There’s something to be said for judging a book by it’s cover, sometimes. ^_^ Avalon ~bitter~ is a Yuri anthology of troubling, distressing and bitter stories by extremely talented artists. It’s not that the stories are bad, it’s that this is not the collection for you, if you’re looking for happy endings. 

I found Mikanji’s “Sukininaru nante arienai” to be typical of this collection. A girl who had been a bully, is sexually harassed by the girl she bullied when they were younger. But it’s okay now because they can bully each other. … … …

But the story that encapsulated the whole anthology for me was Shoukabuki’s “Bara bara” about a lesbian and the woman she seduces. The lesbian’s kouhai is a little appalled at her sempai’s casual disinterest in the woman afterwards, but when she hears the woman dismissing the sex, because she’s not really queer, she understands a bit better that people use each other for their own ends.

This volume is pretty much a collection of stories in which people use each other, with some manipulation, sexual harassment and a bit of light betrayal, in a variety of settings, both realistic and fantastic. Overall, both writing and art is very good, which actually serves to increase the bitter flavor of the work. ^_^;

Ratings:

Overall – 8 Although I didn’t enjoy it, per se, it was very good.

The publisher is “girls x garden” which is a new imprint for me. I’ll be interested to get the other available Avalon collection, which seems to have a similar roster of contributors but perhaps a different focus.