Galette No. 24 came and went and I kept falling further and further behind! Mea culpa, I’ve had some stuff on my plate. ^_^

This volume was released during one of the Comitia events, and a collaboration with Yuri Cafe Anchor, which was pretty cool. I’m sorry for myself that I haven’t been able to return to Japan yet for any of the cafe collabs. They’ve been pretty proactive about getting signings and events together.  This volume include art for the Galette lottery they held last year. Very cute little SD character cards of ongoing series.

This volume has several things I really want to address. One…I am very done and over stories about children being abused, manipulated or bullied. I know that this is a very real reality especially for queer kids. But I am reading Yuri manga for entertainment, and I just cannot. So, I’m calling time out on any story in which bullying is a plot point. Your mileage may vary of course, but I’m noping out for at least a while.

Secondly…I will not name the manga in this issue that I’m about to refer to, because – it has hit a wall. I know there is no editorial staff per se on this magazine, and let me tell you, when a famous artist just keeps writing a different version of the same chapter over and over…it feels like it. I know why no one would say anything, but wow, these characters need to have some other thing to worry about. It’s been like 5 years of them having the same one conversation, then worrying about not being able to have the same one conversation again. 

Lastly, I do want to extoll Hakamada Mera’s “Aikata System,” for having the guts to take on the most problematic character and have her…maybe begin to realize that she is the problem. Abiko-sempai has been a pile of conflicts waiting to happen, Ibuki-sempai has been entirely too passive. Nao and Kairo are bouncing between the two older girls in a way that has not been goof for them…and they’ve had enough. I still hope to see the four of them destroy the Aikata system at the school.

Ratings:

Overall – 7

Volume 25 is sitting on my desktop in digital format ready to be read….I’m hoping that the roadblocked story finally opens up, but don’t have faith…and am looking forward to where “Aikata System” and other stories lead!