Tanaka Iori is a 28-year old OL in a stressful and not very satisfying job. Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume １(不揃いの連理) begins with Iori on her way home after a hard day, stopping by a local izakaya for a meal, some drinks and a vent with Minami, the cute girl who works there.

The next day Iori wakes up very naked next to an equally naked Minami and learns that the night before she had been very drunk and had been sick over both their clothes. Mortified, Iori wants to make it up to Minami. She gets her chance when Minami hurts herself. Iori invites the younger woman to stay with her. And the mishap is forgotten as they- much less drunkenly this time – become lovers. Iori’s still got some dealing to do when she learns that’s she’s now going out with a much younger woman. Yes, Minami is an adult, but that doesn’t stop Iori from feeling kind of old.

Minami has tribal tattoos on her arms neck and back and multiple piercings (thus, perhaps for the first time in non-gang ouvre do I see someone who is my type in a manga. ^_^) but is not a juvenile delinquent or gang girl. Iori learns, though, that Minami grew up as a foster kid and her foster sister, Shizuka, and she did get int a lot of trouble. When Shizuka shows up at the door, Minami is very firm that Shizuka should leave Iori the hell alone. But Iori has her own hands full with her younger sister, Saori, who is giving Minami a hard time for having moved in with her older sister. When Shizuka and Saori encounter each other in school, it s match made in somewhere tangential to heaven. ^_^

Iori is a pretty good partner, noticing when Minami gets a new pierce and gets one of her own to understand Minami’s life. Minami is likewise a good partner, cooking for Iori and helping her get ready for work. Coworkers have noticed the change in Iori, too.

The drama in this slice-of-adult-life is relatively gentle, with a few not-gentle punches and kicks from Shizuka and Saori…but once they have each other to abuse verbally, that settles down. ^_^;

I really enjoyed this book, enough that I finished it and started again to see what I had missed anything the first time around. I generally like Mikanuji-sensei’s art, even if it is a tad moe for me. The scenario of a mis-matched pair who completely work for and with each other appealed and it was especially nice to see tattoos and piercings not evidence of criminal class existence, just as body art.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 3 Some light nudity, nothing salacious
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

The initial drunknness aside, both Iori and Minami are hardworking, decent people that I quite like…and would very much like to continue to read about.