In Volume 1, otaku and class loner Kurokawa Kaede is thrown together with school princess, Fujishiro Nanaki. In time-honored fashion, Fujishiro gives a radical makeover to the girl with glasses, and they both find that they are willing to sacrifice their judgemental former circles for each other’s company, in Volume 2.

As Dekisokonai no Hime-tachi, Volume 3 began, I found myself actively reluctant to read this next volume of Ajiichi’s school-life drama. And it’s taken me a couple of readthroughs to figure out why. By the time I finished out the volume, I was right, but for the wrong reason.

As Volume 3  begins, Kaede and Nanaki are joined by two new friends, Izumi and Iroha. And the school trip is coming up – Nara and Kyoto. Iroha, who is from Kansai is not at all pleased, but everyone else is looking forward to getting away. Nanaki and Kaede privately each imagine time together,but…

…when the rooms and schedules are arranged, suddenly Nanaki is with Izumi and Kaeda with Iroha. Neither wants to be the one to pop the bubble, so they just go along with it. No one meant anything by it, surely.  From that point on, the trip is bittersweet for them both, as neither has the nerve to say what ought to be said. And in the end, it might not have been accidental at all…

Here’s my concern. In the same way that Bloom Into You was *always* meant to be a Yuri romance, Dekisokonai no Hime-tachi is, as well. Despite the absurdly enormous amount of romance series I read and review for Okazu, I don’t really care for the romance genre all that much. The ending is preordained, so all the “tension,” the “will they, won’t they” is… well, I think it’s tiresome. Obviously, they will. Otherwise what is this book even for?

I assumed the whole separation of Kaede and Nanaki was a big farce and it just annoyed me, but when it turns out to be a plot complication I was only partly mollified. Because they will obviously end up together and this becomes merely delaying tactics.

I love Ajiichi’s art. I’m not fond of gratuitous nudity in the bath. I’d be perfectly okay without seeing nipples in a bath scene ever again.

I like Kaede and Nanaki. I don’t even dislike Izumi…although Iroha grates on my nerves. But I’m not sure how I feel about this story, other than reluctant. I kind of want the story to go back to plumbing the depths of the way their relationship puts them at odds with their own people, which I found deeply compelling in Volume 2. I’m not at all sure what Volume 4 could bring other than handwaves of “here’s a reason for them to not get together” that will stall the main relationship further….but I do like the cover, so I’m willing to give it a chance. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Service – 6
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7

Volume 2 of Failed Princesses is available now – a very strong volume and well worth reading. Volume 3 is available for pre-order, but not yet up on the Yuricon Store, with a February release date.

In Volume 1, we met Shimizu Makoto, a fairly successful team leader at a company, who has a secret life as a Yuri doujinshi artist. When her co-worker, office lady Maekawa Akane discovers her secret, she’s sure the jig is up. Only it turns out that Maekawa has a secret of her own, she’s a former manga artist. In Volume 2, as Shimizu encourages Maekawa to return to the world of manga, they both struggle with their relationship; Shimizu with accepting that she is a woman who loves women and Maekawa with human relationships at all.

In this final volume of the series, Still Sick, Volume 3 (スティルシック), by Akashi, Maekawa and Shimizu’s gavotte around one another is not yet over. Shimizu will be more honest about her feelings, and so will Maekawa, but love isn’t the only thing Maekawa has to deal with. She’s got a LOT of issues on her plate. We, and Makoto, watch over her as she deals with each layer of the walls she’s built around herself. Only when all that has been addressed, will they be able to just…be together.

It seems a lot of plot for one volume to cover, but in all honestly, I think this volume really does the job. At no point did I feel that this end was rushed, or aborted. Sure, I’d like to have seen them more after this story ended, but when it ends, there’s no dangling plotlines or handwaves needed to fill in a gaping hole. As a narrative effort, I give it top marks. I think to do so much character development, the art suffers here and there, but as this series has never been about the art, it’s a small, acceptable sacrifice.

For an office romance Yuri based on a really silly plot, Still Sick has turned out to be a pretty satisfying meal in three volumes.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Characters – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 9, LGBTQ – 7
Service – 3 some noodling around, underwear, bed

Overall – 9

I look forward to Tokyopop’s Volume 3 in English, which should be headed our way in February 2021!

In Volume 2, I noted that this series is detailing a love triangle, but only one participant seems to have noticed. In Mayu, Matou Volume 3 (繭、纏う) by Hara Tsukiko, two students of the three are now aware that something is happening and with that, the triangle may at last be broken.

It’s time for the seniors to have their long tresses cut at Hoshimiya Jogakuen. That hair will become the uniforms worn by future generations of students…but not everyone finds it easy to part with something that has been an element of their lives for so long. If you think about that for even a moment, that’s an obvious truth. Hair is so key to our own identity of ourselves, and for these girls, even more a huge part of their existence.

But, beyond their personal struggles, something is unraveling in the school. Rumors are flying like…well, like the strands of hair that this school has got to be covered with. Youko hears that student body’s Prince, Hana, has left the school – we know, and she guesses, why.  Beyond belief she finds Hana at the waterside and finally, Hana’s eyes are turned towards this underclassman who might just be able to save her from herself.

This is the first volume where the hair doesn’t get in the way of the story. If anything, this volume is filled with hair being cut, separated, tied up and likewise moved both allegorically and literally out of the way. And, for the first time, Hana realizes that there is a way out of her self-imposed servitude to someone who either does not (or perhaps, can’t,) want her. When Hana looks away from Hoshimiya, Youko is there. When Hana finally turns to Youko for salvation, we feel that maybe the ghosts of the past might be set aside yet.

The cover of this volume is some damned fine art. It completely captures the veil of hair the students wear, and the entire story of Youko and Hana in one breathless moment.

Ratings:

Art – Outstanding
Characters – 8
Story – 7
Service – N/A
Yuri – 7 One side of the triangle is filled in

Overall – 8

This was a very good volume of a series I didn’t think would actually ever be likely to engage me, what with all the hair.

I’m waiting on a pinhead for Volume 4, hoping to see a Youko and Hana freed from the emotional and physical burden of their hair but, hopefully, not their love.

Volume 1 and Volume 2 of Cocoon, Entwined are available from Yen Press. Volume 3 is out late summer 2021. I hope you’ll take a moment to notice the unbinding of both plot and hair. ^_^