Syrup: Yuri Anthology
Syrup: A Yuri Anthology

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I have currently read volume one and two of this series so I can only speak for these two. Vol 1 had excellent stories about very relatable and realistic characters. I enjoyed every story, the characters were mature, and the relationships were consensual.
Volume 2 completely blindsided me as the types of relationships were UNwholesome to say the least, with many of the relationships being predatory and manipulative. I understand that this an anthology so some of the stories will be very different from each other, but it seems like these two volumes were curated with completely different creative intents behind them. Although I still ... did enjoy a couple of the stories in volume two, it pales in comparison to volume one.
The art in both volumes is incredible even the stories I dislike. I look forward to reading more!

As the name implies, Syrup a compilation of short and sweet one-shots from both established and up-and-coming yuri authors alike. Each volume has a single theme around which the authors are free to build their stories. Due to this creative freedom, the stories have next to nothing in common with each other besides said theme. The stories run the gamut from G-rated slice-of-life to S&M erotica, although rest assured that it never gets pornographic. The art is great and Morinaga Milk headlines the first three volumes, what's there not to like? Well, it's hard to talk about individual stories without divulging spoilers when the stories ... are so condensed, so I'm going to talk about the volumes at large instead so you know what you're in for:

The first volume has the theme 'shakaijin yuri', a yuri subgenre about the lives and struggles of grown-up working women that has seen a boom in popularity in the last decade to the point that one can find anthologies dedicated to it alone. I can't say anything about shakaijin yuri that hasn't already been said, but I can say for sure that the variety of the stories here appeal to a wide audience and the authors managed to come up with creative settings that leave the reader craving for more chapters.

The second volume 'secret' has the theme of forbidden love, from taboos like infidelity and stalking to... rather absurd stories. It's the least likeable of the bunch for those who just want mainstream love stories but it'd certainly pique the interest of those looking for something different. Some of the stories are straightforward romantic intrigues, some of them are off-kilter and gritty, and some of them are eyebrow-raising left-fielders but none of them are can be called unoriginal at the very least.

The third and fourth volumes 'night' and 'honey' share the theme of 'the first night'. Unsurprisingly, they have the highest amount of clichéd tropes and sexual content (I mean, hey, it's what the audience wants), but I nonetheless found them quite enjoyable because one can never have enough fluffy feel-good stories if they're written well. Despite the predictable theme, watch out that saccharine candies and bittersweet candies have the same coating. These two volumes would probably appeal to mainstream readers the most (and to fans of Morishima Akiko's style of storytelling).

The fifth volume 'pure' has the theme 'onērori' (that is, relationship between a young girl and an older one). I've always avoided this subgenre but felt the obligation to read the last volume of this otherwise splendid anthology and was pleasantly surprised to find out that not only is it devoid of sexual content, but many (admittedly not all) of the stories don't have any romantic content either. They instead focus on what Miyazawa Iori once called 'great unidentified emotion' (巨大不明感情) — emotional connection between women (interdependence, healing, support, safety, admiration and so on) that conceptually underlies yuri as a whole, and these stories in particular genuinely work out quite well. As this concept isn't quite as popular in the West, coupled with the initially off-putting premise, it's no wonder this volume was left out of English localisation.

Anthologies have a very important purpose in the small but vibrant art movement that is yuri. They incubate aspiring authors and serve as a creative outlet for ideas that might not make it into larger works or merit publication as standalone works in the eyes of publishers. Syrup is overall a great sampler of the ethos and artistic currents of the yuri scene of the recent years and I decided to dedicate my first ever review to it after more than a decade on this website.

PS: At the time of writing, only these five volumes have been published and I don't expect there to be a sixth one, although it's still marked as 'ongoing' on MAL.