Moving right along into the second half of Volume 5 of Yuri Hime S, we find ourselves wondering what on *earth* is going on in “Minus Literacy,” now that Miharu has left her mistress Yasumi and has wandered off to go into the wide world. Yasumi, Iinchou and the kid dressed like a miko track her down, only to learn that she’s become the “private secretary” for some Yakuza dude. Even as Miharu rebuffs her, Yasumi swears to never give up. You know, for a crappy story, it’s at least a little original. lol
Speaking of crap, Anna has decided that she REALLY likes Elza-oneesama in “Casseopeia Dolce,” but other than in her dreams, she manages to kiss just about everyone else but. She can’t even manage an indirect kiss when the situation offers itself, so we know she’s serious.
In “Sempai ha tokubestu desu” Yuki-chan is so happy that Haruka-sempai will go out with her, but starts to have second thoughts about it when Haruka says that she’s been researching her and knows her favorite foods and where she lives. Yuki starts to avoid Haruka, until her friend stomps on her for only wanting the image of Haruka she has in her head and not the real person. After all, Haruka liked her enough to find out all about her, and what does she know about Haruka? Yuki runs after Haruka to find her crying and apologizes. They walk home together, hand in hand.
“Nanami to Isuzu” is next.
“Present” is my favorite story of the issue. Keiko had been made fun of as a child, so she grew up into the class “bad” girl as a way of acting out. One day by accident, she comes across Haruka, who is blind. As they spend time together, Keiko discovers both her love of potpourri – and Haruka. When she finds out that Haruka is undergoing surgery but only has a 30% chance of recovering her sight, for the first time ever, Keiko prays with sincerity and fervor. She’s there when the bandages come off, but as soon as she knows that Haruka can see, she runs off without a word. Shortly thereafter Haruka tranfers in to Keiko’s school – into her class, in fact – and confronts Keiko, then hugs her and confesses her feelings. She frees Keiko to be herself, so Keiko shares both her true feelings, and her love of potpourri with the rest of the class – to everyone’s delight. It’s a truly lovely story.
Yuu’s inability to control her power has instigated a little test that involves her, Maria and Nagi, in “Otome Kikan Gretel,” but the real story is that Yuu is making pudding for everyone in the dorm. Nagi still has big breasts, there’s lots of tongue in the kissing and the first page is amusingly crammed with egregious double entendres – so much so that I feel like I was watching an episode of Three’s Company. Despite myself, I like this manga. lol
In “Kaichou to Fukukaichou” the Vice President inadvertently makes the President cry when she criticizes her horrible looking lunch. While reading out loud in language class, the Vice President begins to cry at a poignant passage, then runs off to the Infirmary, claiming a stomach ache – even though she knows that everyone will know what the real problem is. The President comes to visit her, and uses the opportunity to tell her a little bit about her home life and herself. As the sun sets outside, the two find themselves growing a little closer for real.
And finally, in “Blue Line” a ghost keeps meeting a girl who seems to know all about her. Little by little she remembers that the girl is her sister and lover, and the two of them were in a plane that crashed. In a coma, Yui, the younger sister, is watched over by Yuria in the hospital and then, every day, she goes to the beach to commune with her spirit. As the story draws to a close, Yui opens her eyes and the sisters are reunited once again.
So, okay, I really thought that this volume really was really catering to bottom feeders with that second story, but along with the usual artists that I enjoy reading, “Present” left me with such a good feeling that it carried right through to my overall impression of this volume. :-) Which makes this the best volume of the series so far.
Overall – 7
