Onna x Onna Umakuikanai Renai Essay parlor, Volume 1 (女×女のうまくいかない恋愛エッセイ parlor) by Fujio, has had a long journey from there to here. This manga began more than a decade ago with essays that were published in Comic Yuri Hime in 2010, then it moved to Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり) in 2011. ( For those who don’t remember it, Hirari was the same magazine in which the Kase-san series was launched.) When Hirari ceased publication, this column moved over to digital comics platform, Web Unpoko, which is now a channel on Ebook.japan. Now it has been collected into one volume for the first time!
Fujio-sensei’s comic essay column is basically about how she’s kind of a loser with women. She loves women and would love to have a girlfriend, but she’s…a dork. We all know that feeling…and sympathize. ^_^ So each chapter discusses the kind of women she’s liked and even dated, from childhood to adulthood and how she’s kind of effed it up, along with advice from her editor and the beautiful BL manga artist she rooms with.
Fujio-sensei protrays herself as a hoodie-wearing slob, with unkempt hair and wearing sweats and sneakers. Undoubtedly, her lack of humaning skills are blown up for entertainment purposes. The other women in the book are beautiful, cute, sexy, charming as needed., which makes this manga an interesting catalog of Fuji-sensei’s art skills; since chapters drift from great technical drafting, to elaborately drawn to loosely sketch to comedically outlined. As a periodic comic essay, it’s full of relatable pathos and sad-funny, the way it is when you tell a story about yourself being a dork. I wouldn’t have been able to read a lot of it all at once.
With impeccable narrative structure, the final chapter is redemptive, with an incredibly sweet entry that leaves one feeling good about one’s self and the hope that Fujio-sensei will be all right. ^_^
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – These are stories of failures, told to be drolly amusing. YMMV, but for me – 6
Character – I kind of like Sensei as she portrays herself. I’d take her out to lunch. ^_^
Service – 3 Some sexy portraiture
Lesbian – 100% Cold truth
Overall – 7
I’d pick up a second volume if I encountered it on a bookstore shelf, but I’m not sure I’d order it.
