Let’s say I have a bowl of vanilla ice cream (schoolgirl Yuri) and I think vanilla ice cream is okay, but it’s not as exciting as it could be.

When you’re confronted with a bowl of plain ice cream (a flavor you think is okay, but not wow) what do you do to make it tastier? You cover it with sauce and and blend in exciting things like gummy bears and toffee. Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, Vol. 8 (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり) is a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

So here’s the cover story by Hakamada Mera, in which Kikuka and Tsubaki become friends and maybe Tsubaki has a few internal monologue moments where she thinks that Kikuka is “pretty” or “interesting.” Pretty vanilla, right?

So then we add a little soy powder to the top of the vanilla in the continuation of “Kitsune-hime.” It’s an interesting taste, but a little dry.

No, what we want is something crazy – something really extra super yummy. How about caramel sauce, colored sprinkles and a LOT of whipped cream? Well, lucky you, because Morishima Akiko has you covered, in “Seijun Shoujo Paradigm.” Aoi comes to a real rich-girls’ school, all ready to be blown away by the ojou-sama in her class, so she’s a little disappointed when they turn out to be normal, Did I say normal? As they head up to the roof to do an AKB48 dance, you realize that you’ve landed in the sundaest story you’re gonna find in this mostly vanilla collection. ^_^

Sated as you are, you can peruse the rest of the stories and enjoy their different flavors:

Ballet and Yuri tastes like a blend-in of salted peanuts. Teacher/student Yuri tastes like bitter, bitter dark chocolate. Auri Hirao writing a Yuri story with actual Yuri tastes like finding a real vanilla bean in your vanilla ice cream. Grown up Yuri tastes like coffee liqueur over your the top. Each variation brings a different flavor or texture, even though the base is still vanilla. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – Jim Dandy

Age check – how many of you think “big bowl of vanilla ice cream” and think “Moby Dick” (If you get the reference don’t give it away.)