One of the best things about reviewing is when a book (or anime or game or whatever) surprises you in a good way. I had no particular expectations for Did You Think My Yuri Is Just For Show? written by Neru Asakura, with illustrations by Minori Chigusa, translated by Jenny McKeon, from YenOn. For most of the book, I found it a pleasant surprise. It did not *quite* stick the landing, but it very much failed on the right side of flawed.
Suzune Sengu is a veteran voice actress with a secret crush on former idol singer Karin Shotsuki. To Suzune’s shock, Karin joins her agency and the two begin to bond, even though Suzune does everything to keep her personal feelings out of their professional relationship, but when they begin working together, her boundaries are pushed to their limits and she has one more secret she’s keeping that might ruin everything.
The premise itself is not bad. Suzune is likeable, relatable and intelligent, so one is quickly caught up in her life and generally her choices make perfect sense for her. Karin is also likeable and, what I expected to be the final reveal ends up being handled at just past halfway through the book, allowing both characters room to grow.
The story contains a lot of insight into the world of being a voice actor – insight that feels consistent and based in reality – from what companies do and do not reimburse, to rivalries within agencies. With one exception, the people we are following are talented, sincere and their management is committed and supportive, which helps us relax and just enjoy the Yuri.
The Yuri is woven throughout this story on multiple levels. It begins and ends with Suzune’s feeling for Karin, but it is not Yuri bait, except in a section of the book about “business Yuri” in which Yuri baiting the main couple of the anime is a part of the promotion. I found that section amusing for the business calculation of what would engage fans who are already shipping two characters…something we might lose as Yuri becomes more openly queer, but is so much a part of Yuri history that I was glad to see it represented. ^_^ Also nice is that Suzune is not the only gay character, which changes the nature of her actions in a positive way as the story develops.
Illustrations by Minori Chigusa were satisfactory. They did illustrate the scene, which was nice, but as the scenes chosen for illustration are mostly people sitting/standing and talking they still look mostly like portraiture, and, sadly, were far too infantile for me. Characters in their 20s looked like children, with one exception of a very nice illustration of Suzune.
Easily 9/10ths of this book was fun, engaging and way more intelligent than I expected. The final hurdle is the only genuinely weak point of the book. It is over-contrived and even then, the resolution was perfectly fine. The problem was that story wrapped up *so* quickly and *so* neatly immediately afterward it all felt a little forced. That said, the author made a thousand excellent choices throughout the narrative with the characters, the setup and even the language choices, so I was very willing to allow it and take only small deduction for the bobble on the landing. ^_^
Speaking of the language, let us give a round of applause to translator Jenny McKeon and her uncredited editor, who gave the characters identifiable voice and did a fantastic job with very fannish language. It was a fun read – I recommend it without hesitation when it comes out later this month from Yen.
Ratings:
Art – 6
Characters – 9
Story – 10 right up to the last bit where it faltered ever so slightly
Service – 2? 3? Some? Kinda? Mostly of the “gay girl being way too aware that she is gay in front of another woman who presumably does not know that” kind.
Overall – 8
It’s nice to read a book about adults who act basically like adults, so the screaming is mostly internal. ^_^
Thank you once again to Yen Press for the advance review copy, this was a genuine pleasure to read.
