Fukigen Cinderella

None of the summaries I've read of "Fukigen Cinderella" have really done it any justice. Despite it's short length as a series, it's a very well done psychological drama. The thing that really stands out to me is that the pacing right up until the end feels very tight and key components of the plot are revealed with key precision. To give you an example of what I mean, initially the reader will likely detest the main character Haruhiko because of his behavior, but just as when you're about to entirely give up on him, something about his backstory is revealed that makes him more sympathetic. This is really good writing because most mangas that play with the "jerk ass" stereotype of main leads really tend to get this timing wrong.

If I have any complaints it's that the ending was obviously rushed because the series got canceled (at least it got an ending). That being said, the ending isn't "bad" but it's obvious that the mangaka created a really rich story and that there was a lot of content that didn't get explored. This is a hallmark of a good manga to me - You're happy you read it, but you wish there was more.

I definitely give "Fukigen Cinderella" a thumbs up. It's short enough that most people should be able to read it in an hour or so and it's an hour well spent.

Fukigen Cinderella is a story i had been meaning to read for awhile. It is something that had peaked my interest i'd say around a year ago at the time of this review. I finally read it and while i do like it, It kind of let me down on some levels.

~~ SPOILERS ~~

First lets start out with characters.

Haruhiko : Is the main character(s) of the story. Haruhiko is the regular male while Aki is the Female he turns into every noon. Haruhiko to be blunt is a total asshole who has tried raping his only friend in the past and also said he would rape some girls as a threat. Normally this is one easy way to hate a character. But the story does a good on explaining why the MC is so messed up. He had a guardian taking care of him that was completely insane and messed up his childhood and more.

While the story goes on he starts to become less of a dick to put it bluntly. It is honestly a interesting character and the way it was portrayed was really well done. In the end though he isn't my favorite character. That would go to Aki.

Aki: Is the female version of Haruhiko. She is portrayed to the world around her as a broken and unstable girl. She has obviously had bad stuff happen to her and is afraid of something. For the readers though we know that it is just the MC trying to cope with the fact he has been changed into a female. At one point later during the story. The worlds opinion on her slowly starts to become the actual deal to Aki. She is starting to confront all the things Haruhiko had to face as a child and her fear and hate for men. The transition from her just trying to cope with her new surrounding to confronting her past problems is really nicely done isn't that noticeable.

But besides the basic things happening to her. The other stuff going on is nice. She is going around having to deal with the relationships Haruhiko. Such his first ever friend that he ended up trying to rape in middle school. She is able to learn the effects of her doing to the friend and is able to learn that while yes the friend doesn't like what happen, She isn't still angry with him and still wanted to be his friend even after that.

There is also typical stuff that happens in Gender bender stories. Such as going cloths shopping and going to cafe's that only females go to. But the story does a good job of not falling into the typical formula these. Such as the cloths shopping with friend. Instead of their being a scene meant mostly for fan service such as the character trying on all these revealing clothing. We skip going cloths shopping and just see Aki returning home with bags of items she bought. Instead of having revealing outfits she has a dress that isn't anything over the top.

Back to the cloths shopping scene. While it is nice that it didn't do the typical. It may have been nice to a view of the friend who went cloths shopping with her. Cause the world around her is still under the impression that she is a broken girl. So it might have been nice to see the friends few of trying to help a girl in need with cloths shopping. Just my opinion though.

Aki is kind of like her own character with the only thing connecting the two of them is their past experiences and that they switch between each other at the strike of 12:00. She is my favorite of the series.

Mifuyu: She is the only other character worth mentioning. She is the first friend of the MC. The one he tried to rape in Middle School. She doesn't get as much screen time as she should. But she is the one that helps Aki through the tough time. Not much to say besides that she is an important character and is a pretty decent character overall.

Let's talk about my gripes with the story now.

I'd say one of the biggest problems lies in the pacing. I feel this is a story that should have lasted much longer. The themes and secondary stories are forgotten at the end of the story and is the general pacing is off too.

A good amount of times instead of picking on subject and expanding on that we are barely shown much of that. Example : First time Aki is shown she is almost rapped. Instead of focusing on the dramatic experience that this causes. It is mentioned a few times with Aki freaking out at men a couple times. This could'v been more delved into. Such as the character not wanting to talk to anyone in general after this. Haruiko would be jumpy around all men even though for most people just yesterday he was the same as he always been.

Themes are also dropped a lot. Thought we might get a scene that Aki is in the School play of Cinderella. But character said's no and that's the end of that. The worst example would be the first page or two. It shows witches doing something. That's the last of it. We don't get the witches later on or the character doesn't mention once besides at the start.

There are also a couple characters that are not given enough time to truly shine. We have 4th best character named Saki. A weird silent type with not much emotion. But she is just used as a character to spout words of wisdom.

Second to last we have the fact that through out the entire story Aki is never dressed up as Cinderella or even puts on a dress.

Lastly is that ending. In the end Both Haruiko and Aki wake up in a hospital and they have their own bodies now. Not only is this completely random and unexpected. The entire ending seemed rushed. There is also Aki now in her own body. While still having a good amount of the brashness from Haruiko and as far as we can tell just Haruiko clone but with Aki's body. He is almost instantly wanting to go on a date and eat food with his friend.

While i do like that the story admits that the two Main characters are basically their own person. But in the end i kind of wish and like the idea of the changing between them doesn't change or it gets to the point where both the characters can talk to each other in their minds and still switch. Another option would'v been to just have Aki become the main body. Not only does the MC become a better person when as Aki but is also a much more likable character.

Gonna end it here or i might be here longer than i want.

ONCE UPON A TIME… there was this stereotypical shounen protagonist that found himself in a great situation that happens after meeting three witches. What is this “great” situation, you may ask? Well, he has to become this one thing that he absolutely loves.. Every midnight, he’s back to himself from it. But every noon, he becomes the very being he absolutely adores: a WOMAN.

I bet you probably were expecting this manga to be something like this.

Sorry, I told a lie. Here’s the truth:
1) This manga is NOT a romantic comedy. It will always be a psychological.
2) The sypnosis here on myanimelist has a TEENY-tiny mistake in word usage. Don’t expect an “ordinary” male character that comes from a harem shounen manga to appear in this one.

AND..

3) The main character absolutely, utterly despises the whole opposite sex. Why?

It’s for a reason which you can read in the manga in order to find out if you’re interested.

But I could say that you should NOT bring your hopes up too high for this one.


Now, here’s where we get to our cast members! I’ll just do this from the top of my head!

-Grumpy Cinderella

-The three witches.. who we only ever see for one page

-Homeless man who just so happened to be a rapist

-First girl that seems significant appears.. who we hardly ever see again after the first chapter

-The former childhood female friend who lowkey wants Grumpy Cinderella to die

-The current male best friend who hardly has any chemistry with the main
character.. How on earth did they become friends?

-Psychopath in a frilly dress who wants Grumpy Cinderella’s D

-Queer girl that should’ve had more screen time than she ever got

-Babysitter/Maid to kill

OK, so notice how none of these characters have names. That’s because I forgot ALL of their names. I will forget every single one of these characters even existed after one month at most. Let me explain.
One of the weaknesses of this manga is that we hardly learn much about each of these characters except our Cinderella in here. I wanted to know more about the psychopath in the frilly dress. How did she come to be one? I wanted to know what all the other characters been through. Unfortunately, I never received that.
Also, I wanted to know more about the witches. They were the ones that started the whole story. But no, they don’t go beyond the first page. We never even learn their names or why they did all this to the main character. We only ever see them ONCE.
There were just a lot of pieces of the puzzle that were just missing, especially in the area of character development for the supporting characters. And some of the scenes in the manga didn’t even make any sense at all. That’s why my score is a 6/10.

Though, I gave such a score, I would be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy it at all and that it was unoriginal.
One of the good things that you can expect from this manga is a main character that is actually quite well done. You’ll see why he acts in some ways as you read along, and he is not the usual main character goody-two-shoes. He is an MC that I would never expect to find in a gender bender.

Speaking of gender bender, I never expected a psychological to accompany it. With gender bender, I typically associate it with something more light-hearted and fun (like “Ranma 1/2” or “Ouran Highschool Host Club”). “Fukigen Cinderella” gave a bunch of surprises throughout!

So, I wouldn’t guarantee that you will like this manga at all, but go ahead and give it a shot if you want a very different story from other gender benders!

Fukigen Cinderella is the story of a man named ‘Haruhiko Kanna’. Haruhiko suffers from a disease, you see. It’s a disease that makes women want to kick his ass and he’s been suffering from it for a very long time.

Our anti-hero, Haruhiko, appears to have a lot of trouble with the fairer sex. When he was a kid, he had been bullied by the girls in his school. He also discovered that his mom was disappointed he had been born a boy instead of a girl. He discovered this from his female babysitter, who apparently also abuses him.

In all seriousness, Haruhiko’s life is filled with such women and it led him to having a rather repulsive personality wherein he is immediately nasty and rude to every woman. He also has a tendency to sexually assault them. The story doesn’t say it, but this personality is likely how he got cursed by the three witches he met. Presumably, he’s been turned into a woman so he can experience the other side and come to understand them better.

Unfortunately, Fukigen Cinderella is an ecchi manga. One of the rare ones that have a half decent story. But as is typical in such cases, the ecchi ends up being the downfall of this manga.

The need to show off T&A as much as possible ends up interfering with the story and, unfortunately, the author seems to have problems integrating ecchi scenes well. Most scenes come off as bizarre and unreasonable making the MC look idiotic.

Still, I think the manga is actually pretty good for what it is. The story is mildly complex and presented in a good way. The author really does well to input interesting plot points that could grow into something more.

Well, perhaps that should be phrased as ‘could’ have grew into something more as the series ended after a very short (and seemingly rushed) run. It is a bit of an advantage, though, as it makes the story a very quick read.

Ultimately, would I recommend it? On a cautious note, yes. If you can’t stand ecchi manga, don’t bother with this, but if you find you can tolerate it, I would recommend a try.

It is difficult to talk about Fukigen Cinderella.

First, I would like to say that I liked the plot and characters. It is a good psychological drama.
However...
The ending is just not well done. I image that the series got cancelled, so the author needed to finish it right away.
The only thing that we receive an answer at the end actually open 10 more questions.

I would love to see more of Fukigen Cinderella. If there were more chapters, I would definitely give a higher score. However, the way that is... I can't recommend it. I loved it and I want more, but I can't recommend it to a friend. Damn it.