Mayumi has left her life in the big city behind. She knows she’s running away, but she’s committed to running as far as she can from the circumstances that have left her feeling empty. At the beginning of Days of Love at Seagull Villa, Volume 1, instead of of dealing, Mayumi has moved to a small seaside town to become a teacher. As she contemplates her future, she is accosted by a young woman who looks like a tough who thinks she is trying to do herself harm. One hilarious hijink later and Mayumi finds herself at the Seagull Villa, with a cast of characters and people with whose lives Mayumi will become involved.

When I read this series in Japanese, I felt very much that there was some kind of war going on between the artist and the story. Over and over it veers into the kind of dark territory so much of Kodama-sensei’s work is known for, and over and over it just sort of rests itself and tries again. It’s a very plucky story.

Mayumi comes across as a mope, but it quickly becomes apparent why and we do kind of root for her. But for my money, without landlady Rin’s jocularity, this story could and probably would have bogged down. That said, it doesn’t bog down and every turn for the worse, somehow pulls around into what will become an unlikely tale of alternate family and, (obviously, because this is a Yuri romance!) love. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7 It has moments.
Characters – 6
Service – Yes. It is a Kodama Naoko story, there is service
Yuri – 5

Overall – 7

Days of Love at Seagull Villa, Volume 1 by Naoko Kodama is available on Amazon and Global Bookwalker. Volume 2 is also available.