As we make our way through Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu, Volume 4, (兄の嫁と暮らしています。) we find ourselves literally forced to see both Shino and Nozomi as fully developed humans apart and aside from the presumptive affection that is building between them. It’s fascinating, it’s awkward confronting my own laziness as a reader and it’s refreshing. 

Let’s address the awkwardness.

When I attended Yuriten last month, I took quite a lot of photos. I posted them publicly on Facebook, for folks to share. People did, which was nice. And, I learned something really important. I’ve been running Yuri-focused online communities for 20 years now and have always demanded a high standard of behavior from commenters. I hadn’t realized how civilized you all are, until folks shared out the pictures from Yuriten with people elsewhere. In fact, I had never before encountered such demanding incoherence in a community of my own. One of the pictures is a spoiler for the “other” girl-falls-in-love-with-her-sister-in-law story Tatoeto Dokonu Itoda Toshitemo (たとえとどかぬ糸だとしても ) which runs in Comic Yuri Hime. The point was not the incoherent grunting of animals the picture caused, but my response to that grunting. I had a long conversation with my computer screen which went like this, “Why are you all reacting like /probably some  negative word/s? It’s a Yuri manga. Of course they will get together. Duh.” 

Which brings me to this volume. I, as a reader, am as lazy and entitled as any other reader. I expect manga by Kuzushiro-sensei to be Yuri.  Furthermore, because I have determined to approach this manga as a “Yuri” manga, I assumed that Shino and Nozomi will naturally get together. But, what if they don’t?

Good question there, Erica. 

In Volume 4, Shino gets a job and Nozomi has a crisis about it. Shino is becoming her own person. She’s adulting. And Nozomi is quietly flipping out because she had put her sister-in-law in a box in which she stayed forever the same, half dependent and half independent and now she has to acknowledge change. As a guardian, as family, as a friend….and, if there is anything else, we don’t yet know and can’t because neither of them are ready to think about that. And, on the other side, they are actually becoming more touchy, more relaxed around each other. Not-quite-friends, not-quite relatives. Definitely not-quite-something-more.

Shino gets to see what other people’s obsessive crushes look like from the outside and Nozomi remembers that’s she really good at being a teacher. They come home to each other, and remind each other of what they have and what they’ve lost. If there is going to be a relationship, what’s going on in this volume will be good for it, as they stop thinking of each other in relationship to themselves and start thinking about each other as people.

Any presumptive Yuri aside, this is a really good story. Should the Yuri no longer be presumptive, I’m okay with it. In the meantime, I’m trying to be a better, less lazy reader. Kuzushiro-sensei’s work deserves that.

Ratings:

Art – 8 It is getting mainstreamy-er
Story – 8 It’s not quite compelling, but is quite good
Characters – 8 Becoming human
Yuri – 2 Going down, not up
Service – 3 Also less than previously, and unusually little for Square Enix

Overall – 8

I don’t know if I know where we’re going, but I’m definitely all in for the journey.

In Volume 3 of Kuzushiro’s Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu. (兄の嫁と暮らしています。), Shino and Nozomi are starting to “see” each other as fully realized individuals, beyond their previous relationship as sisters-in-law.

This volume focuses on Nozomi, particularly. And this is critical, because Shino does not yet think of Nozomi as a whole individual, as most people don’t with relatives. We think of them in relationship to ourselves, rather than as their own selves. But in this volume, we learn about Nozomi’s relationship with her late husband and her perception of Shino. While Shino learns about Nozomi’s family life…and has the unpleasant experience of having to deal with Nozomi’s mother’s scolding, as she stands at her brother’s graveside. It’s a grating experience, but Shino’s completely able to manage it with only slight frustration. We’re reminded that Shino is a very decent person, when she doesn’t tell Nozomi’s mom to shut up.

But later, as she waits for a very late Nozomi at home, Shino has a quiet little melt-down. Nozomi makes it home at nearly midnight to find Shino curled up in front of the door, desperately trying to not fall asleep.

Up until now, I’ve felt very much that Shino didn’t see Nozomi clearly as a person, but as the object of a crush she decided she has. At this point, the playing board has been cleared for them, I think and if they do develop a romantic relationship of their own, it won’t feel forced.

Ratings:

Art – 7 This is Kuzushiro-sensei at her mainstream-est in terms of art.
Story – 7 Overwrought and tense, but not unreadably so
Characters – 7 Completely likable on their own
Yuri – 3 Mild, mostly service as of yet. But I expect it will get there
Service – 5 Bathing and sleeping together, neck rubs and hugs. Mild for a Square Enix/YG Comic.

Overall – 7

I find myself much less uncomfortable with this story as compared to a similarish relationship in tMnR’s Tatoeto Dokonu Itoda Toshitemo (たとえとどかぬ糸だとしても ), primarily because the brother is dead in this one and alive in that one. It’s amazing how a single detail changes everything. 

It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed Kuzushiro’s zodiac animal-themed high school gag comic. It’s not because it isn’t good, or that it hasn’t been funny. It’s just that Volume 4 wasn’t all that Yuri. It’s not that we don’t have Yuri couples – Student Council President Torao Mari and her Vice President, Ryuuzaki Otome, and Nekoyama-san’s older sister Tamaki and her lover Hebizuka Sawako.  

However, Volume 5 of Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san, (犬神さんと猫山さん) ratchets up the Yuri in a couple of places. Primarily the fraught relationship between Souma Sakura and Inori Mayo. Those two alternately fight verbally and physically throughout the volume, all the while skirting  the very real attraction between them. By the end of the volume they have at least acknowledged their mutual attraction even if it’s still going to be rocky.

The titular characters, Inugami-san and Nekoyama-san also go on a date, to a cat cafe. Suzu finds herself having a lot more fun playing with the kittens than she expected and she and Yachiyo find themselves moving ever closer to an actual romance.

And even with all this going on,  these two major shifts in dynamic are not the most interesting thing in the book.

I’ve referred to Aki as everyone’s keeper before and the splash page illustates this in a fairly servicey manner, with Aki in a sexualized pose and the rest of the cast in miniature draped around her. Throughout this series, she’s come off as grounded and slightly removed from everything. Not in this volume, where suddenly we see a bit deeper into Aki and it turns out she’s got very  a pretty dark center. I like it on her. And, she casually mentions, in the course of nothing particular, that she’s bi. Aki takes the lead on being the most interesting character in the series so far.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Character – 8
FanService – 6
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7

All I ever ask from gag comics is that they are amusing. Almost  despite itself, this one is also telling a story. Who’da thunk it!

Shino is a normal high school senior. Her parents died when she was young, so she moved in with her older brother and his wife. Then her older brother died, leaving her living alone with her young, beautiful and extremely sweet sister-in-law, Nozomi.

Did you ever have that moment, when reading a manga, when you’re about two chapters in and you think, “Why on *earth* am I reading this?” Yes, that was me about two chapters in to Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu. (兄の嫁と暮らしています。). Then, while staring at the cover, it suddenly dawned on me that this trope-tastic story was by Kuzushiro-sensei. I shrugged, decided to trust her and kept reading.

Shino and Nozomi are both perfectly nice characters and I wouldn’t really mind, particularly, if they did get together, but the trope of falling for the sibling-in-law is soooooooo tropey, I kind of cringe at that. I mean, this was a chestnut back in the early 90s, when stories like “Jukkai Me no Jukkai” were what passed for Yuri.

Shino starts to head down the slippery slope of attraction first. Nozomi is an elementary school teacher, she’s cute and cheerful and she and Shino are actually pretty good friends. Nozomi’s enthusiastic and easy to get along with. Shino starts noticing Nozomi more. Her expressions, her reactions…Shino’s edging closer and closer to “like” and is aware of it. She worries about their relationship. Are they…friends? Relatives? When Nozomi introduces her as a sister, Shino is both happy and sad.

Nozomi may appear clueless, but she’s not. She’s not seeing Shino’s interest in her, but is definitely aware that she’s aware of Shino. This distresses her, as she feels she should be the adult in the household, responsible and solid. 

The pot comes to a gentle boil when Shino decides to buckle down and really study for exams. Nozomi happily offers to help. As the books ends, they are both locked in a battle inside their heads over what they feel and what to do about it. I’m not even sure, yet, if this is a “Yuri” manga. I’ll just have to wait and see.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Cuter and less messy than her usual
Story – 7 Cuter and less messy than her usual
Characters – I’m tempted to repeat myself again, but no. They are just kind of…normal
Service – 2 In the form of “look how attractive she is just now”
Yuri – 2 Just barely edging in

Overall – 7

I’m willing to give this story the benefit of the doubt and hope fervently that Kuzushiro-sensei pulls out a new iteration of this tired old trope that blows me away. If anyone can, I think she’s the one.