History Main / OtokonokoGenre

Otokonoko features both girl-on-crossdresser and guy-on-crossdresser stories (it's one of the few places where you will find M/F stories and M/M stories side-by-side in the same magazine). The target audience is men who crossdress (or are interested), and men who have a fetish for crossdressers, and the art styles and tropes are typically those of male-oriented romance/{{ecchi}}/{{hentai}} material. There is also a significant PeripheryDemographic of female readers. (Although guy-on-guy otokonoko is often mistaken for BoysLoveGenre, and some Shoujo, Josei, boys love works, and {{otome game}}s do include characters that identify as otokonoko, anything targeted to women is ''not'' the otokonoko genre.)

* ''VisualNovel/OtobokuMaidensAreFallingForMe'': Possibly the original "boy crossdresses to infiltrate an all-girl's school, gets involved in pseudo-lesbian sexual hijinks" story; released at a point where the genre didn't have a name and consequently advertised as "GirlsLove" even though the main character is male.

%%Removed from index formatting because Hentai works don't usually get links, but not linking it would add the first link in the bullet point to the Otokonoko Index%%
* ''Josou Jinja'' and its sequels are fairly generic otokonoko gay {{Hentai}} KineticNovel, mainly notable for the first installment of the series being the first visual novel in the genre to be not only released in English but also given a widespread release on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and Website/GOGDotCom (under the name ''Trap Shrine'').

An otokonoko character must be anatomically male (no {{Hermaphrodite}}s or {{Gender Bender}}s) but look convincingly like an attractive girl. Most identify as male, but even when the character identifies as female, [[TransgenderFetishization few works try to deal with]] actual UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} issues in anything like a realistic way. Since otokonoko is mainly an {{otaku}} thing, otokonoko are quite likely to wear SailorFuku, {{Meido}}, {{Miko}}, CatGirl or {{Naughty Nurse Outfit}}s as well as "ordinary" female clothes.

* If you were to explain otokonoko to someone, Bridget from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' would probably be the first character to come to mind for many, but he's not the focus of the series and the series predates the genre by a few years. And when Bridget appears in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearStrive'' after a long absence, [[LGBTAwakening she's decided to identify as a girl outright]].

* ''VisualNovel/OtobokuMaidensAreFallingForMe'': Possibly the original "boy crossdresses to infiltrate an all-girl's school, gets involved in pseudo-lesbian sexual hijinks" story; released at a point where the genre didn't have a name and consequently advertised as "GirlsLove" even though the main character is male.[[/index]]

* ''Josou Jinja'' and its sequels are fairly generic otokonoko gay {{Hentai}} KineticNovel which is mainly notable for being the first one in the genre to be not only released in English but also given a widespread release on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and Website/GOGDotCom (under the name ''Trap Shrine''). [[index]]

Otokonoko features both girl-on-crossdresser and guy-on-crossdresser stories (it's one of the few places where you will find m/f stories and m/m stories side-by-side in the same magazine). The target audience is men who crossdress (or are interested), and men who have a fetish for crossdressers, and the art styles and tropes are typically those of male-oriented romance / {{ecchi}} / {{hentai}} material. There is also a significant PeripheryDemographic of female readers. (Although guy-on-guy otokonoko is often mistaken for BoysLoveGenre, and some Shoujo, Josei, boys love works, and {{otome game}}s do include characters that identify as otokonoko, anything targeted to women is ''not'' the otokonoko genre.)

* ''Josou Jinja'' is a fairly generic otokonoko gay {{Hentai}} KineticNovel which is mainly notable for being the first one in the genre to be not only released in English but also given a widespread release on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} (under the name ''Trap Shrine''). [[index]]

* ''[[Manga/WagahaiWaOtokonokoDearu Wagahai wa "Otokonoko" dearu!]]'' (''I am an Otokonoko!''): [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-11-18/ex-johnny-jr-idol-makes-cross-dressing-essay-manga A manga how-to guide]] for otokonoko hopefuls written by Nanami Igarashi, son of {{shojo}} manga artist Creator/YumikoIgarashi and voice actor Creator/KazuhikoInoue and himself an otokonoko (currently providing the page image).

"Otokonoko", also known as "Otoko no Musume", is a Japanese genre of romantic and/or erotic stories for men, focusing on AttractiveBentGender male {{Crossdresser}}s. The name is a pun.[[labelnote:Details]]The word "otokonoko" normally means "boy" (literally "male child"), but swapping the "ko" meaning "child" for a different "ko" meaning "girl" gives a compound that Japanese sites like to translate as "male maiden".[[/labelnote]] It is sometimes called '"josou" ("women's clothes"), a more generic term for male crossdressers. Western fandom uses the terms "trap"[[note]]This word is offensive when directed at transgender people and in general should not be used as a label for anyone who has not explicitly claimed it.[[/note]], "femboy", and -- less often -- "tomgirl" (as the opposite of {{Tomboy}}).

* ''[[Manga/WagahaiWaOtokonokoDearu Wagahai wa "Otokonoko" dearu!]]'' (''I am an Otokonoko!''): [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-11-18/ex-johnny-jr-idol-makes-cross-dressing-essay-manga A manga how-to guide]] for otokonoko hopefuls written by Nanami Igarashi, son of {{shojo}} manga artist Yumiko Igarashi (''Manga/CandyCandy'') and voice actor Creator/KazuhikoInoue and himself an otokonoko (currently providing the page image).

* ''LightNovel/BakaAndTestSummonTheBeasts'' - Hideyoshi is an icon for the subculture. Doesn't quite fit into the genre, as it doesn't focus on Hideyoshi's love life (he's only a side character).

* ''Manga/TheSecretDevilChan'': Guy wishes for {{Horny Devil|s}} to take his virginity, gets cutie, freaks when he realizes he forgot to specify ''female'' cutie.

* ''Manga/PorteTricolore'': A short-lived SliceOfLife series set in a magical world where only tomgirls can use magic. Notable for implying that most of the cast is actually intersex in some way.

* ''Literature/ImARoyalTutorInMySistersDress'' revolves around a boy impersonating his older sister in order for the both of them to avoid execution.

[[folder:Light Novels]]
* ''Manga/ImARoyalTutorInMySistersDress'' revolves around a boy impersonating his older sister in order for the both of them to avoid execution.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Literature/OtokoNoKoWaMeidoFukuGaOsuki'': Four cute girls open and run a maid cafe (spoiler: they're not girls)
[[/folder]]

* If you were to explain otokonoko to someone, Bridget from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' would probably be the first character to come to mind for many, but he's not the focus of the series and the series predates the genre by a few years.

* If you were to explain otokonoko to someone, Bridget from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' would probably be the first character to come to mind for many, but he's not the focus of the series and the series predates the genre by a few years. And when Bridget appears in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearStrive'' after a long absence, [[LGBTAwakening she's decided to identify as a girl outright]].