Yuri Manga: Shoujo Sect 2

May 15th, 2006

I wasn’t planning on reviewing Shoujo Sect 2 yet, but when I came home today there it was on the table, and I thought, “Eh, why not.” ^_^;

In the first volume of Shoujo Sect, which I reviewed on February 27, 2006, we are introduced to the residents of one particular dorm at one particular girls’ high school. Most of the residents are having sexual relations with at least one other resident of the dorm – in some cases, several others.

At the end of volume one, Honda Shinobu confesses that, despite the fact that she is surrounded by a harem of girls with whom she is having sex, she actually likes Naitou Momoko. (Once again, btw, I refuse to use the official spellings. I’m not sure they were done strangely on purpose, but they are decidedly strange to the eye that is used to “correct” Japanese transliteration. I’m sticking with the furigana.)

Naitou has to navigate the labyrinth of Honda’s affairs – and the fact that she (Naitou) is currently seeing her teacher – before she can begin to decide how she feels about Honda.

In the meantime, Naitou continues her habit of being catalyst, or at least present, as one of her bandmates is tag-teamed by two of her kouhai, who happen to be twins. (Gosh, that’s original, isn’t it? )

Honda comforts Enjyoji Maya with some private time, even as she and Naitou step up their contentious courtship – Shinobu gives Momoko chocolate…Momoko responds with a ring.

Kirin, who usually functions as Honda’s maid, decides to let Honda know that, regardless of her feelings for Naitou, she feels that Honda belongs to her. She won’t stand in Shinobu and Momoko’s way, but…

…evil sempai Sayuri overhears Kirin and Honda. After Kirin leaves, she has her way with Honda, despite Honda’s protests. Since this is the first time we’ve seen Shinobu protest, it’s especially creepy. Naitou is walking by the room, and overhears voices. Honda prays that she will move on, but Naitou decides to call Honda’s phone. When it rings, she comes into the room and sees Sayuri and Honda in dishabille. Honda begs Naitou to understand, and Sayuri stalks off, full of herself. Momoko follows Sayuri and, in a completely out of the blue, “whoah!” moment, knocks Sayuri cold with a fire extinguisher.

Naitou transfers out of school and isn’t heard from again for months. Honda moves out of the dorm and Maya moves out with her. One day, Maya and Honda are out walking when Honda’s phone rings with a message from Naitou. Honda goes running to find Naitou. Maya excuses herself, and leaves the two of them alone. They go back to Naitou’s nearly-empty, electricity-less apartment and finally(!) make love.

The next chapter takes place the “Day After Shoujo Sect” at Naitou’s new school. A classmate rushes to hide a note from someone that was pasted to her shoe locker. Sonoko confronts her friend Kaori on the roof later that day, telling her to not leave things like her email in the locker. Kaori and she end up fighting and confessing their love for one another…and as this is Shoujo Sect, they make love on the roof. The next day there is a note in Sonoko’s shoe locker and she cheerfully tells Naitou that it’s from her lover.

The Extra Chapter actually makes the whole thing worth getting, in my opinion. Up to this point, it’s been a series of PWP sex encounters – some good, some bad, depending on what you like. If you’re just interested in the sex, then it’s not a bad series just for that. But the epilogue actually kind of ties everything up in a amusing package that nonetheless remains completely consistent to the rest of the story.

Time has passed, Honda Shinobu and Naitou Momoko are living together. Honda is rushing off to work, and Naitou is lazing around as a college student. Honda runs off to be teased and sexually harrassed in a not at all mean-spirited way by her seniors at the office. They obviously find her cute – her sexual charisma hasn’t tarnished at all since high school. Naitou and Enjyoji Maya, now in medical school, and still living with Honda, have some pleasant morning sex to pass the time. Honda ends up calling home to get something to the office. Instead of sending it, Naitou and Maya both comes to visit. So Honda’s little secret is quite out. Now all her office sempai know about her and Naitou and Maya…and erm, just about everyone else.

The sempai decided that they want a little of the Honda charm and rewrite the office rules to require not only a morning greeting, but a morning kiss – and a coffee break kiss and a lunchtime kiss… insert “bwa bwa bwaaaa” silly noise here.

It’s a goofy, but also kind of sweet ending for what is otherwise pretty much pure Yuri porn.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 6
Character – 7
Yuri – 10
Service – 10

Overall – 8

Sexy? Yes. Good? Not really – but not bad either.

8 Responses

  1. The extra bonus chapter is entirely beautiful there… the shading was an awesome bonus. And the 3-page or so ‘explanation’ as to why Shinobu had such a loooong crush on Momoko? Priceless. XD;

    Can’t wait to scanlate the rest of this! :3

  2. I particularly liked the line where Shinobu wonders if her sempai are really straight or not. :-)

    But honestly, the explanation left me cold. I’m not a big fan of “we met when we were 6 and I’ve loved you since”-type backstories. It’s the same lame-ass thing they use in Love Hina and it’s not impressive there, either.

    Nonetheless, the extra chapter definitely made it all work for me.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Nice to know how they solve the whole Shinobu/momoko/maya thing…in a hot three-way…harem?Oh well Smut wins for me.

    Oh and In the Story When their all living together do the character designs change at all?

  4. Matrim says:

    I know my comment is a few months late but nevertheless I want to say thanks for the summary of this manga. For some reason I just had to know what was going on in Shoujo Sect even though on a totally rational level I knew we could hardly speak of a plot at all. I even spent hours trying to translate bits of it with the help of a dictionary. :)

  5. Shamie says:

    Okay~ I know I’m like a year late for commenting this. And that’s not cool, but I have to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! Like someone mentioned, I knew there was no plot, but I would still get an annoyed nagging feeling that I couldn’t read the PWPness. This manga is the reason I started learning hiragana. Your summaries were VERY VERY appreciated.

  6. Yurilover101 says:

    your a Yuri expert i mean i realy wannna watch this but tis not out on animation yet but could u at leats (any of you)tell me were to read the manga in english?

  7. Anonymous says:

    “Sect” was the first bit of Yuri smut I ever read. Yikes! What disturbed me to no end was that there was “just enough” more-than-smut romance to move me. The and Naitou’s declaration or eternal wuv whacked silly me upside. Dammit! This aint supposed to happen! I tracked down “Isuzu’s Counter” and the burlesque was more of what I expected, but that just left me more perplexed. Now I file it as PWP, A Rezbian Rebu Secrets Manual for LFB’s (like moi – tho the repetiton gets mechanical after a while) and a reply to the familiar “can’t confess” plot engine. Don’t think I’ll watch the Anime tho, it sounds atrocious, and it would ruin the memory.

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