Eku Takeshima’s Whisper Me a Love Song, Volume 2 is genuinely adorable, about relatable, charming characters, an idealized school setting and conflict so small and so satisfyingly reconciled that “cute and fluffy” don’t come close to doing it justice. Amid the noise and haste of the world, this series is an oasis of innocence and joy.
Here in Volume 2, the major conflict on Himari’s side is her idea of what love is does not seem to be matching up with Yori-sempai’s but…and this is a huge but…both she and Yori are thinking about it and talking about with friends and each other. They agree on a course of action to try to see how their feelings will resolve by going out and spending time together. Well…that’s pretty much the point of dating, so rock on girls!
In trying to think of a way to describe this series to a group of folks in order to talk about why publisher ratings are madness, I mentioned that in 5 volumes of this series there’s been nothing more physically intimate than a kiss (and that of those 5 volumes 2 have been mostly taken up with a battle of the bands) and yet, it is rated 16+. I’ve been a manga publisher, I know why publishers are required to be cowards and how that very rating that protects the publishers can be a hassle for librarians. I hope that we’ll talk about that in an upcoming panel, in fact. This is especially crazy when you realize that Even Though We’re Adults and I’m in Love With the Villianess are both give 13+ ratings and both are way more openly queer and adult. All three have different publishers and comparing across publisher is awkward, but, c’mon Kodansha. I’d happily recommend this series to 11 and up, it’s that carefree and well, harmless. I don’t think these ratings are an evil conspiracy, but it’s worth discussing why these choices are made.
Takeshima-sensei’s art really conveys Himari’s joy beautifully. Kevin Steinbach’s translation is fantastic – Yori’s voice in this volume is more perfect than the voice I read her in. At one point she said something and I though, “YES! This is exactly right!” Her cool factor is upped by several degrees, without sounding too adult. Well done. Jennifer Skarupa’s letter matched this perfectly. I’m not sure the last time I absolutely could hear every character so clearly. Tiff Ferentini did a bang-up job on editing because we never notice the editing ^_^ Well done to the entire Kodansha team.
Ratings:
Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 0
Yuri – 8
Overall – 8
Whisper Me a Love Song is a sweet treat of a Yuri manga. A genuine delight. Volume 3 and Volume 4 are available in English
and Volume 5 is available in Japanese
As an adult, it’s been ages since I paid attention to age ratings, but as someone who got into yuri all the way back in 8th grade when I was first questioning my sexuality, I remember being bummed that the only English-language yuri at the time was rated 16+. (It was stuff like First Love Sisters, Voiceful and The Last Uniform.) My parents both monitored my media consumption, so I couldn’t bring those titles home. I was hoping we’d moved past the point where anything with gay romance automatically earned a 16+ rating, and indeed, Seven Seas seems to have dropped that policy, but I guess not every publisher has. I’m sure it’s indeed not an evil conspiracy, and maybe it doesn’t matter to most people… but it might matter to some kids.
(Anyway, thanks as always for the review!)
It’s important to remember that the ratings are meant to protect the publishers and librarians from angry parents. That’s not something we’re going to be able to “move past,” but age ratings have shifted back downwards. The problem with a 13+ on a book like, say “Even Though We’re Adults” is when in a as-yet-unwritten chapter, it gets more adult and the rating suddenly has to jump.
When companies licensed completed series it was one thing, but now that they have ongoing work, and they can’t see the future, they are likely to be more conservative.
I will say that it’s not the same-sex content that is the issue, as it used to be, it’s simply how that company thinks the series itself will shake out.
Okay, yeah, that makes sense. It’s hard to predict how “adult” something will get. What I’ve read of this series is pretty tame, but I’ve been taken by surprise before. I didn’t particularly expect Bloom Into You to include a sex scene, for example (and speaking of which, I’m surprised the final volume of that series is still rated Teen).
I’ve seen publishers hike up the age rating for specific volumes and not others (or shrinkwrap certain volumes and not others), but I’m sure that’s not a simple fix, either… Thanks for elaborating.