Yuri Manga: Kanojyo no Sekai (彼女の世界)

March 29th, 2012

Well this book was kind of a surprise. You know how I’m always ragging on Hakamada Mera-sensei for writing the same old Story A and never really getting past that? Well, in Kanojyo no Sekai (彼女の世界) she does and, um, I kinda wish she hadn’t. (OMG, Erica, you are never satisfied!) ^_^;

Konno Natsuki has a run-in with Hikawa Hidari on the roof – that is, they actually collide with one another. They untangle notebooks and knees and return to their classroom, where Natsuki realizes she has one of Hidari’s notebooks. No big thing, really, except that the notebook contains an erotic novel. Natsuki can’t stop reading the novel so, when the teacher calls on her to stop reading and takes the notebook away, she’s worried that the teacher will read it…and Hidari is worried that Natsuki will throw her under the bus. Natsuki retrieves the notebook, never mentioning Hidari and waits on the roof to return it to the other girl. She won’t say anything, Natsuki promises, on the condition that Hidari continues to write the novel. And so they meet most days, up on the roof.

Hidari is not a well-liked girl. Her name is weird (who names their kid “Left”?) and she’s not personable or outgoing. Natsuki has friends, but she begins to blow them off to go to the roof and read Hidari’s work. She find the story stimulating, but also wants to know a bit more about the author. To make matters worse, Natsuki starts to have sexual fantasies about Hidari, but when she finally acts on one of them and kisses the other girl, she is rebuffed.

The novel changes, too. Now, not only is the protagonist thrown into a variety of sexual situations, a second character has appeared. Hidari confirms that it’s love between the two.

The class trip arrives, just in time to make things awkward for Natsuki and Hidari. Natsuki invites Hidari to join her group, but her friends nix the idea. Hidari goes off with another group and Natsuki can’t even manage to sit with the other girl for the trip. Natsuki sees Hidari from afar on the trip, having fun with her group, she’s overcome with jealousy and starts to cry. When she looks up to see Hidari sitting there, she confesses that she likes her. Hidari says nothing but, quite unusually, she smiles. That night, when all the other girls have gone  to another room to have pillow fights and hang out, Hidari and Natsuki make love.

Although, Natsuki confides in us at the end, Hidari has never said she loves her back, she’s content to join the other girl in their world up on the roof.

It’s a strange, but not insane story, made uncomfortable only really by the fact that it’s set in high school and that it’s by Hakamada-sensei, whose art is not really well suited to more explicit scenes in my head. There’s nothing super explicit, and the characters are not drawn in a way that is inconsistent with her art or with their age or anything that might otherwise make one cringe.  In every other way, it’s a pretty good doujinshi-like story.

Ratings:

Art – 6 on general appeal, but for Hakamada’s art 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 10
Service – 7

Overall – 7

The heads aren’t even huge anymore. It’s just that…it’s Hakamada-sensei’s art and the idea of sex in her work seems so…odd.  ^_^

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