Cross-Dressing Actor (Onnagata) x Mangaka
About:
Warning:
This review will contain spoilers for the manga and anime series Intermission. While the manga may vary slightly from all other forms of media, it may have similar story elements and could be considered spoilers.
Content Warning: There may be references to sexual harassment, violence, sexism, homomisia, and mentions of war in the context of a play, as they appear in the manga.
Synopsis:
Ainosuke Nishi is an onnagata – a male actor who plays female roles within the art form of kabuki theater. He has been raised in this art form, and his whole life has revolved around training and preparing him to perform within it, but though Ainosuke has been acting and performing for a while, he’s hit a slump. None of the feedback he’s received has been great, and his life outside of his art hasn’t been doing so well, either. Due to a violent interaction Ainosuke had with another high school student who sexually harassed him, he was suspended and unable to graduate. This leaves him somewhat lost and listless over everything.
But things are a bit disrupted when a new transfer student comes in. The new guy, Ayumu Minorikawa, doesn’t seem like anyone special. But he does have a weird fixation on Ainosuke that Ainosuke assumes has to do with how pretty he is. Ayumu’s obsession isn’t just skin deep, however, and Ayumu just might be the key to Ainosuke’s artistic slump.
Review:
I wanted to read this because of the cover. I didn’t even read the description because I was just taken with the cover art. It’s very simple, and in that simplicity, it’s incredibly eye-catching. Unfortunately, the art in the story itself isn’t nearly as pretty. It is very inconsistent, which is unfortunate. There are pretty panels, particularly the ones where Ainosuke is dressed up and performing, but overall, it’s kind of ugly. It’s not the worst by any means, but I was expecting so much from the cover that I just ended up disappointed on the art front.
Story-wise, I’d say it’s also a disappointment, but probably less so. One of the main issues is how short it is. This isn’t an uncommon complaint when it comes to these one-shot/single-volume titles, but this one feels particularly short. It’s only three chapters long (though each chapter is around 50 pages), and as much as I love a good whirlwind romance, the romance in this title is rather tepid to be a whirlwind. The chemistry between these two isn’t great, especially since it seemed to try to start as a hate-to-love or an enemies-to-lovers, only for that to have been a misunderstanding and be a one-sided obsession instead.
I don’t mind this setup, especially since it moves into the best part of this series, which is the passion of two creatives. I loved seeing Ainosuke’s acting grow and change as he experienced new things with Ayumu and tried his best to model for his manga. I also loved that Ayumu’s passion for his craft superseded any potential romance early on. However, this does have the negative result of putting too much distance between our main characters.
I feel like they never really grow beyond peers or friends. Ainosuke certainly feels like he develops a romantic connection with Ayumu, but Ayumu always feels distant to me. He’s meant to be aloof and professional, which is undoubtedly represented very well, but we don’t get much more than that. With Ainosuke, we see a lot of his background, insecurities, troubles at his training, and the like, which develop him beyond the archetype of the spunky bottom. Ayumu, on the other hand, is made up of three key things: his obsession with Ainosuke, his talent in manga, and the fact that he is a high schooler. Compared to Ainosuke, he is two-dimensional at best and one-dimensional at worst. He just needed more time to become as interesting of a character, but there was no time to give him, resulting in a hollow and disappointing romance.
Results:
This was unfortunate. I feel like I’ve been on a losing streak in one-shot manga lately, and this is no exception. I liked both characters at a cursory glance, but this ended up being very one-sided on the development front. Ainosuke gets all the care and attention, leaving Ayumu to be a husk of a character. This desperately needed more time, so both had the time to develop what they needed and, as a result, make the romance more believable and enjoyable. I wouldn’t recommend this one.
Have you read Intermission? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!