A Condition Called Love - Volumes 1 and 2 (Manga Review)

    A few more volumes are going to be needed to really assess "A Condition Called Love." So far, I've read the first two volumes. Basically, it's a high-school romance between a guy who loves hard and a girl who isn't sure she's interested in love. They decide to have a trial relationship, and by volume 2, she's interested in continuing to see where it goes. The art is decent. Just a straightforward Shoujo series on the surface.

    However, I am either intrigued or concerned about how they depict the boy and his actions. In some ways he could be seen as a very loving boyfriend who dotes on her. But it comes off as obsessive and a bit creepy to me. That could be good if it decides to really explore his past, maybe there's trauma there, maybe he's overcompensating, or maybe this series becomes dark like "Kare Kano." That would be really cool to see it dig in.

    But two volumes in, so far it's taken a very straightforward approach with no hints that the author is troubled by this boys behavior and is going to explore or comment on that. It reads at face value and if it stays that way and doesn't explore why he acts like this, then it will not only be a lost opportunity, but it would signal a dangerous regression to the 90s manga of nice girls dating bad men but with no real commentary on the fact they're treating the girl badly (Peach Girl anyone?).

    I'll definitely read a few more volumes to see if it starts hinting at or commenting on the underlying darkness and obsessiveness in his character. If it does, then it could be a much stronger series than your typical romance Shoujo. But if it doesn't, then I'll drop it so quick. We'll see. Stay tuned.

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Doughnuts under a Crescent Moon volume 4 (Manga Review) - hint, it's terrible

    Whelp, "Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon" volume 4 (the final volume) manages to take a very mediocre manga and absolutely destroy it with a major "fuck you" at the very end. If you don't want spoilers, don't read the rest of this post. 

    SPOILERS

    Basically, for 3.99 volumes it's been a series about two women gradually coming to see that what they want from the other is an actual romantic relationship. And while it's been fairly pedestrian in writing, and a bit sub-par in art, it's been harmless enough. Boring really, but harmless.

    However, and here's the big SPOILER, at the very end of the very last chapter, when they finally get together as a couple, they conclude it by saying (I'm about to paraphrase): "Even though we love each other, are romantically interested in each other, and want to spend the rest of our lives together, and even though I just came out to my mom, neither of us actually want to touch or kiss the other person." 

    Now before you get upset at me, I fully and wholeheartedly support folks on the asexual spectrum. But "Bloom Into You" this is not. There have been zero, NO, hints at any point throughout the series that these were asexual individuals looking for romance only. If that had been the point of the series, then fine, I would love the nonchalant representation. But, there was no indication that was the point. 

    I would also have been fine if they got together and left the details of their sexual interest totally unspoken and up to the reader to imagine for the future. But that this manga, after spending four volumes getting two adult women together (and boy howdy do we need  some real Josei instead), it just ups and gives a big "fuck you" to lesbians by refusing to acknowledge that it is OKAY that they have sexual lives.

    Is it pandering to Japan's conservative culture by trying to be a mainstream josei about two women that won't offend anyone? I don't know. Is it badly written, yes it is. Does that lack of sex life come out of nowhere? Yes it does. Do you hate it when people ask themselves questions and then answer them? Yes I do, but I'm doing it anyway.

    Back to the point. The series was bland, but at least it was about two adult women falling in love. As a 43 year old lesbian, I want adult LGBTQ+ representation in manga. But whether it doesn't exist, or just isn't being translated, I am so disappointed that this is the crap we get in English. Don't bother with this series. It isn't any sort of legitimate representation of lesbians, asexual individuals, or anything. What a waste of an opportunity.

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The Girl that Can't Get a Girlfriend (Manga Review)

    "The Girl that Can't Get a Girlfriend" by Mieri Hiranishi is an auto-biographical LGBTQ manga. In keeping with my general philosophy towards auto-biographical works, I will not be commenting on the story or characters themselves because those are real people and real events, so it's not for me to dissect them. Also, out of respect for the author, this is their work and their life, and they should be proud to have it out there for the world to see. That's a very brave thing.

    All that being said, I wanted to love "The Girl that Can't Get a Girlfriend" but I didn't. It was okay, just okay. I think it suffers in comparison to some extraordinary works, particularly "My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness" which is extraordinary on so many levels, that most things will pale in comparison. But I also think about graphic novels like "Fun Home" or "It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth" or even "Hyperbole and a Half" and unfortunately "The Girl..." just doesn't compete.

    Again, I'm not being critical of the person or their journey, just the presentation in words and print. It is written in a very didactic style with little in the way of internal introspection or depth. It's just plot to plot to plot in little nuggets. It's just not elegantly crafted as prose goes. The story itself could be very compelling, but the delivery is what suffers. 

    However, all that being said, as far as LGBTQ+ representation, I'm all for it, and aspects of this story may resonate with you despite the way it's presented. The art is interesting veering from very loose and sketchy, to loose and broad, to detailed and precisely executed. I would be okay with the art (even though it isn't upper echelon) if the writing was better. So it's not the art, it's not the plot or character, it's just the very perfunctory presentation of the events that had me disappointed. Can't say I'd recommend it as it didn't have much depth or interiority. Your mileage may vary though and of course, kudos to Mieri Hiranishi for taking the risk and putting her story out there. 

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

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Adachi and Shimamura Volume 4 (Manga Review)

    I know I'm going to take flak for this, but I just continue to not really like "Adachi and Shimamura" and even after re-reading Volume 4 several times, it's just not doing anything for me. Of course, your tastes might be different, what connects with you will be different than what connects with me, and I recognize that the light novels are much beloved. So take my thoughts with a grain of salt if you're a fan of the light novels.

    Volume 4 centers around Adachi becoming jealous/insecure that Shimamura is talking to other students in their new class, Shimamura reconnecting with a slightly strange old friend, and Adachi begging her way into a sleepover at Shimamura's house. 

    Where I continue to struggle with this series is with Shimamura's character. Is she asexual? Is she aromantic? Is she just not a good friend? Is she not really interested in other people at all (maybe a form of narcissism?). Between her interactions with the new friends, her old friend, and Adachi, she just comes off as cold and disinterested and almost that she's using other people. Not necessarily in an intentionally mean way, but just in an aloof/oblivious/dismissive way. And I'm not sure I buy it as a realistically written character, at least not without more background on perhaps where this personality comes from.

    A commenter on another post of mine, mentioned similarities between "Bloom into You" and another manga, and I think comparing "Adachi and Shimamura" to "Bloom into You" offers an interesting perspective. Where Yuu, from "Bloom Into You," is a strong, thoroughly thought through and realized asexual/aromantic character (or somewhere in those spectrums), Shimamura in "Adachi and Shimamura" comes off as dense, disinterested, and unintentionally hurtful/oblivious - not as a fully realized representation of part of the LGBQT spectrum. Long story short, I don't find her character likable nor particularly believable.

    I hear that in the end of the story (SPOILER) they end up together as a couple (END SPOILER - someone spoiled it for me), I'm not sure the journey to get there is worth the inelegant writing, character depictions, and plot. I just don't buy it as being in the least realistic as a depiction of a real person (Shimamura, that is). I'm okay with not liking a character as long as that character feels honestly written. She just doesn't to me. 

    I'm also not feeling any good slow burn vibes. It's just frustrating to read in every moment. It's uncomfortable in the character interactions, even when we're supposed to be getting sweet moments. I probably will stop reading after this volume. Sorry again if you love this story. I'm totally curious why you do and what I'm missing, so comments (kindly written even when you disagree with me) are always welcome. 

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The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey (Book Review)

    I'm not a huge fan of contemporary fiction. That's not exactly true. I just don't read much of it because I'm not interested in much of it. But there is a lot of wonderful contemporary fiction out there and I'm very pleased to say that "The Echo Wife" by Sarah Gailey is one of those.

    I was in a bookstore, just randomly browsing, not intending to buy anything, but a clerk had written a brief description of this book and it was enough to make me want to buy it. This won't be a review exactly, but perhaps my attempt to do for you what that clerk's write-up did for me.

    "The Echo Wife" could be summed up as a modern gothic near-future (futurist?) feminist novel. It centers around a woman, her ex-husband, the other woman, and human cloning. Neither woman is exactly likeable, but both are easy to root for despite their flaws. This is feminism in the best sense in that we have empowered women, struggling against a variety of patriarchal forces, but they aren't perfect people. They are flawed and unique and messy (very!) and the fact that we empathize so deeply with both of them while also recognizing their flaws is an evidence of the author's mastery of craft. 

    The narrative and prose are tightly constructed and well executed. If I had any qualms, it's that I'm still digesting the very very very ending. After a first reading, it feels just slightly less thought through than the rest of the book which is so perfectly built that I'm not sure the ending works. However, it may also be an ending that grows on me over time. Or, perhaps, it is intentionally not as tight as the rest for one of two possible reasons: 1) it's showing the main character's increasing release from her past trauma in that she is less studious and purposeful, and/or 2) that we are meant to question how things might unravel after the novel. It's that last part that has me unsettled. I guess time and re-readings will tell.

    Basically, if you like gothic and victorian proto-feminist works but want a modern (slightly futurist) setting with less angelic characters who are flawed but engaging that is well written, "The Echo Wife" is sure to please. I highly recommend it.

    

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

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Fruits Basket Another volume 4 (manga review)

    If you're reading "Fruits Basket Another", then you love Natsuki Takaya and her series "Fruits Basket." So do you really need a critical review of volume 4, the final volume? Probably not. So don't expect me to get all analytical here. I just don't want to be that person in regards to this series.

    In this volume, we get a long, single, final chapter to the "Another" series, we also get the six part "Three Musketeers Arc" and some warm fuzzies at the end with the original series.

    The final chapter, just like the prior three volumes, goes by at a frenetic pace, without necessarily a clear goal or arc in mind. In fact, from the first volume to this one, there's quite the shift in which characters are the focus (and honestly, I had trouble remember who was who after such a long publishing delay between volumes). Is that a criticism? No. If this was a "formal" series I'd be tempted to dig into it's pacing, organization, and narrative structure. But I continue to view this as being more akin to fan-service to those, like myself, who love the original "Fruits Basket." So no matter how it's presented, I love living in their world and meeting their children.

    What I do particularly like about this volume, and actually wish was made into a full series in it's own right, is Shiki's relationship with his mother. For those who haven't seen the original series, I won't spoil who his mother is. But this chapter offers a fascinating glimpse into the fallout that character experienced after the original series. And I thought, as with all that Takaya-sensei does, it is remarkably kind and sensitive even to a character that could be very hard to sympathize with. 

    I did read somewhere that this final chapter, with it's focus on Shiki, was actually a "one-shot" and not necessarily part of the prior three volumes, which may account of the shift in narrative perspective. Either way, I would have wanted much more time with him, just like I would have wanted much more time with Sawa (the primary lead in the first three volumes - although they're frenetic with focus as well). But I'll take anything that Takaya-sensei wants to give us. I love her art, I love the feeling, and if nothing else, this was some relatively light, hopeful fun with that bit of bittersweetness that is so strong in her works.

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Love at Fourteen volume 12 - the final volume (manga review)

    I was tempted to not even write a post on "Love at Fourteen" volume 12 (Yen Press). I of course, was tempted to not even continue reading the series after the first few volumes. But, having relented in completing the series (because I do like the main character's story) I figured I'd might as well post a few thoughts on this final volume.

    If you're reading this post, then I'm assuming you've either read the series or my posts on the series, so I won't try and summarize things at all. So here are some random final thoughts on this volume and series:

1)  I don't mind the way it resolved the main couple's storyline at this point, although I still find it a bit unnecessarily dramatic that he is moving away (like a forced plot point). There's a sense it was done to create a partial ending for a series with a finite length, rather than having to explore what it means to grow up after starting a relationship young (whether they stay together or not).

 

2) I still find aspects of this series disturbing in terms of the number of adults who are interested in children and the fact that those actually mature into relationships. This is particularly painful in the encore which shows the wedding of two of the side characters. This is not proper adult behavior, to pursue a relationship with a 14 year old.

3) It's interesting that the adults who pursue relationships with children are all adult women. Part of me wonders whether this is some fantasizing by the author or whether it was done because an adult male pursuing a female fourteen year old is societally much creepier (even though the adult women pursuing young teens is just as creepy in my mind). I wonder if it was done because it might not raise as many alarms when it's an adult woman in pursuit? Don't know, but it's still creepy. Also, there was never any critical exploration of the implications of an adult and a teen in a romance. The series simply treated them as okay and that bothers me to no end.

4) There were so many interesting characters, but in the end, I still found the series sort of hollow. I would have liked several more rigorous series devoted to each of the side characters who were fairly well realized here as individuals, and yet somehow left relatively unexplored as well.

I really can't say I'd recommend this series at all. The first volume starts off so strong, and intermittently there are really powerful moments both in the main character's arc and even with some of the side stories (no matter how creepy and inappropriate they are). But in the end, it doesn't really go anywhere or reveal anything, or contribute to how I look at romance. As I said above, it's sort of a hollow series. Maybe it tried to do too much. Maybe it didn't do enough? Either way, it's not consistently strong and there are too many adult/child relationships (ie, a number well above zero) with no critical commentary on them.

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

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Citrus + Volume 4 (Citrus Plus vol. 4, Manga review)

    Citrus + (Citrus Plus) volume 4 continues the sequel story to the Citrus Manga. Short-take: it doesn't have the deep plot and high stakes as the original series (maybe a negative?) but also doesn't have as much salaciousness as the original series (a plus for me). Volume 4 feels a bit adrift, almost like a fan fiction or a low-key fanservice just to give us more time with the couple. That's neither good nor bad, just know that it's mostly just low-key slice of life/romance that is neither particularly well done, nor particularly bad or problematic.

    Of course, being Citrus, it has plenty of busty teen girls and lots of horny camera operator framing of their bodies. But unlike the original series, the actual sex is toned way down. With different art, this would just be a run-of-the-mill yuri romance at this point. I read it because I like the original series even with it's many faults and I want more time with Mei and Yuzu.

    Volume 4 of Citrus + is focused on Mei's attempt to buy a birthday gift to Yuzu as well as their ongoing preparation for entrance exams. Matsuri pokes her head into a few places, but unlike in the original series, she seems to be less intent on stirring the pot and actually is supporting Mei and Yuzu's relationship. The upsetting subplot with her from the original series doesn't seem to play into Citrus + at all leading us to believe that the resolution of it in the original series has stuck. 

    If the art wasn't so intent on putting breasts into our faces at every turn, I would really like it. So basically, I do like it and I just ignore the unnecessary fan-service aspects. From the writing standpoint, I found the characterization of Mei occasionally weak here but it could also be that since this volume skips around in time that there are things going on in between that would contextualize some of her more.

    Basically, it isn't the strongest series, and I wouldn't recommend it unless you like the original Citrus for the romance (and not the sleaze). Volume 4 feels the weakest yet in Citrus + as if it just is spinning it's wheels a bit, but at least we get some Mei and Yuzu cuddling.

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Even Though We're Adults volume 5 (Manga Review)

    I'm still not sure what to make of the series "Even Though We're Adults" by Takako Shimura, and the same goes for volume 5. 

    Disclaimer: I love both her series "Sweet Blue Flowers" and "Wandering Son" even though many would call her writing uneven and a bit problematic in ways, and maybe even raise concerns about her legitimacy as a writer not knowing for sure what her personal sexual/gender identity is and whether she has any business writing about LGBTQ characters. I frankly don't care if she is a cis-woman (and I'm not saying Shimura-sensei is, just that it wouldn't matter to me if she was or was not) because I find so much connection with those two series and they are so personally meaningful to me as a trans-lesbian. As I mentioned to an acquaintance once, I like her writing because her characters and stories are messy. They aren't "perfect" LGBTQ spokespeople, their lives don't neatly fit into media and agenda friendly boxes. To me, that's what makes them more real and the complexities of their experiences resonate. 

    But I can't quite figure out if "Even Though We're Adults" rises quite to the heights of those earlier series. 

    As you may know, this focuses on a married young woman who develops a relationship with a single young woman and then needs to decide what on earth to do with that. In the early volumes (light spoilers), Ayano eventually tells her husband about Akari and the three even meet up. This didn't strike me as the way anyone in this situation would handle things. But eventually Ayano does ask her husband for a divorce. 

    However, in volume 5, she still has not told her family exactly what is going on with her husband. They think they're just fighting and that's why Ayano is living with her parents. So, her parents continue to invite her husband over for dinner, again and again, and even forcing things a bit further. Wataru, the husband, even pushes things himself with Ayano in one of the most painful moments I've read in a Shimura-sensei work (I won't give it away). That was a moment that hinted at Shimura-sensei's powers as a writer. That scene felt true to me on many many levels. 

    We also see that despite their attempts at creating space, Ayano and Akari can't stay away from each other. But we don't get much of them together in this volume.

    Interestingly, Volume 5 also spends some time with Eri, Wataru (the husband's) sister, and her emotional/social struggles as well as relationship with her mom. I find that the mom is well written, particularly in this volume, as a real and whole person, not a stereotype. And while some of Eri's hikikomori-type ("shut-in") tendencies have been depicted decently throughout the series, the turn her arc takes in volume 5 felt a bit abrupt. However, in that abruptness, Shimura-sensei again creates messiness, which has it's own value yet again. Maybe the abruptness was only a factor of the medium and not wanting to prolong getting to this particular plot point? Maybe it will feel less abrupt if I were to read volumes 1-5 in succession rapidly to catch little changes in Eri that I just didn't remember when reading volume 5?

    Thinking about how I sometimes struggle to fully appreciate manga series when months go by between volumes, only to find more cohesion when I re-read the series all at once, I bet that will emerge with this series too. Even then, I'm not sure it will have the profound effect on me of her earlier two series, but I'm starting to see the messiness I like in her stories/characters. 

    And maybe "Even Though We're Adults" doesn't have to be profound, complex, or genre defining? Maybe Shimura-sensei is just writing a "simple" (for her) story with engaging/messy characters, and that's enough? I'll definitely keep reading because even in it's potential lack of greatness it is still much better than most of the middling shoujo and yuri manga I end up reading (not for lack of trying to find better stuff, trust me, and suggestions always welcome).

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

All comments are moderated by a real person who only checks them once a day. Therefore, comments may take a while before they show up. Thanks for understanding. It's how we keep this a community of lovingkindness.