Well…wow. I have just finished the penultimate novel of the Balsa series and I have to say, I am really still impressed as heck with this series! I’m going to talk about this book, but I also want to take a moment to discuss the live-action series first.

If you have a chance to see the live-action series, do. Balsa and Chagum are great. Torogai is perfect, Shuga is terrific and while it’s not word for word from the books, it’s really a spectacular adaptation, except for one thing – the King. Chagum’s father is played by an actor who always plays crazy dudes, so they rewrite him into a crazy dude. It would be like putting Gary Oldman in the role, then rewriting the role to be like everything Gary Oldman ever does. He’s not crazy in the novels. He’s a decent and slightly severe king. But you have to assume he’s not a crazy asshole, or Sagum, Chagum and their siblings wouldn’t be decent people.

Other than that, I really liked the live-action.

So, just to remind us where we are in the series take a look at
Novel: Ten to Chi no Moribito: Part 1, Rota Oukoku Hen (天と地の守り人〈第1部〉ロタ王国編). Balsa and Chagum are now headed to Kanbal. They have convinced Ihan, Prince of Rota, to suggest an alliance to Randal, the King of Kanbal, Balsa’s home country. (Where the second book of the series takes place.)

Before approaching the King in his castle, Balsa takes Chagum to a small house near the outer walls, and informs him that this is where she was born. She indulges in a bit of nostalgic storytelling, and Chagum is amazed to hear so much personal info from Balsa. Then they head out to meet Kamu, the natural son of her foster father Jiguro, to enlist his help. He welcomes them and the next thing they know they are waking up in chains. Kamu, it turns out, is a spy for the Tarsh Empire. (Although Chagum later realizes that he’s probably a double-agent for Kanbal.) They escape, with help. The help comes in the form of Shihana, the shaman huntress of Rota (whom we met in Kami no Moribito) and her hunters.

We briefly follow Tanda, who has been conscripted into a chain gang. When he figures out what they are building he realizes that it is meant to destroy not only armies on their world, but will hurt Nayug, as well. Using shamanic powers, his spirit escapes and heads out to find Torogai, only to find her sitting with his body when he returns.

Balsa and Chagum meet up with the shepherds, a race of small, brown-skinned people who, Balsa tells Chagum, have a different origin than other humans. They have skills similar to Torogai’s shamanic abilities. Balsa and Chagum go to see Kamu, who was wounded in their escape. He is being visited by the king’s other bodyguards, when the King himself comes. (Which is how Chagum realizes he must be a double-agent.)

Randal tells Chagum that he intends to reject Ihan’s request for an alliance, because he doesn’t want to involve Kanbal, but Chagum insists that Kanbal is not only going to become involved, by itself it is way too vulnerable. Chagum asks Randal what he can do to convince him and Randal says if the Prince of New Yogo gets on his knees, he’ll reconsider. Chagum gets down instantly, because seriously, his pride is so not important compared to the fate of the world. Randal sees this, understands Chagum’s gesture and agrees to the alliance, witnessed by Kamu and the other “King’s Spears.”

The shepherds summon the King and Balsa and Chagum to the meeting place under the mountain behind the castle (where Balsa fought Jiguro’s spirit.) Chagum can feel and smell Nayug in this place and asks Balsa to hold on to him so he doesn’t slip into Nayug.

The leader of the shepherds tests Chagum and is convinced that the Prince can see Nayug occupying the same space. He warns Balsa and Chagum that spring is coming in Nayug and when the winter passes, Nayug’s spirits will be coming to their world. Chagum is terrified of this and insists on returning home immediately, but the shepherd says he must not – Nayug’s fire will follow him. As the book closes, Balsa says she’ll go back to New Yogo and tell Torogai, Shuga the astrologer and Tanda and, if he’ll let her, the king.

Phew. Once again, there was a metric ton of politics around the action scenes. You really have to be paying attention, too, or you’d miss something that will later become important.

Balsa is getting badasser as the series goes on. She spent most of this book severely wounded, sucker punched, drugged and still managed to wound Kamu, and escape. The shepherd women note that Balsa and Chagum act like mother and son and Chagum was quick to agree. He was very protective of her throughout her fever from the wound. It was a nice set of scenes.

I am very interested to see what happens when Chagum finally does return home. Having met Ihan and Randal, as well as the Prince of Tarsh, they have got to know by now in New Yogo that he is alive.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

We’re heading to an amazing climax – undoubtedly one including Nayug as well as their world, but what will actually happen, I have absolutely no idea.

Only ☆You~Anata to Watashi no Futari Bocchi Keikaku  (オンリー☆ユー ~あなたと私の二人ぼっち計画~) starts off with a cute-ish premise. What if, the Student Council President decides, girls who are loners are paired up together and this way they won’t be alone?

Okay, this is not the worst premise in the world.

The Student Council has rings made up. Girls inducted into the “Only You” Project are paired off with matched rings. The rings will give them a shock if they get further than 5 meters away from each other and can’t be removed. Oh and they can’t leave the school premises either.

Okay, this is the worst premise in the world.

I mean, in two pages, we go from, kind of sweet, sort of dorky, to coercion and torture and forced confinement? What the…?

From there, the story devolves into mismatched communication styles resolved by screamed confessions and running after one another tearfully.

Of course, friendship is never the point of these pairings. The rings are the dead giveaway. The President isn’t helping girls not be alone, she’s matchmaking.

The couples all get together in the end. I’m sure you’re all as surprised as I was.

mekimeki’s art is competent and moe, as one might expect. The girls are emotionally tortured over things that are never resolved, except that now that they have someone who loves them, it’s all okay. As one might expect.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 5 Predictable, sometimes getting a little too close to creepy
Characters – I remember one character’s name. Of about 8 characters
Service – 3 Not nearly as bad as I feared
Yuri – 2 Yes, but no

Overall – 5

If the lesson “being with someone, no matter how incompatible, is better than being alone,” resonates with you, this book is definitely your jam.

Q: When is a Yuri manga not a Yuri manga?

A: When it has no Yuri.

This may seem like a zen koan, but it is in fact, the subject of our attention today. Futaribeya (ふたりべや) frequently appears on Yuri manga lists, and yet, has no actually Yuri beyond a tense moment in a single panel once a volume.

<– This cover is wholly unrelated to the content of the volume. 

This is sort of existentialist Yuri. Can Yuri exist only in the minds of the readership and the manga still be seen as “Yuri”? I’m going to have to say yes, as so many of the series reviewed here over the years existed as Yuri only in the headcanon of dedicated readers – Aria and Lucky Star spring to mind immediately. Neither had the slightest hint of Yuri, but both were obsessively seen as “Yuri” series. And now, we have Futaribeya to add to that voluminous list.

Note to angry Twitterer Whoops who sent me art of the two characters snuggling to prove I am wrong:  That art, while by the creator, does not appear in or have anything to do with the actual printed content of Volume 1 and 2 of the manga. You can write whatever story you’d like in your head, you don’t need my validation.

Futaribeya, by Yukiko, is a 4-panel comic strip about two girls who share an off-campus apartment close to their school. Sakurako lives relatively far away and so her parents wanted her to room with someone else. Her roommate is Kasumi, a beautiful  girl, who always has a part-time job, does some light magazine modeling, is always hot and has narcolepsy. That’s pretty much all the jokes there are. Sakurako is the responsible one, Kasumi is a layabout at home, because she works so hard.

This cover is likewise wholly unrelated to the content. —>

The Yuri is thin. Sakurako’s younger sister has a crush on Kasumi, and every once in a while Kasumi and Sakurako are too close and suddenly looking too deeply into each other’s eyes, before they pull away in embarrassment. Bwah~ bwah~waaaahhh~.

And yet, this series consistently comes up on Yuri manga lists. I’m not entirely sure why. So, we come back to the question I began with –  When is Yuri not really Yuri? When there is no Yuri between the covers, but entirely in between the readers’ ears.  Surely we’ve moved beyond headcanon as primary criterium? I mean, sure, once upon a time, making up stories between the two principals was the bulk of Yuri, but it’s already more than a decade since we needed that kind of filler in our Yuri repertoire.

Ratings:

Art – 6 Not particularly great
Story – 4 Not actually existent
Characters – 4 Not geuinuinely developed
Service – 1 Not seriously annoying
Yuri – 0 Not literally there

Overall – 5 Not really worth it

There is no Yuri here. This is a generic 4-koma school life comedy that is considered Yuri only by the kinds of people who cannot imagine two women sharing a room who are not in love.