Asumi still loves brothels. And lesbians. But now she’s got a date with Mai! Or who she hopes is Mai! No, it is, but surely the series isn’t ready to be tied down just yet? Well, perhaps, just not in that way…
Look, if you’re just judging this story based on how hot the sex is, just buy it and have a good time. I’m sure I have used this pun before, but most of these adventures start at titillation and then move swiftly to some very steamy tit-elation.
In particular, as part of her ongoing inquisitive nature, Asumi signs up for two girls at once. And, again, I’m not sure what else you were expecting but this entire chapter is ribald enough to set the pages on fire. I’ve never seen a character enjoy sex that much in manga.
And, hey, that’s the point. Asumi is living her best life (I think the mangaka just might be too) and we get the ringside seat as she explores many facets of sex. The first one is pretty heated, with a rather sweet/funny denouement, but the subsequent threesome and cosplay chapters are downright blistering.
Which is kind of funny, because the best chapter in the whole book doesn’t actually have any sex in it. No, Asumi makes friends with a junior who loves the same anime she does and they go to the movies together.
Now, this movie comes back for a great gag later, and her junior assumed the girls were weird because Asumi’s sempai kept watching porn in their club room, but this is a very sweet meeting between friends that is innocent up to said junior clearly getting very flustered by Asumi. I’ll be interested to see if that comes back.
This volume as a whole is not quite as good - the starting story where Asumi’s place of work has a school days theme is very, very predictable. Although I did laugh at Asumi’s boss ripping the midriff out of the school uniform because she knows what sells.
Of course, this job, plus her intense exploration of brothels, has pushed Asumi to her limit, not that one, the other one, and she ends up too exhausted and having to cancel on Mai. Which is a little obvious, but clearly there’s more sexual awakening that Asumi needs to get out of her system. There’s a rather pointless flashback at the end too.
Look, the point of this series is Asumi going on dates with female escorts and having sex. That is the point. And, well, it achieves those goals without making her out to be a skank or anything that would involve a shaming she doesn’t deserve for having a good time. She is enjoying herself and, yes, that does make a difference, along with its blessedly positive portrayal of sex work.
It is explicit because it’s explicit by nature and it’s nice to have a horny smut book that wants to be a horny smut book and just does so. It has no embarrassment about what it’s doing. I mean, I do reading it, a bit, but that’s a me problem. I’ve definitely read stories for far worse reasons than seeing well-drawn female manga archetypes have sex.
Anyway, there’s no denying that it’s doing what it wants and doing it well. I have seen enough sex scenes in various manga over the years, lesbian and otherwise, but these are amongst the best. And the constant rotation of scenarios keeps it from feeling repetitive, at least for now.
3.5 stars - it’s still sex positive, yep, so we’ll go up again. Asumi is having a great time, so why the heck not? You know by now what you’re in for anyway - let’s not pretend this is the next great work of literature here - and if that’s what you want, you’ll get it and then some.