In Volume 1 we met Nanoha and Chidori, two girls who have a secret – they are lovers. They aren’t lovers, but they are in love and they dating. In Volume 2 and Volume 3, they are still dating.

Together they do normal teen stuff. They go out with friends and hang out, they visit the beach and do school things. It’s all very pleasant, very noncommittal and very low-key. In fact, I was describing it to my wife as a series in which basically nothing happens. For a Shonen Sunday Comic, it was satisfactory. Only a little service, no weird manipulative characters, no gods-help-us-its-not-funny comedy. Just blandly pleasant schoolgirl Yuri.

And then we hit Hana ni Arashi, Volume 4 (はなにあらし) and something happened.  In comparison with the little happening in previous volumes it seems really big, but wait for it, because it is, kind of, really big.

It’s summer and Nanoha and Chidori go to the beach with friends and we spend a little more time looking at girls in bikinis than I care to do. Then we return home and the school festival is upon us. Chidori is representing the literature club when her old sempai shows up. We understand immediately that sempai is Chidori’s ex who took the time honored hoary route of seducing Chidori into a lesbian lifestyle, then chickening out on it herself.  Sempai dismisses Chidori’s feeling with a snide, “Are you really onna-doushi?” which proves that the folks at Shogakukan are stuck back in 2000 or so in terminology. Sempai uses the phrase the way you might expect an actual human to use “queer” or “lesbo” or something more pointed.

Chidori is fairly paralyzed by the reappearance of Igarashi-sempai and we are given a chapter to see that sempai was a fairly stereotypical Yuri villain, steamrolling over Chidori’s objections, time and time again. Like Sayaka, Chidori has learned to love herself. When Igarashi-sempai appears to be ready to tear Chidori down once more Nanoha steps up and does the thing. “Yes, we’re onna-doushi,” Nanoha takes Chidori’s hand and faces Igarashi…and here’s the thing that happens….Igarashi suddenly discovers that Chidori and Nanoha are not hiding from themselves at all. Her expression is one of shock. Up to this moment, she has bought into the idea that her feelings for Chidori had to be – must be – temporary. And here is Nanoha, without that illusion at all. Igarashi-sempai asks, her eyes wide with shock as her world crumbles…”Are you going out for real?” “Yes,” Chidori affirms.

To her credit, Igarashi-sempai covers her nervousness with a bit of normal teasing, but as she leaves, she realizes that she might well have made a terrible mistake with her life.

And, finally, later than night at the festival fireworks, Nanoha and Chidori kiss.

So, aside from the now-outdated terminology (which, to be fair I absolutely would expect nothing else from publishing behemoth Shogakukan,) this was a pretty meaty moment. Firstly, Nanoha rescues Chidori, then the two of them admit their relationship to anyone at all, and affirm that it’s real, and the result is that a girl who had been lying to herself is suddenly unable to do so anymore.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 6
Service – 4 Bathing suits and showers. So…ugh

Overall – 6

For a series which, until this moment, had climaxed with hand-holding, this was a big volume.

In Volume 1, Himari saw Yori up on the stage playing with a band and was blown away by her. When she told Yori-sempai, Yori replied that she’d fallen in love at first sight with Himari. So the two of them agreed to hang out and see if Himari would return Yori’s feelings.

Now, in Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 2 (ささやくように恋を唄う), Himari definitely has feelings about Yori-sempai, but she has no clear idea what those feelings might be yet. She’s not sure what love ior, how she’s supposed to feel…or if her enjoyment of Yori’s company is enough. It’s her best friend, Miki, who comes up with a brilliant plan…if Himari and Yori date casually, it will let Himari understand her feelings a bit more.

Yori knows she likes Himari, but also knows that Himari likes her when she plays her guitar, so she accept the bands invitation to join them for the school festival. Himari, unable to meet Yori after school, joins a club of her own, where she can make tasty sweets for Yori. But now Yori has a new problem as she’s jealous of Himari’s club sempai. And yes, she knows she’s being ridiculous, she confides to band member and her best friend Aki.

And then it’s Aki’s turn to be jealous. She comes home to find Himari visiting her sister Miki, and while Himari waits, alone, she tells Himari that she, Aki, is in love with Yori and won’t Himari just…let her have her?

The epilogue gives one more twist the story…Himari’s new club sempai, Momoka appears to have an entanglement with the band’s vocalist Shiho, who is always draped around drummer Mari.  So we’re at one of those all-Yuri schools, apparently. ^_^

I really like Takeshima Eku’s art. It’s got a dramatic quality, especially in the musical performance scenes, that I find very appealing. The characters are all likable, the story isn’t so overwrought that it becomes a burden to read, nor is it so banal that it leaves no impression. While “I’m not sure what ‘love’ is,” is the new Yuri flavor of the day, I have no objection to that. It’s actually reasonable for a teenager to ask themselves if they have any idea what they feel, as opposed to holding hands at the end of several volumes and calling it “love” and assuming thst it’s forever.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 0
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8

Happiness is a hell of a drug and I’m coming back for more.