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Conditions of Paradise
The Conditions of Paradise
Two women in their twenties fall in love and learn to navigate work, a relationship, and adulthood.
Sarina is a sensible, level-headed office worker who likes to plan everything down to the smallest detail. But one thing she didn’t plan was falling for her best friend, flighty freelance writer Sumi! Can the two women make a relationship work despite their very different lifestyles?
Sarina is a sensible, level-headed office worker who likes to plan everything down to the smallest detail. But one thing she didn’t plan was falling for her best friend, flighty freelance writer Sumi! Can the two women make a relationship work despite their very different lifestyles?
180 pages, Paperback
First published December 18, 2007
14 people are currently reading
381 people want to read
About the author
Akiko Morishima
30 books26 followersAkiko MORISHIMA (森島 明子) is a Japanese manga artist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
December 31, 2019
A sweet (at times bittersweet) yuri/shoujo-ai manga featuring several short stories and couples. I quite loved that we got so many couples. There is one couple (the main couple as I would call them) who gets 3 chapters of this volume and I was happy they did as their story was interesting) and while I wasn't a fan of all of the the girls (Momoka just annoyed the heck out of me) I still loved the stories I got. My favourite couple? The girl from the tree, that one was beautiful, bittersweet, but beautiful.
I also quite liked the art in this one. Not always, but often the art was really pretty.
I also quite liked the art in this one. Not always, but often the art was really pretty.
March 23, 2020
if you like your gay romances extra sweet with only a dewdrop of bedside content, then yeah it's fine it's cute it's probably for you
but i like my gay romances smuttier and grittier than what this has to offer
but i like my gay romances smuttier and grittier than what this has to offer
January 9, 2022
This was a really cute collection of w/w stories! I wish it wasn't an anthology though. I thought it was going to be a series following one couple. I think the stories were done really well though and fit well for the shortness. I think my favorite was the one with the art teacher and the student.
May 21, 2020
(4.5/5)
February 27, 2020
Not quite as good as 半熟女子 1 Hanjuku Joshi 1 , but still totally lovely.
Full review eventually appearing on ANN.
Full review eventually appearing on ANN.
April 21, 2020
2020 Read #351
Cute series of yuri one-shots, but despite the cover it’s actually very tame. I just wish there could have been a bit more depth since the stories were rather fluffy (not a bad thing, just not what I expected).
Cute series of yuri one-shots, but despite the cover it’s actually very tame. I just wish there could have been a bit more depth since the stories were rather fluffy (not a bad thing, just not what I expected).
August 15, 2022
Antología de historias yuri. Por la portada esperaba que fuese más explícita, pero las historias han estado bien así que me sirve.
June 28, 2023
3,5
Just any old wholesome f/f anthology. In other words: it's cute, and that's good enough for me.
Thank you for the meal.
Just any old wholesome f/f anthology. In other words: it's cute, and that's good enough for me.
Thank you for the meal.
February 18, 2025
I haven’t read a manga before but my very beautiful girlfriend gifted this to me and I just love lesbians. The art style was very beautiful. The first and last stories were my favorite.
December 2, 2025
Some fluffy love stories with older characters which was a refreshing change. But I didn't know it was a bunch of shorts. Oh well. It's fine.
April 1, 2020
I have a really poor batting average when it comes to yuri anthologies and this one is certainly better than some I’ve read, but still not great.
The first two couples are the best part of the book and it sort of slides down from there. The first couple is a pretty standard romance, though well done, but the second pair of the older artist with the younger woman is so good I wish they had their own series.
Seriously, they have a sweet relationship and the best rapport and the artist’s goofy roomies add just the right amount of spice to things - it’s great to see two allies from opposite sides of the yuri perspective who also happen to be utterly useless.
After that things become a lot more ‘eh’. The cherry blossom story is pretty sweet in its way, but (and admittedly I may be wrong) it feels like modern era progressiveness stapled on to folklore.
The other pairings are just meh and basically used up pages, far as I was concerned. The author explains a lot of her choices during the afterword, which is great, but they still did nothing for me.
Still, I’d recommend it for the first two sections alone. That’s probably where I’ll stop in the future on re-reads. Bonus points for most of these stories focusing on working class females, which is always a plus in these anthologies.
The first two couples are the best part of the book and it sort of slides down from there. The first couple is a pretty standard romance, though well done, but the second pair of the older artist with the younger woman is so good I wish they had their own series.
Seriously, they have a sweet relationship and the best rapport and the artist’s goofy roomies add just the right amount of spice to things - it’s great to see two allies from opposite sides of the yuri perspective who also happen to be utterly useless.
After that things become a lot more ‘eh’. The cherry blossom story is pretty sweet in its way, but (and admittedly I may be wrong) it feels like modern era progressiveness stapled on to folklore.
The other pairings are just meh and basically used up pages, far as I was concerned. The author explains a lot of her choices during the afterword, which is great, but they still did nothing for me.
Still, I’d recommend it for the first two sections alone. That’s probably where I’ll stop in the future on re-reads. Bonus points for most of these stories focusing on working class females, which is always a plus in these anthologies.
May 4, 2020
While rated for older teens, I have a hard time seeing how Akiko Morishima's The Conditions of Paradise might hold their attention. There are several story vignettes in this collection, but the plots are either non-existent or they're vacuous, nor are we given compelling characters to fill the void. Worse, the young women presented in these pages give the impression of being simple-minded or simpering.
Except.
Except for "Princess Sakura in the Flurry of Flowers," a lovely fairy tale about a cherry tree who loves a princess and whom is turned into a woman by Heaven, so the couple have a chance at love. To me, the author-artist put the most effort into this story, both in terms of plot and artwork. The afterword is also much more interesting than the rest of the other stories.
Most of the art is, at best, fair to average, with faces drawn with annoying, vacant eyes; only minimal attention is given to composition and page design (it's not horrible, just pathetically average), and, similarly, little attention is paid to the distribution of values within and across pages. There are funny moments, although I'm not sure they're intentional.
Except.
Except for "Princess Sakura in the Flurry of Flowers," a lovely fairy tale about a cherry tree who loves a princess and whom is turned into a woman by Heaven, so the couple have a chance at love. To me, the author-artist put the most effort into this story, both in terms of plot and artwork. The afterword is also much more interesting than the rest of the other stories.
Most of the art is, at best, fair to average, with faces drawn with annoying, vacant eyes; only minimal attention is given to composition and page design (it's not horrible, just pathetically average), and, similarly, little attention is paid to the distribution of values within and across pages. There are funny moments, although I'm not sure they're intentional.
June 9, 2020
A collection of 3 or 4 short stories. The first one was awesome and deserves 5 stars. The second leaned to heavy on a old / young theme to be good. The third went back to a normal kind of anime story though only good enough for like 3 stars. The last one seemed good and reminded me of Kamisama Kiss for some reason.
The first story was the reason why I bought the book and it was good enough on its own though it seemed rushed towards the end as it had to fit inside of 18 pages. Still I remember it being the best out of all of them.
The reason why it took me 3 days to read is like I only read it when away from home so not from beginning to ending kind of thing.
The first story was the reason why I bought the book and it was good enough on its own though it seemed rushed towards the end as it had to fit inside of 18 pages. Still I remember it being the best out of all of them.
The reason why it took me 3 days to read is like I only read it when away from home so not from beginning to ending kind of thing.
April 22, 2020
Cute vignettes! I loved every one and they all left me wanting more.
Additionally, as an older queer, I loved how the stories feature characters older than high school.
I want more from Akiko Morishima!
Thank you Seven Seas for all the Yuri you’ve published and continue doing so.
Additionally, as an older queer, I loved how the stories feature characters older than high school.
I want more from Akiko Morishima!
Thank you Seven Seas for all the Yuri you’ve published and continue doing so.
May 8, 2021
I wish the stories were a bit longer in some of the cases. I loved the conditions of paradise series, we strive for love and peach savior and the Princess Sakura in the flurry of flowers. I found the remains good but not quite my style.
October 22, 2021
I.... don't know what I expected but I got kind of disappointed. It's cute and sweet but there's not much content, substance to it. So... not really my cup of tea. I think the fist couple is the one I enjoyed the most.
May 24, 2020
A good collection of yuri love, with several stories of adult romances, which is always a nice thing to see.
February 3, 2021
I really enjoyed the first and last stories, but all the ones in the middle were sort of meh for me.
July 30, 2021
I loved all the stories! It was so cute and sweet!
July 27, 2022
Love this.
August 7, 2022
The main story was cute, but man. Some of the stories just fall flat. Except for the last one. That one had gotten my heartstrings.
December 27, 2022
Really cute sapphic anthologies, the stories are a little lacking because of their length but none the less. My favorite is the college prep story and the princess story easily!
March 11, 2023
a yuri "short story" collection with a couple misses. I just really didn't like the age gaps or the focus on youth in a few of the stories, but really enjoyed the "fairy tale" story that ends the collection. worth picking up for that one and the first couple stories that open this manga.
December 1, 2023
This is very cute but, imo 20 to 60 pages of manga is not enough to really sell me on a romance
February 1, 2022
This Japanese yuri manga includes a series of sweet (and also bittersweet) one-shots. Pretty much an anthology. I really liked this one despite giving it three stars. It's a perfect choice if you're in a slump or if you're looking for some lighthearted book to read.
December 26, 2024
Despite the cover, this wasn't really spicy at all- which I knew from flipping through the book. I hadn't realized this was an anthology, but everything was from the same author. The art was really nice, and while not perfect a cute set of stories. As always, rounding up for lgbt.
July 6, 2015
I thought it was confusing, but that's because it was my first manga. I didn't realize until my second manga, that I had just been reading the panels in the wrong direction. It's a sweet little love story.
March 26, 2022
too sugary for my personal tastes but all the characters lesbians. i’m not, like, DIFFICULT
May 21, 2022
Cute!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews