Back in the mists of Internet history, fanfic was one of the key drivers to fandom.  Not just my fandom, but many folks would read a fanfic and find themselves enamored of the ideas, the situations and the characters in that fanfic…sometimes more than the fiction that the fan-created derivative fiction was based upon. I’m not immune to this. I have very clear and specific ideas about how the glamour that protects the Senshi in Sailor Moon works, for instance, even though it is never explicated in the series, which one must constantly remind one’s self was created for 11 year olds. ^_^

So a story about creating stories seems, on the face of it, right up my alley. If the Yuri stories created within the story continued to be the point, I’d be on board. Unfortunately Yuri Espoir, Volume 3 falls into a trap  which often ended up weighing down otherwise decent fanfic – it is taking itself very seriously. It is truly unfortunate, because stripped of what has become a rather dire actual plot, I really enjoy the idea that Kokoro and Amami walk around fictionalizing complete strangers into comfy Yuri tropes. It hurts no one, and is only marginally weird. ^_^ (Real people shipping can be very weird, but let’s face it, it’s not uncommon. Much of the BTS Army exists for that purpose.)

Now, in V3, we get the real depth of despair Kokoro feels, the real backstory about the art teacher and the fact that both of their lives revolves around a faceless guy with the personality of a bucket of warm water. It’s…not fun. In fact, this volume gets quite dark in places. I have to ask myself “why?” To what end is this darkness? Will it go anywhere? I can’t tell.

In the spaces between Amami and Yuki’s unrequited love for people who have been portrayed as idiots, there are some cute ideas. But like every fanfic in which a potentially queer character was drowning in the darkness their author had nowhere else to express, there’s a distinct lack of espoir in this volume.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Stories – 8 for the fanfic, 5 for the main plot
Characters – 8
Service – 4 – there’s some, expressed in ways that are “this is a bad thing” but they are there.
Yuri – 9

Overall – 7

Had I been the editor, I think I would wrap this up next volume, unless it can shed this habit of trying to be a Very.Important.Story. 

Thanks to Tokyopop for the review copy and thanks to their team for their hard work!