Scaramanggga's Blog

Day 3/30 of the Yurithon:
It's only day three of my Yurithon, and I'm very concerned that its peaks will never reach this height ever again. So far, this is the only manga from the Yurithon that I've caught up to/completed; I mean, it's not difficult considering this is Day Three, and this yuri's only 34 chapters long. "A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow" had me fully on board for the ride... after the first eleven chapters. Yeah, I can't lie, just like with "She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat", the early chapters felt like a bit of a slog. To be honest, I wasn't even fully engaged with the first chapters; so much so, that I had to reread them just to get the story straight. The story and characters hadn't really hit their stride fast, and I was increasingly concerned that the story was just dull, and that MAL users have taken a felony-quantity of crack. But once I reached the Summer Festival, I was intrigued, and when I hit Amano's Amberjack performance at the beach, I was pretty much in for the long run. It also helps that this manga has some damn spectacular art and some actually interesting characters (once you get a sufficient number of chapters in). I was just as invested in the side characters as the main characters; their varied quirks made for some pretty funny scenes and I just ended up caring more for the main throughline of this manga.

Loneliness is a topic that isn't really discussed in romance/slice-of-life manga, and I get it. General audiences should be enamored and made envious by the chemistry between two people, not having an existential crisis on what it means to be important to someone, and how to deal with not having them around. Audiences should be able to immerse themselves in another world with a spectrum of difference to their own lives, not have to delve into what frightens people to the core. It doesn't matter if you're a teenager fixated on just passing high school and getting a girlfriend, or a billionaire staring at ants from your ivory tower; the fear of loneliness pierces beyond the physical plane and strikes everyone. This is the only manga I've read that truly tackles loneliness as the nightmare that it is, and that truly resonated with me on an emotional level. I've always questioned whether my friends really "liked" or appreciated me as much as I did for them. I've had what feel like endless periods of time where I had my people in my corner, but I still ask myself, "Why do I feel so lonely?" Yeah, there were people that had my back, but that nagging feeling in my heart still remained. I'd be delusional to say that a manga had the solution to loneliness; yuri might be a gift from the Heavens, but maybe Hell runs deeper. What this manga does achieve is a bittersweet answer. Yes, loneliness is a nightmare, and it might just plague you forever, but whether you think it or not, there'll always be someone there. And hopefully, they'll be there to tell you these words: "It's gonna' be okay." Lord knows I could've used them.

9/10

Day 2/30 of the Yurithon:
Sakaomi Yuzaki cooked and cleaned, so you best believe I creamed. I clocked out at 35 chapters, and only didn't continue because I didn't want to burn myself out; if I wasn't going to read 28 more yuri in a row, I probably would have finished up to date. After reading "Yuru Yuri", I was worried that MAL users were smoking marijuana, and I adjusted my expectations accordingly; my expectations were blown out of the stratosphere. Unfortunately, the early story (up until chapter tenish) definitely suffers from some sluggishness and a lack of clear direction; the main relationship doesn't necessarily progress and the characters kind of spin their wheels. Where the story really picks itself up is in the subsequent chapters, with the introduction of side characters and raw, unadulterated discussions of cultural norms, family expectations and (obviously) sexual orientation. This yuri actually took the time to reflect the characters' backstories and relationship against the ever-changing cultural and social environment. Everytime a content warning preceded a chapter, I perked up and straightened my posture, for I was about to be reading peak. Maybe it's just because this is one of the first yuri I've really sunk my teeth into, but I was very pleasantly surprised. It also helps that this yuri doesn't rely on "spicyness" or gimmicks. What I thought was a gimmick in the cooking-and-eating thing is actually utilised really well to represent the mentalities, backstories and positions of the characters. I found myself truly invested in the relationship between the main characters, and I can't wait to catch up and see where the story takes them, as well as the side characters.

8/10

Anime Relations: Yuru Yuri

Day 1/30 of the Yurithon:
"Yuru Yuri" was a peculiar yuri to begin my Yurithon with. It's unfortunate to say that I called it quits pretty early on this one: five chapters in. I genuinely haven't a clue why this was rated so highly on MAL; I guess it just wasn't for me. But that begs the question: who is this for? There's not really any drama or romance; I guess this is just cute girls (no Diddy) doing cute things. The gist of the story is that a few middle school girls start an amusement club while secretly occupying the tea ceremony club's room, and they get into weird and wacky hijinks. Yeah, no, this definitely wasn't for me. Also, that one girl repeating "bakkan Buckingham" (or something along the lines of that) really annoyed me. On top of that, I did not need to discover that Akari's literal older sister was into incest yuri, and that the student council's friend (who's thirteenish, mind you) wanted to have a sexiness competition between two girls, similar to her own age. I'm good; I definitely don't need more "Yuru Yuri" in my life.

5/10