Kimi to Shiranai Natsu ni Naru, Volume 1 (君としらない夏になる), subtitled in English “Throw away the suit together,” is one of my favorite reads currently in Comic Yuri Hime magazineright now. So a chance to step back and see what drew me in was something I embraced eagerly.

Haru and Hinoto are two young women who are deeply in love with one another, looking for jobs in various companies in Tokyo. The interviews and rejections are grueling, and Haru just…snaps. She tosses all the paperwork out the window. Without hesitation, Hi-chan joins her and the two of them run away from the grind of job hunting to a small island where Hi-chan’s aunt had a house.

This opening had all the weak spots in the narrative. When they come out of an impromptu ocean swim, their scooter is missing, which sets them in a panic, as it had their wallets, phones, etc.

The walk around town, trying to find the bike, to no avail, so they head over to Hi-chan’ss aunt’s house. Having reached the house, they find the phone ringing. It is, predictably, her aunt. Hi-chan asks if she and a friend can stay. The aunt answers with “no.”

Shocked at the “no,” Hinoto takes time to notice that Haru was, actually hurt by being called a friend. They discuss it and Hi-chan calls her aunt back to clarify that actually, its her and her lover – at which Haru shouts “fiancee!” The aunt lets them stay. ^_^

And then the story takes off. Which is to say, it slows down to a relaxed, gentle pace as Haru and Hinoto create a new life for themselves away from the path they were expected to take. They get the scooter back…and make a new friend in the process. And they start planning their wedding. The opening scenes of job hunting were supposed to create a sense of stress, so we’d be relieved by them walking away, but the scooter being removed actually created additional stress. It’s only when they have gotten the scooter (and their phones and wallets…) back that the story can actually begin.

Keyyang’s art is good, and bad. The anatomy is a bit “hrm” (their chests kind of shift size with need, and there’s some odd hip – leg anatomy from time to time.) and a constant strain of service may affect your opinion. It was generally tolerable to me, until individual moments where it became a bit tiresome. But, as the characters are adults and it never crosses the line of being plain gross, (the way The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady did), I allow it. Your mileage may vary. This volume has an omake with more adult content between them, so while I would not call this explicit, per se, I caution readers that it is for and about adults.

The big draw for me is Haru and Hinoto’s very deep love for one another. They are just so gosh darn cute.

Ratings:

Art – 6 Runs the gamut, but the energy is good.
Story – 8 I think anyone who has gone job hunting is going to feel those first bits in their bones
Characters – 8 Utterly likable
Service – 5 Quite a bit of underwear, some odd anatomy, but tolerable.
Yuri – 10, with a foot in LGBTQ+ identity

Overall – Charming, just a tad exhausting and overall one of my faves in the magazine right now.

Let’s all throw away our suits and go live on an island somewhere. Now all I need is a rich aunt. ^_^