Youko Kisaki is an Office Lady with a rare problem. She suffers from Woodman Syndrome, a disorder that results in her becoming a human-tree hybrid. Most of her coworkers shun her and gossip about her behind her back, but Hikari Chishiro, a newcomer to the company, proves willing to befriend her.
The series lasted 10 short chapters and is now complete.
She Becomes a Tree provides examples of:
- All of the Other Reindeer: Kisaki's coworkers find her disgusting and gossip behind her back. Unlike Rudolf, who became friends with the other reindeer by proving himself to them, Kisaki's ability to do the work of multiple people at once just results in her colleagues pushing more work onto her.
- Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: After the movie, Chishiro uses a bathroom break as an excuse to excuse herself, since she's embarrassed after Kisaki calls her "cute."
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: Played With. Kisaki seems to stoically accept being mistreated, and Chishiro gets angrier over it than Kisaki herself does. However, Kisaki personally finds it hard to put up with, and can only keep going because there are people who accept her.
- Cool Big Bro: Kisaki was close to her older brother when they were young. His death a year before the start of the series sent her into depression, but she recovered with Chishiro's help, and seems to still be close with her brother's widow.
- Cursed with Awesome: While Woodman Syndrome causes Kisaki to be feared by her contemporaries, it also gives her more than a few special powers, such as long and flexible limbs, the ability to create shrubbery and leaves out of nowhere and even sprout an entire tree on top of an office building.
- Distant Finale: Chapter 10 takes place three years after Chishiro and Kisaki become a couple at the end of Chapter 9.
- Fictional Disability: Woodman Syndrome causes the victim to become a hybrid of a person and a tree.
- Forgotten First Meeting: Kisaki first helped Chishiro in high school, using her tree arms to get Chishiro's shoes down from the tree. Kisaki's first memory of Chishiro, however, is when Chishiro joined the company.
- Green Thumb: Kisaki has the ability to sprout plants from her arms. She can even create an entire tree.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: Self-inflicted example. Kisaki asks Chishiro if she wants to eat with "something" like her when Chishiro asks to eat lunch with Kisaki in the first chapter. Chishiro immediately objects and declares that Kisaki isn't "something."
- Last-Name Basis: The main characters address each other as "Kisaki-san" and "Chishiro-san" for most of the series. In the final chapter, however, Kisaki calls Chishiro "Hikari" when proposing to her.
- Loners Are Freaks: Played with. Kisaki is a bit of a loner by nature with a Friendless Background, and openly says that she only needs one person to understand her, but the rumors of her being a freak are exaggerated, if not outright untrue.
- Mean Boss: Kisaki's boss cancels her day off with Chishiro and gives her an assignment with a tight deadline at the drop of a hat.
- Meaningful Echo: In Chapter 2, Chishiro tells Kisaki that "For me, the one thing I value most is the 'feeling,'" which is why she'll stick with Kisaki even if she's in danger or people hate her for it. In Chapter 10, Kisaki says that not being able to marry Chishiro doesn't bother her too much, since "The most important thing is our 'feeling' for each other," and the manga flashes back to Chishiro's line eight chapters and three years in-universe ago.
- Nepotism: A rumor about Kisaki claims that she got her job due to knowing one of the company president's relatives. It's unclear whether this is true, but Kisaki is good enough at her job to be able to earn it on her own merits.
- Nice Girl: Chishiro has no problem with spending time with Kisaki, and is the only character in the office who treats her with kindness and respect. Kisaki, despite her bad reputation, is no less kind and considerate to Chishiro.
- Non-Uniform Uniform: Kisaki wears a black jacket over her Office Lady clothes, and doesn't wear the neckerchief.
- Office Lady: Both Chishiro and Kisaki work this job.
- Only Friend:
- Chishiro, to Kisaki. Kisaki says that she only needs one person to understand her, a role that was filled by Kisaki's late brother.
"No matter how many people discriminate against me, all it takes is one person to understand me to make me feel saved. Right now, that person is you."- While Chishiro doesn't seem to be as ostracized as Kisaki is, she isn't shown to have any friends besides Kisaki, and is perfectly fine with standing up to her coworkers and possibly being alienated for Kisaki's sake.
- Posthumous Character: Kisaki's older brother died in an accident a year before the story.
- Power Incontinence: Kisaki had trouble controlling her tree limbs when she was younger, resulting in her injuring other people by accident.
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: Kisaki wears white pantyhose while Chishiro wears black.
- Pulled from Your Day Off: Late in the series, Kisaki is given an important assignment with a two-day deadline shortly before her planned outing to the Tokyo Skytree with Chishiro.
- Shared Universe: The series takes place in the same universe as another work by Pageratta ''My Dead Husband Won't Stop Bugging Me" as Kisaki's older brother is Sou, the titular deceased husband, making Kisaki Kanan's sister-in-law.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: When a senior Office Lady tries to warn Chishiro against becoming friends with Kisaki, Chishiro explodes at her, telling her that who she becomes friends with is her own business, and to butt out.
- Splash of Color: The only color in the manga is Kisaki and her brother's green hair.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Unlike some Yuri Genre manga, same-sex marriage is not legal in Japan. Luckily, Kisaki is willing to settle for giving Chishiro a wooden ring and calling themselves married.
- Together Umbrella: Kisaki offers to let Chishiro use her umbrella while she sprouts a leafy umbrella from her arms. However, Chishiro prefers to use Kisaki's umbrella.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Kisaki's colleagues don't even give her a "thank you" when she works overtime for their sake. One of them, after pushing a lot of work on her, cheerfully makes plans to go out drinking with his female colleagues. Chishiro is furious.
- Unmoving Plaid: Every single Office Lady in Chishiro and Kisaki's office wears a vest and skirt with a matching plaid pattern that remains the same in each panel.
- Yuri Genre: Kisaki and Chishiro are quickly shown to have more than platonic feelings for one another. In the final chapter, they get married.
