'': A student's male friend takes his entrance into high school as an opportunity to make his cross-dressing debut. Hijinks ensue as the friend attempts to get closer to the student.
* ''Mayo Elle Otokonoko'': would be yet another "boy crossdresses to infiltrate an all-girl's school, gets involved in pseudo-lesbian sexual hijinks" story, except that [[FlockOfWolves most of the "girls" aren't...]]
* ''My Cute Crossdresser'': a guy who likes doing makeup convinces a classmate to crossdress so he can use him for practice, gets turned on by the result. One of the first in the genre to be officially published in English.
* ''Onnanoko Tokidoki Otokonoko'': yet another "guy meets cute girl, finds out girl isn't a girl, decides he doesn't care" story.

* ''Past Future'': A boy starts crossdressing to try and bond with his disapproving and distant sister.

* ''Sensei Anone'': A hapless male high-school teacher gets pursued by an also male student who wears girls' clothes.
* ''Porte Tricolore'': A short-lived SliceOfLife series set in a magical world where only tomgirls can use magic. Notable for implying that most of the cast is actually intersex in some way.

* ''VisualNovel/OtomeWaBokuNiKoishiteru'': Possibly the original "boy crossdresses to infiltrate an all-girl's school, gets involved in pseudo-lesbian sexual hijinks" story; released at a point where the genre didn't have a name and consequently advertised as "GirlsLove" even though the main character is male.
* ''Josou Jinja'' is a fairly generic otokonoko gay {{Hentai}} KineticNovel which is mainly notable for being the first one in the genre to be not only released in English but also given a widespread release on ''UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}'' (under the name ''Trap Shrine'').

* ''Otoko no ko club'' is a nonfiction magazine aimed at otokonoko which provides tips and techniques for crossdressing.
* ''Wagahai wa "Otokonoko" dearu!'' (''I am an Otokonoko!''): [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-11-18/ex-johnny-jr-idol-makes-cross-dressing-essay-manga A manga how-to guide]] for otokonoko hopefuls written by Nanami Igarashi, son of [[/index]]{{shojo}} manga artist Yumiko Igarashi (''Manga/CandyCandy'')[[index]] and voice actor Creator/KazuhikoInoue and himself an otokonoko (currently providing the page image).

"Otokonoko", also known as "Otoko no Musume", is a Japanese genre of romantic and/or erotic stories for men, focusing on AttractiveBentGender male {{Crossdresser}}s. The name is a pun.[[labelnote:Details]]The word "otokonoko" normally means "boy" (literally "male child"), but swapping the "ko" meaning "child" for a different "ko" meaning "girl" gives a compound that Japanese sites like to translate as "male maiden".[[/labelnote]] It is sometimes called '"josou" ("women's clothes"), a more generic term for male crossdressers. Western fandom uses the terms "tomgirl" (as the opposite of {{Tomboy}}) and, somewhat less often, "trap".[[note]]As this term carries some UnfortunateImplications involving UnsettlingGenderReveal and an actual trap generally being a terrible device, the use of this term is controversial, especially amongst people who are transgender, since it plays to the (very, ''very'' false) stereotype of trans women trying to trick straight men into having sex with them. Which is used as justification for transphobic violence.[[/note]]

"Otokonoko", also known as "Otoko no Musume", is a Japanese genre of romantic and/or erotic stories for men, focusing on AttractiveBentGender male {{Crossdresser}}s. The name is a pun.[[labelnote:Details]]The word "otokonoko" normally means "boy" (literally "male child"), but swapping the "ko" meaning "child" for a different "ko" meaning "girl" gives a compound that Japanese sites like to translate as "male maiden".[[/labelnote]] It is sometimes called '"josou" ("women's clothes"), a more generic term for male crossdressers. Western fandom uses the terms "tomgirl" (as the opposite of {{Tomboy}}) and, somewhat less often, "trap".[[note]]As this term carries some UnfortunateImplications involving UnsettlingGenderReveal and an actual trap generally being a terrible device, the use of this term is controversial, especially amongst people who are transgender.[[/note]]

* ''Manga/LoveMeForWhatIAm'' - The series is about male assigned at birth people working in dresses at a cafe, and the characters do call themselves "otokonoko" sometimes, but it's not officially in the genre. The manga is also queer-themed as the protagonist is explicitly non-binary and at least two other characters are trans girls.

* ''Manga/FukakaiNaBokuNoSubeteWo'' - The series is about male assigned at birth people working in dresses at a cafe, and the characters do call themselves "otokonoko" sometimes, but it's not officially in the genre. The manga is also queer-themed as the protagonist is explicitly non-binary and at least two other characters are trans girls.

* ''Manga/FukakaiNaBokuNoSubeteWo'' - The series is about male assigned at birth people working in dresses at a cafe, and the characters do call themselves "otokonoko" sometimes, but it's not officially in the genre. The manga is also queer-themed as the protagonist is explicitly non-binary and at least one other character is a trans girl.

[[quoteright:339:[[Manga/IAmAnOtokonoko https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/IAmAnOtokonokoComposite_9010.jpg]]]]

* ''VideoGame/TheIdolmaster'' - It has two iconic otokonoko characters, [[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterDearlyStars Ryo Akizuki]] and [[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterSideM Saki Mizushima]], the latter whom is voiced by an actual otokonoko. However, they are but two characters in a huge franchise; ''[=SideM=]'' is mainly aimed at women (though Saki is very popular with men), and Ryo stopped crossdressing in the TrueEnding of ''Dearly Stars'' and his subsequent appearances in ''[=SideM=]''.

* ''Mayo Elle Otokonoko'': would be yet another "boy crossdresses to infiltrate an all-girl's school, gets involved in pseudo-lesbian sexual hijinks" story, except that most of the "girls" aren't...

* ''Wagahai wa "Otokonoko" dearu!'' (''I am an Otokonoko!''): [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-11-18/ex-johnny-jr-idol-makes-cross-dressing-essay-manga A manga how-to guide]] for otokonoko hopefuls written by Nanami Igarashi, son of [[/index]]{{shojo}} manga artist Yumiko Igarashi (''Manga/CandyCandy'')[[index]] and voice actor Creator/KazuhikoInoue and himself an otokonoko.