Halloween's a-coming, and it'll be time to dress up as your favorite character, creature, inanimate object or abstract idea — or, as some revelers in Waikiki show, simply wear as little as the police deem within public-decency standards.

But while the holiday comes and goes, there are those — in Japanese manga, at least! — for whom Halloween is part of their everyday lives, along with much hardship and hilarity.

PRINCESS PRINCESS

It's freshman Tohru Kouno's first day at his new all-boys school, where he's transferred to just two months into the year, and already he's getting a weird feeling about the overly warm welcome he received in class.

Kouno quickly finds out what the fuss is about: The school has a so-called Princess system, in which the students choose the best-looking boys to dress up as girls for various events throughout the year — and he's one of the top candidates.

At first Kouno is ready to flee, but crafty student council president Arisada lures the freshman in with the benefits of being a princess: free lunches, free school supplies and — most tempting of all — royalties from sales of pictures taken by the school's photography club.

Kouno then jumps at the chance, joining current princesses Yutaka Mikoto, who grudgingly took the role, and Yuujirou Shihoudani, who is also Kouno's new roommate. All three prepare to put their best face forward — or, in Mikoto's case, his sourest face, which STILL attracts a bevy of devotees — to serve as an outlet for this mass of masculinity.

Despite how that sounds, it doesn't play out as one might think. Far from being, ahem, gay, “;Princess Princess”; isn't really about the cross-dressing at all. The princess roles come to serve as a background to the usual school hi-jinks: popularity, bullying, friendships and relationships. The other students' admiration for the princesses is so overdone that it's hard to take seriously, much less be disturbed by it. And some moments hint at a sober background for both Kouno and Shihoudani.

This five-volume series was also made into an anime, available on DVD from Media Blasters, and has a manga sequel, “;Princess Princess +,”; scheduled to be published in America under Digital Manga Publishing's Doki Doki imprint.

HANA-KIMI

American-born but Japanese-parented Mizuki Ashiya, infatuated with star high-jumper Izumi Sano, disguises herself as a boy to attend his high school, the all-male Osaka High. When she moves into the dorms, Mizuki discovers who her new roomie is: the very same Sano.

After her glee calms down a bit, Mizuki finds out that an accident some time back made Sano give up jumping. But the girl helps him overcome his mental block, and Sano — who figures out her secret early on but stays mum — realizes he's falling for her.

“;Hana-Kimi”; has more of the standard high school hyperactivity, with Mizuki full of teen-girl energy and Sano the stereotypical aloof main man. Then there's the obligatory guy, in this case Shuichi Nakatsu, who finds himself attracted to who he thinks is a male Mizuki, which gets him doubting his orientation. It develops into a crazy love triangle from there as Nakatsu constantly plots to get closer to Mizuki.

But it's the gay school doctor, Hokuto Umeda, who provides some of the funniest scenes as he alternates between caring listener and semisadist as he toys around with Mizuki's sense of propriety.

Ending earlier this year at 23 volumes, “;Hana-Kimi”; drags at some spots, with Nakatsu being too silly and the status quo between Mizuki and Sano getting tiring. But in small doses it's definitely a fun read.