So it was basically medieval yuri-classic with angry crying angsty faces. For me, a lot of that is my catnip. Angry depression is a common mode for some people so this author was my spirit animal.
I agree though that there's so much crystal castle "we can be yuri but only in dreams" going on with Japanese manga. A bunch of crying, pure girls only admit to their gay feelings at the last minute of the story after which there is no more story because...well, that 'because' has a LOT of implications. A lot of them are societal attitudes. It just seems like so many authors or editors feel it's taboo to portray an actual gay relationship as normal. It does feel a bit gross.
I'm getting serious vibes from that series that ended recently where she's in love with her brother's wife and they only show their gay accepted life in an apartment doorway. Like come the fuck on.
Overall this series was okay but feels like it never launched beyond the common norms of the medium. Japan loves its crystal castles in the sky, a sweet girl dreaming in summer with her book open on her lap, her lace dress falling askew in the green grass, her pale hand on her forehead, dreaming of a reality that cannot be, and then her husband wakes her on horseback and she has three children already. It just gets a bit tiresome.
But this is the most we can expect out of Japanese yuri manga, outside of the more mature series like Bloom Into You or How do we relationship?
Plus, I get the shivers from current Citrus that is basically completely locked into cyrstal castle mode right now with Yuzu constantly deflecting long term structural issues with Mei because she's hApPy. And Mei in sleep-walking mode, locked in the tower of her mind, always wondering: "What are these lesbians they keep whispering about? I need to think about college and grandfather."
So yeah, this was as rudimentary as classic school-girl yuri gets. It gave us the chills and thrills, but nothing original except the visceralness of emotions. So I can feel your disappointment somewhat. I wanted this series to really go in a direction I wasn't used to. I'm a bit sad it didn't actually take off. I feel like it set the runway for that and then did a roundabout in a cul-de-sac. Oh well, bit of a waste, and then the classic epilogue that shows us all the kinds of things the series should've focused on long before.
The epilogue of stories like this are always an apology: sorry, we can't admit that gayness is normal. Deal with it. Here's what would've happened in an adult story. But we don't care about that, because you wet yourselves for these high school stories where feelings are precious and girls are made of glass. Don't smash the figurine!
last edited at Aug 22, 2021 5:03PM