A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Volume 5 by Makoto Hagino addresses an important conundrum for young people. Their lives are not theirs to decide until they are…and then the entirety of their trajectories as adults are dumped into their laps all at once. What do you want to be? Where do to want to live? What do you want to do? How can they possibly know who they want to become, when they barely know who they are?

Koyuki is facing this conundrum. Typically, she’s struggling alone and in silence until Konatsu’s classmate Kaede inserts herself into the older girl’s life. It’s an accidental meeting at first, but Kaede’s easy manner and forthright honesty helps Koyuki come to several decisions – one that might bring her closer to Konatsu…and one that might separate them forever.

Until this volume, I hadn’t really given Kaede a thought. She was “Konatsu’s classmate and friend.” But here, she becomes a catalyst for positive change. What will happen remains a mystery to me because my copy of Volume 6 is stuck in a warehouse in Kawasaki, not being shipped for another month!

I’ll probably have Volume 7 before 6 ever arrives. (-_-); Nonetheless, you can catch up to me shortly, as the salamander comes out into the light to be seen, at least for a little while.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 0 not really
Yuri – 3

Overall – 7

The team at Viz: John Werry, Eve Grandt, Yukiko Whitely and Pancha Diaz once again did a great job, with this quietly sweet, quietly angsty story of coming out of one’s shell.

Thanks very much to Viz for an advance review copy. You’ll be getting a chance to read this book in November.

In my review of Nettaigyo ha Yuki ni Kogareru, Volume 4 (熱帯魚は雪に焦がれる ), I lightly commented that “this series has moved slowly, and almost haphazardly, like the tropical fish of the title, lazily moving between plot points.” But Konatsu chooses another form of symbolism completely, befuddling both Koyuki and us, in A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Volume 4 – the symbolism of a childhood tale of a shy salamander and it’s frog friend.

The festival has arrived and the day Konatsu and Koyuki have practiced for is here. Only, Koyuki is home sick. Worried for her friend and worried about the show, Koyuki tries to sneak out, but is stymied. She’s thrilled to find that Konatsu has done the fish show, but worried that her outgoing new friend will leave her behind.

At this point it has to be obvious to us, that Koyuki’s problems are deeper than just being treated like she’s perfect. She’s developed some seriously deep wounds. Her concerns are not alleviated by the fact that she’s barely gotten better when the second-year’s class trip pops up, separating them again. Koyuki starts to finally realize how important Konatsu has become to her.

Once again faced with her emotions, Koyuki snaps, and yet again, Konatsu is there to pick up the pieces and accept her. And we learn who the salamander and the frog are to one another.

This is not a romance in the more usual sense. Koyuki is far too fragile to be in love or like. In that sense, it’s a bit more like Konatsu building a ladder, one rung at a time, to help Koyuki climb out of a hole she’s dug for herself. Because this story is positioned as a Yuri romance, we can kind of expect what the end will be, but I sincerely hope we see Koyuki coming out of that hole before it happens. Otherwise, she’ll just be adding new baggage before the old stuff is dealt with.

The team at Viz is handling this story well. John Werry’s translation and Eve Grandt’s lettering is light-handed, so we’re left to feel for Koyuki on our own, without heavy-handed tactics. The design work by Yukiko Whitely and editing by Pancha Diaz, contribute to another authentic manga reading experience.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 1 on principle only, there really isn’t any
Yuri – 4

Overall – 7

As I said in my review of the Japanese volume, “This series has always been, in large part, about Koyuki’s journey to find herself. It would be nice if she finds some self-confidence and we can see their relationship develop from here.”

Volume 5 in English will hit shelves here in November, and Volume 7 has been out since summer in Japan, we should probably expect Volume 8 before the end of the year.

In a recent conversation about Makoto Hagino’s A Tropical Fish Years for Snow, the participants referred to the primary relationship as “implied.” I suggested that it be  “considering.” ^_^

In A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Volume 3, we learn some key facts, despite the glacier-slow pace. Koyuki is, has always been, help up as a gold standard of behavior, which has alienated the other kids around her. When combined with her tendency to overthink and hesitate to the point of inaction, Koyuki’s paralysis begins to make perfect sense to both us, and to Konatsu. The result is that Konatsu, already hesitant, curbs her own energetic approach to friendship…which is the opposite of what Koyuki needs.

Because of the ultra-slow pace of the main relationship, we’re free to marvel at the small touches, the idea of a school having an “aquarium” club, and the idea of a show for the school festival in which fish swim through hoops. I mean, how cool and ultra-local is that? Hagino’s art is personal, focusing on people over place.

Don’t expect to hit the accelerator anytime soon on this series. I have Volume 6 here in Japanese on the to-read pile, and based on the cover, am hoping the story progresses. ^_^

But if you’re content with the pace and quiet drama of this gently emotional series,  A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow can be a respite from a harsh world.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 1 on principle only, there really isn’t any
Yuri – 4

Overall – 7

Circumstances brings two completely opposite girls together, where they find they have some surprising qualities in common, in Ajiichi’s Failed Princesses, Volume 1,

In Spring 2019, I took a look at Ajiichi’s Dekisokonai Hime-tachi, Volume 1 and found it to be a reliable school Yuri formula of opposites attracting. Kurokawa Kaede and Fujishiro Nanaki do not run in the same circles. Otaku Kurokawa doesn’t care about popular, fashionable Nanaki, nor does she want to. But circumstances bring them into contact and each is surprised to find that the other is not a bad person at all. However, their budding friendship comes at cost, as former friends pull away from them. And then there’s the other problem, when Nanaki discovers that Kaede is actually very cute!

With art and story is reminiscent of Morinaga Milk’s GIRL FRIENDS (Volume 1 and Volume 2), initially, it seems like it is headed in a similar direction, but neither Kaede nor Nanaki turn out to be cut-out characters. I particularly liked Kaede’s impassioned plea for Nanaki to not become her friend, as she could guess at the likely consequences. I did not like that she continues to hide that she is an otaku from Nanaki. Nanaki starts off insensitive…and, indeed, her assumption that Kaede wants to be more fashionable is tiring, but she’ll turn out to be less superficial than she seems. As the end of the volume draws close, there’s one more problem…Nanaki’s reaction to her creation of a new, “improved” Kaede, is a mix of pride, jealousy and something else that will take some time for Nanaki to figure out. Not us, though. This is a Yuri series, after all. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Service – 2 A teen little bit
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7

This series has a pretty standard beginning, but it definitely picks up steam as it moves along. Give it a try and unless you are completely uninterested in school stories, I think Volume 2 will surprise you pleasantly. I’ve got Volume 3 in Japanese on order now and Volume 4 just hit Japanese bookshelves recently (and I love how the cover tone shifts slightly with each volume.).

Fans of school drama Yuri and Morinaga Milk will be rewarded by these characters who exceed their stereotypical origins.