LGBTQ Manga: Girl’s Lily

August 8th, 2014

ScanThe June 204 issue of Margaret magazine has a “tribute” book to an ongoing manga Usotsuki Lily by Komura Ayumi, about which I know nothing and haven’t bothered looking up even so much as the plot. ^_^

This tribute book starts off with a short comic that is, however, absolutely relevant to us – Girl’s Lily, which is ominously labeled “Boys not allowed” on the cover so, as I picked it up I was already cringing.

It turned out to be an unexpected treasure.

The first page involves a guy, confronting two girls, (all presumably characters we would know from the main narrative), and the older girl commenting “Didn’t you see the “No Boys Allowed” tag?” I just love when the fourth wall crumbles underfoot, so I started to read in earnest. The boy explains that he needs their advice. His older sister wants to marry her lover, he says, but her lover is…a girl. Quelle shock, as you can imagine.

Just then his older sister, Keiko and her lover come into sight, having followed him to try and talk with him.

The lover, Kanae, is a pale, quiet, shy thing, but she follows him when he runs off, takes him to a coffee house and when he’s surprised that he likes what she chosen for him to drink, she smiles and said that, because his big sister likes sweet things too, she thought he’d like that. To his massive discomfort, it become really obvious that Kanae really loves Keiko and that they are  – and want to be – happy together. He inadvertently confesses his massive siscon, and faux-grumpily, to cover his embarrassment, wishes them well.

And so we will assume them, happy and well, for ever after.

I don’t know who these people are, but, wait, was that…? Yes! It was a manga about two adult women getting married to each other. In Margaret, a shoujo manga magazine for teens. Woot, woot, and double woot.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 0
LGBTQ -10

Overall – 8

Thank you Komura Ayumi-sensei! Congrats on the success of Usotsuki Lily. Here’s to many more.

YNN Correspondent Nikki S. writes in to let us know that Kanae’s and Keiko’s story fills Volumes 9-11 of this series.  Thanks Nikki! (Quick update: Looks like Volumes 10 and 11, but not 9. I have them sitting here, and 9 is all about the school festival.)

 

8 Responses

  1. Liz says:

    That sounds awesome! Now if only it could come stateside.

  2. JRB says:

    “about which I know nothing and haven’t bothered looking up even so much as the plot.”

    It’s about a girl who ends up with a hot boyfriend who crossdresses. It’s coming out in French under the title “Lily la Menteuse” (lily the liar), which is a bit off since the implication is supposed to be “fake Yuri” (in that protagonist & boyfriend look like two girls together), and it’s awesome; unlike the majority of “girl hooks up with hot crossdresser” shoujo, the male lead crossdresses by preference, not because of external circumstances (although his reasons for wanting to are silly), and he’s quite clear that he’s not going to stop, even though it takes the protagonist a couple of volumes to come to grips with that. I hold out hope that someday it will be licensed in English…

    I think that what’s-her-face and her girlfriend show up in the main text, too, but after the point I’ve got to (I’m about six volumes behind because of the intersection of broke-ness and international shipping costs.) If I spot them I’ll drop a line.

  3. mudakun says:

    Does “about which I know nothing and haven’t bothered looking up even so much as the plot. ^_^” indicate “irony on” mode? If not, please allow me to recommend my small attempt at trying to make sense of it from a while ago:
    As a piece of fluff, it seems to try not to be mean-spirited, though the main crossdressing theme is a bit of a stretch. Correspondents indicate that it is drawing to a close and will soon have the boy character have to deal with a “true” trans character. Otherwise I am deluded into thinking that it is “shojou with a mission”. I wonder if you would care to try it, at least the Yuri part, and see how it is. Regards and thanks as always, /Muda-kun.

  4. mudakun says:

    Utso lily ends with a very sweet wedding, after a few side-characters’ relations and relationships become clearer. End result: the girl couple holds a marriage ceremony party with everyone’s help and the main female character’s old flame overcomes his ‘phobia (he turns out to be brother of one of the brides) and gives his blessings. Then everyone, literally every character ever given more than 3 panels in the manga gets a happy ending. I been whacked with a shojou manga 2×4, but it didn’t even notice it. D’Awwwwwwwwwwwww….

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