Huh. It was almost exactly a year ago I reviewed Volume 1 of Mikanuji’s Yuri + food manga. At the time I said, “I can definitely recommend it with some significant reservations.” Today I am looking at Sempai, Oishii Desuka? Volume 2 (先輩、美味しいですか?) and I find that the reservations are mostly the same, and the story is not what I wanted it to be.

To begin with Miho spends the majority of the book wallowing in significant low self-esteem churning over whether Sempai reeaaalllllllllly likes being with her or not because of things other people tell her. When sempai kisses her we are treated to chapters of her worrying what sempai meant by it. Miho gets blasted drunk on non-alcoholic something, which is impossible for me accept and made the final pages of the manga unpalatable. Mori is not free of criticism, but her issue is in a post-COVID world not entirely impossible to understand.

The failure here is simply trying to insert conflict where it just didn’t need to be. It would have been lovely to just have Miho make food with Mori and them enjoy it. Turning up Miho’s “there MUST be a crisis” meter to 1000 – while relatable for those of us who overthink everything – really just drained the enjoyment of two women and food and possible romance.

Which brings me to the Yuri. I noted in Volume 1 that Mori regularly violated Miho’s boundaries. In Volume 2, she still does, and Miho has to be “drunk” to just tell Mori she’d like to kiss, in a creepy and boundary violating way. This is just so unnecessary! They are both adults with an interest in each other, they could just get together. That they don’t is fine, but the way they are portrayed is so…weird…and not healthy. Just have a conversation, ladies.

The end result is, as much as I like Mikanuji’s work, I don’t find this manga all that enjoyable and will stop reading. That said, if you like awkward boundary-pushing, but not really adult behavior in your Yuri, you might find this manga fun. And you’ll learn how to cook as a bonus.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Characters – Miho drops to a 5 here, Mori is a 6
Story – 7
Service – One too many “funny” boundary violations
Yuri – 5, but I’m not convinced they’ll be good for each other

Overall – 7  

Miho loves food. She happily eats large bowls of rice with a big smile. But, back in high school, a schoolmate told her it wasn’t really feminine to eat so much or with so much gusto. That hasn’t stopped Miho, but she does prefer to eat alone these days.

A college friend wants to meet Miho’s boyfriend before a group date and Miho is in a bind. She usually brings her brother to these things to stave off both answering questions about not having a boyfriend from the girls and advances from the guys. But her brother can’t make it, so he’s sending a substitute…who turns out to be beautiful woman, Mori-sempai. Moris one of those people who is completely comfortable with herself and jumps right in as Miho’s “lover.” But Miho is much less comfortable with the kind of skinship Mori-sempai seems to favor. When Mori-sempai shares that she’s seen Miho eating and everything seems so delicious, Miho invites Mori to make some food together.

When I heard about Sempai, Oishii desuka? Volume 1 (先輩、美味しいですか?) which combines three things I really like –  Yuri, food and Mikanuji’s art and characters –  I was really excited to read this volume. Now that I have read it, I can definitely recommend it with some significant reservations.

Miho is a well-conceived character. She’s awkward in a very relatable way; hyper-focused on things she finds relaxing and fun, and unsure and often uncomfortable outside those situations. I think I and nearly everyone I know fits that pattern. She really can’t read Mori and Mori isn’t really being entirely upfront…a fact that she admits to Miho. Miho’s really cute. Her reason for not going out with a girl who confessed her feelings was totally in character…and Mori agrees. ^_^

Mori’s the deep waters here. On the surface she’s perfect. However, she regularly violates Miho’s boundaries, not with malice, but she still does it. This is the reservation in my recommendation. If you are made uncomfortable by a story in which boundaries are ignored, this may very well distress you, because it did begin to distress me. I found it a little much. Perhaps read as a monthly serial it would be more tolerable than in one sitting.  As the volume progresses, we see – and Mori mentions –  that she has some secrets.

One wonders if this story about food and Yuri doesn’t have a third layer about…something…beneath the surface. I could conjecture, but I don’t want to make the book about something it’s not about. I just have a gut feeling.

Lastly – the food parts aren’t quite recipes, but they’ll certainly stimulate the appetite and imagination, especially if you enjoy Japanese food. And of course Mikanuji-sensei’s art is quite cute.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Characters – 8 
Story – 7
Service – Mori getting too close too often is problematic rather than salacious
Yuri – Beyond the premise, let’s give it a 4

Overall – 7  

I can see this story doing some good things and equally, I can see it cutting corners. I hope as it develops it goes the former route. I’m really hoping Miho and Mori grow a bit more in synch and work through their baggage together.

Mikanuji’s Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 5 (不揃いの連理) continues as a  smorgasbord of miscellaneous relationships between various couples.

In this volume, we take time to expand on a few previously established couples. A mangaka and her editor who bond in their game world, take their relationship into the real world, and it turns out it works rather well.

Two women meet in university and everything just works beautifully.

Minami has Iori now, but Shizuka remembers when they had no one else to rely on but each other. She’s not ready to move on, but Minami seems so happy now, Shizuka finds it hard to not be jealous…and she’s maybe not winning that war. The epilogue spends time with Minami and Iori and their happy life together and, finally, we see Saori reminding Shizuka that there is someone there waiting, if she cares to look.

The art here is primarily cute, emotional and sweet. The couples are living in that world where expressing one’s feelings is fraught, but the real world considerations that make that true, are absent.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 3
Yuri – 10

Overall – 8

As a light snack of happy Yuri couples in Mikanuji’s cute art style, this volume is sweet treat.

No author’s note this time, but the book came with a comic on cardstock as Shizuka has a smoke while chatting with Minami.

In Volume 1, we met Iori and Minami, an career woman and a server at a izakaya whose relationship is surprisingly not fraught, and Saori and Shizuku, Iori’s little sister and Minami’s “sister” at the orphanage whose relationship is more of a light hand-to-hand combat than a battle.

In Volume 2 we added manga artist Heke and her editor Shinohara, who are partners in an onling RPG, but not quite there in real life.

Volume 3 of Fuzoroi no Renri (不揃いの連理), by Mikan Uji, adds a new couple to the collection. Kujyo-sensei is interested in women but cannot bring herself to go into the lesbian bar, so she keeps visiting the maid cafe next door. Sugimoto one of the students at  school, works at the cafe and thinks Sensei is kind of cute and awkward.

The remainder of the volume is snips and clips of the various couples’ lives, as they deal with whatever life throws at them. The art is cute and also kind of dynamic. The stories are slice-of-lifeish scenarios and the characters are all pretty cute. Although I really hope that Shinohara manages to finally confess to Heke-sensei soon.

This manga is light-hearted and fun. It’s a lovely distraction in these stressful times. I’m glad for Mikan Uji-sensei having three volumes so far and think Kadokawa seems a good fit for their work.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 2 Even less than usual, as we spend time with more couples, less of it is intimate.
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

I’m always happy to see Shizuku and Minami’s piercings and Minami’s tattoos, just because we so rarely get characters that look like that, but also because I like piercings and tattoos! If you’ve seen me in person you know I have my own collection of holes in my face and a couple of tattoos that are waiting patiently to be added to. ^_^