Love Me for Who I Am

Love Me for Who I Am (不可解なぼくのすべてを, Fukakai na Boku no Subete o, commonly shortened to FukaBoku) is a Japanese manga series by Kata Konayama, first published on 1 June 2018 through COMIC MeDu. The manga is licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment for publication in North America, with the first volume to be published in June 2020.[1]

For the song by the Carpenters, see Love Me for What I Am.
Love Me for Who I Am
Cover of volume one, featuring Mogumo dressed in the cafe's uniform.
不可解なぼくのすべてを
(Fukakai na Boku no Subete o)
Manga
Written byKata Konayama
Published byGOT Corporation
English publisher
MagazineCOMIC MeDu
DemographicSeinen
Original run2018 – present
Volumes4

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. 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.[2]

Characters
Ryuunosuke Mogumo aka Mogumo (百雲 龍之助, Mogumo Ryūnosuke)
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. Pronouns: they/them.
Tetsu Iwaoka (岩岡 哲, Iwaoka Tetsu)
The secondary protagonist; a cis male high school student whose family owns Question!, and who gradually falls in love with Mogumo.
Satori Iwaoka (岩岡 智, Iwaoka Satori)
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".
Sakura Mogumo (百雲 さくら, Mogumo Sakura)
Mogumo's younger sister; attempts to guilt-trip Mogumo into coming back to the family home.
Kotone Mizunoe (水之江 琴音, Mizunoe Kotone)
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.
Akira Tatebayashi aka Mei (館林 明, Tatebayashi Akira)[lower-alpha 1]
A server at Question!; initially presents as a cross-dressing boy but later comes out as a trans girl.
Sou Suzumi aka Suzu (鈴見 奏, Suzumi Sou)
A gay high school student and a server at Question!. His boyfriend is Haruto.
Tenmaru Inui aka Ten (犬局 天丸, Inui Tenmaru)
A server at Question!. Ten loves cosplay and will cosplay in anything cute.

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," while other characters are LGBTQ, like "a trans girl, a lesbian and a gay couple."[3]

Notes
  1. 明 can be read either akira or mei in Japanese.

References
  1. "Love Me for Who I Am | Seven Seas Entertainment". sevenseasentertainment.com. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  2. "Love Me For What I Am (FukaBoku): A Sweet Drama That Explores Japan's Gender Landscape". Anime Herald. 2019-04-22. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  3. Viri, Beatrice (December 14, 2020). "The 6 Best LGBTQ Manga (That AREN'T Yaoi or Yuri)". CBR. Archived from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
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