Éclair: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart is the first-ever Yuri anthology to be translated into English. Featuring work by Canno (Kiss and White Lily For My Dearest Girl) and Nio Nakatani (Bloom Into You), along with other well-known names in Yuri circles, sucha Shuninta Amano, Hachi Itou, Taki Kitao, Sakuya Amano, Auri Hirao (whose Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu is being made into an anime later in the year)  and others. 

The stories primarily focus on school-life scenarios, with a few forays into adult life. Nakatani-sensei’s opener sets the tone, with a complex and nuanced look at how complicated attraction can be. This continues throughout the volume, in which love is not as simple as “A girl likes another girl.” More often, the girl has much more layered approach to the other girl, as in Shuninta Amano’s “Human Emotion” in which a girl finds her essential humanity by caring.

I especially like Kagekichi Tadano’s “Game Over” in which two girls appear to be living in a post-apocalyptic story, but aren’t. No one will be surprised that I like Taki Kitao’s “Two Apples and Us,” as I’ve been a fan of her work for (erk!) decades.

For a slick, professional look at “Yuri” as seen by a number of unique artistic voices and styles, Éclair is a great example of one of the foundational blocks of the Yuri market from the days before Yuri manga magazines – collected stories by talented artists in a thematic anthology. I hope you all enjoy Éclair and clamor for more – there’s at least three more in the series,  rouge, blanche and bleue. ^_^

Ratings:

All ratings are variable as its an anthology.

Overall – 7

For a glimpse of people doing their own work in the confines of a major publisher’s rules, Éclair is an “original” work. In English, it’s unique.