Things are slightly awkward between… everybody… but, in the aftermath of Tazune hitting her, Midori turns to Maki. And, of course, Maki lets her. There’s nowhere for this to go but up, or, perhaps, on vacation. Where we once again learn that the internet is not to be trusted.
Oh, this does so well in its second volume. So very well. I think this might end up as yet another short yuri series, but one that I’m quite content to recommend. We just need to see that landing, but even without it, this volume is fantastic.
This is a real step up from last time, even if it has some vicious lingering plot threads (oh, that photo’s going to be a thing) that are left to flap in the breeze. We see some serious avoidance strategy from Tazune and Midori over the whole hitting thing, which bodes so very well. The subtle touches in the art, like her flinching from his grasp, say so much with so little.
Honestly, the entire volume is a tapestry of lies, with the one stray thread of truth being Maki and her ability to be honest with herself. Yeah, seeing Midori might be toxic as hell, but she knows she could stop. She just doesn’t want to (at least she can acknowledge it).
And neither does Midori, but she’s such a strong deflector that they should use her to protect the Death Star. Her laugh is as nervous as it gets and you can really tell from the art and writing, which show some strong chops on the part of the mangaka. The art style continues to be a delightful change from typical manga art.
Naturally the two of them do what they do best and extricate themselves away on a vacation. But where to go? Surely there’s no reason to not visit Maki’s online friend, Komari…
And, for the most part, there is not. But, despite seeming like the “voice of wisdom best friend” that many lead characters have, Komari’s got her own issues. And, if she hasn’t quite bigged herself up to Maki, well, there’s certainly a difference between talking the talk and walking the walk.
Which turns out to be some gripping stuff. I love that yuri as a genre has expanded enough that we get nuanced and complicated characters instead of straight (uh, you know what I meant) class-s and high school stuff. I mean, they’re fine, but the variety is welcome.
The biggest chunk of this story is basically the aforementioned vacation and it is a real swerve from the main conflict, but it’s always there in the background. And if Midori starts to realize that maybe being happy is better than pretending that living a traditional life is for her? Well, that’s okay.
The blending of the unexpected conflict with Komari, who turns out to be very much a high school kid in some ways, with the ongoing drama of Maki and Midori is really excellent. It’s not simmering with tension, but more a melancholy as everybody is realizing that things could be better.
The way this is presented is honestly rather stellar. The Maki and Midori sections are presented with a near-fairytale quality to them, which both cleverly reflects Maki’s sentiments but also the fact that this is not real life for these two (not yet, anyway).
And Komari provides such an excellent counterpoint with her very, very grounded story of confused sexuality and reluctance to live the way she truly wants to. Can you tell I liked this? It’s a pip.
The ending might be some serious wish fulfillment, but it’s the kind that feels as doomed as possible from the get-go. Our leads are not children any more and that means they can’t keep on running from their lives. It promises to be a heck of a third volume.
4.5 stars - there’s a lot to chew on here and I enjoyed it all very, very much. It’s not often that I think the middle volumes of anything are the stellar parts, but this went in some surprising ways that really paid off.