Eclair has risen from a very tepid first volume to be my most reliably performing yuri anthology. Now we have Eclair Rouge - another collection of romantic stories, mixing in the old and new.
Both returning instalments are really good. I had forgotten that the opening story was a continuation of a previous storyline about a school princess with a dark side. This one has always had a mean streak, but this entry redeemed it a lot in my eyes. I’d love to see it come back but, even if it never does, it finishes in a good place.
Next, Lord help me, I’ve started to really come to enjoy Canno’s story of the high school girl who wants to keep a lazy woman in luxury. This one is a very cute example of the author screwing with the reader’s expectations.
Two more fantastical stories are also highlights. Nio Nakatani has a near-future story about the lengths one might go to to spend time with one’s crush and, while very predictable, it has a charm I enjoyed.
The other such story, about a girl who can read minds when she looks in peoples’ eyes and her friend, is my favourite story here. She refuses to look her friend in the eyes and you can expect no narrative surprises here either. The art (minus the hands, yikes) really sells the climax and it has an adorable ending. It’s very simple, but executed just right.
The rest of the volume (with two exceptions) all manage to be at least good and some are great. A real estate story offers the hottest moment for me (fully clothed, no less!). One involving headphones goes in a direction I wasn’t expecting and ends on a wonderful melancholy beat that made it my second favourite story.
Sweet horoscopes, unexpected confessions, kissing practice, and, indeed, complicated hatred round out the better offerings. There is a lot of good content in here.
Not every story is good, obviously. The last story is, unfortunately, lame in both story and art and finishes the book on a down note (it feels very unsure of itself, randomly referencing a panda at the end for no reason).
There is another story about two girls dating which goes flying off the rails as one tries to decide whether to match up her partner with a friend who has a crush, like her girlfriend is a piece of property she can assign to somebody else. That one actively annoyed me.
3.5 stars, rounded up because this was a very consistent volume, minus those last two stories. It doesn’t quite hit the highs of the last two for me, but it handily retains its crown as the queen of yuri anthologies.