UN CRESCENDO DI EMOZIONI. In vacanza con Ajisai, Renako approfondisce il rapporto con “l’angelo della classe” svelando pian piano quale sia la sua vera personalità. La situazione cambia quando, all’improvviso, davanti alle due fa la sua comparsa un’agguerrita Mai…
Ajisai is on the run from her responsibilities and Renako decided to come along for the ride. As they work through things and it starts to look a little steamy, the appearance of Oduka (freaking) Mai upends the vibe, as she is wont to do.
While the review score will be lower, this is the sort of low-tier, average score manga I wish I got more of in my life. This is a perfectly fun bit of disposable yuri harem goofery that sometimes exceeds its potential and sometimes less so.
This time out things turn more to the steamy side with Ajisai and that makes for a fine change of pace, but it’s not what the series does best and it shows. Renako continues to not realize just how much of a protagonist she is and, apparently, how straight up (uh… whatever) gay she is.
It makes perfect sense given what we’ve learned that Ajisai’s big kink turns out to be pretending to be a little sister so that somebody can dote on her for a change. Otherwise things are the usual bathing scenes (this series loves its bathing scenes) and lots of not-so-chaste hugging.
While these two get a little closer, the spectre of Oduka Mai looms large over things, which makes sense. No matter how you slice it, Renako is clearly invested in Mai on a level she doesn’t really recognize and if a shoe ever drops in this series it will almost certainly be for her.
It doesn’t hurt that Renako’s implosions over Mai tend to bring the best gags. The asides here are not as robust as usual, but some of them are deadly funny. The entire segment with Renako’s imaginary version of Mai is a howler that reflects the series at its best.
There are also some brilliant jabs from Renako towards her little sister, plus a surprising turn for Satsuki as well that quickly turns darkly funny. The comedic chops of this story are leagues above any other aspect, just a touch too sporadic
Otherwise it is, indeed, harem business as usual. It’s not at all what I look for in the best yuri, but it’s still charming in how blatantly thirsty it is and the jokes help it get away with a lot. That is definitely a vibe I admit I tend to enjoy more often than not.
Even with Mai’s appearance this isn’t my favourite storyline, but it at least does a decent job and doesn’t feel like a chore. I’m hoping we get back to the ensemble soon enough, as the other four are likely to be knife fighting over Renako at this rate.
3.5 stars - rounded down because the great jokes can’t quite overcome the overall average of the arc. Still, dumb enough fun that knows full well that it is meant to be dumb fun.