I want to be a cute anime girl tells the story of a child who likes to dress up as a girl and learns more about himself along the way.
I want to be a cute anime girl through is a slice-of-life comedy. It centers around a child who wants to “be a cute anime girl,” her journey of self-discovery, and her family and friends.
As a warning, this review discusses some spoilers for I want to be a cute anime girl.
One day, Charon’s big sister, Chelsie, gets a makeover, and she loves it so much that she decides she wants to be a pretty anime girl. Her friends and her sister, Chloe, even agree, finding it unexpected and surprising at first. Before her mother and father accept her, Charon chooses the name “Cheryl” and her father accepts her for who she is. The story then continues from there.
I liked that Cheryl’s dad realizes the signs that Cheryl wants to be a girl more directly than Cheryl’s mom. This repels the “bad dad/good mom” trope, which is sometimes used in comics with LGBTQ themes. Obviously, the comic is about gender transition and being transgender, as Cheryl does makeup and dresses to be herself, later using her pronouns. Later, Cheryl has an identity crisis, wondering if people, especially those at her college, will accept her as Cheryl. She even has to deal with someone who has a crush on her when she and her sister go to the mall.
A central theme in this all-ages comic is self-acceptance. You need to accept yourself as you are, even if this journey of self-discovery comes with obstacles along the way. In this way the comic is like Acceptance or even Cursed Princess Club, which have similar themes. This ties into the comic’s emphasis on family unity, as Cheryl has a supportive family.
Not only I want to be a cute anime girl have short, easy-to-read issues, but it’s a refreshing approach transgender people. This includes anxiety, like Cheryl worrying about which bathroom to choose. For those who are comfortable with their gender, it’s not a big deal to choose between a men’s bathroom and a women’s bathroom. But if you’re struggling with your gender identity, it can cause anxiety, as these bathrooms are split along the male-female binary.
This anxiety occurs alongside times of empowerment, such as preparing to pose as Cheryl at school. There is occasional homophobia in one of Cheryl’s classmates. Cheryl sets up a date to meet a cute guy in her class, tries to become best friends with her classmate, Delilah, and is surprised when her friend Adrian says he thought he wanted to be a lively girl. .
i liked how I want to be a cute anime girl shows Cheryl slowly walking out to her classmates, starting with her friend Zack. It’s not something like Kashimashi: Girl meets Girlwhere an alien announces to everyone that you are trans, and to respect your name and gender change (after that alien accidentally changed gender).
I want to be a cute anime girl can be sweet, like the moments between Cheryl and Chelsie. They work together on makeup, talk about cosplay, identity, being yourself, and Chelsie helps Cheryl in her quest for a more feminine voice. There are also good times between Cheryl, Chelsie and Chloe. We learn more about Chelsie and Chloe, including Chelsie’s ex-boyfriend, in a romance chat.
I want to be a cute anime girl also highlights the fact that trans allies are going to ruin everything. One example is when Zack accidentally tells Stella, his lesbian friend, that Cheryl is trans without permission. Later, Cheryl is a little annoyed that Zack did this, but she also wants to hear what Stella had to say about her. This debate is not new. Some have commented that you will fail as an ally, you will be hurt, you will learn from your mistakes, and you might be confused about the difference between sex and gender.
I want to be a cute anime girl is much more authentic since the author, Azul Crescent, is trans, herself, as noted in a Q&A. Authentic representation by community members is one of the best representations.
For example, trans people voicing trans personas in High Guardian Spice, to give an example, sounded more real than if someone who wasn’t trans had voiced them instead, as happens all too often. The cisgender actors playing trans characters in the film have been described by some as something that seems to happen “in a way that mocks the trans character or invalidates their identity”.
The comic received a positive reception, with fan art and cosplays retweeted by Azul Crescent, including fan art by Jocelyn Samara Di Domenickwho is directing the webcomic which will soon end, Rain, which also has a trans girl protagonist (Liriel Rain Flaherty).
Currently, the comic also has a French version, in an effort to reach more people. Crescent is also known for the dormant webcomic “Daily Life of Dia”. In 2021, comics had been named for a Webtoon award for slice-of-life webcomics. Others even did comic dubs, which were posted on YouTube and shared over trans-friendly subtitles on Reddit, and presumably on Tumblr.
I highly recommend I want to be a cute anime girl for those who are trans, those who are allies, and anyone who wants to know more. (If you’re interested, there are a variety of other comics focused on trans characters such as hyperfocus, Serious trans vibes, The prettiest platypus, and trans-incidentalall of which are on Webtoon.)
I want to be a cute anime girl is available to read on Line Webtoon. It can be supported on Patreon.
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You can find Azul Crescent on TwitterTwitch, Instagram and YouTube.
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For more great webcomic recommendations, check out our Wednesday Webcomics Archive!
Author: Burkely Hermann
Burkely is a declassified document indexer by day and a fan fic writer by night. He recently earned an MLIS with a concentration in Digital Preservation from the University of Maryland. He currently voraciously watches anime series and reads too many webcomics to rely on Webtoon. He enjoys swimming, hiking and researching his family roots in his spare time.
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