Crossplay Love: Otaku x Punk (Josou-shite Mendokusai Koto ni Natteru Nekura to Yankee no Ryou Kataomoinote ) is a Romantic Comedy manga by Tooru, published in Mag Garden since 2018. Seven Seas Entertainment started releasing an English translation in 2022.
Note: On this page, Hanae and Shuumei will be called by their actual names and he/him pronouns when they're not crossdressing, and by their alter ego names and she/her pronouns when they are.
Contains examples of:
- Antiquated Linguistics: Yuuma's sister speaks in an old-fashioned style.
- Attractive Bent-Gender: Both boys are very pretty as girls.
- Caught in the Rain: In Chapter 5, Mei is caught in the rain without an umbrella and worries that her makeup will run. Hanae, despite not being Hana at the moment, gives her his umbrella, but she rejects it and runs home with just a hat to protect her from the rain.
- Disguised in Drag: Shuumei creates his "Mei" persona to be able to get close and talk to Hana, who he worries wouldn't like his male personality.
- Emo Teen: Hanae is described as emo, and often acts reserved around others. He also wears all black, but that's the school uniform.
- "Eureka!" Moment: In Chapter 38, after seeing a modeling photo of Hana (who he knows is a boy) and Udon (who he knows is actually Shimazaki), Yuzuru sees Shimazaki walking by with Hanae. He suddenly realizes who Hana really is.
- Fake Relationship: In Chapter 31, Mei pretends to be Hanae's girlfriend so he can buy something for his sister at a store for couples.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: It's a wig, but Hana's sweet personality matches her hair color.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: Shuumei spends all of Chapter 24 with his foot stuck between river rocks, until Hana comes by to help him.
- Hypocritical Humor: Shuumei asks his friend Yuzuru "Isn't there some way for people to stop thinking I'm a delinquent?" while grinding his foot into someone's face. Yuzuru just stares, thinking "this is like someone saying 'Why can't I lose weight?' while eating".
- I Have Sisters: Both boys' sisters are aware of their crossdressing, and even help them with makeup sometimes.
- I Have This Friend: Hanae and Shuumei ask their friends Shimazaki and Yuzuru what a girl would give someone to show her gratitude (hypothetically, of course). Both tell their friend "a kiss on the cheek".
- I Love You Because I Can't Control You: Hanae's friend Jun Nakamura is attracted to Hana because she treats him like a normal person, instead of being immediately attracted to him like most girls.
- Innocently Insensitive: Hana tells Mei how she hates delinquents, and Mei responds with how she doesn't want anything to do with otaku. Both think the other hates their real self.
- Japanese Delinquents: Shuumei is a yankii, with short, spiky Delinquent Hair.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Hana wears a blonde wig, dresses in more feminine clothing like dresses, and is much kinder and softer than the dark-haired Mei, who dresses more androgynously and still shows some of Shuumei's Hot-Blooded personality.
- Loves My Alter Ego: The main characters are Crossdressers who are attracted to each other's fem alter egos, without knowing they're not actually a girl. In their normal lives, they don't like each other's male identities at all.
- Luminescent Blush: Shuumei when he gets a text from Hana, and Hanae when he gets one back from Mei. Also whenever they're close to each other, and at least one is crossdressing.
- Maid Cafe: Hana works at a Taisho-themed one called Roman (romance), though it's unclear if the manager and other employees know Hana's true identity.
- Nosebleed: Shuumei's nose literally spews blood in all directions (and all over his face) when a feverish Hana holds his hands to her face.
- Not What It Looks Like: In Chapter 34, Shimazaki walks by just in time to see Yuzuru doing what looks like a Wall Pin of Love to Shuumei and saying, "Lie down for me like a good boy". Yuzuru frantically tries to explain he was trying to get a feverish Shuumei to lie down and rest, but Shimazaki just says he's not prejudiced. Kanoko also mistakenly thinks that they're a couple.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When he gets a fever, Shuumei becomes weirdly friendly and spacey.
- Otokonoko Genre: A manga about Wholesome Crossdressers, one of whom works at a Maid Cafe.
- Real Name as an Alias: Both of them take their female alter egos' names from parts of their own names.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Kagesawa Aoi, the manager of Cafe Roman, is described as "the personification of common sense".
- Recognizable by Sound: Hana recognizes Shuumei as having Mei's voice, but she's so loopy from her fever that she doesn't notice he looks nothing like Mei at the moment.
- Recursive Crossdressing: The cafe Hana works at has a genderswap-themed day, so Hana ends up being a guy dressed as a girl dressed as a guy.
- Rejection Affection: Shuumei's friend Kanoko is head-over-heels for Mei, even stalking her, despite her making it clear that she wants nothing to do with him.
- Reverse Psychology Backfire: Mei tries to stamp out Kanoko's interest in her by dressing girlishly and behaving the opposite of how she normally does. Unfortunately, he's still attracted to her as a person.
- Secret-Keeper: Shimazaki figures out on his own that "Hana" is his friend Hanae, and keeps his secret safe.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Yuzuru figures out right away that Shuumei's crush Hana is actually a boy (though he doesn't know who until later), and that "Mei" is Shuumei. He keeps both secrets from everyone, partially for his own amusement.
- Spotting the Thread: Hanae's friend Shimazaki goes to Cafe Roman, where Hana works, and notices that she prepares his glass of water exactly the way he likes it, despite supposedly never having met him before. He confronts Hanae with his suspicions the next day at school.
- Theme Naming: Shimazaki and his cosplay friends' Bishōnen personas are all named after different types of noodles—Udon, Ramen, Soumen, etc.
- Verbal Tic: Hanae's friend Shimazaki ends his sentences with "de gozaru" rather than "desu" and uses the honorific -shi. Hanae also uses -shi.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Hanae falls into this a bit more than Shuumei, since Shuumei has an ulterior motive for crossdressing.
