There is both good and bad about the “Yuri school” approach. It’s nice to see multiple couples set in the same world, but it’s also really very tiresome when nearly every character is introduced merely to be paired up.

In Volume 1 of Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, (あの娘にキスと白百合を 4) we met Kurozawa and Shiramine, to opposite personalities who attract. And it was cute. In Volume 2, we watch a sempai-kohai couple with a protagonist who is a bit more fleshed out than the first volume. I thought I had read Volume 3, but appears I never reviewed it (and can’t remember it) so I may not have. Woops. ^_^

Here in Volume 4, we *mostly* spend time with childhood friends, track team manager Moe and her star runner Mizuki. Mizuki has an important meet to win, so Moe puts a curfew on their time together. Instead of helping Mizuki concentrate, it has the opposite effect. When Mizuki fails to qualify for the finals, the two take a good look at their feelings for one another and decide that they want to be together.

Their story is broken up with a sideline about a girl, Kaoru, who idolizes Kurozawa from the first volume. It’s a comedy of errors, but ends up with a shocking turn – the girls making new friends. It was a dorkily cute story and the extra added dimensions to the characters’ society made me smile.

While there’s  a little eye-trolling to be had in any series where it seems that half the girls are in love with the other half, at least this series isn’t in the habit of pairing everyone up. In the case of Kaoru’s arc, Yuri is a red herring.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 7 Cute, sweet, etc
Yuri – 8
Service – 1 on principle only

Overall – 8

It’s Yuri candy and not much more, but it’s cute Yuri candy. ^_^

Last June I read and reviewed a somewhat typical, but surprisingly enjoyable, little school life Yuri manga, Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo. I was frankly amazed to learn there was a second volume. This first ended tidily and I’m always kind of loathe to believe that there are that many female couples…even a girl’s private school.

In Volume 1, we met typical hper-competent Shiramine Ayaka and annoyingly talented slacker  Kurozawa Yurine. Despite their rivalry, well, probably because of it, they fall in like.

In  Volume 2, we turn to other students; this time, Chiharu, Ai and their crush, Hoshino-sempai. They are friends first, so love feels almost like a distraction and yet, there it is. Chiharu has it bad for Hoshino, who is graduating at the end of the term.

Chiharu and Hoshino are locked in a storage room. Feelings are acknowledged, even if they can’t go anywhere. The second half of the book introduces Izumi, who makes it possible, for Chiharu to say good bye to Hoshino with her whole heart.

We get a brief cameo of Ayaka and Yurine in the main story, but the end chapters introduce Yurine’s younger sister who is jealous of their relationship and is taking it out on Ayaka, but fails to win Yurine back.

Generally speaking I liked the character of Chiharu more than either of the protagonists in the first volume. Where their feelings seemed sort of rote, Chiharu struck me as a fairly well-developed character. You can imagine her outside the school. And her feelings for Hoshino are not fully developed, nor is there a presumption of them ever potentially being a couple. The second volume felt more like a real story than the first.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8 Definitely more realistic than the first volume
Yuri – 5
Service – 1 on principle only

Overall – 8

If you like Canno-sensei’s art, check out this Pixiv page where you can gawk at art, including some for this series, doujinshi and other illustrations. If you’re a fan of the schoolgirl Yuri it’s worth a visit.

It was only a few weeks ago when I reported on Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo (あの娘にキスと白百合を), Volume 1 and I confessed that, almost despite myself, I was intrigued. Well, apparently, my intrigue was enough for the kind and generous Okazu Superhero Dan P. and here we are! Thanks Dan!

Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo (translated on the cover as “Kiss and white lily for my girl”) begins with a slightly irritating premise. At Shiroyuri Gakuen, one of the stars of the school is the beautiful, smart, talented and cultured Shiramine Ayaka. But, no matter how hard Ayaka tries, she cannot surpass the lazy, sluggard genius Kurozawa Yurine. It makes her crazy, especially as familial expectations for her performance come down to anything less than a perfect score and top ranking equals failure. And there’s Kurozawa, sleeping through class and acing the test. Ayaka is driven absolutely to distraction by her rival. I’m always frustrated with the “girl who works really hard just never wins against lazy genius” plot, but the story quickly moved away  from this.

As we all know from romantic fiction, rivalry leads to obsession, which leads to infatuation. Yurine is the one who leaps across the gap between them and brings them together, helped along by Ayaka’s cousin, Mizuki. Ayaka and Yurine are still obsessed about one another, in a good way.

Mizuki finds herself repaid for bringing Yurine onto the track and field team by finding herself in second place. She goes through a crisis, having lost her will to win, but Yurine fires her up and for the first time in a long time, Mizuki rediscovers her sense of competition. Mizuki’s partner in crime, Moe, is thrilled that she’s fired up once again, and they become closer than they were before. It’s not hard to imagine them as lovers.

Yurine had never managed to or cared to become friendly with her classmates, but now that she’s in love with Ayaka and on the track team, the sudden influx of other humans into her life has made her keenly aware of how lonely she is. On a day when she feels particularly not inclined to be alone –  but does not know how to approach others –  one of her classmates asks her to go shopping with her. Yurine spends a day doing incredibly normal things and find herself in tears of relief and joy at such simple pleasures. After Ai leaves her, Ayaka runs up to her, also in tears, mortified that she might have missed Yurine’s birthday. She give Yurine flowers, and they embrace, to Ayaka’s embarrassment. (A little side extra story, follows an adult female couple who sees them hugging in public and are motivated to take one another’s hand.) And, while Ayaka and Yurine are now an item, the final page lets us know that their rivalry is only going to get fiercer.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Very shoujo style art
Story – 8
Characters – 7 None of the characters are particularly realistic, but they fulfill their functions
Yuri – 8
Service – 1 on principle only

Overall – 8

For a “Story A” tale, it was pleasant reading, and we’ll see where it goes. This ran in Comic Alive, but it could have run in a girls’ magazine as is.

Thanks once again to Dan for the enjoyable read!