Shishunki Bitter Change

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Puberty Bitter Change

Japanese: 思春期ビターチェンジ

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 9

Chapters: 67

Status: Finished

Published: Oct 25, 2012 to Jan 15, 2019

Genres: Drama, Romance

Themes: Magical Sex Shift, School

Demographic: Shoujo

Serialization: Comic Polaris

Authors: Masayoshi (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 7.66¹ (scored by 8,277 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #2054²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1057

Members: 20,377

Favorites: 456

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7.66

Ranked #2054Popularity #1057Members 20,377

MangaComic PolarisMasayoshi (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /9

Chapters: /67

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Synopsis

In stories of people who swap bodies, they always return to their rightful places. But what if that never happens? Unfortunately, this is the exact predicament Yui Ootsuka and Yuuta Kimura find themselves in.

One day, after Yuuta comes crashing down on Yui from the treetops, both children find themselves in an unfamiliar body. But no matter how desperately they try, they are unable to revert things to how they originally were. In the end, they settle with going about each other's lives as if nothing had happened, determined to keep the incident a secret. Though merely classmates in the past, this inexplicable accident binds their fates tightly together.

For years, Yui and Yuuta struggle through a life that is not their own. In this wearisome situation, the two of them discover what it truly means to walk in someone else's shoes.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Characters

Ootsuka, Yui

Main

Kimura, Yuuta

Main

Tachibana, Hayato

Supporting

Takaoka, Kazuma

Supporting

Kikuchi, Hikaru

Supporting

Kimura, Haruki

Supporting

Reviews

Nov 8, 2020

emmeka

Recommended

Ahhh, body swapping. That tired old cliché that has been done hundreds of times in manga. Usually, we get a cheap laugh or two about the characters' failures at keeping up their façade around their family and friends, maybe a couple ecchi situations for the unsuspecting boy stuck in a girl's body, and a hackneyed romantic development to wrap things up before everything goes back to normal. And so begins this manga: with an elementary school boy and girl who swapped bodies after falling out of a tree and banging their heads together.

Given how well-trodden and mediocre the trope it builds its premise around ... is, I did not expect much from Shishunki Bitter Change. But against all odds, it manages to do something truly extraordinary. It is a series that asks in a completely serious tone, what would it *actually* be like to switch bodies with someone of the opposite sex? To have to live their life, not for days or months, but years?

This is not a comedy manga. The experiences of the characters main characters Yui and Yuuta are not played off as a gag, but are treated with heart-wrenching realism. The two suffer through actual gender dysphoria as they go through puberty and see their bodies changing ever further away from their image of themselves. They struggle with being separated from their family and the prospect of never being able to be their true selves ever again, of always having to hide. They become miserable when seeing the everyday life of other boys and girls around them, knowing they themselves can never have that. They feel distraught and disoriented when other characters treat them "as a boy" or "as a girl" when all they want is a friend.

If I had to sum it up, this is a manga about cisgender characters being made to live through the experience of a transgender person, the actual sensation of being "in the wrong kind of body". And it is handled excellently, with tact but with a level of drama and intensity that keeps you hooked. The plot itself is mostly slice-of-life, there only to give us more time to see the characters interact. In these day-to-day moments of the main characters' school lives we catch glimpses of the relationships between the characters as they shift and grow with the passing years. There are crushes, love triangles and confessions, but all of this is overlain by the suffocating fact that neither of the main characters can ever allow themselves to be true to their feelings or even their own identity.

Visually, the art style of it is relatively simplistic but clean, having been originally published as a webcomic the panels are arranged vertically and there are relatively few of them to a page. The characters emotions are well conveyed through relatively few words, for example several times in the series there are whole-page shots of either Yuuta or Yui simply looking at their appearance in the mirror and feeling uneasy with what they see which speaks volumes more than any text could have.

All in all, this is easily the best body-swapping manga I've read, and among the best drama manga I've ever read. I would strongly recommend you give it a chance.

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Sep 12, 2025

cunoung

Mixed Feelings

Puberty Bitter Change is an intriguing story and showcase of potential bodyswap ramifications, experiences and emotional turmoil even if the aforementioned is absorbed by one character in regards to emotional support.

It's a partially solid body swap story that takes place over the course of the kids' formative years and while the characters are smart & mature for their age, they are equally as stupid & immature in others. It's also surprisingly free of perverted scenes & actions opting for a more mature & hopeful view of events for a majority of the chapters.

That being said the manga plateau’s along the way when it focuses on ...

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Dec 5, 2021

thunderturd12000

Not Recommended

**could be sort of a spoiler about the ending**

this is something that should have been close to a masterpiece. unfortunately it almost seemed as if the author wanted to ruin their own work. the premise is fascinating and should lead to a great deal of drama and comedy. to a small extent it delivers on the drama front, but fails due to the contrivances of "character development". simply put, yui and kazuma are awful people. they literally ruined this for me. i stuck it out in hopes that they would eventually mature into better people and we would see positive developments of the various ...

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Poll: Shishunki Bitter Change Chapter 64 Discussion Mugipyon - Feb 21, 2019	36 replies	by Wuprrr »» Jun 11, 3:47 PM
Poll: Shishunki Bitter Change Chapter 47 Discussion Stark700 - Apr 5, 2017	4 replies	by Wuprrr »» Jun 11, 3:10 PM
Poll: Shishunki Bitter Change Chapter 46 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 30, 2017	2 replies	by Wuprrr »» Jun 11, 3:07 PM
Poll: Shishunki Bitter Change Chapter 45 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 2, 2017	2 replies	by Wuprrr »» Jun 11, 2:58 PM
Poll: Shishunki Bitter Change Chapter 44 Discussion Stark700 - Feb 28, 2017	2 replies	by Wuprrr »» Jun 11, 2:55 PM

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