Shiroi Heya no Futari

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1971, Japans first Yuri manga is published: Shiroi Heya no Futari.
Truly somethings that holds well on it's own, and started an entire genre of dramatic school lesbians in anime and manga. Couple of the white room is simple, short, and bittersweet. The dynamic between stereotypical blonde haired naive Resine and matured, sharp eyed Simone works perfectly for 80 pages.
Very representative of it's time with it's highly stylized 70's shoujo trademarks: sparkling eyes, clean thick lines, decorative side panels, and existential melodramatic narrative.
For something so short there is not much to nitpick other than it seeming inevitably weak to those used to ... the current state of 100+ chapter stories. Rather Shiroi Heya no Futari is here for it's legacy.
Oh and also mad respect to queen Yamagashi Ryouko.

I want to correct something a previous reviewer said. This story is *tragic,* not melodramatic. Tragedy is a portrayal of deep sorrow or despair which could have been avoided, melodrama is soap opera he-said-she-said. The mangaka clearly portrayed Simone, the out lesbian, as a mature character above drama. This is why, in one scene, Simone has to pull the tea cup away from her straight? girlfriend.

I blame American television for the problem some people have telling the difference between tragedy and melodrama.

Yes, it is indeed the first published yuri manga. I'm glad that it was, because the mangaka paved the way for yuri to ... become a meaningful genre, often more original and more artistic than straight romantic-comedy.

“The Couple in the White Room” is a fun but cheap thrill which just so happens to be what many consider the first true Yuri. This manga can come off as needlessly dramatic and exploitative of marginalized experiences, but both despite and because of that, I would highly recommend consuming this book as the trashy pulp novel it is. If you let yourself be drawn into the vortex of emotion there are striking moments that run at a decent pace. This may not be the most memorable Yuri, but I would happily give this a soft recommendation to anyone who is undeterred by the Tragedy ... genre.