CUTE×GUY

Takaoka Sumi is the generically cute daughter of a mad scientist, and she has a problem. She has a crush on a guy from school -- Sudou Mitsuru -- who is rumored to prefer mature and sexy types... everything she isn't. But Sumi is in luck. Her father has just invented a new, experimental medicine that he promised would turn her into the sort of mature beauty that would be sure to catch Mitsuru's eye. So, heart pounding with anticipation, she downs the formula in one gulp...

...and it transforms her into a mature-looking, tall, and sexy... man! And it will continue to do so every time her heart races in the presence of her crush, although Sumi was fortunate enough to eventually turn back two hours later, once the effects wore off. On top of this, her father is not only out of the country but also being incredibly uncooperative with her pleas for an antidote, more interested in using her as a guinea pig for his new medicine, and her stylist mother just wants to use her as a male model. At the same time, she also finds herself aggressively lusted after by the vampish school nurse, Kyouko-sensei.

But on the bright side, Mitsuru admires her male alter ego as his "ideal man" and wants to learn to be more masculine from 'him' (much to her initial dismay). Figuring she'll get to know him better this way, Sumi decides to become his mentor, acquiring the name "Tadano Jun" in the process. Soon though, other gender benders begin turning up, and her simple plan to get closer to Mitsuru becomes increasingly convoluted as she struggles to keep Mitsuru in the dark about her transformations while navigating the developing love triangle between her, Mitsuru, and the son of her father's biggest rival, Nishizawa Shizuka, who shares her condition.

CUTE×GUY (可愛X男孩) is a Gender Bender Romantic Comedy written by Tateno Makoto (Japanese order) which has not been officially translated into English. It was serialized from March 2004 to July 2006 in the magazine Hana to Yume published by Hakusensha. There are four volumes total.

Tropes used in CUTE×GUY include:

• Adults Are Useless: Either adults are conspicuous in their absence or humorous for their Comedic Sociopathy. There are only four adult characters in the series who are of any significance to the plot (not counting Doctor M): Sumi's father, her mother, Kyouko-sensei, and Shizuka's father.
• "Attractive Bent Gender operates in tandem with the First Law of Gender Bending to leave the world more attractive than it had been before," indeed. Sumi had Generic Cuteness on her side even before she took the Gender Bender drug, and it turned her into a Tall, Dark and Handsome Bishonen who looks older than his years in a good way. And it's not just the body transformers either. Mitsuru made a very cute girl when he could be convinced to wear drag.
• Beach Chapter: Right down to the entirely coincidental Beauty Contest, which Hozumi and Kyouko-sensei both enter, as well as a new girl, who is actually a guy named Nishizawa Shizuka, another Gender Bender.
• Betty and Veronica: Gender Inverted. Which would Sumi choose? The wholesome, if somewhat oblivious Mitsuru, who she has been nursing a crush on for ages? Or maybe the flawed but reliable Shizuka, who was the son of her father's rival? There was also an element of Muggle and Magical Love Triangle to her choice as Mitsuru is a Muggle Locked Out of the Loop and Shizuka is a fellow Gender Bender. Mitsuru wins.
• Bit Character doubling as a Shallow Love Interest: Miyoko, better known as "Miyo-chan", a friend of Sumi's. Mitsuru had a crush on her in the first volume, but she rejected his confession and was only mentioned once after that. However, as Sumi describes her, Miyoko is a plain-looking girl, not a "flamboyant beauty with big breasts", which caused Sumi to realize that she was rash to believe the rumors about Mitsuru's taste in women.
• Easy Sex Change: Dr. Takaoka's experimental medicine was developed with the intention of replacing sex change operations.
• Gender Bender: The single most defining trope of CUTE×GUY. The Applied Phlebotinum that made this trope possible In-Universe was an experimental formula developed independently by both Dr. Tadaoka and his rival, Dr. Nishizawa. At least five characters are "body transformers", but each of their individual conditions and circumstances are incredibly different. For one, some of them required a trigger to transform (like Sumi), while others seemed to be able to will the change at their leisure (like Hozumi). And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
  • First Law of Gender Bending: Subverted. Unlike similar stories wherein genderbent characters are "stuck", in CUTE×GUY, the characters will inevitably return to their original forms given enough time. However, for those like Sumi, whose transformation is involuntary, it's a chronic problem which (in a realistic setting) would range in severity anywhere from "can't eat my favorite food anymore" to "physically incapable of getting to know the person I love as myself". For those with control of their transformations, it was a harmless alternative lifestyle.
  • Second Law of Gender Bending: Played With. All of them reacted to their condition in different ways, though Sumi and Shizuka and Hozumi and Misaki had the most in common with one another on that front. The latter two adapted quickly and easily to their newfound ability to change genders at the drop of a hat, and they both embraced their other self with a sense of escapism. Sumi and Shizuka were vehemently opposed to this trope, though Sumi was more vocal with her frustration than he was, and although they were willing to use their transformations to their advantage, they were also acutely aware of the more Blessed with Suck aspects. Interestingly, however, even the most obvious pros and cons to life as either gender were ignored entirely, undoubtedly for the sake of preserving the light-hearted tone of the series.
  • Third Law of Gender Bending: Played Straight. Although they each have their own personal flair. Hozumi, for one, took to pretty dresses and feminine behavior like a duck to water, but Shizuka retained his usual assertiveness and tendency to confront threats head-on, even as a woman, and never wore a skirt, let alone a dress (though a bikini and lingerie were another matter). On the other end of the spectrum, neither Jun nor Seiji became particularly obsessed with feats of strength or drooling over girls, but they did act like, well, Bishonen. They were enveloped in clouds of Bishie Sparkles and possessed natural, effortless charm, leaving masses of swooning young women in their wake.
• Gender Bender Friendship: The story's main premise, at least until the other "body transformers" started showing up.
• Hilariously Abusive Parents: Sumi and Shizuka's Mad Scientist fathers inflict gender dysphoria on their children just to use them as lab rats, and Sumi's mother is more interested in making her daughter dress up as a male model, since she wanted a boy anyway. No mention is made of Mrs. Nishizawa's reaction to her son's predicament, but she is presumably just as indifferent as Sumi's mother. All of this is Played for Laughs, of course.
• Hot for Teacher: Kyouko-sensei is very popular amongst the male students at Sumi's school.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia
• Last-Minute Hookup: With Mitsuru.
• Mad Scientist: Dr. Takaoka (Sumi's father) and Dr. Nishizawa (Shizuka's father) are the two foremost examples of this trope In-Universe, but Doctor M showed a lot of the warning signs for Science-Related Memetic Disorder, though he didn't stick around long. Still, Mad Science and the Phlebotinum resulting from it has a huge impact on the story since, without it, there would be no Gender Benders running around making things interesting.
• Mistaken for Gay: Not only do random people on the street see Jun and Mitsuru and think this (though Jun's kind-of-painfully-obvious infatuation with Mitsuru, who himself has Clueless Chick Magnet traits, means it's at least not an unreasonable conclusion to jump to), so does Mitsuru's own childhood friend. Said childhood friend is the popular model Alicia, who is a fan of BL and wants to pair Mitsuru up with a suitable Seme.
• Model Couple: Jun poses in one of these with Mitsuru's friend Alicia during his brief stint as a male model.
• Rooftop Confrontation: Between Sumi and the unnamed girl (and a friend of hers) who gave Sumi a written confession to deliver to Shizuka. For some reason, he was already on the roof and happened to overhear their conversation, revealing himself to accept the note and turn the girl down. She and her friend were leaving when they tripped over Shizuka's school bag and spilled its contents, including a lacy bra which Shizuka reflexively claimed ownership of. The girl took back her confession in disgust, and Sumi leaped to his defense, giving her a dressing-down for holding her crush against him, just because he didn't match her ideal.
• Sue Donym: This is how Sumi ended up with her male self's alias. The name "Jun" is another reading of the kanji for her given name: 純. But "Tadano" came into play when Kyouko-sensei asked for 'his' full name and got "Ta da no Jun!" or "It's just Jun!" and misheard it as "Tadano Jun".
• Yaoi Fangirl: They flock to Jun and Mitsuru whenever the two of them are out together since they really look (and act) the part of a Seme and Uke pair. And on a more specific note, Alicia is not-so-secretly one of these, and she has her Shipping Goggles cranked up to the max and zeroed in on Mitsuru, her childhood friend. See Mistaken for Gay for further details.

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