Aoi Shiro Manga, Volume 1

May 28th, 2008

Aoi Shiro is a manga story that was based off the game of the same name. It exists in two parts – the Yuri Hime magazine version, in which we meet Momoko and her roommate Yasumi, a frail girl who has a crush on the president of the kendo club. That manga ended just as the story began, when Momoko and Yasumi joined the kendo club. Although it ran in Yuri Hime the vaguest shading of Yuri was actually used, so that Momoko kind of sort of seemed to maybe like Yasumi and Yasumi akogared Shouko, the club president.

The story picks up slightly later in the first volume of the Jive magazine edition, as the kendo club is off to some random beachfront temple for kendo camp. Club member Ayashiro finds herself haunted by a possible succubus-like shade, and mysterious, yet threatening, Mizuwa works around the temple and seems to know something no one else knows.

One night Yasumi and Shouko are on the beach when they come across another mysterious being, a girl with white hair, unconscious in the surf. When she comes to, the girl seems to have bonded with Shouko. The rest of the manga is vaguely threatening, vaguely destiny-filled, and mostly nothing happens.

For a Yuri story, remarkably little Yuri of any kind seems to be going on. I’ve seen the screencaps for the game (it would be pretty impossible to avoid them in this line of work, lol) and they mostly look like nothing. Shouko gets a lot of kisses, but not too much from anyone you’d want to see her with. And Yasumi’s crush appears to be a total red herring.

Nothing about this manga is particularly stand out. If you love the game and want to spend more time with the characters, sure, this is a great way to do it. I wasn’t overwhelmed by the Yuri Hime chapters (nor will I be getting the manga to review them) and it’s unlikely that I’ll be pursuing this version of the story. Let me know if something actually *happens* and maybe I’ll check back in. And Mizuwa’s angry challenge kiss with Shouko doesn’t qualify as “something happening” – we call that a McGuffin, ‘kay? :-)

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6 – It feels like this is all set up, with little or no payoff coming
Characters – 6
Yuri – 2 Implication, but no more
Service – 6 Asses galore.

Overall – 6

Aoi Shiro, like so many manga or anime based on games, is not horrible, but it’s not really great, either.

One Response

  1. jenn2d2 says:

    “Asses galore” – I almost snorted soda through my nose. That completely made my day. I just have this insane picture of a down at the heels version of my least favorite Bond girl moniker :)

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