Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, Volume 4 does something wonderful. But first….

Soramori and Takebe are taking a trip. To an onsen. Overnight.

Yeah, and don’t think they haven’t considered that. It’s all they can both think about. But, before that, they play a little Edo period dress up and Takebe sucks at shuriken, but looks cool doing it. When bed time comes around they are bot so sure they are the only one with those thoughts, it doesn’t happen.

The rest of the volume keeps that level of tension, just about ready to burst. Until it’s just too much. Takebe has something she has GOT to say to Soramori but she just can’t quite find the right atmosphere. Finally alone, on a paddle boat in the middle of a lake Soramori says she knows that Takebe doesn’t like her. Horrfied that her message is not getting across accurately Takebe grabs Soramori by the collar and kisses her. As Soroamori struggles, Takebe *finally* says what she wants to say, what she’s thought all along….that she likes Soramori. When Soramori opens the gift Takebe brings her and sees that it’s a bouquet of origami flowers, there’s no doubt, finally, that Takebe has made her point. At last.

I’m not generally a fan of sudden kisses, but this one felt pretty good after 4 volumes of Takebe just not being able to deal with her feelings, then not able to communicate them. But this was not the wonderful thing. The wonderful thing was that now their feelings for onw another were made plain…they talked about them a bit and Soramori ends the story with her own confession of love. THAT was the absolutely wonderful part – that they were able to say that to one another, at last. This was followed by a couple of shorts that give us a sense that this relationship is going to be okay. Also that Soramori’s apartment is oddly empty. It’s one of those moments that you’re reminded that, while Takebe appears to be less able to adult, Soramori is kinda faking it as well. ^_^

Ratings:

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

Overall – 8

Murata-sensei really sticks the landing here.

I understand why no one but me might care about this story, but something about gang girls who have aged into adulthood and managed to find love and share ridiculous hobbies together makes me really happy. I’m kind of a sucker for post-gang life characters generally, but also a huge sucker for Yuri couples that live happily ever after, after all. ^_^

In Volume 1 we met Honjou Hayate, a woman with a secret identity as the hero Rapid Rabbit and her evil arch-rival Honey Trap. Honey leaves the presumably evil Antinoid organization (whose goal is obscure, but clearly evil,) and teams up with Hayate in life and superheroing,  We left our protagonists at the end of Volume 2 after someone else’s traumatic experience leaves them feeling mildly down.

As the pages of Hero-san to Moto Onna Kanbu-san, Volume 3 (ヒーローさんと元女幹部さん), Hayate and Honey are having a vacation at the beach. Hayate tells Honey her origin story and it’s pretty darn depressing (and I think pretty heavy on the foreshadowing.) But the head of the Antinoid army, X, is taking a personal interest in these two and she spends the remainder of these pages looking for ways to force Honey to rejoin the her organization. In order to save Honey, Hayate has to come to terms with her feelings for the former evil henchwoman.

In what appears to be a climactic battle, Honey and Rabbit defeat X! But wait, there will probably be a 4th volume. Don’t worry, though, Hayate and Honey are in love and you know what they say about love saving the day. ^_^

If you like Kamen Rider-like transforming baddies, and Saturday morning cartoon heroes, a dollop of of dark storytelling contrasted with a cheerful Yuri love story, you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit, Volume 1 coming this month from Sevens Seas.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Service – 4 Bikinis
Yuri – 4

Overall – 7

For a series about heroes who are saving humanity, an awful lot of people seems to remain unsaved in this story.  ^_^;

In Yume no Hashibashi, Volume 1, we took a journey  backwards through the years, following Kayoko and Mitsu as adults. From their senior years back through their different paths in life; Kayoko having marriage & children thrust upon her versus Mitsu pursuing a career; watching them struggle in a world that had no place for them as a couple.

Now, here in Yume no Hashibashi, Volume 2 (夢の端々 下), we look back further. Into the 1950s, as Mitsu seeks to establish a career and of course faces the kind of systemic and personal sexism that still mars women’s career worldwide. A journalist tracks down Kayoko and Mitsu to discuss their failed attempt at suicide, but in the end they have no messages for one another. We then, at last, look back at their first years together in school, and the circumstances that lead them to attempt a lover’s suicide.  After failing to die together, Kayoko loses part of her finger to frostbite and Mitsu chooses to cut her own finger off so they have that in common forever. This is not, however enough to keep them together, as we earned in Volume 1.

The last few pages return us to the present, in which Kayoko is struggling to remember her own daughter. Kayoko sets off by herself for a walk and, after a fall, dies. But we can see that she is not alone in death. Mitsu who had been killed in an accident, is there to greet her. Both of them, school girls once more, are together in death as they could never be in life.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8 It hurt more when we see that Kayoko was once able to smile
Service – 0
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7

This was a hard story for me, as I spent a great deal of time raging in my head about the unfairness of life. But as I said in my review of Volume 1, for those of you who are looking towards a future in which all of this is as alien as horse carts and flint-napping, it’s a beautifully drawn fiction that details a real historical artifact. Let us never have to return to those days, nor allow them to be inflicted upon anyone else. Amen.