From the beginning, this series has moved slowly, and almost haphazardly, like the tropical fish of the title, lazily moving between plot points. As Nettaigyo ha Yuki ni Kogareru, Volume 4 (熱帯魚は雪に焦がれる ) begins, we pick up with Koyuki sick in bed, and emotionally wracked because she couldn’t be there for Konatsu during the summer festival. When Konatsu’s fish show goes well, Koyuki become emotionally wracked over that, too. Konatsu doesn’t need her, what does that mean for them?

And for an entire volume, a mostly non-verbal Koyuki finds it impossible to express her feelings to Konatsu. Finally, after they reprise the show (having fish jumping through hoops) at the aquarium, Koyuki *finally* finds the words she needs to express how frustrated she is with herself: She thought she was changing and becoming her real self, but she just has no idea who that self is.

Konatsu assures her that whoever she is, it’s the same sempai she cares about. They embrace as the volume comes to a close. 

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 1 on principle only, there really isn’t any
Yuri – 4

Overall – 7

This series has always been, in large part, about Koyuki’s journey to find herself. It would be nice if she finds some self-confidence and we can see their relationship develop from here.

In Volume 1, we met Chitose, a nice girl who has fallen for upperclassman Touka and who suffers when the girl she likes suddenly turns cruel towards her. The reason for the change is a shock….Touka has died and the person Chitose is speaking to is Touka’s twin sister, Ayaka.

In Shiori o Sagasu Page-tachi, Volume 2 (しおりを探すページたち), what might have been a good psychological horror story, becomes a bland story of romance and redemption for Ayaka. An epilogue leads us to believe that this relationship, built upon deception, is stable and lasting. Ptui is all I have to say to that.

I wish the push to create a happy romance all the time in Yuri wasn’t so obvious. It hurts when a nuanced and terrible character is cleaned up just to provide a happily-ever-after end for a story that really didn’t need it. How much better this story might have been if Ayaka’s pain didn’t just clear up like a bad case of strep? What if Chitose’s reaction to the lie was stronger, more extreme, less forgiving? How much bullshit would Rikako have put up with before she saw Ayaka’s toxicity change her friend? Or would she have been able to step in and save Chitose from herself? 

It’s true that maybe this ending was what was always intended for this manga, but after the first volume’s end, it feels wholly like a bunch of lost opportunities. Even as I read it playing out in Comic Yuri Hime, I couldn’t see that the ending was going to make sense for the beginning.

Art -8
Characters – 6 Rikako ftw.
Story – 5 
Service  – Not really
Yuri – 5 

Overall – 5

A disappointing end to something with such a compelling first half.

In Volume 1 of Hisona’s peripatetic manga, we met “Asami” who has left her past behind and “Mizuki” who has left home, after having been thrown away. The two women walk and ride their way through an often-deserted landscape, visiting abandoned buildings and unused railways.

In Goodbye Dystopia, Volume 2 (グッバイ・ディストピア), Mizuki finds herself accompanying Asami to what appears to be a place from Asami’s past. There, she meets Uzuki, a woman who clearly has a history with Asami and there’s something between them. What that is we don’t know by the end of the volume, nor may we ever know. I’m okay with not knowing, frankly. 

What we do learn is that Uzuki is not much interested in the world outside her town (which we, the reader, can guess is at least part of the history between Uzuki and Asami) and also that Uzuki is not particularly troubled to smooth over awkward situations.

We and Mizuki also learn that Asami’s home once stood on the hill where Asami has headed, but it burned down years ago. Amid the plants growing on the plateau, Asami finds another relic of her past as the volume comes to a close. 

I know I’ve said this before, but I genuinely love this story, and all of its unknowns.  There’s no compelling need to know the whole story and I kind of hope we never really do know everything that Asami and Mizuki have walked away from. Instead, I hope that space is given to the future they are headed towards. I love the loose, josei-art style, the fact that panels and sometimes whole pages go by with no dialogue.  

Ratings:

Art – 9 YMMV, but this is right in my wheelhouse 
Story – 10 There is none. I love it.
Characters – 8 
Service – 0 
Yuri – 2 At the moment, it’s in flashback and memory only

Overall – 9

This is one of my favorite series in Comic Yuri Hime and I hope it goes on for a long time.