YMMV / Bokura no Hentai

• Angst Aversion: Many Western would-be readers are extremely put off by the highly triggering content, namely its absolutely naked depiction of dysphoria and overall being very depressing.
• Cliché Storm: Although the manga deconstructs many tropes from Otokonoko Genre and Boys' Love, it still has a noticeable number of them, like the natural femininity of crossdressers or Incompatible Orientation to make the "non-standard" characters' feelings more dramatic. It also follows similar beats to other pieces of transgender fiction.
• Heartwarming Moments: Given all the general mood of the series and the hardships the protagonists had to go through, the ending is amazing in its emotional impact.
• LGBT Fanbase:
  • It's gained quite a following, due to the fact that this is one of those rare works that really shows in detail the existing homophobia and transphobia in society, and while it's less idealistic compared to other works featuring otokonoko it still came out with an optimistic end. Having a sympathetic viewpoint towards the transgender and gay characters also helps.
  • It also does a brutal job of articulating dysphoria and the fears of dysphoric individuals.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Akane's character is set up as a foil to Marika. Early chapters imply that she's either gender dysphoric or nonconforming (she hated wearing skirts as a toddler, is uncomfortable with her period, and finds she likes the way she looks in a gakuran mirroring Marika feeling more comfortable in a sailor uniform) or she is having trouble adjusting to puberty and growing up. She also has a plot point about not having crushes when her peers are starting to and feeling left behind as a result. Unfortunately, all these plot elements are dropped a few chapters in without any resolution; she mostly plays the best friend character, has very few plot points to herself, and her biggest subplot has her gain a crush on Tamura that never goes anywhere due to Incompatible Orientation before she's Demoted to Extra.
  • Yui is left an open book with a Mysterious Past. All that's mentioned is that she was an up-and-coming fashion model who died prior to the story, her mother favored her over her brother, she liked to tease her brother, and that she Used to Be a Tomboy prior to becoming a model. It's never even mentioned why she died. While there are bits and pieces about her floating throughout the story, ultimately she's nothing more than The Ghost.
  • Mai's character doesn't go anywhere. She's introduced as if she will become a major character, only to be all-but ignored throughout the rest of the series. She never even confesses to Marika. Her potential friendship with Marika and her feelings towards her (especially after Marika begins living as a girl) are never explored.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: A lot of homophobia, undivided love, and angsty characters who society does not understand clearly do not make reading more fun. Moreover, many of the leading players aren't quite mentally sound, and particularly in Osamu's case, situations don't get better.
• Values Dissonance: On the verge of Deliberate Values Dissonance. As the work is written for the seinen demographic (read: heterosexual young men), it intends to introduce the readers into the world of transgender issues through the originally transphobic Ryou. Other things, like Akane continuing to call Marika by her deadname or Marika having to go with the boys even after she starts living as a girl, also put some Western fans off.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Little Girls?: The series has a very cute, almost simplistic art style and the protagonists are mostly middle schoolers. Marika is very much The Cutie with an idealistic viewpoint who basically thinks she's in a '70s shojo manga...But it's a rather dark seinen series dealing with anything from puberty to sexual abuse.