#high recommendation

[saikkunen]

Yeah I get all the GOTYs 💖🤖

[yuri-ray]

No-Spoilers Review #8: The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All (Kininatteru Hito ga Otoko Jyanakatta)

Content Warnings: none!

A really long title, but this one's super viral and pretty new at the time of writing. The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All is a yuri manga published on Twitter by Arai Sumiko. It's about a girl who sees a handsome-looking guy at the records store and gets interested right away, and then it turns out that... wasn't a guy at all. (Who could have guessed!) There's a big focus on their shared love of rock music, and I'm sure most English-speakers will recognize most of the names they talk about!

Is it good? Yes! The art is great and the bright green is super iconic, and the character writing is fun and sweet. For a good time with a good rom-com that keeps it short each chapter, this series is super great.

Mitsuki Koga (black hair) is a loner at school. She's not exactly shy, just introverted and quiet; She wants to go to school peacefully and not stand out. Outside of school, she works at her uncle's tiny music and records shop and grew up a huge fan of rock music. Aya Oosawa (lighter hair) meanwhile is a stereotypical popular gyaru, or fashionable girl. She loves rock music, but it's a VERY rare hobby for a Japanese schoolgirl, especially such a trendy-looking one, so she's kept this interest to herself after getting disrespected for it before. (Major bands like Nirvana, Foo Fighters, and Aerosmith get name-dropped, if you happen to be a fan too!)

Mitsuki and Aya grow closer and bond over their shared interests with a lot of rom-com hi-jinks along the way, and it's just plain cute and fun! And the deception doesn't last forever, of course. Mitsuki's accidental handsome suaveness is both funny and nice to look at, while Aya's reactions are cute... That said, there's more to their relationship than just fluff! After all, Mitsuki's literally lying to Aya, you know? When it gets figured out...

Anyway, the supporting characters, Mitsuki's uncle and Narita, are also really likeable and fun, which some might not expect considering they're male characters in a yuri LOL. (It's fairly common nowadays, but that wasn't always the case.)

Final Thoughts:

There's about two volumes of content out right now, and the author releases about one 4-page chapter a week, give or take! Honestly I can't imagine anybody who wouldn't like this series. Like, genuinely. I know I say this a lot with the stuff I recommend, but I'm super serious this time. It's got great art, fun writing, and a deep earnestness.

There's no official English translation yet, but all of the chapters are posted publicly in Japanese right to Twitter.

[theamoran-blog]

current muse: r i d e   o r   d i e

by: @olivieblake

⤷ “sanctimonia vincet semper”

[yuri-ray]

No-Spoilers Review #1: Otherside Picnic (Urasekai Picnic)

Content Warnings: guns, general horror genre themes and visuals

Starting with a series I own in print, it's Otherside Picnic by Iori Miyazawa, a novel series with manga and anime adaptations. This series is half horror and half yuri romance, about two university students exploring and being harrowed by a world full of urban legend horrors.

Is it good? Yes! I recommend it very highly to anybody who can take a little horror.

After all... as the author said himself... "This too is yuri."

Before I start, yes, it's THAT Iori Miyazawa who popularized the concept of "yuri of absence" in a batshit crazy pair of interviews. I think a lot of people would read that and assume that his actual work, Otherside Picnic, is full of bait and subtext. It's not. It's a slow-burn, sure, but it's legitimately canon and it's really good, OK? This guy knows what he's doing.

Anyway...

Our two leads are two university students, Sorawo Kamikoshi (the brown-haired girl in the art) and Toriko Nishina (the blonde girl). All of Otherside Picnic is told from Sorawo's perspective. While urban exploring, Sorawo stumbles upon a portal to the Otherside, a dangerous realm of urban legends and internet horrors (imagine famous Japanese creepypastas). She meets Toriko and they explore the Otherside and how its horrors leak into the real world and their perceptions, pulling them in and becoming more dangerous over time.

What I love most about Otherside Picnic is how complicated Sorawo and Toriko are as people. Sorawo is both extremely relatable at times and also extremely unrelatable at others. She is not a self-insert protagonist in the slightest, and she's not even a good person. She doesn't care about others very much. Meanwhile, Toriko has some difficulties with social situations and is overall a pretty normal (in comparison) likeable person with realistic worries. The two of them become closer organically and, yes, they do kiss eventually. No one is an idiot and all of their conflicts make sense.

The horror is also good and well-executed. It's decently scary and the world of the Otherside is intriguing and unpredictable, but not in any bullshit way. The horror drives the plot just as much as the romance does, and the manga does an amazing job bringing the novel's descriptions to life with creative paneling and art.

A supporting character, Kozakura, is that classic maligned trope of an adult that looks very young because she's short. However, Kozakura genuinely acts like a normal independent adult, and is a very likeable character who is the voice of reason.

As a side note, Iori Miyazawa also happens to like guns. The leads carry them as defense against malicious Otherside entities and there's a scene where Sorawo expresses pretty abject disgust at a tank designed to kill civilians, so it's not pro-military or whatever. It doesn't go in-depth because neither Sorawo nor Toriko care for them.

Final thoughts:

THE ANIME IS REALLY BAD. It totally misses the point and all of the things that really makes this series stand out--the episodes got shuffled for no reason which caused plotholes and character progression issues galore, and it cuts out all of the scenes where Sorawo and Toriko actually talk properly to each other. Plus the budget is like, one corn chip.

THE MANGA IS REALLY GOOD. It takes a lot of care to really adapt everything from the novel, which means that although updates are slow, you get to see everything Sorawo feels and thinks.

This series is one of my top favorite yuris, which I recommend to basically anyone who likes romance and doesn't mind some spooky visuals (or anyone who likes horror and doesn't mind some girls navigating complex feelings). It has close to no explicit gore. I'm currently up to date on everything... I can write a lot more on this, but these are my spoiler-free thoughts. The title references Roadside Picnic (the inspiration for the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.) which is an inspiration for the series, but as I've never read it, I can't say more than that.

[yuri-ray]

No-Spoilers Review #6: I See You, Aizawa-san! (Mietemasu yo! Aizawa-san)

Content Warnings: mild horror themes

Compared to previous reviews, this one's pretty new on the scene! At the time of writing, there's only 12 chapters. I See You, Aizawa-san! is a comedy yuri manga by Odoroo Dorothy. The protagonist can see ghosts, which means she can see her idol classmate Aizawa hanging around the classroom after she dies.

Is it good? Yes! It's quite funny and the art is good, plus the more horror-y undertones are currently slowly coming out, so there's a lot to look forward to!

The protagonist's name is Michi Kurotori, and the ghost's name is Honami Aizawa. Kurotori is super introverted, and she didn't speak to a single other person in class her entire first semester of high school. She's had some bad experiences with ghosts in the past--Not only are they often scary and malicious, but other kids thought she was a weirdo because she could see what they couldn't. Thus, she decides to pretend not to see Aizawa even though she seems friendly.

Aizawa herself never speaks a word out loud, at least so far. Instead she just does stupid crap around the classroom like punching through unaware teachers and rolling around on the ground, so it's pretty hard for Kurotori to ignore her. That said, through Aizawa's influence, she slowly starts to make friends (...by accident)!

(In this page Aizawa is desperately trying to direct them to a lost hairclip. The art is really fun!)

Aizawa herself is funny and goofy in a kind of School Zone Girls-esque way, totally brainless and against her idol image. Meanwhile, Kurotori is kind of a loser (in a loving way), but she's trying her best! It's nice seeing her make more friends, and a lot of the cast is pretty dumb and goofy in their own ways.

The mysteries and horror aspects aren't too strong quite yet, but there's a bunch of foreshadowing going on that makes it clear it'll start being more important very soon, including a weird sigil and some spooky memory gaps...

Final Thoughts:

It's super new, so there's still a lot left to see, I bet! I'd definitely pick it up and keep an eye on it if I were you. A high recommendation for most people!

There's no official english version yet, but I think it's something that'll definitely get picked up by an english publisher sometime. When it does, I'll pick up volume 1 for sure!

[yuri-ray]

No-Spoilers Review #3: After School Love Affairs (Uso to Kiss wa Houkago ni)

Content Warnings: sexual content, one scene has VERY DUBIOUS CONSENT but is interrupted before anything happens

Another huge favorite! After School Love Affairs by Medamayaki is a 2-volume romance manga. It's about two girls who were close when they were younger, but grew apart. Disgusted by seeing the other girl date a revolving door of random guys (due to her own mother cheating and walking out on her family), the main character agrees to date her instead.

Is it good? Yes! It's DEFINITELY toxic though, so it's not going to agree with everybody's tastes. It's toxic yuri.

The main lead is Rin Yumeno (brown hair) and the other lead is Momoka Midorisawa (black hair). After Rin's mother walked out on their family with another man when Rin was in middle school, Rin and her devastated father were helped and taken care of by Momoka's family, where the two girls became close. However, they grew apart and Momoka dating random guys disgusts Rin.

She accepts Momoka's offer to date her instead, but Rin's heart isn't really in it. To avoid giving away too much, Rin doesn't really respect what Momoka wants, while Momoka isn't afraid to purposely intimidate Rin's friends... It's wildly dysfunctional in an extremely interesting and emotional way. Neither Rin nor Momoka are really good people at all. Their motivations and attitudes towards each other and others is really a sight to see.

Also the art is absolutely amazing. It's one of my favorite art styles I've seen in any manga, and just for brevity's sake I'm not listing more pages.

As a fair warning, there's quite a bit of sexual themes in here, including one mostly on-screen scene. They're all quite short and they are actually relevant to the plot, but it's definitely something to keep in mind if you don't really like reading that stuff.

Final Thoughts:

Because it's short I can't say too much about it without giving away just about every twist and turn, but it's really emotionally driven and visceral in a way that basically no other series I've read have actually achieved. I love the drama. Toxic yuri is my favorite, so if that interests you, absolutely look into this. That said, I don't believe there's an official english translation...

[yuri-ray]

No-Spoilers Review #10: I Love Amy (Naneun Eimileul Salanghae)

Content Warnings: kidnapping? (mostly comedic), attempted murder by a parent, depiction of some mental/personality disorder disrespect(?) (the series disagrees with it)

Definitely an unexpected hit! I Love Amy by Unun is a finished manhwa set in somewhere in Maine in the USA. The main character is a quiet and meek girl who unexpectedly becomes friends (or, sort-of-friends?) with a rich girl the rest of the school generally considers to be totally off her rocker, totally a murderer, and just super disliked in general.

Is it good? Yes! Despite how cute the art style is, it actually has a lot of dark topics mentioned in it, so don't judge just from the cover. In particular, the characters are written in a really sympathetic way despite how flawed they are.

Amy Park Lee (black hair) is a Korean-American girl attending high school. She's a klutz and an introvert, and has no friends (she grew apart from her childhood friend, Camilla). She's generally not really noticed by anyone. On the other hand, Beatrice Luna Reden (blonde hair, generally called Bibi) is infamous within the school. Despite constantly causing problems, her family donates to the school and it causes her to avoid all disciplinary action. She is obsessed with a boy named Peter, who she spots talking to Amy one day. Bibi decides to "warn" her (ominously preparing a chair in her basement...) and invites her over, but unexpectedly has a good time and forgets about the plan until Amy already leaves. She becomes friends with Amy instead, planning to get her help to invite Peter to prom.

Despite Bibi fitting into the "yandere" archetype to a T at first, the series is actually very sympathetic to Bibi's circumstances and her personality. She isn't "crazy for the sake of being crazy." Amy herself also has a dysfunctional relationship to others, and both have detailed reasoning to their backgrounds and viewpoints.

They may be mentally ill, but they have each other. Even if it might not seem like it for a while. Also, it's the first time I've seen a Korean webtoon set in an American high school, which is interesting.

Final Thoughts:

My friends say that it really gets good around Chapter 30. I wasn't exactly keeping count, but there is a turn in the story where it drops its comedic facade and gets very earnest and very clearly well-written. The art style is also extremely charming! The use of color and shapes in both its light and dark scenes is really unique and looks great. I'd recommend it pretty highly.

Currently there's no official English translation, but maybe there will be one eventually, given that the series is complete. If I had to guess, it would probably be put on Tapas or Tappytoon?

[yuri-ray]

No-Spoilers Review #2: School Zone Girls (School Zone)

Content Warnings: one of the girls has this incest-y thing going on but it's actually surprisingly quite well-written as a conflict later on. Like genuinely I mean it

Next is another series I own in print! School Zone by Ningiyau, a manga series. It's primarily a comedy manga with yuri as an overtone, but romance itself isn't a big focus. It's about a bunch of high school girls who are just really dumb, in the way that a legit group of friends might do dumb crap, but there's always depth under the surface.

Is it good? Yes! It's one of the most expressive and funny mangas I've read, and the yuri is a welcome bonus. I recommend it to everybody!

Our two main leads are Rei Yokoe and Kei Sugiura. That said, it has a pretty large supporting cast (like the fan favorite Yatsude Negoro) and it can go several chapters at a time without either of them appearing at all. Yokoe (the one with hair covering one eye) has good looks but she's extremely brainless, and although Sugiura (blonde on the cover, short hair) looks like the voice of reason, she's also her own unique brand of stupid. I swear to god they're braindead. It's half the appeal.

Yokoe is in love with Sugiura, but she's purposely "boy who cried wolf"-ed her way out of getting taken seriously because she's afraid of changing their current super-close relationship as friends. Meanwhile, Sugiura takes this friendship completely for granted. (The chapters that dip into the depth of their feelings are just as strong, if not stronger, compared to the usual comedy chapters!)

There's a lot of other characters as well, like a weird loser girl who spends 80,000 yen on a crane game and still doesn't win anything. The art is extremely expressive and fun and isn't afraid to make the girls look extremely goofy, but the page listed above doesn't show it off very well...

One of the main character groups are two twins. One of them is obsessed with the other, who ABSOLUTELY hates her in return, even saying she'd rather light on fire than accept ANY kind of gift from her sister. It's definitely weird, but there's actual reasoning for their lopsided relationship, it's shown to be extremely negative, and they're both discrete characters separately from that. For one, for some reason each of them have their own gyaru who likes them. LOL Normally this is enough to make me quit a series immediately, but you have to trust me on this one. You really have to trust me OK!!

Final Thoughts:

This manga is currently on hiatus. It's because this is Ningiyau's first-ever work (it's posted on Twitter) and she wanted to avoid burning out on School Zone, so she's changed focuses to work on new series.

Still, because it's very episodic and overall "romance progress" is intentionally pretty slow given that comedy is the main focus, it's a great read! It's one of my absolute favorite titles and generally everybody I know who's read it enjoyed it a lot.