Adachi to Shimamura

Jun 6, 2020

-YaniHan-

Recommended

Preliminary (35/? chp)

My decision to start reading this novel was after I started reading the manga adaptation (Moke's version), as a friend's recommendation, she said I was missing a lot of the point of view of the two MCs. She was completely right.

It is from the perspectives of Adachi and Shimamura, two friends who met at the start of the high school year. The first volume starts about a month after that. The premise is relatively simple but the way it is executed is simply magnificent.

This is not like in other books. In other Japanese romance books, both sides are usually at least a little interested in ...

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May 14, 2020

arcaneghost_

Recommended

Preliminary (35/? chp)

Honestly, Adachi and Shimamura’s story is one of the best out there in the yuri/lesbian media. It’s not your typical slow burn, angst-romance story. Something I really get annoyed with is that 90% of female characters in shoujo act like genuinely good people. I know that’s something weird to get annoyed with, but it just doesn’t feel real or human. Everyone has selfish desires, everyone goes through this limbo of not knowing what to do with their lives, we question our existence and we wonder whether we are good people despite our flaws. Adachi and Shimamura's story not only takes time to build the most ...

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May 15, 2020

emmeka

Recommended

Preliminary (57/? chp)

Adachi and Shimamura is, simply put, yuri's masterpiece - if not perhaps one of the greatest romance series to grace light novels as a medium. It is a shame that it remains little known and that most people come to the series by way of the incomplete anime and manga adaptations, which fail to grasp most of the nuance and introspection from the novels. Do yourself a favour and read this, even if light novels aren't usually what you opt for. It's just that good.

-Characters- 10/10

The main duo are the highlight of this series, and certainly some of the best written and most relatable out ... of all the yuri I have read. Both are extremes of emotional states all of us have felt at one time or another, and both are fundamentally flawed human beings, an improvement over the contrast of plain and perfect that makes up the usual leads in romantic fiction. Both main characters are delinquents (in their own words) at the beginning of the story. It is their gradual emotional development, both in general and towards one another, that makes up the substance of the series.

First, we have Shimamura. Shimamura is a reasonably functional and sociable teenage girl who just has no real attachment to life. Relationships with others, hobbies, school - she is unwilling to put in anything beyond the bare minimum effort towards them, being herself completely disinterested in all things. She is passive, never taking initiative, never voicing any preference or resistance about where the flow of time carries her. If you had to sum her up in a word, she is listless. It is this listlessness which causes her to skip class, and it is her indifference which initially causes her to accept Adachi's own flaws and behaviour without a fuss.

Adachi, on the other hand, is Shimamura's opposite. She is painfully unsociable, and aware of it. She finds herself totally incapable of connecting with others or even conversing with them smoothly, the entire experience of it is grating and difficult to her. She is a loner in every sense of the word, without a single substantial relationship in her life, even with her own family. It is this suffocating loneliness which causes her to skip class, causing her to encounter the indifferent and all-accepting Shimamura, the first person she ever truly wants to interact with.

The main pair are complemented by a suite of minor characters, who appear both in their own self-contained mini-stories and in the main chapters. Namely, there are the main pair's classmates who attempt to befriend Shimamura: the cheery and petite Hino, and her childhood friend the busty and airheaded Nagafuji. These two are very entertaining and often the source of comedy in the series, and their grounded and open natures are the perfect foil to the main characters.

On top of those two, recurring characters are both main characters' mothers (who are decidedly present in the series and have characterization of their own, against light novel norm); Shimamura's estranged childhood friend Tarumi, Shimamura's shy but energetic little sister; as well as Yashiro, an enigmatic being who proclaims herself to be an alien that seems to be possessed of supernatural powers. While the latter might seem out of place in the series, her presence is oddly fitting. Yashiro is given a fairly large amount of the series' text and at one point or another forms bonds or interferes with every character in the series. Her guileless attitude and honesty often serves as contrast to the emotional deficits of other characters, to their benefit and to the benefit of the story.

-Story- 8/10

Fundamentally a slice-of-life series, there isn't much plot to speak of to the series besides the slow but steady advance of the relationship between the main characters as the months and seasons come to pass. The story is told primarily in the form of alternating moments of day-to-day life from either Adachi's perspective or Shimamura's. Almost all of the text itself is made up of the two's inner thoughts and dialogue, giving you an idea of how character-driven rather than plot-driven the story is. For people who don't normally enjoy slice-of-life, they may initially find this lack of anything substantial occurring to be dull. They may also find the rate at which the romance progresses to be painfully slow - whole volumes can pass without any sort of major development. However, though drawn out, there is substantial character progression in this series to make up for the lack of more dramatic plot.

Though it is slow-going, the romantic development in the series is painfully good. By that, I mean it is very realistic for a couple of awkward teenagers going through the unease of gay romance. Adachi especially spends page after page agonizing over her feelings, testing herself, trying to decide what it is she actually feels and how to communicate it. She is ashamed and unsure, and you can sympathize. Adachi is aware that she isn't very good at her romantic overtures, but she persists through all discomfort regardless. The result is both endearing and hilarious in various doses. Shimamura in turn is hard to hate, she wonders what it is she wants from Adachi, or from others more broadly, and how to react to Adachi's intense feelings and actions. Both make plenty of mistakes in these efforts along the way. You can find yourself laughing and having your heartstrings pulled in the same chapter, with both humour and heartache generally being caused by the aloof Shimamura's reactions to Adachi's angst.

There is also the subplot of Tarumi, Shimamura's best friend in elementary school. Tarumi and Shimamura try to awkwardly bridge the years they've spent apart, and both want to grow close to one another again - to the detriment of the jealous Adachi. She seems poised to play the roll of the rival-in-love to Adachi, but since the story is still ongoing at the time of this review, she has yet to play a major role.

Additionally, those larger chapters are usually interspersed by brief 2-3 page vignettes from the lives and perspectives of other minor characters, such as their classmates Hino and Nagafuji, Shimamura's little sister Shou, or the mysterious blue-haired alien girl Yashiro. And yes, you did just read "alien girl" again, there is some subtle and unique magical realism to this series in the form of not only Yashiro but also seemingly genuinely powerful fortune tellers, none of which is elaborated on to an extent that you'd call it a subplot. Like the main characters do, you are supposed to accept their existence at face value as a part of the scenery.

-Overall- 9/10

To summarize, of the dozens of yuri series I have read or watched, this is by far my favourite. It's been quite a few years since any novel made me laugh aloud and then nearly brought me to tears the way this one has. I wholeheartedly recommend it and can barely wait for translation of it to continue.

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Oct 2, 2020

LeynaSept

Recommended

Preliminary (25/? chp)

A good yuri slice of life. It justifies both of those genres.

It's rare to see true slow burn yuri. Most of these usually end up being yuri-bait. But this series feels like a yuri even without the need to interject makeout scenes.
The character are realistically dense. Within the first volume both characters have a thought of the other/themselves potentially being gay (though they try not to give much thought to it as that'll cause problems). It's rare for characters to have this kind of awareness.
Finishing each volume, you can always feel a step of progress, however slow it may be. This is a ... very slow romance yet you can feel a satisfactory level of progress, and it feels like the author will actually eventually go all the way. With most slow yuri romances at a certain point you feel a lost of hope for the pair reaching true romance but this series progresses towards it so naturally that it's easy to continue rooting.

Plot wise. It is a rather dull concept, but it is entertaining how the author develops this concept as much as they can. Most slice of life are pretty much just pure comedy, which is not the tone I'm looking for in slice of life. This series has a more relaxing feel more it, perfect for a slice of life. The two main pair have an interesting relationship, their friendship was barely established and they haven't been friends for long. At times they mostly just say what they feel like and then just rest in silence. It's like they have a silent agreement with each other? Well their interactions make for a nice slice of life feel.

Can I also say how relatable this is? This book is pretty good at describing what first romances are like. Even the part where you can even be a little creepy about it lol.

How the author writes the characters are great too. They all feel realistic with their own unique values. They always do things that line up with their natural values. Though they can be out of character which just adds onto the realism. They also seem like teenagers, not like some mature adults or little girls. They seem like fully aware teenagers, maybe a tad bit philosophical at times but fully natural otherwise.

Though if I had some complaints, there is one certain out of place character that, in the first volume they seemed too involved. But they aren't as much of a problem past that point.

Now I'm going to compare the Seven Seas translation and the Fan Translation. I prefer the Seven Seas translation for the voices of the characters. The fan translation makes them read kind of too stiff and formal and the air can be kind of stuck-up. The Seven Seas translation makes them feel more like proper teenagers, using proper slag that somehow isn't obnoxious but feels natural.

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Jul 21, 2021

ShoujoAiHentai

Recommended

Preliminary (51/? chp)

Have you ever read a book, or watched a show, that changed the scale of every other piece of media? Like it fried your chemical receptors so much that everything else is second class? For me, that's what Adachi to Shimamura is.

This series of light novels follows Sakura Adachi, and Hougetsu Shimamura as they interact in their high school years. Yes, it's a Shoujo Ai romance, and that is indeed the main topic.

However, there are so many more themes and character interactions that make it feel like so much more. Many of these interactions are flush with melancholy, apathy, sloth, and... wait, that ...

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Oct 19, 2021

Kahirama

Recommended

Preliminary (5/? chp)

This is my first review but I really want to write down how I feel about AdaShima.

I picked up the novel after the first episodes of the anime and the main reason was obviously the yuri. It looked decent and I just needed something new. However, I didn't expect I would read all the 9 volumes in a single week. The way it is written just made it so easy. It's a big slow burn, especially the romance part, but the development paid off so much. There isn't any huge drama, the best way to describe it is that it's quite down to earth, despite ...

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Oct 12, 2021

ahsx

Recommended

Preliminary (10/? chp)

Being somewhat related to psychological realism with minor (probably one detail that may be very meaningful to readers) magical/fantastical elements, this light novel develops the narrative and plot in such a way that not only brings rich detail to the characters' thoughts (being a narrative in first person), but it also plays perfectly with one of the main characteristics of psychological realism, by having lifelike portrayals of decisions and reflexions (confuse, introspective, often irrational) that happen before, between and after each choice.

The plot, for most of the time, has a "physical" part that doesn't feel that meaningful, comparable to a slice-of-life, what ...

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Apr 19, 2021

Bunnysnatcher

Recommended

Preliminary (9/? chp)

This LN series is very easy to read, I read 9 volumes in 2 and a half days so it was really good enough to binge it. The characters are very likeable and grow on you during a very cute story.

The yuri side of the story did not bother me. It projected rather pure teenage feelings and doubts that go together with being a teenager.

In this series the only thing I found that was missing was something like an act of god, a hurdle imposed on the couple or something similar from outside for them to overcome to make them grow as ...

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Jul 6, 2021

Grey_Anime

Recommended

Preliminary (2/? chp)

I picked up this light novel a few months after watching the anime. This is my first light novel and I enjoy it! I love the art style for Adachi to Shimamura, that was actually the reason why I started it. The characters are good but I don't really understand the astronaut girl. It's a good yuri story. Overall I've enjoyed reading it so far and would recommended reading it. Also If you enjoyed the light novel you will also enjoy the anime and vise versa.

Apparently my review isn't long enough so I'll say random stuff.
Adachi and Shimamura is one of my favorite ships. ...

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Dec 2, 2022

KrenZane

Recommended

Preliminary (59/? chp)

Adachi and Shimamura is what results in a blend between two sets of rather opposite ingredients with their own special effects and preferable gourmet utilization, which unexpectedly coalesce so smoothly and naturally by the support of destiny and fate into a compound of pure, wholesome romance between two girls.

The primary sensation I have of reading Adachi and Shimamura for the past 3-4 months is one that one might feel on a journey on the boundless bodies of water, where the mode of transportation constantly changes, ranging from a relaxing afternoon on a lifebuoy as I feel the waves moving me so and so, to and ... fro, an experience on a cruise ship with minimal personnel, and to a deep underwater dive as I transform into a purebred marine creature exploring the sensibilities of human persons in the likes of our main characters--where in every expedition, a shore is present, perfectly allocated in the most appropriate coordinates such that the reader would experience comfortable pacing and feel a sort of longing on both terrestrial and aquatic territories as they travel from one place to another, thus an appreciation for both the yin and the yang and the two pairs of ingredients arises.

I mention the abundance of travel, but truly, the momentum is that of a casual stroll to the gardens most of the time, as one carefully appreciates each and every species of flower present. You cannot feel seasick reading the light novel--on the contrary, actually. The passage of time progresses with grace, and you are inclined to embrace nature and its elements.

To talk about the series more concretely, I heavily adore how the guide leads us uphill even after the supposed peak of majority of romance stories--the confession and the getting-together. In Adachi to Shimamura, it only gets better in the succeeding events as the payoff from several volumes of the developmental stage provides much more substance to itself and its previous parts, the satisfaction coming from the realization of Adachi's dreams as the cherry blossom tree finally blooms affectionate, love-filled leaves following a whole youth's worth in the cryosphere, and the understanding of Shimamura and her own efforts to actually start to care about other people, shaving away the ice she's incased in, rendering her feet incapable of motion. The acknowledgment of dates, hand-holdings, sleepovers, bicycle rides, ping-pong matches, weird boomerang usages, a long, long time of overthinking, sleepless nights, self-loathing, inertia, listlessness, and meaninglessness, all efforts of the two girls are rewarded, and continue to be, by the hard work of our two protagonists.

The prose is consistent and is written in a style which develops the centralized characters individually, and then the execution weaves the many subtle and clear metaphors together to form a cast filled with tranquil chemistry. The characters are usually likened using the elements of nature: animals, non-living entities, temperature, and so forth. Hence, the unity brought by their many interactions produces thoughts of "Man, these pairs are so perfect together, they complement each other so well that it always leaves me content," and "Man, these pairs are so perfect together, I wish I have my own significant someone soon." I felt the latter a great deal throughout the 10 volumes thus far, and it's a testament to the power of Iruma's penwork on romance. He awakens the poet within me.

Diverging slightly, Yashiro is such an interesting concept character. I love it every time she appears. Her being the embodiment of weirdness, mystery, and surprise in the vessel of a silly little child is always pleasurably entertaining to read. That is not to disregard her value within the context of the story. Yashiro as a younger version of Shimamura enhances the latter's characterization tremendously.

Staying on this tangent a bit, Adachi is so precious to me. Her character was something I absolutely needed in this phase of my transient life. Adachi lives her life to the fullest. She is so incredibly honest and expressive with her words and essentially her body gestures all over exposes so much about her personality that she literally becomes an open book. She is straightforward and moves one way only: forwards. A headstrong girl similar to a newborn chick, basically, she is a painful reminder of what I was, what I could be, what I should be, and what I shouldn't be, as a human being with a different deck of cards on hand. Adachi makes me cringe. She makes me feel itchy, exposed, and embarrassed. Yet, she makes me awestruck at how hardworking she is to achieve her dreams--to reach Shimamura and make her think about her a lot that in the end, Shimamura's closet of ice cracked and she became genuinely in love with Adachi.

It feels good when Shimamura initiates for Adachi. It feels good when Adachi is rewarded and she is granted the affection she seeks. I was honestly caught off guard with the approach Iruma took with their relationship and Adachi's character especially, how Adachi being all about Shimamura is tolerated despite its potential to be a full-on toxic potion. Still, they were able to work it out, and they became functional adults in the end even able to travel abroad. So it all worked out. Adachi still does not need any friends, whereas Shimamura still values her family and everything else to fill the hole of her heart.

It put me in contemplation: greed is perceived to be different in this case. Shimamura was represented as the one greedy for needing many things to complete her, but is that not the most common progression for society? Is not the epitome of greed Adachi, what with her galactic love for Shimamura, actually neglecting everything else? And so I arrived at a conclusion of how greed is actually not an objective scale, for even Adachi was able to make her own greed reasonable with her and her mother's conclusion.

What hinders this to break a 9 and above is perhaps the lack of fireworks conjured within me. Adachi to Shimamura, as I said, is more "moderate" in its writing, and I think that it wasn't enough to elicit strong feelings for me as I was reading (except for Shimamura's Sword though, that was SOMETHING). Additionally, perhaps I limited its impact myself by the unintended confines of relatability. I am moving on from such era of my life, and so the efficacy of the novel was enfeebled.

I did enjoy traversing the world of Adachi and Shimamura, and the time I spent reading this was definitely one I would not regret, as I have made a newfound appreciation of my own identity, and the fact of my puny existence.

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Dec 4, 2022

lillyengles

Recommended

Preliminary (28/? chp)

ABSOLUTELY WORTH A READ IT IS THE CUTEST ROMANCE EVER NOT JUST FOR GL BUT FOR ROMANCE GENRE IN GENERAL.

The characters are so cute and relatable and the novels are just so well written and realistic, and their relationship grows so well it makes reading every novel worth it.

Definitely a slowburn but all the development does happen it just takes some time.

There will be a total of 12 volumes and the manga has covered up to 5 as of now.

If you like bloom into you and citrus (apart from the step sister part it was adorable) you will definitely like this theres also nothing controversial ...

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