Although I just finished reading Sumako Kari’s Watashi no Kiraina Otomodachi: Fatal Lies (私の嫌いなおともだち):  last night, it is already back on the to-read pile. It deserves another, slower, more attentive reading.

The collection follows several couples in short vignettes, in which they might be either schoolgirls, or adults, but are always not the insipid “Story A” tropes we see time and time again. Women with fears, and hopes, with angry faces, and crushed dreams; these stories are short, but richly developed, looks at three-dimensional beings who happen to be in a Yuri narrative.

There is more than just “like” here. Not everyone is kind, or truthful or sincere. There are lies spoken and accepted, there is mystery, in the way we can never truly know someone fully.

If you are looking for cute, slight tales of “like” this is absolutely not the book for you. If, however, you wish to god that sometimes Yuri didn’t tread the same path every freaking time, I’ll recommend this strongly.

Ratings:

Art – 7 Felt a bit old school, without the polish
Characters – 8 Good, bad, and indifferent, but all different.
Story – 7 It is not one story repeated several ways
Yuri – 7 From first moments of interest to heartbreak, very real.
Service – 2 A single panel on a single page.

Overall – 7

Some of the stories end happily, but more end with possibilities and complexities. And those are the ones I liked best. Keep it coming, Hirari!

In thinking about this book I coined a new phrase – “Dice of Life.” In “Slice of life” narratives we are given a glimpse into the life of a person during a period, or situation. In “Dice of Life” we focus on a single, small, aspect of a life, dicing it up into teeny bits of which we watch only one.

Inumaru’s Witch Meets Knight (演劇部の魔法と騎士) is a “Dice of Life” story. We see these characters for mere minutes out of their days. Nothing beyond these few, momentary interactions are ever even hinted at. We don’t see them at home. The have no breakfasts or dinners. Their lives are finely diced up into homeroom and drama club. If they ever do anything else, we don’t see it.

And yet, this isn’t a bad book.

First, let’s talk about the art. Everything is drawn in stark whites or blacks, with no screentone or shading. I found it disconcerting until I got used to it, then I came to like it. Backgrounds are mostly hinted at, with a line of wall, or blankly drawn windows, so that the figure in the school’s black uniform is what you’re completely focused on.

The beginning of this Hirari collection follows Naitou (Knight) Kanata, a free spirit, who becomes obsessed by the hair of over-achieving Yuiichi (Witch) Minato, and the slightly non-linear story of how the two of them become part of the Drama Club…with the focus always firmly on the tension between them. Although it is surprising to them when they kiss, it is not at all surprising to us.

The last third of the book follows Irina, a quarter-Japanese Russian transfer student and her adventures with the drama club.

These lives are diced so small we are barely guessing at their totalities, but what we see is kind of fun. The sexual tension between Yuiichi and Naitou is a strong presence without being burdensome or creepy. Despite that, their relationships with the rest of the club are very normal and undramatic. For the dice of life we are given, it’s pretty yummy.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Interesting and good, with that weird contrast/conceit
Characters- 8
Story – Dice finely, serve as garnish
Yuri – 6
Service – 0 Really, just not. There is simply nothing service-y, we don’t even see the kiss.

Overall – 8

There’s a whole lot of flavor in them there small chunks.

Nakahara Tsubaki’s Himitsu Hitotsu (ひみつひとつ) is  a very solid exploration of an essential “Story A” trope – best friends whose feelings are more, etc, etc. Shorts in this collection are firmly rooted in school settings, with no sense of lesbian identity.

In most of these vignettes we’re told the story from the perspective of the friend who has come to the conclusion that their feelings are much more than friendly. In some cases, there is jealousy, but in most, the slide between friends and lovers is a short, relatively smooth slope, accompanids by artful, genteel tears and the occasional, “I feel that way too!”

As a primer for lesbianism, it makes it all look so easy. ^_^;

Ratings:

Art – 6 Typical, but sometimes the necks get out of control
Story – 6 Nothing made me hoot or holler
Characters – 4 All utterly cardboard cutouts. I can’t recall a single one, except for the one with the exceptionally long out of control neck
Yuri – 6 Nothing to offend the sensitivities of the fanboy, nothing to excite the senses of the fangirl
Service – 2 I think there is a panel with a thing going on.

Overall – 6

This is exactly the kind of Yuri Rica Takashima discusses in her article from Eureka‘s “Current State of Yuri Culture” issue which just happens to be going up for Patreon patrons this week! Become an Okazu patron and you too can see her take on the difference between 百合 and Yuri.

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