Tramps Like Us



Kimi wa Petto (published as Tramps Like Us in English) is a 14 volume Josei manga series by Yayoi Ogawa detailing the life of Sumire Iwaya, a journalist and career woman.

Sumire has worked hard to get where she is: an 'elite', a successful career woman with degrees from Tokyo University and Harvard, self-sufficient, competent and reliable. Unfortunately, although she's very attractive, she's also taller than most of the men she knows, which results in her boyfriend of five years leaving her for his mistress, saying she's too intimidating. Sick of putting up with male inferiority complexes about her success, Sumire decides that from now on, she'll only date men who have the 'three highs' (height, education, salary). Thankfully, an old flame from university, Shigehito Hasumi, has just that.

Hasumi is Sumire's first love. Dating him brings her right back to the insecure, shy woman she was in university. She can't tell him her true feelings on anything and their relationship stays fairly formal even after they start having sex. Sumire spends the next two years trying to build a relationship with Hasumi, but the two are constantly thwarted by Shiori Fukushima, who wants Hasumi for herself, their own hectic careers (which includes a transfer to Hong Kong for Hasumi), and. . . Momo.

Momo is a homeless teenager Sumire finds injured in a cardboard box outside her condo. She takes him in and feeds him. When Momo begs to stay, Sumire relents, but on one condition - he live as her pet. She is shocked and disappointed when he agrees, but grudgingly keeps her word. She soon discovers that Momo has no 'male pride'; despite being much shorter than her, having no book education to speak of, and being completely broke, Momo is happy to live with Sumire and accepts her exactly as she is. Sumire soon finds that the only person she can express all her fear and insecurities to is Momo.

The manga came to an end in 2005. A ten-episode live-action series was produced in 2003. The series examines the dilemma of Family Versus Career and Being True To Yourself, and comes with a lovely Happily Ever After ending.

This series provides examples of:

 * Abuse Is Okay When Its Female On Male - Sumire to Momo, though it could be argued that it's actually consensual.
 * Action Girl - Sumire, who regularly beats up muggers and and other unsavory types with some excellent karate, including once while drunk (and not remembering it the next day). Lampshaded with a chapter in volume three that has her dressed as 'Spark Girl', one of the mascots for a theme park.
 * It seems to run in the family. Shinobu and Akane both kick ass and their grandfather and mother are both implied to be very strong as well.
 * Author Avatar - Many of the throwaway and background characters have the same design Yayoi Ogawa uses for herself in the author's notes, and are referred to as 'So-and-so Ogawa' (i.e.: Genevieve Ogawa the horoscope columnist).
 * Batman in My Basement - Momo,
 * Beautiful All Along - Sukenari without his glasses!! It surprises more than a few people.
 * Beta Couple -
 * Betty and Veronica - Multiple sets. Hasumi and Momo for Sumire, Sumire and Fukushima for Hasumi, Rumi and Sumire for Momo.
 * Big Damn Kiss - The one in Belgium if not the one at Sumire's house before Momo leaves.
 * Big Fancy House - The Iwaya family compound.
 * Bishie Sparkle - Hasumi very often, Momo (especially when dancing) and Eddie Sukenari when he loses the glases.
 * Biker Babe - Sumire's younger sister, Akane.
 * Blind Without Em - When Sumire loses a contact lens, she bumps into things so often she gets bruises.
 * Bottle Fairy - Sumire gets liquored up with surprising regularity.
 * But Not Too Foreign - Sukenari is half American.
 * Christmas Cake - Sumire is 29 years old, and her family is constantly pressuring her to get married already.
 * Christmas in Japan - Lampshaded by Sumire, who points out that she's not religious or Christian to avoid explaining why she really hates Christmas.
 * Clingy Jealous Girl - Shiori Fukushima, who constantly tries to come between Sumire and Hasumi.
 * Comedic Sociopathy
 * Cosplay Otaku Girl - The sister-in-law of Momo's dance teacher.
 * Double Entendre - Momo's 'seaman' joke.
 * Ear Cleaning
 * Earn Your Happy Ending
 * Easy Amnesia - One chapter has Sumire getting bonked on the head by a glass jar. After the doctor assures Momo her memory should come back and the amnesiac period will be forgotten completely, Momo tells Sumire that they're dating.
 * Even the Guys Want Him - Momo
 * Family Versus Career - The entire series is a major deconstruction of this trope.
 * Feminine Women Can Cook - Subverted. Sumire, the Independant Successful Career Woman, is actually a rather good, if somewhat limited cook.
 * Femme Fatale - Sumire's alter-ego, Black Violet.
 * First Girl Wins - Subverted.
 * Girl in A Box - Momo is a gender-flipped example of this. He even keeps the box.
 * Grey and Grey Morality - a real-world version. Shiori's a manipulative little skank who will fake and blackmail her way into Hasumi's life/pants/apartment, but Sumire herself is keeping a young man in her apartment and never does tell the man she dates for over a year and  about it, even when.
 * Happily Married - The penultimate chapter is set about 15 years in the future and features
 * Housewife - Yuri, Sumire's best friend since school. Knits woolen underwear for her daughter.
 * Ho Yay - Momo and Hasumi, when Momo's trying to get rid of an old patron/boyfriend (who looks disturbingly like Elton John)
 * Huge Schoolgirl - Sumire is 170 cm tall, which has caused her a lot of trouble with boyfriends who feel inferior to her.
 * Hypnotize the Princess - A chapter late in the series has Sumire being victimised by a psychologist turned hypnotist-rapist. Unfortunately Sumire's emotions are so conflicted at this point that she happily takes the chance to check out, and can't be woken until Momo comes to rescue her.
 * Identical Stranger - A new character is introduced in Sumire's department who decides she is envious of Sumire's success. Cue a change of makeup, perfume, and hair colour to look as much like Sumire as possible.
 * Iron Lady - Sumire is well on the way to becoming this, which is good for her career (despite the jealousy of the other women in her department) but makes her romantic life more difficult. Much of the manga's plot deals with her coming to accept that this is truly her personality, and that she needs to be with someone who can be equally understanding and supportive of it.
 * Is That Cute Kid Yours - In the sixth volume, plus a twist on the whole Christmas Cake Eater aspect; the woman in the park who comments to Sumire about how cute her 'daughter' is also comments on how nice it must be to have such a young, energetic husband to keep up with the kids.
 * I Was Quite a Looker - Yuri, who was absolutely gorgeous and fashionable as a teenager and young adult. She still is, but now it's hidden behind glasses, boring hairstyles and sweatshirts, and an extra ten pounds gained as a devoted wife and mother. Of course, when Yuri was gorgeous, Sumire was the boring dowdy one, until Yuri taught her how to clean up.
 * Kissing Cousins - Hasumi's impression after
 * Knight Templar Big Brother: Or, rather,
 * Ladykiller in Love - Hugh, who eventually falls for Emma.
 * Lethal Chef - Momo.
 * Like Brother and Sister - Sumire and Momo for the early part of the series. Momo even introduces himself as Sumire's second cousin.
 * Likes Older Women - Momo.
 * Mama Bear - Sumire, whenever Momo is in danger. Her karate skills mean she is not to be trifled with.
 * Or anyone else. Like Eddie Sukenari.
 * Magical Realism - hints of it throughout the story, good example would be the time-travel/dream in the last chapter.
 * Masculine Girl Feminine Boy - Neither Sumire nor Momo fit traditional gender roles.
 * May December Romance: Gender-inverted from the norm with Momo being 12 years younger than Sumire.
 * Mean Brit - Emma and Hugh have this going on, until Emma defrosts and Hugh falls for Emma.
 * Mistress and Servant Boy - Pretty much the entire premise.
 * Morality Pet - Sumire defrosts thanks to one of these.
 * Nerd Glasses - Eddie Sukenari. Takes them off only twice, with... surprising results.
 * Not So Different - Realizing this allows Sumire and Emma to finally break the ice.
 * Odd Friendship - Shinobu and Momo get on surprisingly well.
 * Otaku - Sumire, Momo and Sukenari.
 * The Rival - Rumi, Momo's ex-girlfriend and fellow dancer.
 * Scooby Doo Hoax -
 * She Cleans Up Nicely - Sumire was a plain-looking nerdy girl in college.
 * Shrinking Violet - Sumire, quite literally, being both painfully shy, and bearing a name that is the Japanese word for 'violet'
 * Single Mom Stripper - Shiori is a variant, working in a strip club/brothel to put her younger brother through school
 * That Didn't Happen -
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl - Sumire and Yuri in high-school and college. Sumire is still the Tomboy to an extent, with her love of video games and pro wrestling.
 * True Love Is Exceptional
 * Will They or Won't They