Manga 20188 Sazanami Cherry

I actually didn't know this was shounen-ai when I started reading it, so I was surprised when the story went in the direction it did. Even so, as a person who doesn't usually read this type of manga, I found it to be fairly pleasant, if not perfect.
Now the story is pretty much as the synopsis implies, our main character Migiwa asks out Ren, who he believes to be a girl, only to find out he's a guy. What the synopsis does not include is how Ren, with help from his loving sister and boyfriend, learns to accept his gender identity. Without spoiling anything, the ... story is about his attempt to come to terms with himself and how he feels more than anything else, and I found it fairly pleasant overall, if somewhat one-dimensional and a tad rushed. I feel they had more opportunities to explore the challenges transgender people face in reality, but at least they addressed the topic.
The art is standard, very reminiscent of some yuri I've read in all honesty. It was pleasant to look at but nothing that'll win awards any time soon. The characters all look very feminine and I think that's what the author was going for.
The characters themselves are a bit flat and archetypal, but in a story with just 6 chapters, what really can you expect? Although I do commend the somewhat taboo topic of transgenderism that takes a central role in both Ren and his sister, it makes for a different type of manga.
Overall, I enjoyed this manga for what it was worth. I didn't really expect what I got but I didn't leave disappointed by any means. Although a 5/10 may look harsh, I actually tend to give lower scores on manga than many people, so I really don't give that number with negative connotation. Was it perfect? No, but it's an interesting read, even if you're not into shounen-ai like me.

By necessity this contains some spoilers — though it's only 7 chapters and there isn't much plot so it shouldn't ruin the experience too much.

So it follows the basic præmise of "half boy love" where a male p.o.v. character is enchanted by an ostensibly female character only for the hammer to hit and the latter to casually claim to be male. What makes this different is that usually what follows is a long time of self-discovery on the former's part. In this case the perspective character is very much shocked by the revelation but that is that; they go out anyway; that I actually liked ... very much as a change of pace.

It was also original that it actually spends time on the fact that often "traps aren't forever"; the reality is that many 14 year olds that can convincingly cross-dress will loose that ability as they age and this is something that is dropped and explored: how will their romance go when he can no longer pass as a girl?

What I absolutely did not like about it is that it crosses from trap territory into transgender territory. It makes no clear references to the term but a lot of things said by our trap can be construed as the character actually experiencing some kind of female gender-identity. At the very least the character wants to be "treated as a girl" and is afraid that the time might come that he will no longer be able to so convincingly cross-dress. The character is however completely fine with being referred to as male and affirms this. In this sense it's completely different from say the material in "Prunus Girl" or "Trap Heroine" where the traps repræsent liberation from gender roles and are completely uninterested in being considered either male or female; in this particular case the trap repræsents conformance rather than liberation.

What I do like is that there is also a scene where they kiss without the trap cross-dressing but simply in a pajyama of some sort; it shows that he's cute regardless of girly clothes.

Apart from that there wasn't really much of a plot or story; it's short; there is a conflict which gets revealed.