Sakuraii is a model student but has a fatal flaw – she absolutely sucks at tests. If it weren’t for tests, she’d have no trouble at all getting into her school of choice, but alas… . Her teacher makes her an offer she really cannot refuse. If Sakuraii convinces a fellow classmate who has not come to class all year to show up to school, the teacher will give Sakuraii a glowing recommendation.  So, there is Sakuraii, standing in front of Honda’s house, trying to find a convincing argument to get the girl back to school. Honda, it turns out is a pretty chill person. She agrees to help Sakuraii out, but only if she gets one “wish” a day from the other girl. Fearing the worst,  Sakuraii accept the terms and indeed, the first wish is a kiss. As days stretch on Honda’s wishes range from walking home together to going on a date and Sakuraii starts to find that she’s enjoying her time with Honda. Which is good, because the teacher has added a condition – not only does Honda have to come to school, she’s got to pass class.

Lonely Girl ni Sakaraenai, Volume 1 (ロンリーガールに逆らえない) is a Yuri rom-com. Like most romantic comedies, we have to allow for the abrupt destruction of personal boundaries as a condition for both the “rom” and the “com” portions…. But where the premise is absolutely suited to instantly becoming unappealing, it pulls back immediately and starts the whole thing over, letting the two girls get to learn to actually like one another. As the volume ends, it steps back into the “wrong lessons to teach” lane as Honda uses her leverage to push Sakuraii’s boundaries again.

I have no idea why I don’t dislike this story, honestly, but I don’t. I like it. Kashikaze’s art is pleasant enough. The characters are likeable, except when they are not. I’m not alone, either as this book sold out almost immediately when it was first printed and it has taken me months to get this volume (in part at least because of international shipping being messed up due to the pandemic for weeks over the spring.)

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 7
Story – 7, sometimes slipping downward with faithless teachers and the like
Yuri – 7
Service – 2

Overall – 7

 I want Sakuraii to get into her school and have opened up Honda’s life and the two of them to be forever altered in a positive way by their interaction. I’m still reading this monthly as it comes out in Comic Yuri Hime and I still like it. I have no idea why! ^_^

There are a lot of “known” things about witches. They don’t float in water. They can’t cry. They can’t pass over water, and above all things, if a witch falls in love, they lose their powers. We all know these things.

In Kujira’s A Witch’s Love At The End of The World this last thing turns out to be true….and also, wholly false.

Mari Muruguma is an outsider among outsiders. Here at a prestigious school of witches, she is powerless, lacks basic knowledge and when questioned directly, has no real idea why she is here. Alice Keating is a model student, who is assigned to tutor Mari, which makes Mari even more of a target for bullying than previously. But together, Mari and Alice discover that they can transcend not only their personal limitations, but the strictures placed upon witches. Mari becomes a key and a lock, which Alice unlocks. In doing so, she finds herself changed.

But bullying in a school of magic isn’t just screwing with your desk or hiding shoes….jealous of Mari, several of the girls plot a nefarious and permanent way to rid the school of her. When it goes awry, both Alice and Mari are caught up in the spell.

For no particular reason, I had never before read this manga beyond a few chapters in webcomic form, so the English edition from Yen Press is my first encounter with it. It’s far more interesting than I expected, with a surprising (kind of, not really, but yeah, kind of) funky twist at the end that makes me want to keep reading it.

Translation by Eleanor Summers is full of good “voice” work and Sara Linsley’s touch on the lettering is always something to be enjoyed.  Thanks to everyone at Yen who worked on this book!

Kujira’s art is sparse and simple, allowing us – requiring us – to spend time with the characters’ emotional states, as there is little detail in he scenery to focus on. The story, while combining some well-known outsider x popular girl tropes from shoujo manga and riding on the bristles of the “magic school” broom from popular YA fantasy, combines for a unique, compelling story.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8 they grew on me
Yuri – 6 but there’s potential
Service – Not really

Overall – 8

Thanks very much to the fine folks at Yen Press for this review copy. I’m very much looking forward to find out what happens in the conclusion in Volume 2!