When Kawaguchi was 13, she debuted as a manga artist. But, due to many different things, she stopped drawing. Now she’s 19 and has decided to get back into it only…she has no idea what to draw.

After thinking about it, she decides to try her hand at Yuri, since BL and GL seem all the rage. Thus begins Manga no Tsukurikata (まんがの作り方).

Only…now Kawaguchi *really* has no idea what to draw.

Just then, she’s visited by a workmate and classmate of her young brother’s, Morishita. Morishita has a crush on Kawaguchi, so when the older girl asks her out, she gladly agrees. Kawaguchi thinks that going out with another girl will give her some inspiration, but finds pretty quickly that things are more complicated that they seem.

For one thing, Morishita is not just her workmate and a classmate of her younger brother Masato – she is also Kawaguchi’s favorite manga artist, Sacchi.

For another, despite her desire to gain inspiration from Morishita, Kawaguchi’s failure to take Morishita’s emotions seriously cause a complete blockage of ideas. Even after a magazine editor agrees to take a look at her work, Kawaguchi hasn’t the barest bone of a plot. And all the while, there’s Morishita looking at her with eyes full of honesty and desire.

And lastly, because nothing can be easy, Kawaguchi’s kid brother, Masato, also likes Morishita, so it’s a bit of a torture for him to see the two of them together.

While this manga is undoubtedly “Yuri” in the sense that Yuri is mentioned a lot, there is surprisingly little Yuri in it. Morishtia’s feelings are real, but aside from hand-holding and an arm around a shoulder, Kawaguchi is not exactly returning the emotion. In fact, the one or two times Morishita attempts to close the distance between them, Kawaguchi brushes her off. By the end, she’s pretty certain that she’s using the other woman, and won’t even tell her what she’s doing, which builds a wall between them.

In discussing this with Erin S. on #[email protected] we agreed that the biggest question for us in regards to liking this story is – will Kawaguchi just keep using Morishita or will she come to like her back, honestly. Or at least be honest with her.

If the relationship between Kawaguchi and Morishita stays the same, this series could become quite wearing. If one way or another Kawaguchi is honest with the other girl, then there’s some actual potential for the story.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 5
Service – 1

Overall – 7

Outside this rather major issue of honesty, the series is otherwise a non-stressful, silly, mostly realistic and not an unpleasant read. Another almost really Yuri story from Ryuu Comics. ^_^