Hinako is an adult woman who has spent her life trying to fit into boxes for the convenience of other people. Asahi is an adult woman who has spent her life living for her sister Subaru. In Volume 3 of Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon, their relationship has caused them both to question those lives.
I’m not going to synopsize a single thing that happens here. You really must read this book on your own, without my prompts as to what is important. I will say that every page is important. Because this is a quiet, ever-so-gentle and tentative, slice-of-life story about emotional bonds and love, it’s easy to be fooled into thinking that nothing of consequence happens. But you’d be wrong. ^_^ What I see here is some of the most profound manga about re-evaluating one’s entire life that I have ever read. Now that I think about, that’s probably why I like Kimi to Shiranai Natsu ni Naru (君としらない夏になる), as well. The old ways of doing things are not working….well, they never worked, but previous generations didn’t have the wherewithal to get off the treadmill. Now that we’ve seen with our own eyes that nothing we were told was true about pretty much all of society is true, I hope everyone younger than I creates a completely different idea for themselves.
The art here is great, there’s a real sense that Usui-sensei is still developing as an artist. Body language and expression are on point for the characters. But it’s the dialogue where this volume shines. These are real conversations. The internal monologues are slow, repetitive, realistic. Terrific translation by Jenny McKeon and adaptation by C.A. Hawksmoor give each character their own voice. Fantastic work from everyone at Seven Seas.
The outcome is growth for two people who had never previously granted themselves the right to grow.
An outstanding volume of one of my favorite Yuri manga series of the past few years. If you want slight spoilers, take a look at my review of Volume 3 in Japanese…and rest assured that the end held up. ^_^
Ratings:
Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 6
Service – 0
Overall – 9
Volume 4 will be released in Japan this month, there is no releasd date as yet for the English volume. I will spoil this – it’s absolutely worth the wait. ^_^
*Spoilers for the volume in comment*
This series is already so amazing in so many different ways, but I *love* how this volume tackled Fuuka confessing to Asahi and the aftermath of their date. So many yuri series, and even non-yuri series with sapphic subtext, have some variation on the “I’m perfectly happy pining for my friend from afar as long as she’s happy” trope, and it always bugs me how those characters are treated by the overall narrative. But here, Fuuka is given agency to act on her feelings, and she and Asahi have a frank discussion about how they both feel.
Another yuri series that approached this topic in an interesting way, imo, is “If We Leave On the Dot”, where we see how Kayoko’s friend refusing to have an honest talk about her feelings is driving a wedge in their friendship. Basically, more agency for the “pining friend”, and honest conversations about attraction and feelings, are both things I’d like to see more in yuri.