Finé is an agent of LEA, an organization dedicated to eradicating the use of an evil elixir which turns humans into sex crazed demons. Iris Redhood is Finé’s partner, lover, and…a werewolf. Finé is herself a human-wolf demon and uses her powers to defeat other supernatural beings. The two are bound by a promise made to one another.

In Volume 1 we met Misery, a young women who hoped to save her horribly scarred younger sister, instead turning her into a monster with the elixir.

In Volume 2 of Scarlet (スカーレット), the aptly-named Misery joins LEA, but does not find the redemption she hoped for. Finé learns a terrible secret about the terrible secret about the drug and the book climaxes with all the terrible secrets coming to a terrible end.

Writing a story, as many of us know, is a complicated process. Anyone who has ever attempted a story of any kind knows the feeling when the thread has slipped away…and the frustration of trying to pull it all together. Scarlet feels like a series that slipped out of the creator’s grasp. By the time it ended, the author had publicly struggled to get enough sales to continue the story, but even so, it felt messy – as if there were several strands that were being added in a desperate attempt to drum up interest. It’s a shame for Seven Seas, too, because it had the perfect Venn diagram of all their readerships in one series. For me, however, it was a dartboard full of ideas that never quite formed into a coherent whole.

I did like the epilogue however, for the sheer horror of it.

Ratings:

Art – 6 It wore poorly as the story went on. Breast squeezing. Yuck
Story – 7
Characters – 7 Never has a character been so aptly named as Misery.
Service – 7 Ugly lesbian sex. Yay. Breast squeezing. Yuck
Yuri – 6 Hunger is a kind of passion, I guess.

Overall – 7 Slightly less good than the parts of its sum.

You will be able to learn of all these terrible secrets and the ugly sex they necessitate when you read, Scarlet, Volume 2, out from Seven Seas in October! ^_^

In Tamifull’s Yuri drama Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 4 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな), we are confronted with something we don’t see very often at all in Yuri…two people who may just not be compatible sexually.

When we met Saeko and Miwa, we guessed that they each had some less than wonderful sexual experiences when they were young, (as so many gay people do, if we were trying to have straight sex,) but that does not explain what is going on with Saeko and Miwa now. Yes, their timing is bad and yes, they are both busy. But when they have the time and are in the mood, they still don’t seem to be matching up well…and it’s poisoning their relationship. What’s worse is that they genuinely like and probably love one another.

Saeko is obsessed with this, but can’t see her way through it. Miwa is aware that there is a problem, but every time they get close to talking about it, something comes up. And again, they are busy and there are exams and  live performances and past regrets and million other things that get in the way. Saeko can only see one alternative, so she suggests that they break up.

And…while Saeko and Miwa are trying to balance all of this with their club, and friends, and work, they are not the only people who have complicated lives. This story is much less a romance now, and much more a survey of the infinite complexity of human emotions.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8 More complicated with every volume
Characters – 7 I’m still rooting for everyone, but not sure I actually like anyone
Yuri – 7 / LGBTQ – 6 It’s getting queerer
Service – 4

Overall – 8

I find myself no longer rooting for them as a couple, although I am rooting for them as individuals. Maybe, if we and they are to be honest, they shouldn’t be together. I’ve certainly known plenty of people like that in real life. They make great friends – even friends who have sex – but aren’t a great couple. What if their individual pathologies just…clash? What if they just aren’t compatible?  What if the “might have been”s and the “well, maybe”s are keeping them from moving on? You can tune in to Shogakukan’s webcomic site UraSunday to keep up with current chapters in Japanese and find out..

This series has been licensed in English – How Do We Relationship?, Volume 1 is on sale now from Viz Media!

Yamanaka is, for lack of a better term, a jerk. In Volume 1, we meet her teasing her colleague Taneda mercilessly. When Taneda invite Yamanaka to a lesbian bar, Yamanaka thinks “this’ll be fun.” Jok’es on her, because Taneda turns the tables on her and their relationship becomes an amusing tale of two people jerking each others’ chains.

Fujyourina Atashi-tachi, Volume 2 ( 不条理なあたし達) begins with the two of them as a fairly happy couple. Their friends at the lesbian bar still can’t quite get their heads around Taneda being gay, until her ex shows up and Yamanaka’s feathers get all puffed. More interestingly, Taneda’s do as well and they quickly assert their mutual property rights. ^_^

Work is getting heavy so Taneda steps up and asks to be relied upon and, unusually for her, Yamanaka lets herself lean on her lover. So when she gets news that her mother is in the hospital, she can just run off.  Yamanaka is forced to confront her complicated feelings about her family’s relationship to her and her own feelings about being out to them.

Yamanaka discovers a number of truths that many of us discover as we age – things that drove rifts between us and our families when we were younger become not less urgent, but less complicated, as we get older. Yamanaka’s mother signals acceptance and Yamanaka is left thinking that she might actually be able to introduce her lover to her family…something she had clearly given up on.

What began as two people who couldn;t be less suited to one another is now clearly a couple with their own vibe that suits them very well.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 9
Story – 8
Lesbian – 10

Overall – 9

I’m always a huge fan of Takemiya-sensei’s work and this story especially hits the spot for me  – adult women teasing each other and the people around them, those complicated expressions she draws so well, and real life concerns of being out and even being “lesbian enough” to be accepted in queer circles. Taneda and Yamanak may have an absurd relationship, but it’s one I enjoyed watching develop.