Kurai Mori, Shiroi Michi Manga (くらいもり、しろいみち)

May 16th, 2012

Shou is depressed. There’s just no other way to describe it, really. She doesn’t like school, she doesn’t like home, the whole town holds no interest for her…life holds no interest for her.

Then she wanders into a teeny little overgrown patch of a park and meets a blind girl who teaches her the value of life.

Kurai Mori, Shiroi Michi (くらいもり、しろいみち) is a fable about appreciating what you have while you have it, because you just never know when you’re going to lose it.

I’d be hard pressed to call this a Yuri story. It’s true that Chiharu, the blind girl, seems to have affection for Shou, and it’s just as clear that Shou feels something about Chiharu, but we never really allow their relationship to develop past “feels something.” The impression is one of had they had time and freedom, they might have come to love one another.

Despite the premise – and I mean that literally, because the premise starts off heavy-handed and dire – I came to really like this series. Upon my third re-read of this volume I figured out why. Chiharu is really everything Shou is not. She dresses in white, and has no vision, but radiates things like light and joy, all of which is tedious…but she also has a snarky sense of humor, which really pulls her out of the stereotype she was falling into. Shou redeems herself at the ends, where she catches up to the lesson she’s been taught and, perhaps, has a chance at becoming a person one day.

Yoshida Chiyu’s art is approachable, but scritchy, somewhere in between typical josei and typical Yuri, if I had to pick an analogy. I like it, and ultimately, I liked this story, despite the brickbat of allegory.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 3
Service – 0

Overall – 8

Opposites attract. ^_^

2 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    Hi Erica,

    I have been occasionally reading your blog for some time. I must admit that it has been a pleasure; you seem to have this quirky sense of humor that makes your entries very entertaining to read, yet you make no compromises on the actual content of what you write.

    I also like the notion of the impossibility of objectivity that you entertain. Nothing could be more true. Actually, we come closest to “objectivity” exactly by acknowledging our innate lack of it.

    And then there is the LoserFanBoy -rating, which I as a (mostly) heterosexual male find very amusing. Its existence is just the cherry on top of the cake.

    I don’t know why I am attracted to homosexual pairings in general (Yuri and yaoi), but perhaps it is just because this world is still burdened by meaningless prejudices. Or the thought of two girls kissing is simply too cute not to like. Hahaa, the LoserFanBoy in myself, I found you!

    But to sum it up, keep up the good work. Your entries about Strawberry Panic were particularly immaculate.

    -Secret FanBoy

  2. @Secret – Thank you very much for the kind words.

    I do in fact have a quirky sense of humor. I’m glad the blog reflects that.

    Thanks for reading, it’s always nice to know someone (other than me) is enjoying my writing. ^_^

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