The Spring 2024 Manga Guide

Mr. Tough Princess

What's It About? 

Everybody wants me, but they judge me for taking care of myself and indulging in my hobbies. If only I could find someone who loves me for me, and not just to claim they banged me… Hmm. But would I go for an older, submissive boyfriend or a younger, aggressive one?

Mr. Tough Princess has a story and art by Hide (Marutendon). English translation by Zorritoiv. This volume is lettered by Rebecca S. and published by ‎Irodori Inc. (March 17, 2024).

CW: This manga contains graphic depictions of sex and is intended for mature readers only.

Is It Worth Reading?

Before this, my only experience with bara art came from Gengoroh Tagame's My Brother’s Husband. However, Mr. Tough Princess is a fairly representative comic of the genre. According to a sample size of exactly one bara fan I queried, Hide is a pretty well-known bara artist with a recognizable style that's on display here in its depiction of beefy, hairy men. Still, the distinctive art is the one pull that this comic has; in terms of story, it's a very brief depiction of a thickset masturbator losing himself in his fantasies.

Mr. Tough Princess, as I'll call the protagonist, never gets a name. In this 24-page comic, he exercises his active imagination (and his left hand) through a few of his sexual stand-bys. As his name implies, this mister is brawny in stature but has a soft, gooey interior. The adorable image of him on the cover of the comic says it all. He likes to collect cute things and dream of a fairy tale romance, but he's hopelessly single because the kind of guys that pursue him are looking for somebody tough inside and out. Instead of finding a date, Mr. Tough Princess spends the evening with his left hand and two fantasy men: his ideal older boyfriend, and his imaginary younger boyfriend.

In the scenes with Mr. Tough Princess and one of his pretend partners, the guys are portrayed as so built that they remind me of Rob Liefield's infamous Captain America drawing. Only, imagine that aside from his meaty neck and swollen pecs, Captain America also had a tree trunk dick sticking out from behind the shield. Sorry to share the image. (Or, you're welcome?) In any case, the art style is where this comic wins or loses its appeal: if you're tired of skinny yaoi guys and want to see some burly men going at it, this is where you'll find it.

Creator Hide may be familiar to bara fans – this is his second work to be published in English by Irodori, and he's part of the doujin circle Marutendon. If you're a bara fan and you don't know his work, consider this a decent introduction; it's got plenty of big, bulging beefcake for your viewing pleasure and two separate sex scenes, which for a twenty-four-page book is pretty good. It doesn't have much in the way of plot, though, so if you like a story with your smut, this may not be the work for you.

The story, such as it is, is about an unnamed man whose life is going pretty great – he's doing well at work, he feels good about his body, and he's decided that if he wants to surround himself with cute, girly things, then he gets to because he's a goddamn adult. The only thing he's missing is a boyfriend. He's not sure if he'd prefer an older gentleman or a younger, energetic one, but he's willing to fantasize about both options and find them equally appealing. That's sort of the catch here; the protagonist never actually has sex with anyone, we just see his erotic daydreams about it. I don't know if that would be a dealbreaker, but it goes hand-in-hand with the lack of real story here. And honestly, he seems pretty happy with his hand and a daydream, because everything else in his life is so comfortable for him. Who are we to judge?

Hide's art is probably the main draw here. It's uncensored, with hair, fluids, genitals, anuses…the whole nine yards, often in combination. There are also ahegao faces, which are not everyone's cup of hentai tea, but the rest of the artwork may make up for it, especially if you're into tree trunk thighs and meaty everything else. There's also a nice level of detail in the protagonist's bedroom – we get a clear sense of what he's into and how he spends his time, and, per the author's note, there are Easter eggs for Hide's other works lurking in there. I'd have liked it to be a bit longer or have more stories, but on the whole, this isn't a terrible way to spend a little reading time.