Yuri Manga: Anata no Scandaru (あなたとスキャンダル)

February 13th, 2004

Anata no Scandaru (あなたとスキャンダル) by Shiina Ayumi, from 1994-5, is not a happy Yuri manga.

Tomoka, a rising star who plays piano, has spent every waking second of her 15 years of life looking for her Prince. One day, while being molested by a pervert on the train, her ideal Prince rescues her! Not surprisingly, she falls head over heels for him, despite the fact that she has no idea whatsoever what his name is, where he lives, etc….

A chance meeting with an old acquaintance from childhood brings her into proximity with her Prince – Yuuki Serika, who turns out to be the popular lead singer for a up-and-coming band. To Tomokoa’s shock, she’s asked to join the band as keyboardist. Tomoka agrees, since this gives her the chance to be close to Yuuki. Unfortunately for her, Yuuki expresses a clear dislike for girls.

As Tomoka presses her suit she learns why Yuuki feels this way – because Yuuki is actually a woman! Because of her boyish figure and deep voice, she can pass as a man, (and does, to escape an arranged marriage.) After Tomoka gets over the shock of the revelation, she decides that she doesn’t care and that she’s going to pursue Serika anyway.

Unfortunately for our readers, the mangaka didn’t have the courage of her convictions. In the final volume of 5, Serika sits down with Tomoka for a serious talk. Serika insists that Tomoka doesn’t *really* love her at all…she obviously really loves the old childhood friend she’s barely spoken to during the entire series. It’s an incredibly unrealistic and sudden ending, and even at the time, readers were annoyed slightly by it.

Nonetheless, as a comedy of errors with a gender-bendy twist, it was cute, fluffy fun. No awards will be won here with either the art of the story, but like so many gender-bending stories, it has some nice moments.

One Response

  1. Super says:

    Well, to be honest, I was shocked at the end. I often saw the “gay option” characters in the harem manga and anime (like Watashi ga Motete Dousunda, for example), but when the whole story revolves between homosexual affections, doing such a cancellation is rather strange. However, I heard that one manga about a transsexual woman had about the same ending.

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