I really like Ohzawa Yayoi’s weirder works. Her collection Spice Girls (スパイスガールズ)  is much less weird than her best stuff, but still has a quirk here or there to offer us.

The first story, which seems kind of like an idea that didn’t quite work out, follows a girls with a part-time job at a used bookstore, dealing with a schoolmate bring a metric ton of porn in to sell. The ending is a beginning, one hopes.

There are two separate sets of stories that deal with teacher/tutor and student. Neither are particularly creepy, but I prefer the second story in which a student learns more about her doofusy young teacher than she imagined.

The final story follows a niece and her newlywed young aunt by marriage in what could easily have become a not-good relationship, but didn’t. Phew.

Nothing here is particularly passionate, but most of it is sweet. Even when there’s no relationship as such at the end, the sense of people caring about each other is pleasant.

Ratings:

Art – 9 I really like her art
Story – Variable, averaging at 7
Characters – Same
Yuri – 6
Service – 4 for the first and last stories

Overall – 7

This isn’t going to be a go-to read for me, but if you’re a fan of Ohsawa-sensei’s work, this is a decent addition to the library.