Yuri Manga: Onna no Ko no Sekkeizu (女の子の設計図)

June 11th, 2013

Onna no Ko no Sekkeizu, “Drawings of a girl” (女の子の設計図) is a collection of stories by Konno Kita that ran in Hirari magazine and Comic Yuri Hime.

Since her parents divorced Kana has lived with her father but, now that he’s re-married to a younger woman, she’s decided to go live with her mother and her sister, Ato. While apparently making a place for herself with her family and new friends, Kana struggles with intense emotions for her sister. When she and Ato surface their feelings, they share an unsisterly kiss, and agree to stay together forever. I’ll be honest, this story depressed me. What are the chances that they’ll actually be together for even a few years, much less forever? Low? None? I can’t help but feel they just need to get used to having a sister around. It is far, far likelier that one or both of them will find other people to be interested in eventually.

The final story in the collection treads a similar line, in which a woman and her sister-in-law have a relationship after the invisible brother/husband is killed off, making it possible for them to be a happy alternative family.

It is the second story in the collection that I find the most interesting and appealing. In “Shounen” Hisoka “confesses” to Miyaji that there is a boy inside her who has fallen in love with her. Short as it is, this story a unique way of looking at the evolution of a young woman coming out to herself and her person of interest at the same time.

I love Konno’s art, but her interest in sister-love (which has been consistent over the years) is not for me.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 3,7,4
Characters – Hisoka and Miyaji – 7
Yuri – 8
Service – 5

Overall – 6

I consider incest stories to be, basically, lazy storytelling. It’s simpler than coming up with a story of people who don’t know each other falling in love, but much less compelling.

7 Responses

  1. Mara says:

    ‘I consider incest stories to be, basically, lazy storytelling. It’s simpler than coming up with a story of people who don’t know each other falling in love, but much less compelling.’

    LOL. That is exactly spot on! You don’t even need to think about how they came to know each other.

    ‘How did you two meet?’

    ‘Oh they’re my sibling so we’ve always known each other.’

    ‘Oh that’s convenient… almost too convenient.’

  2. just me says:

    “…When she and Ato surface their feelings, they share an unsisterly kiss, and agree to stay together forever. I’ll be honest, this story depressed me. What are the chances that they’ll actually be together for even a few years, much less forever?…”

    To be realistic, that might depend on the power differential. Incest or no incest, it is sometimes possible for one member of a family to keep another member of the same family under his or her thumb for even a few years, sometimes decades…

    • My point was that the request to “be together forever” is immature, as is their affection. Once again, I’m not seeing any controlling behavior where you are seeing it.

      • just me says:

        You asked “What are the chances…?” and I answered the question by remembering that it’s not impossible given that the potential to do such controlling behavior exists in families.

        • It meant it rhetorically to illustrate my point that it was unlikely. ^_^ I don’t see the relationship as illustrated as controlling, merely clueless. If I knew someone in a real situation in which a relative was controlling, I would certainly encourage them to seek help.

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