Post by gabriellavedier on Aug 21, 2008 7:01:42 GMT -5
As the title references, I'm adding a touch of variety to things, with a review of something sweet and pure. Or at least, lily-inspired.
"The Last Uniform" is, so far, a two volume manga series. Art and writing by Mera Hakamada, published by Seven Seas Entertainment, as part of it's "Strawberry" series. The Strawberry series is their run of yuri (girl/girl) titles. About d**n time they had it. I've seen a million Yaoi/June series marks on manga spines, now I can look for one that means it has girls in love. As you can tell, I do so love cute girl love.
The plot is fairly unstructured. There really is no grand, arcing plot. It follows a slice-of-life format: Characters are highlighted, and a small knot of them are the central part of the story, with outer folk occasionally coming in to interact and set off a new chain reaction of events.
The central characters, those most often given time are: Ai, a young, no-nonsense-type who rooms with Fuuko, who is a clumsy, happy-go-lucky sort. Near the start of the series they are joined in their room by Anzu, who seems happy just to have roommates. The dorm's house-minder is Tsumugi, a very serious, somewhat intimidating older girl, who does Kendo in her spare time. She is friends with popular pretty-girl Beniko, who everyone seems to have a crush on. Including lecherous, pervy Kisaragi, a girl who is completely obsessed with Beniko. Her gofer, general stooge and writer-in-waiting is the rounded, bespectacled quiet girl Tamami.
As is befitting a high school drama, the relationships are somewhat tangled, but far less so than most such stories. Just keep a record of who has expressed interest in whom and it all resolves itself out quite nicely. I'll let you discover the relationships yourself, but suffice to say, they're rather cute, and a little sad sometimes, especially in the last story of volume two. The storylines are all very brisk, and don't tend to drag on, with a fair mix of drama, conflict and comedy, with bits of fan service sprinkled in for effect (Most notably Tsumugi's nude scene that was never meant to be seen at all.)
In all, a very nice series thus far, worth reading and re-reading, for the story and artwork. Available at larger bookstores and specialty import stores.
"The Last Uniform" is, so far, a two volume manga series. Art and writing by Mera Hakamada, published by Seven Seas Entertainment, as part of it's "Strawberry" series. The Strawberry series is their run of yuri (girl/girl) titles. About d**n time they had it. I've seen a million Yaoi/June series marks on manga spines, now I can look for one that means it has girls in love. As you can tell, I do so love cute girl love.
The plot is fairly unstructured. There really is no grand, arcing plot. It follows a slice-of-life format: Characters are highlighted, and a small knot of them are the central part of the story, with outer folk occasionally coming in to interact and set off a new chain reaction of events.
The central characters, those most often given time are: Ai, a young, no-nonsense-type who rooms with Fuuko, who is a clumsy, happy-go-lucky sort. Near the start of the series they are joined in their room by Anzu, who seems happy just to have roommates. The dorm's house-minder is Tsumugi, a very serious, somewhat intimidating older girl, who does Kendo in her spare time. She is friends with popular pretty-girl Beniko, who everyone seems to have a crush on. Including lecherous, pervy Kisaragi, a girl who is completely obsessed with Beniko. Her gofer, general stooge and writer-in-waiting is the rounded, bespectacled quiet girl Tamami.
As is befitting a high school drama, the relationships are somewhat tangled, but far less so than most such stories. Just keep a record of who has expressed interest in whom and it all resolves itself out quite nicely. I'll let you discover the relationships yourself, but suffice to say, they're rather cute, and a little sad sometimes, especially in the last story of volume two. The storylines are all very brisk, and don't tend to drag on, with a fair mix of drama, conflict and comedy, with bits of fan service sprinkled in for effect (Most notably Tsumugi's nude scene that was never meant to be seen at all.)
In all, a very nice series thus far, worth reading and re-reading, for the story and artwork. Available at larger bookstores and specialty import stores.