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joined Apr 7, 2013

This comment is just to say that the series is worth every penny. It is a must read.

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Fly by Yuri
joined Mar 29, 2013

Read the scanlation while it was available. Bought it in Japanese. Bought it in English when it came out. It was my first major discovery in the now beloved by me yuri genre. I guess that means I agree with burlingk.

last edited at Apr 9, 2013 7:47AM

joined Apr 9, 2013

yeah it's a gateway drug ^_^

230px-ray_the_animation
joined Feb 2, 2013

Girlfriens is the cause of my yuri's addiction

OrangePekoe Admin
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joined Mar 20, 2013

Read the scanlation while it was available. Bought it in Japanese. Bought it in English when it came out. It was my first major discovery in the now beloved by me yuri genre. I guess that means I agree with burlingk.

Pretty much this, exactly.

Hopefully it did well for Seven Seas!

Sakuratrick
joined Apr 9, 2013

I have read this before when it was still available and I'm commenting on this just so the others who would wish to read it will want to really read it haha.
This manga is just so fluffy!!! Probably the best yuri manga series I have read so far. Because of this, I have started my hunt on more amazing yuri mangas and I haven't really found anything as good as this!!!
Although its just an ordinary school life type like the typical mangas that exist, Girl Friends really portrays the innocence of young girls in love!

41066419
joined Nov 11, 2010

I just ordered the licensed version from Amazon a week ago, since I was buying other stuff/manga anyway. Dunno how the translation will be, but it's pretty exciting to have more print yuri manga, I guess. I preordered Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink as well; hopefully if Morinaga's stuff is successful they'll start to license some of the tankoubons which haven't been translated, lol.

In any case, Girlfriends is pretty much a classic and gateway to yuri, lol. I don't recommend any yuri fan to miss it, or pretty much most of Morinaga's work in general, though.

joined Mar 25, 2013

I've pretty much avoided it.Is it really that good?
I don't tend to like very long ones (i.e. this one is 5 volumes (35ch)), also ones who are dramatic just for the sake of it.
Are the tags exaggerating?

Random Reader
2656
joined Nov 30, 2011

I've pretty much avoided it.Is it really that good?
I don't tend to like very long ones (i.e. this one is 5 volumes (35ch)), also ones who are dramatic just for the sake of it.
Are the tags exaggerating?

Silly questions. No chapter is wasted, drama makes sense, and angst has all those a's for a reason. ;)

My biggest gripe is that it doesn't continue after they graduate from high school nor do we see their relationship grow as a couple during their 3rd year. I wish some of these would just continue on when characters are done with H.S.

41066419
joined Nov 11, 2010

Finished going through my print copies...damned good stuff. This must have been my third or fourth time rereading the series, lol. I have to say, I came to appreciate the technical detail all over again that Morinaga put into things like hair care, nail care, and fashion, etc. When people talk about Girl Friends' sense of reality, (combined with Sugi-san's mastery of goukons and other aspects of handling men), that's the kind of thing they mean, and I have to say compared with other yuri series it's the type of thing which never really gets emphasized.

This, combined with stuff like the characters' thoughts/concerns about the future and college/career choices makes Girl Friends a really worthwhile read for pretty much anybody, and more than justifies the length. The only part which felt slow was when there was a fairly long stretch after Akko realized her feelings where misunderstandings kept happening and a resolution to their relationship kept getting delayed for arbitrary reasons. However, that issue still got resolved with more than enough time left to explore their burgeoning relationship. Ultimately Girl Friends is a fantastic series.

To comment on the print translation, I was quite impressed actually. The wording mostly felt completely natural. Unfortunately there was a tendency by Seven Seas to keep quite a lot of the original Japanese vocabulary which makes Girl Friends a bit hard to recommend to non-anime/manga fans. On the other end of the spectrum of over-localization, most of the text messages used a lot of 'netspeak' and abbreviations (like "u" for "you", etc.) that was kind of obnoxious and took you out of the story. Also, for some bizarre reason (I assume the original volumes weren't lacking them), Seven Seas only included translations of the author afterwords for volumes 1, 2, and 5. That was kind of disappointing.

To speak about Morinaga in general, I feel like one of her strengths which came out in this series (as well as another of my favourites, the Kisses/Sighs series) is the severity/weight of love. The longing/suffering Morinaga puts her characters through often twists/changes them in a way which persists even after they get together. In a sense, what Morinaga's works get at which I have not really seen with other yuri series is a sense of being completely dyed in the other person, in a way which cannot be turned back, irrevocably shaping the person afterwards. The sense of humanity in how Morinaga manages to show that love makes you both strong and weak (sometimes) is something that I'm really impressed by.

Screenshot%20(1)
joined Feb 17, 2013

Thanks for the review of the print translation. I debated asking my girlfriend to get that for me. Is it worth it overall? I own the copies of Hayate X Blade from Seven Seas, and I have to say that the online translations usually sound better, plus their print is way behind the translations that were already available online.

I have heard in various places that Girl Friends is semi-autobiographical. This may explain why it seems pretty real.

41066419
joined Nov 11, 2010

As far as whether yuri fans should buy it, I would totally say go for it, lol. The volumes are basically $10 each on Amazon, and you're getting a huge ~500 pages for each volume. As I said, for the most part I'm actually really impressed with the translation, and moreover it's nice to support the localized yuri market.

OrangePekoe Admin
Animesher.com_tamako-market-midori-tokiwa-deviantart-950416a
joined Mar 20, 2013

@esn, Hmm. Depends what you mean by online translations =) I read the scans way back, and those were excellent, but it's been a while since I've had any use for them. Seven Seas - minus some grammatical errors in volume 1 that were supposed to be fixed for the second shipment - did a solid job with it though, generally speaking.

@Sol, lovely. You said a lot of things I was actually going to. To hit on a few points:

-The level of detail about everyday things probably isn't really afforded the average author. So many series are just pressing to stick around for a second volume, talking about hair care and Mr. Donut seems a bit...you know. Still, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Makes the whole package 100x more girly too!

-Great point on the final misunderstanding, it's probably the one point that threw an otherwise well-written series into what-am-I-reading-land. I almost burned the 4th volume halfway through reading it, that part was totally unnecessary! (It's not really that bad though)

-I was disappointed with the afterwords too. Not sure why they weren't included.

-Yes! Everyone should buy this! Seven Seas said a short bit ago that it was doing "surprisingly well." Maybe (just maybe) if Morinaga's works keep selling, we'll get something more published over here.

Katomixharu%20-%20cross%20heart
joined Jul 3, 2013

Just a quick comment to say I agree with almost everything here. This was the very first Yuri I read. I have it on my Wishlist on Amazon right now, will be ordering it as soon as I am able.

I can completely understand those who feel it's "too long" or something like that. Unlike Sasameki Koto (which I also love btw.) this doesn't feel dragged out. Everything is there for a reason. Just keep in mind that both girls are extremely dense when it comes to anything relationship wise. Especially Mari :)

Get it, enjoy it. Show the publishers that WE WANT YURI :)

joined May 31, 2013

Just a quick comment to say I agree with almost everything here. This was the very first Yuri I read. I have it on my Wishlist on Amazon right now, will be ordering it as soon as I am able.

I can completely understand those who feel it's "too long" or something like that. Unlike Sasameki Koto (which I also love btw.) this doesn't feel dragged out. Everything is there for a reason. Just keep in mind that both girls are extremely dense when it comes to anything relationship wise. Especially Mari :)

Get it, enjoy it. Show the publishers that WE WANT YURI :)

Girlfriends kinda push's you suspension of disbelief a bit, Akko never ask's the question why her and friends get drunk and have sexy make-out parties and mari will cling to any excuse for her attraction (The cat kissing part was just way to out there for me to ever believe.) other then that the story is pretty likeable.

Screenshot%20(1)
joined Feb 17, 2013

Decided to buy my own copies finally. Just got the complete collection in the mail, in two volumes. Plus Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry-Blossom Pink. Worth it. Buy it.

Yandere%20=%20423182%20-%20copy
joined Nov 29, 2013

Curse you Amazon!
:((

Capture_001_18092013_1154032
joined Mar 2, 2012

Girlfriends kinda push's you suspension of disbelief a bit, Akko never ask's the question why her and friends get drunk and have sexy make-out parties...

Ignoring the rest that does sound like the average high school weekend for me or am i just living in an odd part of the world?

Also yes, I do enjoy responding too several months old posts :D

last edited at Dec 4, 2013 4:12PM

joined Mar 17, 2013

Girlfriends is one of my favorite mangas! It's one of my reasons why I love yuri, it has such a sweet story line(: <3

Fb_img_1492462408743
joined Jan 18, 2014

WHAT?! but i'm in mexico!, what the hell am i supposed to do?! D:

Dynasty%20necromancer
joined Mar 6, 2014

Damn it, was really tempted to order this but those prices are actually pretty high, not to mention the shipping that will double the price
Well, maybe someday they'll license it here on Brazil (HAH YOU NAÏVE FUCK)

Makiko
joined May 1, 2014

This is still my most favorite Yuri manga ever! Not my first Yuri manga but this made me hook up with Yuri.! The best!

Kitsune Spirit
Kokkurisanicon
joined Apr 8, 2013

Morinaga Milk can do no wrong. I love her manga.

Also it's available through Barnes and Nobles.

Nezchan Moderator
Meiling%20bun%20150px
joined Jun 28, 2012

Morinaga Milk can do no wrong.

http://dynasty-scans.com/series/mare

Kitsune Spirit
Kokkurisanicon
joined Apr 8, 2013

I liked Mare, so my comment still stands. :P lol

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