In Volume 4, our focus has been pulled inexorably from Hime, whose desire to have a perfect image in public so she can marry rich and check out of the rat race , towards the most conflicted character at Liebe Gakuen Cafe, Ayanokouji, the perfect one-sama, played by Yano Mitsuki, the wholly imperfect person.

Now, in Volume 5 of Yuri is My Job!, as Hime is gallivanting about with Kanako, we’re being reminded that Yano has never had the ability to understand the hidden meaning behind people’s words. An honest and forthright person herself, she has always said what she thinks and that has frequently put her at odds with those around her. I feel her pain. ^_^

Now, as she’s confronted with proximity to the one person who ever made her feel at ease, and whose betrayal hurt her more than she’s willing to admit even to herself, she’s…overreacting. And she knows it. As I said in my review of Volume 5 in Japanese, “She doesn’t want to make the same mistakes, even as she can see that she is [doing so]…but what those mistakes are, are still beyond her grasp.”

In the meantime, we can see that Hime is doing the right things. Maybe for the wrong reason…but is that really a problem? Does it, at the end of the day, really matter why she is kind and thoughtful to Kanako, and trying harder for her onee-sama?

And just who the heck is Tachibana-san?!? She’s there again in this volume. Did you see her? I did. She’s a regular, we’re told. I’m kind of wondering now, if she wasn’t more than that.

Ratings (same as the Japanese volume):

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 3 Nothing salacious, but the premise is service
Yuri – ????? I can’t even. There’s a lot and very little at the same time.

I still really love the author’s notes, by Miman-sensei which contain really interesting insight towards the process of creating this series.

My kudos to translator Diana Taylor, who is doing a bang-up job making sense out of a surprisingly complicated narrative, embedded in Yuri tropes and tea and cake. And nods in the direction of letterer Jennifer Skarupa and editor Haruko Hashimoto, as well, for creating a seamless manga reading experience!

Volume 6 is headed our way in Japanese in late January and English in May 2020. And it’s going to be a doozy. ^_^