The Spring 2024 Manga Guide

I Got Reincarnated in a (BL) World of Big (Man) Boobs

What's It About? 

"I just...wanted to...touch boobies..."

Nagare Otokawa was an otaku loser obsessed with breasts. He tragically died, never knowing the feel of the sweet, sweet bosoms he'd craved all his life. Little does he know his wish is about to be granted in a way he never would have expected.

Nagare reincarnates as a handsome guy and quickly realizes he's living in a (BL) world full of sexy (male) beauties. Even so, he sets out to find and squeeze the bust of his dreams. He does, in fact, end up with his face planted deeply in some luscious cleavage, but to his dismay, it's the magnificent pecs of the super-muscular class delinquent, Ryuji Onizuka!

Now Nagare must try to dodge past the barrage of BL scenarios that hurtle into his path. Will he persevere and get the busty girlfriend of his dreams, or will he end up falling for the all-man—yet temptingly bodacious—Ryuji?

I Got Reincarnated in a (BL) World of Big (Man) Boobs is a manga by Tsukiji Nao. This volume is translated by Jacqueline Fung, lettered and retouched by Nicole Roderick. Published by Kodansha Comics (March 26, 2024).

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Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

I waffled about my rating for this one. On the one hand, I laughed out loud multiple times while reading, mostly at the fourth-wall-breaking jokes. On the other hand, parts of it feel meaner than I'd like, and I'm not entirely comfortable with the way it could be read as playing (relatively mild) homophobia for laughs. Of course, Nagase Otokawa isn't necessarily homophobic; there's nothing to suggest that he has any problem with queer relationships. He doesn't want to be in one himself, and occasionally that distinction gets a little blurred when it comes to the pursuit of a laugh.

Still, there's an awful lot that works here. The premise, that self-proclaimed boob-loving gloomy otaku Nagase is reborn in a BL manga where he's always at the mercy of the "title god," is similar to another title in this guide, so being reborn in a BL manga is having its subgenre moment. This one differs in that Nagase isn't queer himself, so he's aghast when he realizes that he's not just in a BL manga; he's also the protagonist. His original plan was to be a side character so he could have a girlfriend, preferably the bounteously endowed Sakura, but he quickly realizes that he's stuck in his role as the main character. His love interest? Buff delinquent Onizuka, who is nearly as well-endowed as Sakura and whose pecs blur the line between "pectoral muscles" and "breasts" a lot. Their fluidity is one of the running gags, although maybe not the best one.

This omnibus edition (containing the first two volumes) is at its finest when it's playing with the tropes of BL beyond Onizuka's body. Nagase was familiar with them in his previous life, and now he's aghast to see them playing out before him and is not quiet about pointing them out. One of my favorite gags is when he goes out to lunch with pretty boy delinquent Ginga, and all of the background text is ludicrously suggestive. Still, the constant cataloging of flags, the alacrity with which clothes disintegrate, and the entire Onizuka-has-a-fever section are spot-on and pretty darn funny. It feels even more so when you learn that this manga is serialized in a shonen magazine, which both says something about how pervasive the tropes are and the style of humor. However, it also raises the specter of the aforementioned homophobia/gay panic issues.

On the whole, I had a good time with this. It's not without flaws; some are serious enough to merit real concern from readers. It's not the sort of manga you want to think about too closely, and fun for what it is.

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Lauren Orsini
Rating:

The most surprising fact about I Got Reincarnated in a (BL) World of Big (Man) Boobs is that it ran in a shonen manga magazine! Considering its audience, this is not an explicit comic. However, it is a staggeringly dirty gag manga that shows everything but. It may technically be a shonen manga, but I wouldn't want to read it in public or, even worse, realize somebody was reading it over my shoulder!

This title is an extreme case of "exactly what it says on the tin." The story stars Otokawa, a self-professed "gloomy otaku" who gets reincarnated while muttering that he wished he'd had a chance to cop a feel before he died. However, he should have been more specific. Otokawa considers himself straight, but he's suddenly bombarded with massive moobs—the primary offender: the towering delinquent Onizuka. Onizuka looks dangerous, but he's a secret softy with a crush on Otokawa. And the pesky "Title God" of the manga, a Christ-looking figure who keeps trying to push Otokawa into BL scenarios, keeps creating lucky pervert situations that put Onizuka's perky pectorals on display.

As the manga artist repeatedly admits in their creator notes, this story is a product of their specific fetish for men's chests. But the gratuity is so over the top that you don't need to share this fetish to find its passion for pecs hilarious. No manga in history has ever treated big boobs (male or female) with such sincerity. Otokawa even has a big emotional boob-loving backstory that spans his past life. Defining character designs and high-quality art add to the overall effect of giving this silly subject disproportionate devotion. That said, the art portrays buff man boobs in a squishy, jiggly form that I'm pretty sure is physically impossible!

Aside from this manga's obvious adoration for its subject, it also benefits from excellent visual comedy and top-notch comedic timing. Not every joke landed for me since Otokawa could sometimes get mean-spirited. Still, I often found it laugh-out-loud hilarious as Otokawa reacted to the increasingly bizarre scenarios unfolding around him. One scene I can't get out of my head: when two buff delinquents got in an argument with the shorter Otokawa in the middle, "stuck between their tits." (Meanwhile, his fujoshi crush celebrated the "hottie threesome" with her hands in the air like a football player.) Otokawa truly is a straight man (in both senses of the term, maybe?) in a world full of nonstop jokers.

At around 250 pages, this manga is satisfyingly long, but I was glad to see that it is the first in at least two volumes, not only because it ends on a cliffhanger. I was unsure what to think when I picked up the manga, but now I fully trust its creator to take me along for whatever wild man boob ride they have in mind.