In Amano Shuninta’s Aisarete mo Iindayo, Volume 1 ( 愛されてもいいんだよ) we meet Kimura Rin, an office worker who is being sexually harassed by a superior at work. She has no allies among the women in the office, and the harassment is exactly on the line that some men think is being friendly, but is not that, at all. As she cries alone in the bathroom of the restaurant where her group is having their after-work drinks, Rin encounter Ryou, who thinks she needs to fight back. Ryou tells Rin that she is a lesbian sex worker for ‘Yuritopia’ and tells her how much it costs. Rin takes her up on it, and that experience changes everything.
Rin quits her job and decides to become a sex worker. There’s a lot to learn and of course that learning curve is the story. She sleeps with a Yuritopia sempai and it just serves to highlight how out of her depth she is. Even Ryou turns out to be not what she seems, as the cast at Yuritopia seem kind of cliqueish and not at all kind. Which, I will admit, bothered me quite a bit (and didn’t make the Yuritopia manager look good. She was nice, but if her employees are jerks, then, uh…something’s not okay.)
Eventually, she gets her first date, a repeat customer of the company who likes to go out with the new girls. The situation is confusing, until she figures out what that customer is looking for and she gets her first high rating. She’s on her way in her new life!
My absolute favorite scene was probably the most ridiculous one, where Rin chooses her working name. She’s stressed out and unsure. The manager gives her a cup of hot chocolate to soothe her nerves (hey, here’s some caffeine and sugar, that’ll relax you!). Rin takes a sip and as the sweet, warm flavor fills her, she decides her name will be Cocoa. It was very her. ^_^
Amano-sensei’s art is really interesting in this series. It’s well-drawn, but she’s focused on partial views, shadows and skewed perspectives which really works well to communicate Rin’s feelings. As the story ends, the panels become straighter, the backgrounds a little more detailed, giving us a much more grounded feeling.
This volume ends with an interview with Obou, a straight male representative of a lesbian sex work organization, Club Tiara. the same organization made “famous” by Nagata Kabi-sensei in My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness. I knew it was a guy who ran that, but it still makes me feel icky that it’s not a woman in charge, so I declined to read the interview, but the questions seemed to focus on the technical details. What are the various courses, how are cast chosen, that kind of thing. I checked out Club Tiara’s site and found that they offer options for women, men and couples, which makes perfect sense. They have specific infor for lesbian customers, a phone service, naturally, and a guide to using their service. I didn’t check to see if they do streams or sexts. As websites go, it’s got a welcoming, not an exploitative “Hot girls live! XXX!!” feel, which is reassuring. If anything, their site felt a bit like a josei manga magazine. I don’t know if this is something I want for myself, but am glad that it exists in the world.
They also are promoting a number of manga on the Club Tiara site, including Nagata-sensei’s and Lesbian Fuuzoku Anthology from Ichijinsha that I reviewed here on Okazu, along with the sequel.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8 Rin really grew on me
Service – Not really? It’s about sex, and isn’t coy or creepy; the art is artsy, rather than explicit. So sex, but no fanservice.
Yuri – 9
Overall – 8
Volume 2 is out now in Japan and I imagine I’ll read it, (probably on Bookwalker, since I’m out of space..again. ^_^
