Stretch (ストレッチ)
is a slice of life comedy, yuri-light manga disguised as a self-help manga by
Higashiyama Sho. It was published between 2013 and 2015 and has
been compiled into 4 tankoubon.
Pre-med student and halfu woman Saeki Ran ends up moving in with a sempai from her high school tennis club, Komatsu Keiko. Keiko had a reputation for being difficult and dangerous in school but she and Ran got along well enough for her to invite her to be her roommate several years later. The two young, single women enjoy each other’s company. Ran teaches Keiko a variety of sports medicine stretches for health and relaxation over the course of the series. They also support each other in the day to day struggles of life; shopping, dieting, house work, season festival observations...you know typical things.
Under the fluff and 'education' there are a few things deeper going on. One is the unspoken and steadily increasing attraction between the two women over the course of the series, but this is not a romance. Their friendship seems to extend beyond just friends at least on a psychological level, but don't expect any sort of hardcore lesbian action going on in the series. The other more open thing of substance is that both women have had tragedy in their lives and that tragedy is one of the things that strengthens their bond.
I read this on recommendation from a friend and needed something light and brainless after absorbing a long and incredibly mentally draining manga. At first I was skeptical of the quality of the story, it seeming like some pointless voyeuristic trash like Anime De Training. A poor excuse to show girls in compromising positions to stimulate the blood flow. On top of that the artwork was starkly low quality, especially compared to the series I read just prior to it. A few issues in to it and I was starting to enjoy myself. Over all the series was pleasant and went by fast. Its comprised of about 45 or so short episodes. But the series left me feeling cheated...as it sorts of ended and there was no development or resolution of the slowly building romance. Boo!!!
The series won't ever see the light of day as an official English publication, but if you want to read it you can learn some good stretches to help exercise and tone all sorts of body parts and enjoy a calming and simple friendship develop.
Pre-med student and halfu woman Saeki Ran ends up moving in with a sempai from her high school tennis club, Komatsu Keiko. Keiko had a reputation for being difficult and dangerous in school but she and Ran got along well enough for her to invite her to be her roommate several years later. The two young, single women enjoy each other’s company. Ran teaches Keiko a variety of sports medicine stretches for health and relaxation over the course of the series. They also support each other in the day to day struggles of life; shopping, dieting, house work, season festival observations...you know typical things.
Under the fluff and 'education' there are a few things deeper going on. One is the unspoken and steadily increasing attraction between the two women over the course of the series, but this is not a romance. Their friendship seems to extend beyond just friends at least on a psychological level, but don't expect any sort of hardcore lesbian action going on in the series. The other more open thing of substance is that both women have had tragedy in their lives and that tragedy is one of the things that strengthens their bond.
I read this on recommendation from a friend and needed something light and brainless after absorbing a long and incredibly mentally draining manga. At first I was skeptical of the quality of the story, it seeming like some pointless voyeuristic trash like Anime De Training. A poor excuse to show girls in compromising positions to stimulate the blood flow. On top of that the artwork was starkly low quality, especially compared to the series I read just prior to it. A few issues in to it and I was starting to enjoy myself. Over all the series was pleasant and went by fast. Its comprised of about 45 or so short episodes. But the series left me feeling cheated...as it sorts of ended and there was no development or resolution of the slowly building romance. Boo!!!
The series won't ever see the light of day as an official English publication, but if you want to read it you can learn some good stretches to help exercise and tone all sorts of body parts and enjoy a calming and simple friendship develop.
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