Uuno Hinako always looks good. Her dress and makeup are always spot on, her hair is always done. She’s always got a smile on her face at work, just the thing to attract a nice man. She goes out to lunch she can’t afford to be with friends, rather than eat alone. That’s what’s expected of her. That’s what is “normal.” So why is she so miserable? In Usui Shio’s Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 1 (欠けた月とドーナッツ), she’s about to figure out why.

Satou Asahi doesn’t seem to care for any of these things. She eats lunch by herself, speaks up when she’s offended and doesn’t seem to care what people think. Hinako is fascinated in a way she can’t express. When Satou comes to her rescue with a cute, animal shaped donut, they begins a friendship that confuses Hinako. Why does she find Asahi’s lifestyle so empowering?

Asahi is encouraged by her younger sister Subaru to become closer to Hinako, as she can see that they need each other. As the volume comes to a close, Hinako takes a step to reject what is seen as “normal” and move towards a path she might actually want to go down.

Although Hinako’s clinging to what is expected of her is, predictably, a little annoying, and she is a mope throughout much of the volume, it’s easy to see that this is not a short journey for her, but a long, arduous one. And we can’t but help root for her. Subaru egging Asahi to push past her own guard is very cute. Not at all despite myself, I find this series to be exactly the kind of Jousei Yuri I want more of from Comic Yuri Hime magazine!

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 6
Service – 0 Not so much as a bath scene. What a pleasure

Overall – 8

While it is true that what society and family “expects”is still a struggle, I rejoice in the fact that for so many of us, life is more about enjoying the moon and donuts. I look forward to Hinako being one of us.

Here we are at Nettaigyo ha Yuki ni Kogareru, Volume 5 (熱帯魚は雪に焦がれる) and Honami Koyuki is putting the brakes on her almost-not-even moving-life. Why would she do that? Well.

Koyuki has always been a model student, and the teachers have relied on her to do the right thing. But that was also used as a bludgeon by the teachers, who compared the other students to her, which meant that the other kids pulled away, even though they didn’t mean to.
The end result is that Honami Koyuki is horribly lonely – lonely enough that she finds it inconceivable to not be lonely. While Koyuki was stranded in this Saragossa Sea of emotion, Konatsu came into her life. And she’s still not entirely sure what to do about it. Especially as she’s planning on going to school very far away, in Tokyo.

Oddly, the person who breaks her free is not Konatsu, but Konatsu’s friend Kaede who can see the (kind of obvious) truth. Kaede has no skin in the game beyond seeing her friend happy, so she’s free to force Koyuki into admitting the burden she carries. Even as we’re finally thinking something might break for the better, Konatsu sees Kaede and Koyuki walking together… and, naturally(????) fears the worst.

This volume was pretty annoying, I’m not going to lie.I get that Koyuki is not a happy character and this is a very slow-moving romance, but holy heck, what was that last bit about? Folks. Let me assure you your lover smiling while being next to someone else does not mean automatically mean anything bad. Sheesh. Nonetheless, I feel like something has got to happen now, surely. ^_^ (No, I kid, nothing is going to happen now.)

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 1 on principle only, there really isn’t any
Yuri – 2

Overall – 7

I hope Volume 6 will move forward, but not moving forward is kind of this series’ thing.^_^; In the meantime Volume 3 in English is headed our way in May (with possible delays because of the pandemic.)

In Volume 1, we met Matoi, a high school senior who is a talented songwriter who doesn’t understand love. She meets Yuriko, older by a few years, attractive, cool…and suddenly, Matoi is starting to figure it out. As attractive as Yuriko is, Matoi isn’t sure what she wants, and Yuriko seems clear about what she doesn’t want.

In Volume 2 of Yuri to Koe to Kaze Matoi (百合と声と風纏い), Matoi and Yuriko wrestle quietly with themselves, becoming closer friends until Matoi is off to college in Tokyo.

Once in the big city, Matoi is befriended by Rio, who introduces her to concepts like demisexual, nonsexual, and people like lesbian friends of hers who have been a couple for three years. Rio likes Matoi and makes no bones about it, but when Matoi says no, there’s no drama, they can be friends. And she helps Matoi to understand her feelings for Yuriko better.

In the meantime, Matoi’s younger sister confronts Yuriko, forcing her to deal with her own feelings.  Yuriko heads to Tokyo to see Matoi. As the volume comes to a close, Matoi will come face to face with Yuriko’s secret.

This series is quietly outstanding. With discussion of LGBTQ sexuality as a fixture in the conversations, this is one of the queerest manga I’ve discovered in the past few years. I like that it’s part of the normal conversation in normal circs that a young human might actually encounter during their time at college.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 3
LGBTQ – 7

Overall – 8

It’s a joy to watch Matoi on her journey….and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens now that Matoi and Yuriko will have to confront the things that are holding them back.