Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

That Beauty Is a Tramp, Volume 1 by Hal Osaka is an amazing josei manga that will appeal to readers looking for a non-traditional romances. The story revolves about Nagi who thinks women are more beautiful and attractive than guys. She has PTSD from an incident in college. As a result, she can't stand when guys touch her. One day, she meets one of her idols: a model named Aran. But Nagi is shocked to find out that Aran is actually an androgynous man. As the pair get closer, is it possible for Nagi to get over her PTSD and actually fall in love with a man?

Overall, That Beauty Is a Tramp is a lovely romance manga that will appeal to fans of Princess Jellyfish or Cinderella Closet. One highlight of this book is that the main couple is non-traditional-looking. It's very rare to see androgynous men in the male lead position in any romance, let alone a romance manga. It was refreshing to see this type of romance depicted. Another highlight of this book is the art style. Every page is a work of art, and I enjoyed reading this book so much. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of josei manga in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in August!

**That Beauty Is a Tramp** is a refreshing and heartwarming romance manga that delves into themes of self-discovery and overcoming personal barriers with a unique and engaging twist. Combining elements of romance, fashion, and emotional growth, this story offers readers a captivating blend of charm and insight.

The plot centers on Nagi, a cool and tomboyish young woman with a deep desire for a romantic relationship but an unusual obstacle—since a traumatic incident in college, she has developed a reflexive aversion to physical contact with men. Her world begins to shift when she meets Aran, a strikingly beautiful male model who effortlessly blurs the lines between masculine and feminine styles with his androgynous look.

Aran's presence proves to be a turning point for Nagi. She discovers that she can touch him without triggering her aversion, leading to a surprising connection between them. When Aran invites Nagi to participate in a high-profile photo shoot with a renowned photographer, Nagi seizes the opportunity to make a bold request: for Aran to be her practice boyfriend for one month. Her goal is to confront and overcome her aversion to physical contact, and Aran’s role in this process becomes pivotal.

The strength of *That Beauty Is a Tramp* lies in its thoughtful exploration of Nagi’s emotional journey. Her struggle to reconcile her past trauma with her present desires is portrayed with sensitivity and depth, making her character both relatable and endearing. The dynamic between Nagi and Aran is electric, filled with moments of humor, tension, and growing affection. Aran’s androgynous charm and supportive nature offer a unique contrast to Nagi’s initial hesitance, creating a compelling and nuanced romance.

The art style complements the story beautifully, with expressive character designs and striking fashion elements that enhance the narrative's visual appeal. The fashion industry backdrop adds a layer of glamour and intrigue, setting the stage for both personal and professional growth.

The novel also excels in its portrayal of the healing power of love and acceptance. Nagi’s journey to overcome her aversion is both inspiring and heartwarming, and her evolving relationship with Aran provides a moving exploration of trust and emotional connection.

**That Beauty Is a Tramp** is a delightful read for fans of romance and personal growth. It combines a unique premise with well-developed characters and an engaging storyline, making it a standout manga that offers both emotional depth and romantic allure. Whether you're drawn to the fashion elements, the slow-burn romance, or the character-driven narrative, this manga provides a satisfying and memorable experience.

Nagi is a tomboy working in the fashion industry and she really wants a boyfriend. However, she's been unable to physically touch men since a guy drunkenly made a pass at her at a party in college. When she meets Aran, her favorite model and discovers that, not only is he a man, she doesn't recoil instinctively from his touch, Nago asks Aran to be her boyfriend for a month to "cure her" of her aversions. Aran is an androgynous looking male model who believes that he should be able to wear whatever he wants. He's very suddenly taken an interest in Nagi, whose self confidence effects most parts of her life. He wants Nagi to participate in an upcoming photo shoot with him.

First, the art for the first volume of That Beauty is a Tramp is impeccable. Everything and everyone looks gorgeous. This first volume feels like Cinderella Closet and My Androgynous Boyfriend got merged into one story and the spice level got upped a bit. So far I'm liking everything, but I can definitely see the male lead's obsessiveness and the female lead's obliviousness (caused by her self esteem) is going to cause issues in future volumes. This volume kind of has the same flavor as Paradise Kiss with art similar to something like Therapy Game.

"That Beauty Is a Tramp" is an interesting manga. The cover is beautiful and so is the art inside. I love that Nagi is exploring how to be feminine. I enjoyed watching Aran develop feelings for Nagi. The last panel was exciting!

This digital ARC was obtainable via NetGalley for an honest review.

I absolutely loved Nagi and Aran’s interactions! They are so funny.

Nagi asking Aran to be her fake boyfriend was everything. I liked seeing her put herself out there so she can get help. (Because let’s be real, she’s a true romantic at heart)

I loved seeing Arans attitude towards Nagi changing & seeing him get a little possessive in the end 🤭

The illustration is so beautiful.

I can’t wait to read more!

This is an interesting first installment in this new manga series. It is definitely laying the foundational work and building blocks for what this series will become, and it was easy to engage with and definitely left me interested in seeing where this series will go. The artwork is beautiful and brings to life this story in a vivid and accessible way. I found the exploration of sexuality and appearance to be an interesting way to explore who both main characters are. The conversation around how one presents themselves and how certain expressions of sexuality can provide a feeling of comfort and safety to someone else is really interesting. I hope this story keeps an inclusive eye on self expression, sexuality and the spectrum of the binary at its heart.

Thank you to Valentine PR for an eARC, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

My new obsession!
Nagi is a masc afab struggling with their sexuality
She has a bodily rejection to male touch but isnt 100% into girls
She meets an androgynous male model, Aran, who models as both masc and fem
They enter a contractional relationship to figure how to help Nagi's love life
Perfect mix of Pretty Woman meets Devil Wears Prada, it did remind me alittle of Misao and Kyo from Black Bird but with more communication
This was a healthy romance of self discovery, acceptance and happiness!
I cant wait for vol 2 and im gonna need a whole series

This first volume felt a little confusing to me in terms of vibe, as it’s intended for adults but reads more like YA at times. The art is pretty and reminds me of the style of manga I would read in high school, so maybe that’s impacting my impression as well. I enjoyed the fashion aspect of the plot, with outfit reveals and attention to detail in the illustrations. The premise didn’t end up hooking me as much as I had hoped, but fingers crossed that further volumes will play up more of the gender fluidity of both characters and go a little more in depth. The ending did take a turn with a much more jealous/controlling vibe and if that continues I don’t think this series is for me after all.

Nagi wants love and romance, but every time she touches a man, she gets goosebumps and freaks out. She knows exactly why and it has something to do with a past incident. When Nagi has the chance to meet her favorite model, Aran, she's surprised to find that the Aran she knows as a she, is actually very male. Aran though is very gender fluid (although for the book he's mostly male presenting). Nagi, who dresses simply and more boyishly, is surprised and Aran wants her to model with him. In exchange, she asks for him to be her temporary boyfriend so she can experience what a relationship is supposed to be. What begins as an arrangement looks like something more and a journey of self discover for Nagi.

This title hits all the right notes for fake romance. Aran is a surprisingly understanding partner. He doesn't push her physically and always respects her boundaries (despite teasing her relentlessly). Nagi's discovery of femininity while keeping what makes her, well, her, is deftly handled by the author. Aran is a great support to Nagi, although readers will think he's a little too overbearing at the end (granted, without volume 2, it's hard to tell exactly what's happening). The discussion of gender is well done. Not all men have to be masculine. Not all women have to be feminine. Aran shows her a different way of seeing what she already sees. A solid josei manga for adult readers and adult manga/comic collections. (Although I think this is only in eBook?)

Okay, LISTEN...

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this! It's so cute. I love Aran and Nagi together and I'm curious to see how they grow and learn more about themselves. I like that Nagi is comfortable telling Aran when she doesn't like something, and Aran actually listens to her and stops.

The only thing that was throwing me off was the fact that her name is Nagi and my favorite character from Blue Lock is Nagi. So my brain had to adjust to that. But that was a ME problem.

Thank you to Kodansha for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I applaud the publisher for trying to give this a shorter title in English, but I don't love it. The original Japanese title almost qualifies as a light novel title/plot description. While the main characters are working adults, the plot and the way it's executed presents it more as an escapist fantasy at best, or a cheap thrill for teenage readers. The art is definitely pretty enough and I have a soft spot for androgynous character design, so sign me up for the next volume.

The story if very fasted pace and jumps right in. The fashion in this is very interesting. I want to see more of each character getting enhanced by the clothes they wear. I'm curious to see how they will further the plot outside of fashion.

This new Josei series is one that I really am enjoying so far! This first volume gave me everything I wanted from it, and more. The trope of getting used to the opposite gender by fake dating is my cat nip, so this one was already on my radar. Great characters and fantastic art too?? It left me wanting more, and the art is also fantastic! Help me get this gem out of digital jail please!!!

✨𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐈𝐓:
That Beauty Is A Tramp tells the story of Nagi, who is haunted by a past trauma involving a male friend who tried to touch her while drunk. Because of this, she trembles whenever a man touches or holds her, even accidentally. Nagi wants to date like anyone else, but she can't move past her trauma. Then, Aran-chan enters her life. When he touches her chin, her body doesn't react. Seizing the moment, Nagi asks Aran to be her temporary boyfriend for a month.

OMG!!! I never thought I’d get into this kind of genre. I usually go for slow-burn romances, but now I find myself enjoying fast-paced romance too, depending on the plot and how it keeps me hooked. I can’t get enough of Aran-chan and Nagi. They are so adorable together! Their chemistry is amazing as they get to know each other. How will Nagi handle her feelings? Holy guacamole! And to make things even more intense, Aran decides to move in with Nagi. Ughhh. I can’t wait to read the second volume already.

Overall, I highly recommend this to anyone over 18 because it’s a bit spicy. If you love romance, this is definitely worth your time!

✨𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄:
📌 TOMBOYISH FEMALE X ANDROGYNOUS MALE
📌 FAST-PACED ROMANCE
📌 FAKE DATING RELATIONSHIP
📌 HOT/CHARMING/FLIRTATIOUS MALE PROTAGONIST
📌 PRETTY/CHARMING/CUTE FEMALE PROTAGONIST
📌 A MODERATE AMOUNT OF SPICY

🖥️ GOODREADS REVIEW: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6732581940

💻 BLOG REVIEW: https://kimthebookdragon.wordpress.com/2024/08/06/arc-review-that-beauty-is-a-tramp-volume-1-by-hal-osaka/

The art style was beautiful, loved everything about that. The story itself was just weird. I'm not a huge fan of insta-love and the ending just gave me a huge ick. Too possessive, too controlling, too pushy. I'm sure there's an audience for this - It just wasn't for me.

Appearances first - the art is beautiful, especially the colored pages. Totally gorgeous.

I liked this story a lot, I think it's a relatable storyline even if the way it plays out is less conventional. Having a bad experience with anything, not just a relationship can totally put you off of something. So for our FMC, she has a bad experience with a guy, and while she loves the idea of being in a relationship actually being in one is very different. Enter our MMC. I liked him a lot, his personality is very much the type of guy I like in a book or manga. I love the dynamic they have going - their relationship wasn't what either of them were expecting - but I find that most of the time we get what we need not necessarily what we think we want. This reading experience felt very sensual and sexy, without being overtly smutty if that made sense, but it isn't really romantic either. It was like the perfect balance of tension for both the reader and the characters in the story. Will definitely be reading more of this series as it comes out.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for an e-copy of #ThatBeautyIsaTramp to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for giving me this eArc to review.

This manga had such a good premise but I feel like it was executed so poorly. Feelings and actions happened too quickly and if everything was explored more it would have felt more natural and less rushed.

The art and the fashion within the book was great and there were a few moments between the two characters that was nice but overall it felt generic (sort of) shy girl with no self worth and a guy who gets far too possessive far too quick.

3.5
This story was pretty cute, but it's very surface-level to me. I do enjoy the fact that the male lead is androgynous, I feel like I haven't seen a romance with an androgynous male lead before. The main plot trope is "Fake Dating" but it's more of "Fake Dating that's actually Exposure Therapy". It's always a fun concept. Also, this story has several moments that get way more spicy than I thought they would be. For a split second, I thought I'd accidentally started reading a H-manga. I did enjoy this story, so I will be seeking out more volumes if I can.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

So thankful I had the opportunity to read this manga, but ultimately wasn't a good fit for me.

I had a hard time connecting with either characters and wish we had just a couple of more pages building up the FMC's back story and building up the request from the MMC. I didn't feel like either of the characters had much chemistry together and felt like the characters weren't robust. I think there's a large audience that would enjoy this book, but I couldn't get into it.

A big thank you for allowing me to read this one... sadly we didn't click.
I loved the idea of her having a reflex when it came to men due to a bad experience... but at least make it more believable. Not when the first hot guy arrives (who she thought was a girl for most of the time until his debut here) and touches her and then nothing happens and then later even less happens. And even if you remove the bad experience it didn't seem to take her that long to not be bothered that much as this was not just instalove but also instalust. She wanted more of him. Was already thinking of things to do with him. Didn't want him to stop. It just didn't make sense. Not to mention the pacing also felt off and scenarios were strange. Why would he want her, a total stranger, to do all sorts of sexy photographs with him without even telling her what is happening? How did anyone think he was a girl? Maybe his head, but otherwise, not really. XD
The art was pretty though. But that is not something that makes me keep reading if the story sucks.