Reviews for A Queen and an Old Maid

This is a good story so far, and I can't wait to read more! It's exactly what I want to see out of a adult centered romance. At first I had issues with the FL because she bounces between annoying and less annoying at times, but as I kept reading the chapters her character made more and more sense to me. I've read up to chapter 16 so far, and the amount of growth she's gone through is amazing to see. Yawao to Katako is a story about a FL with an inferiority complex and a ML who crossdresses and is Bisexual. ML helps herovercome her insecurities and you witness the two of them becoming more honest with each other.

These characters are very grounded and have a lot of depth to them. I could easily understand the FL's actions and much of why she's so insecure. The reactions between both of the main characters are actually my favorite part of this series so far. The boldness of the ML in contrast to the FL is the best. I also enjoy the moderate pace of the romance between the two of them, it's not too quick but I feel it's appropriate. Fujiko the FL has to understand herself more, so I'm glad that there was no romance from the first chapter on.

The art is very memorable. I liked it's preciseness and fluidity. Each character has a unique design from the next, and like I mentioned above, the reactions are fun. It's very pretty to read through. Overall this story is an 8/10 for me!

Yawao to Katako was an overall very cute and warm read so far. I loved the protagonists; I found them both endearing, fun, interesting, even with their own faults and issues. Despite the premise giving the impression that the female lead will "embrace femininity" (thus simply playing a role she never wanted), I was pleased to see her becoming authentic rather than following a predetermined beauty standard for women. Albeit a bit cliche at some points, I found Fuijiko's journey towards self-discovery to be relatable and heart-warming. The takeaway for me is that sometimes the lack of success in our love life has very little todo with our beauty, but instead it's our own self-loathing and low self-esteem that makes us undesirable and hard to approach. Finding inner peace and accepting yourself for who you are can be freeing, especially for queer people that suffer a lot from hiding their true selves.

The mention of queer people is not coincidental, this story has many queer elements to it which were refreshing and welcomed. Without giving any spoilers, I found the flamboyant male lead in this manga to be a fairly well-written character and I wish his past experiences were explored further.

Generally, I feel like this plot has so much potential for a great story, but it's maintaining a rather light-hearted approach, which isn't a flaw in itself, just not my cup of tea entirely.

Despite this, I still loved the manga and the message it tried to deliver, which can be summed up by this lovely quote that left an impression on me from the manga: "Being unpopular, ugly or fat, or a lesbian, a gay, a nerd, or an onee. Tell me, what is wrong with any of that?"