Hisaya Nakajo

Hisaya Nakajo’s Hana-Kimi (original Japanese title: Hanazakari no Kimitachi E, English title: Hana-Kimi: For You in Full Blossom) is my favorite of the seemingly endless number of stories about a student cross-dressing to get into an all-boy or all-girl boarding school. Unlike the majority of these books, Nakajo’s story doesn’t devote all of its energy to the main romantic couple (which is good, because twenty-three volumes about two people agonizing over whether or not to confess their secrets to one another would get old fast, no matter how appealing the girl or how pretty the boy), instead devoting plenty of time to the awesome secondary characters, from the school’s snarky, flamboyantly gay doctor to the dorm’s resident spiritualist, who has a knack for reading people’s auras at inopportune times.

Aftertaste:
None.

Availability:
Everywhere.

Other Recommendations:
See our Wordcandy Recommended Manga Page!