Takako Shimura’s Even Though We’re Adults, Volume 1 is a very strong opening to a series I still have no idea in what direction it is going. Ayano, a teacher, meets Akari when she stops by a place for a drink. They end up sleeping together. Both Ayano and Akari want to see each other again, but when Ayano does come to the restaurant Akari works at, she’s accompanied by her husband.

Ayano tells her husband that she’s interested in Akari and he basically has no idea what to do with that information. He’s in love with his wife, and he’d like a child with her, but thinks (fears?) that she’s slipping away. Ayano isn’t sure what she wants, except that she is sure she wants to see more of Akari. Akari is in a worse spot; with a history of failed relationships, the last thing she needs is to be falling for a married woman…but that is definitely what is happening.

Quite a lot of manga people I know who are also queer, including myself, have very ambivalent relationships with Shimura’s work. She does seem to focus quite a lot on gender and sexual minorities, with varying degrees of verisimilitude. In my personal opinion, this story feels equal parts solid and kind of icky. It may also be that I’m not particularly thrilled to have either another “messy relationship with a married woman story” or a story that makes the lesbian performatively self-loathy. At the same time, there are elements here that keep bringing me back to this story, which is at Volume 4 now in Japanese.

One of the best things about the series so far is the art. There are moments, especially when Shimura-sensei is using the watercolor style she often relies on for covers and color art, when she really shines. I talked about this a little in my review of Volume 2 in the Japanese, as well.

As always, the team at Seven Seas has done a great job. Shimura-sensei is great with *moments,* but has a harder time sustaining conversations over a scene. Translator Jocelyne Allen and adapter Casey Lucas allow the conversations to flow naturally. Everything about this book – the lettering and design, as well as the writing and art – is given room to get out of the way of the characters and let them tell their story. I’m  not at all sure where that story is heading, but I guess I’m here for the ride!

Ratings:

Art – 8
Character – A not-sure-yet 7
Story – Same 7
Yuri – 8
Service – 1 Hardly any, in fact. The 1 is mostly on principle

Overall – 7

Thanks very much to Seven Seas for the review copy! Volume 2 is slated for a summer release. I’m definitely going to have to bump up Volume 3 in Japanese on the to-read pile and see what happens.