Volume 2 of Amano Shuninta’s Yuri soap opera Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na Nanika (私の世界を構成する塵のような何か) was…excellent.
Having established that Ruki and Sachi are interested in each other, we set them aside as main players and turn our sights towards what appeared to be the single stable couple among the two groups – Asuna and Fueko.
As the volume opens, we “meet” Asuna, as she learns about sex with women and about herself, and then jump to post-breakup, when Asuna and Fueko meet again. Although they cannot resolve what lays between them, they come to a place where they can part without regret. We then back up to get to know Fueko a little better. Finally, we see the both of them moving on. Last, wee see the root of their breakup.
The reordering of their story worked incredibly well. I had fooled myself into thinking they were a better couple than they were. This volume really brought home how wrong I was. Asuna was not nearly as sensitive as I (and the characters) had convinced myself that she was and Fueko was more selfish than I had realized. Breaking up was probably the most mature decision she’d made so far.
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Tucked into the background of this volume, we’re getting more detail about the other characters, as well. Ma-asa as Asuna’s tutor kind of blew my mind. The revelation about Meru’s past was sobering, upsetting and a little frustrating. But it made me see the cast as one complete unit, with friends that pull each other up, rather than just pairs to be watched and they couple and decouple. There is so much thought going into the storytelling here. It’s not a Story A, it’s about lives lived by characters that could be real. If you’re reading this series, pay attention to what you are looking at. Amano-sensei is a master craftsman.
Ratings:
Art – 9
Characters – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 9
Service – 3 Mostly tasteful nudity
Overall – 9
I joked in my review of Volume 1 that this series was a Yuri The L Word. There is no doubt in my mind now that Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na Nanika would make a *fantastic* live-action drama series.
Is this available in English anywhere? Much as I .want. to learn Japanese, physical and mental problems make it unlikely, and I am desperate for decent Yuri, but can never seem to find any here in Australia. ><
Hi Jamie – No, the is a review of a untranslated volume. You can always tell when I’m reviewing an officially licensed translation – it will have the word (English) in the review title. If it does not, I am reviewing a Japanese manga I have either purchased from Amazon JP (the picture and the title will link to the entry there) or from a Japanese bookstore.
All the manga that has been reviewed here that is in official English translation can be found in the English Manga category.
I have a rather weird comment. I have always been puzzled by the relative phrase “o kousei suru”. It comes up in technical translations a lot, where they will be referring to one small element of a bigger machine or mechanism, and say something like “本機械を構成する部品” (i.e., the part that constitutes – or makes up – the main machine). This has always bugged me because, it seems to me, one would never say 人間を構成する心臓 or 人間を構成するサムネイル because simply the heart or the thumbnail do _not_ constitute (or make up) a human being, they’re just one small part of it. However, in the title of this manga, it doesn’t ring so bad (I don’t know, but “the dust-like something that makes up my world”, maybe?) I wonder if you’ve ever encountered this and have some insights. I’ve asked and asked, other translators and native Japanese alike, but never get a satisfying answer.
Very interesting question, but I’m afraid I have no answer for you. The best I can come up with is that maybe kousei suru is used for inanimate objects and systems, not people. These small things “make up” or constitute the larger thing.
I wouldn’t call Fueko selfish. She was very clearly asexual which was incredible to see in a josei manga. Regardless I agree that Fueko and Asuna made the right choice in the end. But it bothers me to see you brush Fueko off like that.
Your opinion is certainly valid, but so is mine. They are both opinions, after all, about fictitious characters.