Takashi (left) and Makoto (right)
29-year-old Suda Makoto is an average Salaryman and leads an ordinary life in every aspect if not for the fact that he is raising a child alone. To top it up, the child is not even related to him, being the son of his girlfriend during his university days. After his girlfriend, a single mother, died in a tragic accident and the existence of her son became known to him, he decided to adopt him and treat him as his own. Trouble began when the child, being very emotionally attached to his mother and not old enough to understand the fact that she was already dead, kept on clamoring for her. In a desperate bid to placate his new son, Makoto recklessly decided to fulfill the role of a mother via cross-dressing. For eight years, he successfully cultivated the image of a perfect mother at home while working as his normal self outside home. All seems uneventful until he fell in love for the first time in many years with a woman he met in a crowded train one day, which threatens to upset the delicate status quo he had created….
Nicoichi is a seinen manga by Kindaichi Renjuurou, which was serialized in Young Gangan from 2004 to 2012. The series actually deals very little about the trials of single parenthood and focuses more on the impact of Living a Double Life on a person's dating life as well as the difficulties on keeping secrets to a person's close ones. It is nonetheless a heartwarming manga with many comedic moments to make an enjoyable read.
This series provides examples of:
- Adorably Precocious Child: Takashi, Makoto's son, is not only adorable, but also well-mannered and very understanding.
- Anti-Climax: Takashi's reaction upon learning Makoto's secret.
- Anxiety Dreams: Makoto is plagued with a number of these throughout the series, which more often than not revolve around his anxieties over his masquerade.
- Attractive Bent-Gender: Makoto.
- Babies Ever After: The ending of the series.
- Beat Panel: Used very frequently, often along with the Identical Panel Gag.
- Beneath the Mask: Fujimoto Natsumi, Makoto's crush, puts up a professional, no-nonsense demeanor during work and only reveals her inner self to her family and close friends.
- Bland-Name Product: The characters dine in "Dos Burger" (a reference to the Mos Burger chain) restaurants occasionally.
- Book Ends: The first chapter starts with Takashi narrating a brief introduction about himself and the last chapter starts with him doing the same as well.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Nagai Aya, classmate and self-professed girlfriend of Takashi. Although she is also pretty precocious, and is well aware of her own shortcomings.
- Bromantic Foil: Takeuchi Ryuuhei, Makoto's junior in the company he is working in.
- The Chikan: Makoto became friends with Natsumi after helping her to accost a molester who had groped her while they were commuting in a crowded train. Unfortunately for Makoto, he was in his female persona at that time.
- Didn't Think This Through: The source of most problems for Makoto.
- Digging Yourself Deeper
- Doting Parent: Makoto to Takashi.
- Expressive Hair: Aya's pigtails will leap up whenever she is shocked.
- Eyes Out of Sight: Narumi, Takashi's birth mother, is always depicted with eye obscuring bangs in flashbacks. Her eyes are finally revealed in a photograph Makoto used to convince Takashi about the truth of his identity in Chapter 85.
- First-Episode Twist: Makoto's true identity is revealed to the audience in Chapter 1.
- Gender-Bender Friendship: Makoto became fast friends with Natsumi, while in his female persona. Not so much for his male persona though.
- Gender-Blender Name: Makoto.
- Glamorous Single Mother: Makoto gives this impression, since by the start of the series he had already overcame most of the difficulties of single parenthood.
- The Glomp: Takashi executed a flying tackle towards Natsumi in Chapter 110 to prevent her from leaving his home without even entering in the first place.
- Going Native: Makoto towards cross-dressing. Despite his vehement denials.
- Good Parents: Makoto's parents are that to him, and are even willing to support his masquerade, which in turn influenced his parenting towards Takashi.
- The Glasses Come Off: Inverted in the case of Natsumi, who puts on glasses during work to conceal her usual bumbling nature and project a no-nonsense, professional demeanor.
- Harsh Word Impact
- I Have This Friend: Used by both Makoto and Natsumi before, though not at the same time.
- Imagine Spot: Makoto is prone to having elaborate fantasies (or simply nightmares).
- Inner Monologue: Makoto is fond of conversing (or even arguing) with himself, mostly depicted as between his two persona.
- Internal Reveal: Makoto gradually revealed his secret to various characters in the series, which elicited varying degrees of shock and surprise from them.
- Insane Troll Logic: Anno-sensei, Takashi's form teacher who has a crush on Makoto in his female persona, refused to believe that Makoto is really male, even after witnessing him in his male persona, which he dismissed as Makoto being a Sweet Polly Oliver.
- Kavorka Man: Matsui Satoru, Makoto's colleague at work, is portrayed as such, and often engages in love conquests rivalry with Takeuchi, which annoys Makoto greatly.
- Keeping Secrets Sucks: Makoto feels increasingly guilty about keeping his true identity secret from Takashi, but could not bear to reveal the truth to him.
- Living a Double Life: Makoto, naturally.
- Loves My Alter Ego: Natsumi originally falls for Makoto's female persona, not knowing his true identity. Even after The Reveal, she still prefers his female persona.
- The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: It took almost four volumes for Makoto to clear things up Natsumi.
- Medium Awareness: Makoto displays some awareness of himself being a character of the manga in a few occasions.
- Mistaken for Gay: Aya mistakes the relationship between Makoto and Natsumi as that of homosexual, as Makoto's disguise is simply too convincing for her to suspect anything else.
- Momma's Boy: Takashi. Very much so.
- New Old Flame: Oota Risa, Makoto's first and only girlfriend during his high school days, appeared in Chapter 64, and whose appearance threatened the romance between Makoto and Natsumi. Subverted in that she was just feeling lonely due to her husband's frequent long business trips and had simply wanted a close friend to converse with.
- No Periods, Period: Averted for Natsumi in Chapter 20.
- Not Blood Siblings: Satoru and Natsumi are not blood related, and he even has a crush on her, although he refuses to make any advances or reveal his feelings to her.
- Office Lady: Natsumi.
- Parental Abandonment: Takashi after Narumi died in the aforementioned accident, since his biological father was unknown.
- His biological father eventually appeared late in the series.
- Parental Marriage Veto: Natsumi's step-mother was initially against her marrying Makoto as he is a single parent, as she had a particularly bad experience of being a step-parent when she married Natsumi's father and feared the same would happen to her.
- Plot-Triggering Death: The death of Narumi set off the chain of events that led to the start of the story.
- Posthumous Character: Narumi.
- Recap Episode: Chapter 86 begins as one, which is even Lampshaded by Makoto himself.
- Salaryman: Makoto.
- Secret-Keeper: Initially, only Makoto's immediate family is aware of his masquerade, with more people joining in the secret as the series progresses.
- Sexier Alter Ego: Makoto, so much so that it becomes a Running Gag that he is much more popular while in his female persona than in his male persona.
- Shopping Montage: Happened a few times throughout the series.
- Sink or Swim Fatherhood: Makoto when he adopted Takashi. That Takashi had grown up to be a nice kid is testimony to Makoto's successful parenting.
- Someone to Remember Him By: Takashi.
- The Stoic: Satoru by default. Which makes his Not So Stoic moments pretty hilarious.
- Survival Mantra: A comedic variant occurred in Chapter 8, when Makoto kept on reminding himself to act normal when he unwittingly found himself alone with Natsumi at her residence while still in his female persona.Makoto: I'm a woman. I'm a woman. I'm a woman. I'm a woman. I'm a woman….
- Sweet Tooth: Natsumi. Woe to those who try to intentionally deprive her of sweet foods. Takashi to a lesser extent.
- Tampon Run: Makoto was obliged to do one for Natsumi in Chapter 20, freaking him out briefly. Thankfully for him, he was in his female persona at that time.
- Tastes Like Friendship: Risa manged to overcome Natsumi's hostility towards her by introducing a café that sells low-calorie desserts to her.
- Tsundere: Aya. Which is even Lampshaded by Takashi.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Makoto.
- Wig, Dress, Accent: Makoto's method of disguise, including makeup. It is so effective that it shocked his friends who witnessed his makeover live in one occasion.
