Exploring Gender Expression and Attraction in ‘Cinderella’s Closet’

Hey there folks, it is me: Carrie “Shojo is My First Love” McClain, and I am back to regale you with Shojo manga that needs to be talked about. This month I am focusing on Wakana Yanai’s Shojosei (Shojo +Josei): Cinderella’s Closet series published through Seven Seas Entertainment with Translation by Faye Cozy, Adaptation by M. Lyn Hall and lettering by Elena Pizarro. The series follows “The romantic story of a plain country girl who’s crushing on her handsome coworker…and her transformation by an unconventional and stylish “fairy godmother.”  As noted when I first saw the license announcement of the series online, I thought, “Ohhhhh, this is giving me big Princess Jellyfish vibes,” and I write that not out of snark but with great appreciation. There seems to be a formula that is emulated taking a page from the 2010’s Shojosei classic, and that means well for Cinderella’s Closet narrative touching upon gender roles and gender expression. With volume three finally in my hands, I wanted to attempt to deconstruct this while explaining why up-and-coming manga series are refreshing and making waves in the Shojo genre that continues to be a bigger part of the manga industry. Minor and major spoilers for the first two volumes of Cinderella’s Closet are below in this work!

When rereading the first volume of Cinderella’s Closet, it was really important to emphasize our main protagonist, Fukunaga Haruka’s background. She was more of a tomboy-ish character who attended an all…