Sugawa Tokushi’s  Zenryaku, Yuri no Sono Yori (前略、百合の園より)  is one of those manga I struggle to describe. It is very well named, as this collection of two mini-series from Tsubomi, is most definitely from the “Garden of Yuri.”

In the first series, Yuri is anti-social in school, but afterschool she draws Yuri manga that has been scripted by her one real friend, Shinobu. The sadistic protagonist is patterned after popular, accomplished student council member – and to Yuri’s mortification and annoyance, next seat over in class – Fujiwara.

Circumstances conspire to give Fujiwara the chance to read the story and she instantly realizes that she’s been appropriated  She slightly misunderstands, and assumes Yuri is the writer…and naturally assumes that she’s writing her own fantasy. Beneath the teasing, it’s pretty obvious to us that Fujiwara actually likes Yuri In turn Yuri, who plays the perfect tsundere to Fujiwara’s tease, just as clearly starts to like her back. The story ends – on a joke –  with them closer than before, but not “close,” per se.

This is followed by a quick side story about Yuri’s partner, Shinobu, who is blindsided by a female classmate’s feelings.

The final story starts off quite seriously, as Yuki believes she is the target of bullying, when she receives a love letter. When Hino-san, the writer, joins her in calligraphy club, she remains unconvinced that Hino-san is serious either about calligraphy or her. There’s a couple of rough patches, but in the end, it’s all happily-ever-after. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 7
Yuri – 7
Service – 1

Overall – 7

The collection gives a nice sampling of character types, so there’s probably someone for anyone to like, unless what you like best is 3-dimensional characters. There are none of those here, as “the Garden of Yuri” has never been particularly real. ^_^

BTW, the first word in the title, “zenryaku” is a great word – it’s shorthand for omitting the preliminaries in a letter instead of writing “Dear So-and-so –  How are you? I am fine? etc, etc, ” one just writes 前略 and moves on to the meat of the letter. I wish we had an analogous term in English. (Social Media has all but eliminated the need for those formalities, but I still like the idea of a single term that acknowledges the formalities with a nod.)

Himawari-san is a fantasy about a time when there might have been a small, independent bookstore just across the street from your school. But even more than that, Himwari-san (ひまわりさん) is a fantasy about the slightly old-fashioned, mysterious and attractive woman who runs that bookstore and on whom we, inveterate readers and browsers of used bookstores that we are, might have naturally formed a crush.

In Himawari-san, Volume 3, it is all too obvious that Matsuri is us (and by making her not a reader, the creator allows for a wider audience to identify with her than if she were,) and that we, like Matsuri, have a crush on Himawari-san. ^_^

We already know that “Himawari-san” is a title, rather than a name; a title borne by the current owner of the Himawari Shoubo used book store Through Matsuri, we start to realize how little we know about the current owner of the title. And, through Matsuri we get glimpses of her past and present that we have no real claim to demand, but feel privileged to know.

Himawari-san is a fantasy of a past that probably never was, a present that isn’t and a future that is unlikely to be, but a pleasant fantasy nonetheless. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 3
Service – 1
Lesbian Favoring Bibliophile – 10

Matsuri is becoming more comfortable speaking of her crush on Himawari-san. And we’re getting glimpses that the current Himawari may well have felt the same way about the former Himawari. ^_^

Itazura Choucho (悪戯ちょうちょ) by Ayase Mana is an odd book. There’s really no other way to describe it. The title translation on the cover, “Mischievous Butterfly” doesn’t really fit the story at all.

Nanoha and Sakura attend a school for the arts as first-years, and because of the competitive nature of the school, are not planning on trying to compete in the year-end school competition. Sakura has a contentious relationship with the piano she plays, although she needs to play, like other people need to eat, she cannot just relax and play. Luckily for her, Nanoha adores the way she dominates the piano, and finds beauty in Sakura’s art. When Sakura plays, Nanoha cannot help herself, she has to sing.

The oddness of this story lies in the intensity with which Sakura is portrayed, compared with the actual plot. No one seems to be opposing them, except in the vaguest way – after all, they are only first-years, so its presumptuous of them to be competing at all. But that’s not really the issue at the heart of this manga. The issue is really in the relationship Sakura has with the piano – is she running from it, or trying to master it, or does she need it? None of this becomes important when Nanoha sings with her – the only thing that is important is the music.

It’s finally time for Sakura to perform in front of the judges and other students; Nanoha comes running in and the two of them soar together. The piece may have begun as Für Elise, but by the time they are done it has become, as Nanoha points out, a love letter by them both for each other. Judges and students rise to their feet in applause.

As they admire their championship rings, Sakura and Nanoha have yet another one of those oddly intense moments as they promise to stay together forever, bizarrely part, then run back into one another’s arms stating their love for one another.

The story was “odd” merely because there didn’t seem to be any actual conflict, but Sakura’s internal tension is very high. Her piano playing is portrayed violently, with wild arm motions, with the visual impression that she’s pounding the keys into submission…but the story indicates that she has a genuine mastery of her art. It’s hard to reconcile the visuals with the story as its presented, which is of two girls who are musically talented and who live happily ever after. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7 It’s a little messy and crazy, but not bad at all
Story – 7
Characters – 7 It *felt* like Sakura was supposed to be emotionally unbalanced, but she wasn’t, really.
Neither was Nanoha really the grounding influence she appears to be.
Yuri – 7
Service – 1

Overall – 7

I can’t say I disliked this manga, but the level of intensity was incredibly high for what was not a particularly high-tension story, which left me wondering what I was missing.