Holiday Review: AFTER HOURS

The most surprising thing about this year's yuri boom was seeing Viz get in on the act.  Viz has always been one of the more cautious manga publishers when it comes to their licenses, so for them to pick up a couple of yuri titles is an incredibly encouraging sign for the future of yuri in the US.  As easy as it would have been to pick their long-awaited print release of Sweet Blue Flowers here, I wanted instead to talk about the other yuri title Viz picked up.

AFTER HOURS, by Yuhta Nishio.  First published in 2015, and first published in North America in 2017.

PLOT:

Emi's night out at the club is going badly.  Her best friend bailed on her to hit on a guy and now she's being cornered by a weird drunk.  The night is saved when Kei, the DJ, takes her under her wing and shows her a good time.  Now Emi finds herself increasingly drawn into Kei's world and to Kei herself, but at some point will have to come to terms with stuff like her current apartment and the boyfriend she's supposed to be living with...