, commonly shortened to ''FukaBoku'', is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series by Kata Konayama, first published on June 1, 2018 through ''COMIC MeDu'' and ended on March 5, 2021. The manga is licensed by

Seven Seas Entertainment Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as we ...

for publication in North America, with the first volume published in June 2020.

Plot

''Love Me for Who I Am'' follows non-binary high school student Mogumo, who lives away from their family home. At school, fellow student Tetsu Iwaoka invites them to work at Question!, a

maid café are a subcategory of cosplay restaurants found predominantly in Japan. In these cafés, waitresses, dressed in maid costumes, act as servants, and treat customers as masters (and mistresses) in a private home, rather than as café patrons. The f ...

. Mogumo signs on, happy at first because they can present how they want, but soon discovers the reason Tetsu invited them to work there was because he mistook them for a cross-dressing boy. Incensed, Mogumo tells Iwaoka not to assume their gender based on presentation – causing Iwaoka (and the rest of the maid cafe's staff) to re-think what they know about gender.

Characters

; :The primary protagonist; a non-binary high school student who works for Question!. Commonly referred to solely by their surname Mogumo, or as Mogu-chan, as well as by gender-neutral (they/them) pronouns. ; :The secondary protagonist; a cis male high school student whose family owns Question!, working there as a cook. He befriends Mogumo after witnessing their loneliness, and gradually falls in love with them. ; :Tetsu's older sister; a trans woman and proprietor of Question!. In the first volume, Tetsu refers to Satori as "brother", but later in the story refers to her as "sister". ; :Mogumo's younger sister; she faces difficulties for not being outwardly “feminine” as she plays football and has short hair. As she is burdened by having to do all the housework, she attempts to guilt-trip Mogumo into coming back to the family home. ; :Mogumo's childhood friend; a cis lesbian high school student who is outwardly accepting of Mogumo, but secretly uses them to cope with her internalised homophobia. She is confronted by Mogumo about this behaviour, but later reconciles with and finds support from them. ; :A server at Question!; initially presents as a cross-dressing boy (identifying as an “

otokonoko is a Japanese term for men who have a culturally feminine gender expression. This includes amongst others males with feminine appearances, or those cross-dressing. is a play on the word ("boy", from the characters for 'male' and 'child'), w ...

”) but later comes out as a trans girl after confiding in her colleagues. ; :A gay high school student and a server at Question!. He began cross-dressing to appeal to his boyfriend, Haruto, who only his colleagues at Question! are aware of. ; :A server at Question!. Ten is a cosplay enthusiast and will cosplay in anything cute. He is talented in costume design, and frequently creates outfits for the others at Question!. Ten is also a high academic achiever, spending much of his time on studying.

Volume list

Reception

Beatrice Viri of CBR praised the manga for having a main character who is non-binary and "causes the cast to reflect on their assumptions about gender..." Other characters are also LGBTQ+, like "a trans girl, a lesbian and a gay couple."

References

External links

*
''Love Me for Who I Am''
at

* {{ann, manga, 22780 LGBT in anime and manga Transgender in anime and manga Slice of life anime and manga Cross-dressing in anime and manga Seven Seas Entertainment titles Seinen manga Transgender-related comics 2010s LGBT literature 2020s LGBT literature