Comic Yuri Hime, April 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年4月号) starts off with an evocative cover image. I very much continue to enjoy this year’s cover design, with it’s patchwork of color and texture. Great design work there! It’s always nice when Comic Yuri Hime chooses creative design for their annual theme.
The first story of interest to me this issue is inori-sensei’s “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” We’ve come to the climax of the commoner movement arc, which means we’re almost at the end of the first novel. I hope you’re all filling out the monthly questionnaire and letting them know you want more of this series! I can say that, for this series, an international audience is recognized. Let Ichijinsha know that we want Drama CDs and anime and all the things. ^_^
In “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” Kanako is in crisis. So much of her identity has been wrapped up in Hime that now that Hime and Yano are reconciled, Kanako is floundering. What direction will this desire for Hime head in? It could get ugly, but by now I completely trust Miman-sensei to take care of these characters. (Although I’ve got my eye on Nene…she’d better be okay, is all I’m saying. (-_-)
Kashikaze’s “Lonely Girl ni Sakeraenai” was absolutely adorbs this month. Ayaka finds her path in life, she and Sora eat cookies. I’m going to jump here and also mention, Inui Ayu’s and Ohi Pikachi’s comic essays on life with their girlfriends. After decades of high and low dramas, I like having an iyashikei manga or three to read and just be happy. More wholesome Yuri please!
Life as a married couple is going well for Kurumi and Ruriko in “Onna Tomodachi to Kekkonshitemita.”
“Kimi to Shiranai Natsu ni Naru” continues to be one of my faves, as Haru and Hinoto craft a homemade marriage certificate and decide to get jobs to keep up this beach house lifestyle. With this, they have fully thrown away the business suit lifestyle and they are positively glowing.
I have to tell you that “Odoriba Skirt ga Naru” just NAILS the landing here. 10/10 Michiru and Kiki are always so tenuous and now they might be on the edge of a breakup, but they talk…and then they dance. The three page set where their counting slowly comes together and eventually shows them in perfect synch was an outstanding use of word balloons. You could practically hear the music swell behind Uttane-sensei’s art.
Taguchi Shouichi’s “Futari Escape” is so goofy that I can’t possibly dislike it. In this chapter, they create a fictitious cat for themselves and really lean into the fiction hard.
In honor of the re-release of Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu and Love Gene Double XX by Taishi Zaou and Eiki Eiki, the first chapter of each is included this month. These manga originally ran back in the late 2000s, early 2010’s in Yuri Hime. I’ve reviewed them all here on Okazu (Love Gene Double XX Volume 1 | Volume 2 and Haru, Natsu, Aki, Fuyu)…they were both problematic. I still don’t know if the problems stemmed from primarily BL creators creating Yuri, but it sure seemed that way at the time. I’m not sure they’ve worn well, but YMMV.
Inui Ayu and Kon-san discuss negative things about each other, to temper all the lovey-dovey in her essay comic so far and Ohi Pikachi let’s us in on when she and Fuuka spent the night together for the first time.
As always, there are stories I read and have not mentioned and stories I do not read. (Like, there was a manga that ended this issue with both characters dead and my thought was, “that’s okay.” It’s not worth it to me to mention some of these.) But for the things I am reading, there’s more to like than ever before, overall, a fantastic issue of Comic Yuri Hime!
Ratings:
Overall – 9 (“Odoriba” put it over the line. ^_^)
The May issue is already in my greedy little hands, and it’s so good. ^_^
