Although I just finished reading Sumako Kari’s Watashi no Kiraina Otomodachi: Fatal Lies (私の嫌いなおともだち):  last night, it is already back on the to-read pile. It deserves another, slower, more attentive reading.

The collection follows several couples in short vignettes, in which they might be either schoolgirls, or adults, but are always not the insipid “Story A” tropes we see time and time again. Women with fears, and hopes, with angry faces, and crushed dreams; these stories are short, but richly developed, looks at three-dimensional beings who happen to be in a Yuri narrative.

There is more than just “like” here. Not everyone is kind, or truthful or sincere. There are lies spoken and accepted, there is mystery, in the way we can never truly know someone fully.

If you are looking for cute, slight tales of “like” this is absolutely not the book for you. If, however, you wish to god that sometimes Yuri didn’t tread the same path every freaking time, I’ll recommend this strongly.

Ratings:

Art – 7 Felt a bit old school, without the polish
Characters – 8 Good, bad, and indifferent, but all different.
Story – 7 It is not one story repeated several ways
Yuri – 7 From first moments of interest to heartbreak, very real.
Service – 2 A single panel on a single page.

Overall – 7

Some of the stories end happily, but more end with possibilities and complexities. And those are the ones I liked best. Keep it coming, Hirari!