When considering just which of the gigantic piles of things I have her that I want to write for my first review of 2019, I was faced with a question of intent. Did I want to cover a classic manga so you all might be moved to (re)discover it? Did I want to cover something broad, like an anthology full of names you didn’t yet know, or a magazine that is like Forest Gump’s box of chocolates? Do other reviewers even have this sort of dilemma? ^_^

After some serious consideration, I have decided to begin with something neither borrowed, nor old, nor blue. I will begin 2019 looking forward by choosing something wholly new, something that could not have existed even a few years ago: A manga that began its life on Twitter  and Pixiv.

Nagori Yuu’s Jyoryusakka to Yuki , Volume 1 (女流作家とユキ) hits all the right marks for me. Set in the Taisho period, this pleasant little story was both an easy and fun read. 

To begin with, ignore the cover art. It does not serve the story well. Yuki is a young waitress at a nice little coffee shop where an alluring and fashionable female novelist spend her time writing and drinking coffee. Yuki is infatuated with Sensei and is, in turn, is the object of admiration by the writer who is gently seductive with the young lady. It’s not gross in any way. Sensei seems to actually enjoy Yuki’s company (and of course her admiration) but as I read it, Sensei also just likes Yuki. 

The story follows Yuki about whom we know very little. She has a room of her own in a thriving and bustling city, and appears to work at this job because she wants to, not because she’s compelled to. Whether she lives with family or on her own is left undiscovered. She’s young, but not a child. She’s from a working class, we can tell, when she visits a new, glamorous coffee shop by request of her employer. She feels out of place among the rich women who are entering. And, when she sees Sensei there, Yuki quietly freaks out – is Sensei as intimate with the waitresses there? It really distresses her to think that she’s not the only one.

Sensei returns to Yuki’s coffee shop and explains that she had a meeting there. Yuki is, of course, relieved, but is still so lost in her feelings for Sensei that she finds herself in an unknown part of her city.  Sensei comes to her rescue. 

As the volume comes to an end, Yuki finds herself retracing her steps to Sensei’s door, where Sensei finds her playing with the neighborhood cat and torturing herself. 

The setting of this small city is constantly filled with people coming and going, shopping and selling. There’s no sense of isolation for either Yuki or Sensei, so it’s just that much more telling when Yuki gets so lost in the labyrinths of her thoughts that she gets lost for real. 

I wish I knew more about Yuki and Sensei, but enjoyed this volume immensely. Its a nice reminder that Taisho Japan was a time of great cultural creativity, a time where western and Japanese fashion and technology were merging. And, incidentally, when Yuri was born.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – Girl meets author and is swept off her feet. Okay by me. 7
Character – 8
Service – Does Yuki with her hair down count? 1
Yuri – 7

Overall – 8

As I stand at the edge of looking back on 100 years of Yuri, I cannot imagine a better story to start the year off with – a historical Yuri romance set when Yuri itself was on the cusp of being born, created on 21st century technology.