In my review of Nettaigyo ha Yuki ni Kogareru, Volume 4 (熱帯魚は雪に焦がれる ), I lightly commented that “this series has moved slowly, and almost haphazardly, like the tropical fish of the title, lazily moving between plot points.” But Konatsu chooses another form of symbolism completely, befuddling both Koyuki and us, in A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Volume 4 – the symbolism of a childhood tale of a shy salamander and it’s frog friend.
The festival has arrived and the day Konatsu and Koyuki have practiced for is here. Only, Koyuki is home sick. Worried for her friend and worried about the show, Koyuki tries to sneak out, but is stymied. She’s thrilled to find that Konatsu has done the fish show, but worried that her outgoing new friend will leave her behind.
At this point it has to be obvious to us, that Koyuki’s problems are deeper than just being treated like she’s perfect. She’s developed some seriously deep wounds. Her concerns are not alleviated by the fact that she’s barely gotten better when the second-year’s class trip pops up, separating them again. Koyuki starts to finally realize how important Konatsu has become to her.
Once again faced with her emotions, Koyuki snaps, and yet again, Konatsu is there to pick up the pieces and accept her. And we learn who the salamander and the frog are to one another.
This is not a romance in the more usual sense. Koyuki is far too fragile to be in love or like. In that sense, it’s a bit more like Konatsu building a ladder, one rung at a time, to help Koyuki climb out of a hole she’s dug for herself. Because this story is positioned as a Yuri romance, we can kind of expect what the end will be, but I sincerely hope we see Koyuki coming out of that hole before it happens. Otherwise, she’ll just be adding new baggage before the old stuff is dealt with.
The team at Viz is handling this story well. John Werry’s translation and Eve Grandt’s lettering is light-handed, so we’re left to feel for Koyuki on our own, without heavy-handed tactics. The design work by Yukiko Whitely and editing by Pancha Diaz, contribute to another authentic manga reading experience.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 1 on principle only, there really isn’t any
Yuri – 4
Overall – 7
As I said in my review of the Japanese volume, “This series has always been, in large part, about Koyuki’s journey to find herself. It would be nice if she finds some self-confidence and we can see their relationship develop from here.”
Volume 5 in English will hit shelves here in November, and Volume 7 has been out since summer in Japan, we should probably expect Volume 8 before the end of the year.
I don’t know how the English version is being marketed, but in Japan it’s not positioned as yuri by the mangaka and magazine, but as “girls-ship”. Several Dengeki Maoh series are tagged as yuri on Comic Walker, but this isn’t one of them.
That’s good to know. The bookstores seem to think it’s Yuri. Gamers even did a special section on their Yuri floor a few years ago.
I will not speculate about the reasons, but English versions of yuri-ish titles are usually marketed as yuri more often than their original versions. At the same time, I don’t understand how Japanese tags work at all. I’ve seen both BFF/Womance works that were tagged as yuri, and explicit lesbian works that never had such a tag.
Anyway, the Japanese wiki describes this manga as “a story about female relationships”.
Thank you for your review of this, I appreciate your insight that delves deeper into Koyuki’s awkwardness. Sure, the book may feel slow-paced, but at the same time, issues like these need time to reveal themselves and be recognized by the main characters, let alone resolve. It all just works, somehow.