Never let it be said that I am immune to cheap marketing ploys. Well…I am *mostly* immune to them, having worked in advertising and possessing a health dose of cynicism. But, when Gamers hands me a big ole shiny clearfile by the artist Fly, I’m in. ^_^ I’ve liked Fly’s art for some time since before they became the cover artist for Comic Yuri Hime. I had picked up their artbook, Marguerite on a previous trip and since I hadn’t yet been motivated to get this book, this was the tipping point for me. Because clear file. Which I never used to use, but use all the time now, on account of having a hundred of them somehow lying around, for some reason.  Weird. ^_^ So here we are looking at Kyou, Koshiba Aoi ni Aetara, Volume 1 (今日、小柴葵に会えたら) by Takeoka Hazuki, with art by Fly.

Sahoko shows up for a high school reunion, and immediately is greeted by her dearest friends from her school days. All the while she is looking out for someone who does not appear to be there. Eventually, speaking with another old friend, she asks about Koshiba Aoi, one of the most popular students in their year. She knows she being selfish, but…

Flashback to their school years when Sahoko is – and wants to be – popular. She works at it, but Koshiba Aoi doesn’t seem to care, or even notice how popular she is. Hoping to make herself more popular, Sahoko tries to cultivate a relationship with Koshiba…who is supremely uninterested. She was the star of the basketball team, but has recently quit.  One afternoon, while trying to get to know Koshiba, Sahoko finds herself kissing the other girl. She spends the book torn between mortification and desire to understand Koshiba better. When she accompanies Koshiba home, Sahoko learns that Koshiba is tasked with raising her several siblings. She really would love to still play basketball, but…Koshiba tears up and it’s on Sahoko to comfort her.

The final chapter flashes forward again as an old friend tells Sahoko that Aoi will not be attending today.

Oddly, this was a similar set up to the end of Amano Shuninta’s Toma-kun in Galette and, even more oddly, I ended up reading them both the same week.  But aside from the premise being oddly similar, they weren’t much alike. We never really learn about Toma-kun’s life, but here, we see the person behind the facade and Sahoko learns to trust her instincts.

It’s not a groundbreaking story, but I’m very much hoping for a solid character profile of the girl who captivated so many in her school.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 2 some random underwear for no reason
Yuri – 6

Overall – 8

The manga appears to be ongoing in Comic Rex (コミックREX), so if something develops in either the past (likely) or present (less likely), we’ll see when volume 2 comes out. (If you are following this, feel free to post spoiler-free comments.)