In Volume1 and Volume 2, we met Soramori and Takebe, former rivals in high school gangs who have met once again as adults. Soramori confesses to Takebe that she’s always liked her, so they begin to date, trying to find things to do together. In murata’s Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, Volume 3 ( 私の拳をうけとめて) Takebe and Soramori find that their inability to find common ground brings their relationship to a standstill.

The problem is not that they aren’t enjoying each other’s company…Takebe starts to really understand what Soramori means to her when they aren’t hanging out. And it’s not that they are rivals, Soramori, realizes as days go by when they aren’t speaking. But something is off and they both know it. After taking to Maria (and training for the confrontation that’s coming,) Takebe calls Soramori to the park to have it out the old-fashioned way. The way they know, the way they met each other. She challenges her former gang-member rival girlfriend to a fight. And fight they do.

And, at last, Soramori understands. THIS is the woman she fell in love with. This is the self she wants to be. And when she beats Takebe into the ground with one final punch, she finds that the two of them really enjoyed beating the heck out of each other.  Where they can take this, I can’t for the life of me guess, but I’ll be looking forward to Volume 4, when it comes out. (If you’re reading the online edition, please don’t spoil me, tx!)

Topping my list of “wish this would be licensed,” this is a series that I don’t actually see being licensed any time soon. ^_^ In fact, it’s probably entirely self-serving to keep suggesting it to companies, because quite probably very few people would find this going-nowhere tale of two former gang rivals dating as fun as I do!

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 5

But, if you like this story, or like the idea of this story, don’t forget to suggest it to the manga company you think would do a good job with it. At this point, any of them can be trusted to do quality work. ^_^

Akegata Yuu’s Tsuki to Suppin, Volume 1 (月とすっぴん) is an absolutely delightful odd couple romance story. Shiho is a quiet, reserved photographer for bands, with a fondness for quirkily awful band t-shirts, Akari is fashionable and outgoing. Although they couldn’t be  less similar, they are very sweet together and it’s a pleasure to be able to meet them and learn their history.

We see how they met, we watch them eat ice cream and spend time at a festival. We see Shiho make rings for them, and Akari takes her lover home to visit her parents. But then, we understand the signs of nervousness in the normally strong, silent Shiho.

The art is simple, with the kind of uncomplicated backgrounds that I’m used to from Feel Comics. It feels comfortable and easy and the characters really help that feeling along.

This story walks a path that is familiar to us from other Jousei Yuri, but it’s not tiring or boring. It’s a genuine joy to see a story about two people who are just together and know each other so well, that Shiho naturally orders an ice cream double so Akari can try both flavors. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 10
Service – . 5 A very little dress-up with Shiho

You can read a sample chapter of Tsuki to Suppin in Japanese on Shodensha’s  Manga Jam website. Yay for pleasant Jousei Yuri!

Sex work is not legal in Japan, however, “fuuzoku” which is translated as “health delivery,” is not considered prostitution.   It’s inevitable that after the massive success of My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, (the Japanese title of which, you may remember, Sabishi-sugi Rezu Fuuzoku ni Ikimashita Report ,) )a pile of books about lesbian “health delivery” have appeared. BariKyari to Shinsou was an exemplar of a fiction that springboarded from the idea and moved into being an overall great story.

Ichijinsha’s Lesbian Fuuzoku Anthology (レズ風俗アンソロジー) is somewhat less good than either of the above titles, but it’s not terrible, either. What we have here is a series of fantasies involving health delivery providers that are surprisingly vanilla.

For instance, in the first story by Homu Subaru, a super shy uptight woman hires health delivery for her first time and is so miraculously good the escort gives her her personal contact information. That’s the typical dream every John or Jane is supposed to have, isn’t it? That they are genuinely the best and the professional will want them to be their special someone.

This collection includes shorts by Comic Yuri Hime faves Ohsawa Yayoi, Kodama Naoko, Nanatsufuji, and Kataoka Ako. Hachisujou Hani offers up an “Edo-period fantasy” story. There are a few new names in the ToC, as well.

The story I felt best about as I read it was  – surprise! – reminiscent of an old Mist Magazine series, by Iwami Kayoko, whose art in this made me nostalgic for Wako’s stylish lesbian prostitutes in Kiseki Goten. In this story, an escort is falling the stable’s rankings, so the top ranked woman takes her as her lover. As she is mentored in how to sex and romance other women, she rises in the rankings, until she is number 1 and her lover can retire.

As a collection of 18+ stories, it wasn’t terrible thematically. Everything is consensual, the emphasis is on making customer and professional safe and happy. The sex scenes themselves are not always what I’d consider attractive, but that’s always subject to the most personal of interpretations.

Ratings:

Overall – 7

I had stopped reviewing adult Yuri manga because they had just gotten so gross, but this isn’t bad at all. And, should you like it, there’s a sequel, Lesbian Fuuzoku Anthology Repeater (レズ風俗アンソロジーリピーター).