Wikipedia

Crossdressing Pandemic

Crossdressing Pandemic, known in Japan as Josou Pandemic (Japanese: 女装パンデミック, Hepburn: Josō Pandemikku), is a Japanese manga series by Mikuzu Shinagawa. Kill Time Communication serialized it in their web magazine Comic Valkyrie from August 13, 2019, to July 12, 2021, and collected it across two tankōbon volumes in 2020–2021. It follows Nanaki Koga, a young man who wakes up from a two-year coma to learn that cross-dressing has become very popular among men while he was unconscious, and that the students and teachers in his all-male school now dress like women.

Crossdressing Pandemic
Stylized illustration of three cross-dressing male students sitting on a classroom floor surrounded by feminine clothes and cosmetics
Volume 1 cover, depicting (left to right) Ryou, Nanaki, and Hikaru
女装パンデミック
(Josō Pandemikku)
Manga
Written byMikuzu Shinagawa
Published byKill Time Communication
ImprintValkyrie Comics
MagazineComic Valkyrie
DemographicSeinen
Original runAugust 13, 2019 – July 12, 2021
Volumes2 (List of volumes)

Shinagawa wrote the series with a focus on what he considered the major points of appeal in cross-dressing stories, including Nanaki's motivation for starting to wear women's clothes, how it turns habitual, and his behavior while dressed up. The series was among the most popular in the magazine during its serialization and sold well digitally, and was well received for its characters.

Synopsis

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Crossdressing Pandemic follows Nanaki Koga, who falls into a coma following an accident and remains unconscious for two years. After waking up, he learns that cross-dressing has become highly popular among men worldwide in the past two years,[1] to the point where the vast majority of students and teachers at his all-male school wear women's clothes,[1][2] as do an estimated 90% of young men in general.[3] Because of this environment of feminine fashion, Nanaki learns to present himself like a woman to fit in, and is helped by his experienced friend Hikaru.[2][4]

Characters

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  • Nanaki Koga (古賀ナナキ, Koga Nanaki) is a young man who is puzzled by the popularity of cross-dressing[5] but ends up wearing women's clothes with Hikaru's help.[2]
  • Hikaru Watakashi (綿樫ヒカル, Watakashi Hikaru) is a childhood friend of Nanaki's, who already is used to cross-dressing[5] and helps Nanaki with it.[2]
  • Ryou Sonogami (園上リョウ, Sonogami Ryou) is one of Nanaki's classmates, who Nanaki finds beautiful.[5]

Production and release

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Crossdressing Pandemic was written and illustrated by Mikuzu Shinagawa, and was serialized by Kill Time Communication in Japanese in their digital magazine Comic Valkyrie from August 13, 2019[1][6] to July 12, 2021.[7][8] Kill Time Communication also collects the chapters in tankōbon print volumes, which they publish under their Valkyrie Comics imprint,[6][9] starting with the first volume on July 31, 2020;[9] certain retailers included a number of art prints with the first volume, featuring characters from the series.[2][10][11] In October 2020, versions of the opening chapters with added voice acting were released in the form of videos, in a collaboration with the VTuber agency Nijisanji: Nanaki was played by Yuki Chihiro, Ryou by Rindou Mikoto, Hikaru by Suzuki Masaru, and another cross-dressing character by Yuka Hiyamizu.[12]

Shinagawa, who also has created other manga about male-to-female cross-dressing, described his writing process for Crossdressing Pandemic as involving a focus on what the reasons are behind why the male main character ends up dressing up like a woman for the first time; on the process of how the cross-dressing ends up becoming a habit for him; and on the way he behaves while wearing women's clothes. Shinagawa thought that these aspects, and the ways in which they can vary between characters, were the main points of appeal of stories about cross-dressing, and described them as what he personally enjoyed reading about in cross-dressing stories.[13] He described the premise of Crossdressing Pandemic as cute, albeit not particularly deep.[14] Funbo, another creator of cross-dressing manga, contributed a guest page for the second volume.[15]

Volumes

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No. Release date ISBN
1 July 31, 2020[9]978-4-7992-1393-3
  • Chapter 1–10: "Pandemic 01–10"
  • "Omake" ("Bonus")
2 August 10, 2021[16]978-4-7992-1530-2
  • Chapter 11–20: "Pandemic 11–20"

Reception

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Crossdressing Pandemic was by July 2020 among the most popular manga serialized in Comic Valkyrie,[4] and topped the weekly comics rankings on DLsite, one of the largest digital distributors in Japan, in August the same year;[17] conversely, neither of the physical print volumes debuted on the weekly Oricon charts for the top 30 highest selling Japanese comic book sales.[18][19] Excite News liked the series' cast and recommended it to readers who like stories about cross-dressing male characters.[13] Utako Suzuka of Nijisanji recommended the series for its characters and its combination of a pop art style and erotic elements, and said that it made her want to visit the manga's setting.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "国民的女装ブーム、到来！女装男子だらけの男子校を描く「女装パンデミック」". Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. 2019-08-13. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "男子校なのに、友達も先生も女装してる「女装パンデミック」1巻、鈴鹿詩子も推薦". Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. 2020-07-31. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  3. ^ Shinagawa, Mikuzu (2020-07-31). Crossdressing Pandemic (in Japanese). Vol. 1. Kill Time Communication. ISBN 978-4-7992-1393-3.
  4. ^ a b "目が覚めたらそこは女装が大流行する世界だった…！コミックヴァルキリーで連載「女装パンデミック」の単行本が発売決定". Music.jp (in Japanese). MTI. 2020-07-02. Archived from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  5. ^ a b c "女装パンデミック Crossdressing Pandemic". Comic Valkyrie (in Japanese). Kill Time Communication. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  6. ^ a b "女装パンデミック = Crossdressing Pandemic 1". Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on 2020-10-02. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  7. ^ "『異世界喰滅のサメ』が表紙&巻頭！ 全て無料「コミックヴァルキリーWeb版」最新号Vol.98配信開始！". Excite News (in Japanese). Excite. 2021-07-13. Archived from the original on 2021-07-15. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  8. ^ "【最新刊】コミックヴァルキリーWeb版Vol.98" (in Japanese). BookWalker. Archived from the original on 2021-07-11. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  9. ^ a b c "【7月31日付】本日発売の単行本リスト". Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. 2020-07-31. Archived from the original on 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  10. ^ "【コミック】女装パンデミック(1)" (in Japanese). Gamers. Archived from the original on 2020-10-02. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  11. ^ "女装パンデミック 1" (in Japanese). Comic Toranoana. Archived from the original on 2020-10-02. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  12. ^ Morrissy, Kim (2020-10-23). "Crossdressing Pandemic Manga Gets Voiced Preview with NIJISANJI Virtual YouTubers". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  13. ^ a b "「まさかの同族」「それやったわ」 姉に電話するフリをして化粧品を揃える男子のマンガが微笑ましかった". Excite News (in Japanese). Excite. 2020-09-06. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on 2020-10-02. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  14. ^ Shinagawa, Mikuzu (2020-07-31). "Comment: 品川ミクズ". Crossdressing Pandemic (in Japanese). Vol. 1. Kill Time Communication. ISBN 978-4-7992-1393-3.
  15. ^ Shinagawa, Mikuzu (2021-08-15). "【告知】女装パンデミック コミックス２巻" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2021-12-21 – via Pixiv.
  16. ^ "【8月10日付】本日発売の単行本リスト". Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. 2021-08-10. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  17. ^ "国内最大級二次元ダウンロードショップDLsite週間コミックランキング1位獲得！『女装パンデミック』が大好評発売中！バーチャルライバー鈴鹿詩子・推薦！女装が世間で流行している新しい世界とは…". BIGLOBE News (in Japanese). BIGLOBE. 2020-08-17. Archived from the original on 2020-10-02. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  18. ^ "オリコン週間 コミックランキング 2020年07月27日～2020年08月02日" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2020-08-10. Archived from the original on 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  19. ^ "オリコン週間 コミックランキング 2021年08月02日～2021年08月08日" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2021-08-16. Archived from the original on 2021-08-13. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
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