Thankfully, there's been a lot more yuri manga in 2020 that have focused not just on older couples but also on relationships that are a lot more complicated and ordinary like this one.
HOW DO WE RELATIONSHIP? (Tsukiatte Agetomo i Kana), by Tamifull. First published in 2019 and first published in North America in 2020.
PLOT:
Miwa has known she's a lesbian for some time, but now that she's finally starting college she's hoping to finally be able to be more open about it. On her first day of classes she meets Saeko, a bubbly, impulsive young woman who invites her to join her friends' band. The two stumble into a relationship after a drunken night out with the band, but deciding to date turned out to be the easiest part of being a couple. The hard part is dealing with communication, sex, and how open they want to be with the world about their relationship.
STORY:
In the author's omake, Tamifull states their inspiration for this story:
"Why do romances always end when they decide to start dating?! I mean, it's probably because it's the most dramatic part, really. At least, that's what people think. But, like, what if you just stick 'em right together? You can hear about anniversaries, fights, worries about the future, and all the different feelings that come after the dating starts. I wanna read about that!....It's not a so-called pure romance, but it's just fine!"
True to their word, they wrote just that and I'm so very glad that she did. The notion of "pure" yuri romances, built upon chaste gestures, loads of longing, and ending with a confession, still tend to be the trend even in stories about non-schoolgirl lesbians. By avoiding that minefield of cliches, How Do We Relationship? creates a more awkward yet infinitely more relatable tale of two young women trying to cope with the realities of being girlfriends.
Some of the problems they face are unique to queer relationships. It takes a fair bit of conversation just for the two of them to come out to one another, and both of them are initially anxious about how their friends will react to finding out they are gay. They've also both internalized a fair bit of negativity from their own childhood experiences, something that's left Miwa hesitant to talk to anyone about it and Saeko with a fear that others will find her or her relationship 'gross.' They also have to deal with dumb straight friends who turn out to be generally supportive but unhelpful in other ways ("how do girls even do it?").
That being said, a lot of their problems are very universal. They struggle with communication, responsibility, differences in libido, differences in schedule, and just general differences in personality and outlook. It's something that any couple deals with when trying to get a serious relationship underway, particularly if they didn't get a lot of experience during high school. Sometimes it's awkward or frustrating, but after some honest conversation they manage to persevere. There's also plenty of good times in-between, be they celebrations with friends, intimate moments, or just cozy moments spent at the side of one's sweetheart. All of this goes to prove that Tamifull was absolutely correct. The ups and downs of a regular relationship not only gets away from the restrictions and double-standards of 'pure' yuri romance but just results in better drama in general.
ART:
Tamifull's art style veers away from the cutesy, doe-eyed look you tend to find in a lot of yuri manga. If anything, their art reminds me a lot of the works of Kiyohiko Azuma. The faces are simple and mostly dominated by their large, dark eyes, but they have a wonderful range of expression. Saeko and others are more prone to wild takes, but Miwa's subtle, sadder faces are rendered no less brilliantly with dark, thick linework.
A lot of care was taken towards clothing, with Saeko sporting more casual looks while Miwa's style is more put-together and feminine. There's also a lot of focus on the nape of Miwa's neck, and it's hard to tell how much of that is meant to be from Saeko's gaze and how much of it comes from Tamifull's own fascinations. The only complaint I have about the visuals is that in my copy of the book, some of the edges of the images are cut off by the end of the page itself. It's not enough to ruin it completely, but it suggests that someone wasn't careful enough when centering or sizing the images onto the page before publication.
RATING:
Viz seems to have a preference for more down-to-earth yuri licenses, and How Do We Relationship? is another fine example of just that. The drama isn't heavy, but it's familiar in a way that will feel familiar to older readers, regardless of their orientation.
This series is published by Viz. This series is ongoing in Japan with 4 volumes available. 2 volumes have been released and are currently in print.
Don't forget that our annual Holiday Review Giveaway is underway! Let us know what your favorite manga of 2020 to get a chance to win a $25 RightStuf gift certificate. Click on the link above for more details!
No comments:
Post a Comment