(An Andy is Andrei Manga Review)
by Daryll Hanna Dulay
I never imagined myself reading a book or manga about same sex relationship. I thought everything will be awkward to read. Since I’m reading a Boys’ Love story for the first time, maybe this review will made a good point after all.
Andy is Andrei is a black and white manga published under Black Ink. From the title itself, it obviously reveals that the manga is a gender bender themed story. The story is about Kyle who decided to pursue Andy, a cosplayer that he like and followed on social media. Little did he know, that his new neighbor Andrei is also Andy. The story climaxed when Kyle found out about Andrei’s secret.
Sweet scenes which were commonly for a boy and a girl were replaced by a girl-looking boy and another boy. I thought everything would make me cringe because I am aware that Andy is a boy. But as I moved towards the end of the story, it is actually good. Maybe the illustration helps. Andrei is illustrated looking like a girl in the manga so as my imagination runs along the story, in my mind, he is a girl in male clothes. Regarding the layout and dialogue balloons, I must say they were properly positioned. This is important because we do not want readers to lose his/her track in reading. What do you expect? It’s Jana Dhel. Everything is neat and the characters looks great too.
Gays and girls might think Kyle was so perfect making them want to say, “I wish there was a real Kyle.” As the story progressed, I bet everyone would fall in love with Kyle. All thanks to the script, dialogue and storyline written by Claudine Erang. She will feed your imagination with your dream boy.
The only con I saw in this manga is the title. Like mentioned, it was like a giveaway of the story line. Though you cannot conclude how they will end up, you will still have the hint of the major plot twist of the story. Overall, it was great to find out how they ended up and what really happened after Andrei was busted and how he was caught. Also, Andrei and Kyle have scenes that I never thought I will enjoy regardless of the fact that they’re both male. Andy is Andrei gave me a fun experience which encouraged me to read more BL genre and even the other works of the author. It is said that this book is her third work in Boys’ Love genre. I think her story is worth searching for.
Black Ink 
