Archive for the Guest Review Category


Anne Shirley, Streaming on Crunchyroll

April 30th, 2025

In a large field of flowers, two girls make flower crowns. A girl in a green dress and dark hair places a crown of flowers on the head of a red-haired girl in a white jumper dress over a dark read blouse who clutches a flower crown in here hands.Guest Review by Burkely Hermann

Burkely Hermann is a writer, researcher, and former metadata librarian. His reviews can be read on Pop Culture Maniacs or his personal WordPress blog. He can be followed on Instagram, Bluesky, or on Mastadon communities such as library.love, glammr.us, genealysis.social, and historians.social.

Anne Shirley is an eleven-year-old orphan girl who has a troubled childhood and comes to live with her cousins (the Cuthberts) in a house named Green Gables on Prince Edward Island in Canada. While Anne’s cousins were expecting a boy instead of a girl, Matthew quickly warms up to her, taken in by her active imagination. However, Marilla wants to replace her with a boy, at first, but later comes to like Anne. Even so, she attempts to be strict and firm with her, in an attempt to tame Anne’s impulses and occasionally stubborn nature, which are seen as socially unacceptable, like wearing a flower crown to church. Through it all, Anne becomes used to her new life, farmwork at Green Gables, family-of-sorts, and friends, even though she has many insecurities and loses her temper when people make fun of her. Anne Shirley is the newest anime adaptation of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classic 1908 book Anne of Green Gables. The last time this story had an anime adaptation was in the late 1970s.
The series artistry is colorful and vibrant, thanks to Answer Studio and character designer Kenichi Tsuchiya. He previously worked as the key animator on 37 out of 39 of episodes of the classic yuri anime Dear Brother. Anne Shirley has a nice, charming, and beautiful feel to it. This is complimented by Michiru Ōshima’s wonderful music composition, which sets the mood for series, especially when it comes to Anne, which the series centers around. Ōshima previously composed the music score for Bloom Into You. Series writer Natsuko Takahashi also screenwrote for two series with yuri themes: Blue Drop and Stardust Telepath. Furthermore, some of the series cast have lent their talents to voice characters in Kannazuki no Miko, Fragtime, Blue Drop, Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, and other media with yuri(ish) themes. For instance, Yume Miyamoto, who voices Diana Berry in this series, voiced Rouge Redstar in Metallic Rouge last year. Otherwise, voice acting is one of the strong suits of Anne Shirley.
Vrai Kaiser for Anime Feminist has said that viewers can see traces of protagonist Anne in the “evolution of shoujo and yuri” and stated that Anne’s friendship with Diana fits into the “tradition of Class S” that Yoshiya Nobuka pioneered beginning in the early 20th century. Some years ago, on this very site, it was noted that the scenes, in the original novel, in which Anne and Diana take friendship vows “could be as romantic as anyone could wish.” Otherwise, many years ago, scholar Laura Robinson quibbed that Anne, during the aforementioned novel, “consistently establishes intense relationships with women” and manages, while achieving community social acceptance, to disturb complacent attitudes on everything, including sexuality.
The second episode of Anne Shirley is where the yuri-ish content of the series begins. Anne meets Diana for the first time and they agree to be “very best friend[s].” They solemnly swear to be faithful bosom friends, i.e. very close, cherished, or intimate companions, “as long as the sun and moon may endure,” while holding hands. There’s a certain romantic aura to it, which reminded immediately of the beautiful scene between two protagonists in RWBY‘s most recent volume. Otherwise, Anne gushes about Diana to Marilla, and signals to Diana in Morse code before going to sleep, again showing their connection.
In the episode thereafter, Diana’s painting (that she gifted to Anne) is hung in Anne’s room. Later, at the Sunday school picnic, Diana calls Anne her “dearest friend” and places a flower crown upon her head. For two days in a row, Anne walks to school with Diana and the other neighborhood girls, and all of them have fun together. Diana makes clear her worries about Anne after she hits Gilbert Blythe, a playboy adored by fellow schoolgirls, over the head with her school slate after he makes fun of her red hair. Not long after Anne tells Diana she would do almost anything for her before leaving school. In that same episode, the series opening sequence is shown for the first time. Among many other moments, it features Anne and Diana dancing together, and enjoying one another’s company, leaning against a fence, when both are older, with Diana holding a flower crown in her hands.
The most recent episode had some of the strongest yuri-ish moments, if they can be called that, in Anne Shirley as a whole. Anne expresses her worry that Diana will leave her when she gets married to a man. When it is threatened (by Diana’s mother) that they will never see each other again after Anne accidentally gets Diana drunk, they promise to one another in a manner that makes them sound like lovers. At one point, Diana says “I couldn’t love anybody as [much] I love you” and declares that she will always love Anne devotingly. Anne acknowledges and reciprocates Diana’s love. Following this, she kisses her on the forehead and cuts off a lock of her hair (with Diana’s consent), and promises to remain faithful to her. As they part, tears are shed, especially by Diana. Their separation is short-lived. Anne and Diana writes letters to one another, which fellow students pass to them in the one-room schoolhouse, either declaring that they love each other or will be together until “death do us part.”
Unsurprisingly, Anne and Diana are allowed to be on speaking terms again after Anne helps Diana’s sister Minnie May get better from terrible and deadly cough. The episode ends with Anne reading a letter Diana sent her, with both voice actors reading the last two lines together, including the statement that “nothing but death can part us two,” which foreshadows that something will pull them apart in the future. I am reminded of what Pragya Agarwal wrote in The Conversation about medieval women: that letters gave them the opportunity to “express themselves and wield power, when they had little other means of exerting influence,” while allowing them to express their “forbidden” emotions. The same idea applies here to Diana and Anne. When the former’s mother put a clampdown on their close friendship, this did not stop them from communicating. In fact, their communications became more eloquent and abundantly made clear their deep emotional connection.
While the original novel and previous adaptations have a heterosexual ending, akin to the ending of Dear Brother, or the heterosexuality baked into the Western animated series Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, which have yuri themes and yuri subtext respectfully, this series is slated for a full run of twenty-four episodes, with nineteen remaining. It will likely end in a heterosexual way with Anne becoming romantically involved with Gilbert (since Anne dances with him in the series opening). Even so, there is no denying that the strong and intimate female friendship between Anne and Diana will remain a key part of the series going forward.
Ratings:
Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – Maybe 1 or 2? This is pretty tame.
Yuri – 2 or 3
Music – 9
Overall – 8
With four episodes currently aired, I am curious to see where this series goes from here, even though I am fully aware it won’t have yuri themes anywhere close to Marimite nor Rock Is A Lady’s Majesty, both of which have Class S themes. There’s something to be said for intimate female friendship, which seems in vogue for anime these days, and that’s what’s a fundamental part of this series, even if it (more likely than not) has a heterosexual ending.
 
Erica here: for this interested in the making of the original 1979 anime based on Anne of Green Gables, check out ANN’s Richard Eisenbeis talking with the voice of Anne for that anime, Yamada Eiko.




The Expression Amrilato

April 23rd, 2025
A game cover image shows a split screen of two girls back to back in frilly white dresses, holding hands, in two different worlds, one with a blue sky, one with a pink sky.Guest Review by KatGrrrl
 
The Expression Amrilato is the first visual novel by Yuri developer SukeraSparo, initially released in Japanese in 2017 and localised into English and Chinese by MangaGamer. The original Japanese-only version is available on Windows, Android and IOS whilst MangaGamer’s release—which this review will be covering—is available on Windows, Linux and Mac OS.
 
The Expression Amrilato tells the story of Rin, a high school girl whose life is upended when she suddenly finds herself in a strange world only slightly different than her own, where the sky is pink and everyone around her speaks an unfamiliar language. Lost and confused, Rin is saved from despair by a girl named Ruka who knows a smattering of Japanese. Conversing with Ruka, Rin learns that in this world people speak a language called Juliamo (a fictionalised version of Esperanto), and with the help of Ruka and a woman named Rei, she sets about mastering this language in order to most effectively communicate with those around her.
 
I didn’t run into any major issues on the technical side. The game runs nicely in both windowed mode and fullscreen. All language options are available in the game’s settings menu and the store page on Steam even encourages playing the game in Japanese or Chinese to help learn those languages. The game does have full controller support, but there isn’t a button layout guide and the menus aren’t designed around it, so I found myself only using a controller for advancing text and used a mouse for menus and lessons. Also, the only way to exit the game when playing is to go to the settings menu first in order to go to the main menu so you can exit the game, which is slightly confusing.
 
The English translation reads excellently, which is doubly important in a game that teaches you an entire other language. Naturally, there are a lot of misunderstandings and puns involving Japanese and the translation cleverly approaches this by selectively rendering the Japanese word in romaji above the English translation, a bit like furigana. Gameplay is largely linear, with only minor choices until near the end where it diverges into the game’s three endings. There are also the Juliamo lessons which are optional and can be turned on or off in the settings, though I recommend keeping them on for the best experience. The soundtrack is sufficiently earwormy with the opening theme song being a particular standout, a pop rock tune sung by Sagara Kokoro (aka 556t of kairo) with composition and arrangement by RYU of BLOOD STAIN CHILD. A full instrumental version plays in the main menu, so you can enjoy RYU shredding a wicked guitar solo as you fumble around in the settings. The game has full voice acting, including spoken Juliamo which greatly adds to the worldbuilding. The voice acting is largely excellent all round, with my only gripe being some of the native Juliamo speakers sounding a bit too stilted for what you’d expect of a native of a language, but this a very minor complaint. The art is solid, with the perpetually pink sky giving off an almost exotic vibe to what is an otherwise equally mundane world as ours, which feels quite fitting for Rin’s perspective. I particularly liked the surprised reaction sprites for Rin and Ruka, they’re very goofy and cute.
 
Juliamo. What is Juliamo? Juliamo is a fictionalised version of the real constructed international auxiliary language Esperanto, created in 1897 by a guy named L. L. Zamenhof. Constructed means the language was consciously devised for a purpose instead of developing naturally, and for Esperanto that purpose is for communication between people who do not share a first language. So what’s the differences between the fictional Juliamo and real Esperanto? The main one is the script. Esperanto uses the familiar Latin alphabet whereas Juliamo uses its own fictional one, albeit heavily inspired by Latin with a side dish of Greek and Japanese. The other differences are Juliamo has some additional vocabulary and small changes to grammar as mentioned in a splash screen every time you boot up the game. As I am not an Esperanto speaker, I can’t pinpoint the exact differences here unfortunately, but the game was supervised by Japan’s National Esperanto Association so rest assured that the majority of what you learn is proper Esperanto. Sure enough, I checked out some Esperanto resources after finishing the game and a good chunk of early vocab and grammar I recognised from what I had learnt ingame. The game teaches you through both lessons and the narrative. The lessons are minigames where you memorise a bunch of vocab and match them with the translation and this is where you learn the majority of vocab. These lessons can be accessed at any time from the main menu for additional study, and you’ll need it if you want to do the optional quiz for the final lesson as the vocab list is simply way too long to memorise in a single sitting. Grammar is taught through the narrative where you effectively study alongside Rin, but unlike vocab you’ll never be quizzed on it. There’s a good chunk of Juliamo dialogue early on in the story that by design the reader likely won’t understand, so taking the time to study Esperanto independently can reward you with an interesting new experience on a second playthrough.
 
Outside of the language difference and the pink sky, the world of The Expression Amrilato isn’t much different from ours. One of those similarities is social and systemic discrimination, which now extends to the vizitantoj—those who are isekai’d into this world like our protagonist Rin. Vizitantoj are essentially immigrants. The government provides a scheme for vizitantoj which includes a stipend and store discounts, but we are told these benefits have recently been the subject of major cuts (which very much made me think of the UK’s recent cuts to disability benefits.) We are also told of shop owners charging higher prices for vizitantoj and—the most relevant of these to the story—school bullying.
 
 There are three main characters in The Expression Amrilato. The first is Rin, our protagonist and a vizitanto who frequently considers herself boyish, particularly in contrast to Ruka. She isn’t overly adept at learning languages, wishing she put more effort in learning English at school. This is most evident by how she often speaks in Japanese to people she knows won’t understand her, and for those who do understand to some degree, she rarely attempts to consciously speak slower so she can be understood easier and occasionally slurs her words without realising she is doing so. This can be both equally amusing and frustrating to watch and there definitely were a few facepalm worthy moments (how do you accidentally buy an apple instead of a potato? just use your eyes?), but most importantly it adds to the misunderstandings between Rin and Ruka which naturally results in a plentiful of Yuri situations. These misunderstandings all strike the right balance of being sufficiently amusing and cute without veering into downright uncomfortable territory. Speaking of cute, Ruka. Rin frequently gushes about how cute she is from the moment they first met. She speaks some Japanese, enough for basic communication with Rin but little enough that she is a mystery in a lot of ways for much of the story. One thing that isn’t a mystery is that she is very fond of Rin from very early on, but she struggles to effectively put her feelings into words, something that is difficult even when you speak the same native language. Rin too clearly develops feelings for Ruka early on. This ties into the central theme of the story—language—neatly, as we follow these two girls as they work to find their own expressions to convey their love. 
 
Our third character is the librarian Rei who mainly acts as a teacher to Rin. She is unfortunately the weakest part of the story. Initially she appears to not know any Japanese, however it slips during a heated argument with Rin and following this she starts teaching Rin. My problem with this is that at no point in the story is there a reason given for why she withheld her knowledge of Japanese from Rin. Especially given her job responsibility in working with vizitantoj, it comes across as extremely irresponsible. Maybe this is the intended reading of her character, but even so it doesn’t really fit the general atmosphere that the rest of the story goes for. I reckon this is all simply for narratives sake to force Rin to study with Ruka early on in the story, but have Rei later on for the more difficult stuff. And certainly, Rei does often act as a matchmaker between the two, not that this interpretation makes her actions any less irresponsible.
 
 The story is mostly paced well, though there is a bit of lull in the middle where Ruka isn’t present as much, and at times it feels less like you’re reading a Yuri story and more like you’re back at school (whether this a good or bad thing, you decide.) The story splits into three endings, one bad ending and two good endings. After I first reached one of the endings, I initially didn’t even realise that there were any other endings as there is no ending counter or similar in the menus. It was only when I saw CGs I didn’t remember getting in the now unlocked CG gallery did I look up an ending guide online to make sure I wasn’t suffering severe memory loss. The first of the good endings I got seems like the true ending as it results from making what seems like the best possible choices and I believe it’s where the sequel continues from, and while it was satisfying as far as the Yuri is concerned, it seemed a little underwhelming as a climax to story. The second good ending however was more of the climax I was expecting. I think one big singular ending which combines the best of both would’ve worked better.
 
Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 7 (8 for Rin and Ruka, 5 for Rei)
Service – 2 (one mildly revealing bathing CG)
Yuri – 8
Overall – 8
 
If you’re a language nerd, a Yuri fan or most importantly a language nerd Yuri fan, I thoroughly recommend this delightfully unique combination of Yuri and language learning.
KatGrrrl finds herself getting more addicted to Yuri by the day. Socials at linktr.ee/katgrrrl




Otherside Picnic, Volume 12

April 9th, 2025

Two women hold hands, looking at each other as they jog forward out of the book cover frame.by Sandy Ferguson, Guest Reviewer

Otherside Picnic manga, Volume 12 concludes “The Whisper Is At-Your-Own-Risk” then launches into “About That Rush” concluding with Kozakura’s rebuttal, “Flashback To That Night”.

Another intense read, from gripping action, troubling revelations and a trip to the Otherside where Furth Kind idol Runa will discover the consequences of meeting your idol.

And then there is Toriko’s declaration of her feelings for Sorawo. The conclusion to “The Whisper Is At Your-Own-Risk” is exhausting and satisfying, there are a lot of moving parts and the artwork makes sure that you will be shocked. And then the “About That Rush” gives us a guided tour of The Mountain Ranch, the place created by Runa’s fan club to be a conduit to the Otherside.

So safe to say, there is a lot going on in this volume.

I have often explored Otherside Picnic as an exploration of trauma, of how victims try to navigate the legacy of their trauma. This volume is certainly in this case as Sorawo struggles with a critical question, can Sorawo deal with the fact that other people care for her? And that other people are even willing to risk their lives for her? This is a profound challenge for Sorawo as we are reminded that she was a victim of her own family who tried to destroy her.

So, as well as intense action, there are some intense emotions floating around.

And then to add to the pile, Sorawo also is forced to deal with the consequences of hiding stuff from people she is learning to care about, the stuff they desperately want to know. She fears the consequences of her actions, but eventually also takes ownership of them when the truth is revealed. This leads to Sorawo being confronted with a new situation, people will not abandon her.They may be mad at her but are willing to stick around to try and figure out what the hell is going on with Sorawo, because despite what Sorawo might think about herself, she is worth their care. Cue more angst from Sorawo, after all she is still figuring out what it means to care about other people and that sounds like too much work! Especially in the middle of a crisis.

And it is not just Sorawo who is going through an emotional wringer here. We see Toriko beginning to deal with her own trauma as she is confronted with a dose of reality about the gap between the Satsuki she yearns for, and what Satsuki has become.

And there are her feelings for Sorawo.

Sorawo and Torino’s relationship has mediated through the Otherside is one of a messy rebirth of 2 wounded people learning to care for themselves, one another and other people, something that is heavily illustrated in this volume.

After the intensity of the conclusion of “The Whisper Is At-Your-Own-Risk,” with an interlude where Kozakura hosts the Otherside after party we begin “About That Rush,” which focuses on the messy aftermath of the clean-up of the Farm created by Runa’s cult. There we meet a new group, Torchlight, a security group that participates in this operation. Then we are treated to an idyllic moment in the last chapter as Sorawo and Toriko explore the new possibilities of the Otherside and their growing relationship.

And then everything shifts, and we are given a heads-up that in future volumes Sorawo is going to be facing some unfinished business from her past.

In “Flashback To That Night” Kozakura provides her perspective on the events of “The Whisper Is At-Your-Own-Risk,” as she reflects on the actions of Sorawo and Toriko, and the encounter of what Satsuki has become. Kozakura gives us a glimpse of the gap between the Otherside Satsuki, and the Satsuki she knew.

Ratings:

Story– 9
Artwork– 9 The artwork is intense and vivid, something I learned while enjoying a coffee and a donut, as I followed the confrontation in the Otherside.
Character– 9, there is a lot going on with both Sorawo and Toriko in this volume.
Service– 9
Yuri – Toriko is a 10, Sorawo has some catching up to do, maybe a 8?

Overall – 9

Volume 13 is headed our way in November.





Sailor Moon The Super Live, in London, Guest Post by Rue Ball

March 19th, 2025

As I have been shouting from the rooftops, the live-action extravaganza Sailor Moon The Super Live is on tour. I have seen any number of live stage performances of Sailor Moon, including my very first trip to Japan! I saw Sailor Moon The Super Live in NYC in 2022 and enjoyed it immensely and have plans for seeing it next month when it comes NJPAC – why not join me and say hi! ^_^ The tour is adding a few dates now – they just added a *4th* date in Seattle, wow, so definitely see if you can be part of this. It’s really quite wonderful.

And, now, Okazu friends in London have experienced the show for the very first time! Rue Bell was kind enough to write up this report for us. Thank you Rue, I’ll turn it over to you….

I attended Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon The Super Live (henceforth Super Live) in London with some friends and members of the Okazu Discord Server. Like may geeky events in London, the experience started on the London Underground before we even got to the theatre, with more and more passengers wearing Sailor Moon themed clothes, bags and hair buns as we drew closer to the Camden venue. Seated tickets were available for a premium, but most of us opted for the basic standing ticket. There was a merchandise stall that included photos of the cast and Sailor Moon branded light sticks.

Super Live is a musical adaptation of the first season of the anime, which is the part of Sailor Moon that I have the most familiarity with and nostalgia for, having watched selected episodes on VHS as a child. The plot introduces Sailor Moon and the four Inner Senshi, then they battle against Queen Beryl and her six monster for possession of the Silver Crystal. Tuxedo Mask is in every fight as a love interest and ambiguous friend-or-foe figure.

Sailor Moon Super Live, London 2025, photo by Ashley Payne. Five girls in Japanese sailor-suit school uniform inspired hero costumes, on a stage. Huge colorful ribbons of light fill the background.

Super Live is performed entirely in Japanese, with translations projected onto a large screen. The musical numbers were translated with animated typography, and standard subtitles were used for the spoken dialogue in-between. I thought this worked well, however in this
particular venue overhanging balcony seats meant the dialogue subtitles were not visible from about half of the standing area, which is likely to have created a poor experience for audience members in those areas.

I enjoyed the shimmer, sparkle and spectacle of Sailor Moon when I was a child, and I think Super Live’s impressive production lived up to it. The dancing was, to my eyes, impeccably synchronised and choreographed, and it was backed up by a huge screen at the back of the
stage, and an LED-covered set and props that all pulsated and changed colour in time with the music and dancers.

Sailor Moon Super Live, London 2025, photo by Rue Ball. Five girls in Japanese sailor-suit school uniform inspired hero costumes, on a stage, each posing in the traditional "appearance" pose of their character. Behind and above them is a person in a tuxedo and cape, while a large moon is projected behind them, superimposed with the words, Time and Again we find each other.

 

As an adult, the interactions between the Sailor Senshi are my favourite part of the Sailor Moon anime. These unsurprisingly weren’t the focus in this musical with a highly compressed plot. However, one person I went with did notice that the Senshi actors still conveyed these dynamics using small interactions, so the observant fans will enjoy those. There were also two musical numbers focussed on the diverse personalities and skills of the Senshi. The message that there are all sorts of ways to be a girl or a woman is quite important to me, so I appreciated these performances being there, and got quite emotional about them in the finale.

I think the Tuxedo Mask performance deserves a particular shout-out. He was played by the female actor Sufa, and she nailed his cool, confident presence in every scene. The performance reminded me of an otokoyaku – a woman playing a man’s role – in the Takarazuka Revue. I don’t think that this is intended to be seen as queer, but I expect that yuri fans will nonetheless enjoy watching an actor playing with gender roles.

Sailor Moon Super Live, London 2025, photo by Rue Ball. Five girls in Japanese sailor-suit school uniform inspired hero costumes, on a stage, each posing in the traditional "appearance" pose of their character. Behind and above them are a woman in purple with scarlet hair and half a dozen people in purple posing around her.

 

I would definitely recommend Super Live to any Sailor Moon fan, it adapts many of the things that drew me to the original series. The run in London ended on March 19th 2025, but at the time of publication a North American tour is planned for March and April 2025.





The Flower Princess of Sylph

March 5th, 2025

A glowing butterfly illuminates lush red roses, and two women's faces. A woman with pale hair, her eyes closed, and a woman wearing a head band/wimple over her dark hair.by Patricia Baxter, Guest Reviewer

A new king has been crowned in the Kingdom of the Wind: Princess Natalia, the final member of the royal family. While Natalia is determined to stand tall and do right by the people of her kingdom, the reality is significantly more difficult, as she has lost her brother, Louis the previous King, and their father, the King before both of them, in quick succession. To make matters worse, the wind sword, Sylphide, no longer seems to work as it is meant to, causing Natalia to feel like an insufficient ruler, with no one to turn to in her immense grief. As she grants herself a moment alone to mourn, an unexpected figure steps forward to offer support: Sister Sara, a nun of the Petal Convent.

Kamejiro’s The Flower Princess of Sylph is a series made with a great deal of forethought and care, as the author has showcased a commitment to plotting a world of wind and flowers. Their worldbuilding has a strong foundation, slowly introducing more information on the Sylph, their royal descendants, the magic blade Sylphide, and Sara’s unusual connection to them as the story progresses. The architecture and clothing of the people in the world are adorned in various floral and plant motifs, showing a visual commitment to the world they created. My favourite detail is that each chapter in the series is named after a flower or plant, and the events that play out in each chapter align with their symbolic meanings in the flower languages of Europe and North America. All of these choices show a degree of care and craftsmanship that is deeply admirable.

The fact that Kamejiro does not shy away from Natalia’s intense grief is another aspect of this series that I also greatly appreciate. It can be very tempting to push a character, especially a protagonist, towards recovering from mental health problems as quickly as possible for the sake of the overall narrative, but that is not the case here. Instead, the current plot of The Flower Princess of Sylph is focused on Natalia’s gradual recovery, and that this will be a slow, ongoing process throughout the course of the series.

That being said, even a well plotted story is not immune to a few quirks and criticisms. The art is generally impressive, especially when Natalia cuts loose with her powers of the Sylph, but there are some instances where the art can feel a bit rough. Additionally, while most of the gags are funny and well-paneled, certain jokes, like Natalia accidentally hurting herself in her stubbornness, become less grimly humorous and more frustrating and concerning by the fifth chapter. 

Sara is also a character that will probably be rather polarizing for some readers. On the one hand, she is an intriguing character who hides her true intentions and cunning behind a facade of carelessness, but on the other hand her attempts to cheer up the princess can feel a bit jarring and tactless. Considering one of the ongoing mysteries of the series is Sara’s connection to the Sylphide, your opinion on her character may be a deciding factor in whether or not you wish to continue reading the series.

Overall, The Flower Princess of Sylph is a well-crafted fantasy yuri series with plenty of room to grow. A lot of seeds have been planted, including the lilies, but only time will tell what this manga will eventually blossom into.

The series is available on most major electronic reading platforms, such as Global BookWalker, with chapters available for individual purchase. The first chapter is free and the subsequent chapters are 1.99 USD each.

Ratings:

Art: 7.5
Story: 6.5 (good worldbuilding, but the plot itself is rather thin right now)
Characters: 7 (only Natalia and Sara are given any focus so far)
Service: 0 (unless you have a thing for nuns, which would bump the rating up significantly)
Yuri: 2 (only begins to sprout during the fifth chapter)

Overall: 7.5