High school student Kazama Ushio likes girls and isn't afraid to make it public. Her confidence and comfort with herself is all thanks to her best friend Murasame Sumika. Kazama goes crazy over cute model type girls and obsesses over them in rapid succession...enough to make the most perverted teenage boy proud. In middle school she was finally able to be open, sometimes too open, about her sexual orientation, all due to the support of Murasame. Murasame is the heir to a karate dojo. She is smart, strong and pretty much rejected by everyone due to those traits. In middle school she took it upon herself, as class rep, to help Kazama, who was a transfer student, not be an outcast due to her fondness of cute girls. What started as moral obligation quickly developed into a strong bond of friendship as they found companionship for the first time in each other. Kazama is openly gay but no one knows what Murasame's sexual preference is. In high school their peers have accepted Kazama and the friends go on with their lives. The pair however quickly gains attention from twogirls who are long time lovers. They glom onto them, thinking they are in the same situation and force their friendship, soon wrapping a few other girls into the mix. Murasame though is battling with feelings she has developed for her closest friend since middle school and doesn't want to destroy what they have by confessing to her. As the band of oddball girls, some of whom are open about being gay, becomes closer, the tension between Murasame and Kazama becomes thick and intense. As the story progresses various members of the group try to diplomatically ease the situation, knowing that both parties are in conflict with their emotions. In the end can Murasame spill her heart out to her best friend whose eye only goes after cutesy girls?
I picked this one up after reading, very recently, a review of the second tankoubon on Anime News Network. I was intrigued by a highly recommended yuri romance manga that appeared to be missing much of the typical shonen/seinen romance trappings. In most romance manga you get lead characters so blind to the world around them you want to reach into the page and smack the hell out of them at every turn. This series doesn’t have as much of that as others but there’s still enough of it to piss you off. The biggest obstacle in the was of the main characters relationship is their uncertainty. It’s difficult enough for heterosexual people to talk with their crushes, there’s more anxiety when you’re attracted to the same sex. This series gets into the social pressures about homosexuality a bit, but unlike America, it’s slightly more accepted in Japan. Still, adolescence is an insanely hazardous trial period and everyone’s playing hard.
The manga is good but it has its glaring faults. Over its course it tends to get off track. The author at first wasn’t anticipating this one shot being picked up as a serial so had to scramble from time to time extending the story. A few times it seemed like some gimmicks were thrown out, grasping at straws. There was a quick attempt at fan-service which fortunately didn’t stick around. What did stick around and got pretty annoying was focusing on Murasame's karate career. A foreign loli character shows up and mostly served little purpose. In the beginning it seemed like the lesbians were coming out of the woodwork, as if every girl in the school that was gay glommed onto the main pair. In the end the main characters were well developed and likeable. The story had some good drama and interjected a ton of comedy to ease the tension. I enjoyed the artwork quite a bit. The character designs were pleasant and Ikeda-sensei has a great eye for clothing design. The series was like a good blend of Azumanga Daioh, GE Good Ending and Ranma 1/2. It is worth the time.
The manga is currently being released in North America by One Peace Books. An anime adaptation was also made. Stay tuned for a review of that as well.
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