Lato, którego nie zaznałam z tobą. Tom 1

Throw Away the Suit Together

by Keyyang, Agata Mostowska (Translator)

Haru i Hii-chan to dwie młode kobiety studiujące w college'u uginające się pod ciężarem dorosłych obowiązków. Dostanie się na uniwersytet, poszukiwanie pracy, przygotowanie się do kariery po ukończeniu studiów – tego się od nich oczekuje, bo tak robią „wszyscy”, ale czego tak naprawdę chcą dla siebie?

Genres: Manga, Yuri, LGBT, Romance, Comics, Lesbian, Queer

166 pages, Paperback

Published October 29, 2024

Reviews

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Może i kreska nie do końca mi się podobała (czasami dziwnie wyglądały postacie), spoko fabuła, A TEN EPILOG? I MEAN- 🫣🤭

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haru cannot get a job to save her life and that despair is bleeding into her relationship with Hinoto. Suddenly, the two throw it all away and run for an island, which might bring new meaning to the term ‘yuri paradise’.

So, this does a couple of things really well, but it ultimately left me a little flat in terms of storytelling and what I actually got out of it. There’s enough to mildly recommend it since it’s only a three volume series (uh-oh), but don’t expect greatness.

The story captures the agonizing feeling of not being able to gain employment no matter what you try. Having been turned down for many a job in my day, the experience Haru has is relatable, if not exactly the same, given the cultural divide.

The story is at its best in this moment, with one grim series of panels illustrating Haru’s breakdown in the middle of the street. The stress piles upon her until she rejects corporate life for good and brings Hinoto along on her plan to run from it all.

Where this hits trouble is that I do not especially care about these two characters. Starting the story in media res isn’t the worst idea, but it has to make the audience care and, for me, the attempt falls flat. We don’t sit with the characters nearly enough to get why they care for one another.

Part of that is intentional - Haru is so dull that she has no activities or interests, presumably so this new life can let her blossom. But you’re dealing with a serialized story where we’ll be waiting months for the payoff to this and what we get in the meantime is very thin.

Yes, they love one another, but, as I said, the why of it all is very vague. Hinoto decides to give up her job search as well, but until she declares this it’s not even obvious that she’s even been looking. Her defining trait is how much she loves Haru.

And it’s great that they’re all sweet and frisky with one another and want to get married. The story deals with the problematic nature of that in Japan, at least. But there’s no reason for any of it - they skip right to dessert without serving the main course.

The island stuff is fine, if inconsequential. This volume is mostly the journey there and the freedom and consequences thereof. There’s an odd tendency to sexualize all the named female characters in the story, which, hey, no need to shy away from sex, but was noticeable.

It doesn’t feel like they’re running all that far either. They make some hay about not having money, but they also seem to have run off without their possessions and end up in a house anyway, so it’s not exactly the most gripping stakes here. Even the pretty lame Days of Love At Seagull Villa managed to get the island life part right.

Here? It mostly feels like they’re on vacation. Yeah, I know, it’s the freedom of it all, but it’s all not enough of anything to make it into a something.

What it boils down to is that this isn’t written especially well. It’s not bad either, it just sort of exists and I’m sceptical that it will get any deeper with subsequent volumes. If you are looking for lesbian romance, that’s there, but there are better ways to get it.

3 stars - eh, it’s fine. Not worth getting mad about, it has the germ of a good idea, but its expression of that idea could be a lot better.

[Patrycja · Rating 4 out of 5]

IT WAS SO CUTE
I CAN'T

[пташатко · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.75)

утопія в чистому вигляді... дівчина заїбалась пошуком роботи та намаганнями вижити в токіо, досягла краю стресу, і рішає кинути все та втекти зі своєю дівчиною в прибережне містечко без жодних планів на майбутнє. rooting for y'all, girlies, go live your dream ✋😌

мальовка мені тут не дуже до душі насправді, але симпатичність історії переважила, тож наступні частини обов'язково читатиму.

p.s. мені ж не здалось, що гг2 наче stone top? це прикольно. до слова, та сцена в душі була дуже гарно намальована

[Fel · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75
Sięgnęłam trochę przypadkiem, ale jejciu. Jakie słodkie yuri

[Tib · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another series moving at a pace too fast for the story. I feel like this is also due to the constraints of it being only 3 volumes long. I'm enjoying the story, but would like to have some time to sit with what's going on.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Luce · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really just didn't enjoy this much. The art was odd at numerous points through the volume, and like, great, they ran away from their responsibilities, but to Hii-chan's aunt's place? Yeah it's a bit dilapidated but it's still a house. If they hadn't had that privilege, what would they have done? And why the hell did they leave in their suits with only their suits?!?! Pick some more comfortable clothes, people! It was meant to be an escape from reality, but skeevy angles and everything else kept me from enjoying it much.

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer -- yuri is something I've constantly tried to read/watch, but it's rarely been something I've really enjoyed. For whatever reason, the stories I've seen so far have just not been that compelling to me, making it even harder for me to want to continue experimenting with the genre.

That being said, I actually kind of liked this? I agree with other reviewers that the pacing is really fast and there are so many logical inconsistencies, but honestly, the the fact that this story is not that realistic, that it feels more dreamy, I think, is what makes it compelling to me.

Does it make sense that they left Tokyo with literally nothing in their possession but the clothes on their backs, a bike, their wallets, and their phones? No. But that idea of literally dropping everything and running away without thinking about the details or planning anything out is a feeling that I think everyone has experienced at least once in their life and it's fun to see that wistful dream actually come true.

I was a tad annoyed though that they 'ran away' to Hii-chan's aunt's vacation home. As I noted above, the dream of running away usually means just going wherever the wind takes you and figuring things out when you get there, not having a family home you can fall back on. It kind of disrupted the vibe of the rest of the story for me, but I got over my distaste of that detail fairly quick. It just didn't end up feeling that important to me in the long run.

I really liked Naruko, and hope the three of them continue to be friends in the future. I also liked the bonus chapter, with Hii-chan commenting that her "body's just like this. Ain't much you can do" in regards to her sexual pleasure; it's always nice to see diversity in how women experience pleasure.

[Sol · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is kinda supposed to be a manga where two women finally rid themselves from the shackles of society and decide to do things their own way... but I can't explain it, to me this whole manga read as both of them having massive crashout and deciding to impulsively throw their entire lives away. They're privileged enough to be able to live in one of their aunts' gorgeous vacation home by the ocean, and besides that, they've totally destroyed their Tokyo life, and one of them was even in college and had a job and stopped going. I get that the conventional lifestyle of that was threatening to tear them apart, and I totally get the way a job hunt will utterly destroy your self-esteem, but for some reason to me this whole thing felt incredibly ill-advised. Maybe I'm too uptight to enjoy this type of story, but I just couldn't suspend my disbelief for this one, and would have liked to see it be a little more grounded in reality.

[Ani Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

The weight of university, job hunting, and future prospects is enough to make anyone feel as if they're drowning. The story follows 2 college girls, Haru and Hii-chan, as they're caught in the thick of it as they're looking to throw away expectations & start a new life on an island.

In the end, love and just winging-it isn't realistic enough to get by in life, but recognizing that their true happiness is each other & that love is a sacrifice is all that matters.

Overall: It was a quick read of only 16 chapters (3 volumes) and the plot was realistic enough to show 2 people who recognize they went over their heads with impulsiveness in wanting to escape reality for a bit. It just could've had a better ending vs the "damn back to reality it is" typa ending, but ig valid crashout.

[Zian B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a 3.5 star rating;
Really cute story so far and I like the dynamic between both of the women. I’m a bit cautious to get too attached to them though, since the story is so short.
Overall though, I’m eager to see how they progress on the island and what else happens for the cute couple.

[Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars. this one was a really cute and easy read about two girlfriends who decided to run away from the city life in favor of island life. they face challenges on the island but decide that it's not anything worse than what they were dealing with in Tokyo.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

surprisingly cute and sweet!! ahh, to be young again....able to throw caution to the wind and just start somewhere fresh with no plan and no money and no anything XD

[Astrid Gregovski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit nonsense, but earnest and sweet

[Paulette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine, I suppose, but if that’s how the plot is going to be, I’d like more smut please!

[Lydiah☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

cuteeeeeee

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet and simple yuri with gorgeous art, what more could you ask for?

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the topic was interesting, the art bothered me.

[Tristan Drystaru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Porté par un dessin soigné et des héroïnes expressives débordantes d’amour, "Un été vers l'inconnu avec toi" nous donne le sourire tout en nous touchant profondément, parlant à chacun et invitant à réfléchir sur la liberté, ainsi que sur le travail et l’argent qui la dictent.

[Ariel · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

[Juanitahaha · Rating 2 out of 5]

C’est cool mais un peu cucul la praline

[Sweetmusicwoman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute story that had me loving the main characters. I am starting the second book right away!

[Sy · Rating 5 out of 5]

so cute and wholesome and genuine, loved it

[Jacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

An offbeat yuri manga that doesn't necessarily take itself too seriously.