As I mentioned in my review of the November issue of Comic Yuri Hime, the last few stories were all from recent collections, like Himitsu no Kakera and today we’ll look at the last of them, Haya’s  Hakkou Snowflake (薄光スノウフレーク).

In a snowy country, with an impenetrable accent (so much so that furigana with Standard Japanese is needed for even the most common phrases) Chou meets a mysterious kimonoed girl Se-chan. Se-chan isn’t sure if she’s a Yuki-Onna, or a ghost, and neither are we, but it is absolutely obvious that she is not of our world.

Nonetheless Chou adopts Se-chan, becoming friends, teaching her about fashion and presents and modern life. Se-chan starts to take it personally when she sees Chou having fun without her, but only because she’s fallen for her friend. As the book closes they kiss and we have to hope that the spring will not destroy the relationship. Or something, I guess. Since Se-chan isn’t human, it’s kind of hard to know where we’ll go from here.

The story runs to the sweet and cute and mostly-disconnected from real life. There are no adults, no cars, no trains, hardly any other people, in fact, except for a few schoolmates. The world-building is unconvincing, but doesn’t really have to be convincing, as we’re supposed to be focused on the girls. The is as much of a well as that in the YuriTetsu ~ Shiritsu Yurigasaki Joshikou Tetsudobu manga. Elsie, Lacie, Tillie and Peanut, meet Chou and Se-chan. You should all enjoy each other’s company very much, as there are no other humans in your worlds.

Despite the one-dimensional world these two one-dimensional characters live in, I can’t say this manga left me unmoved. It left me with a sense of melancholy. The entire time, I kept waiting for Chou to come home and find nothing left of Se-chan but a puddle and obi. It was actually a bit of a surprise to find it was given a happy ending.

Ratings:

Art – 5
Story – 5
Characters – 5
Yuri – 6 There is a kiss.
Service – 4 Some non-sexual nudity

Overall – 5

It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t good.