Sono Hana - The sentimental yuri.
Okay, so anyone who has read more than one of my reviews know that I'm always in the search of the "Perfect Yuri." Something that combines character growth, a realistic pre-relationship, realistic dating phase, and realistic yuri-scenes that show both emotion and mutual satisfaction for the girls involved, not the sweaty male viewer fapping as he watches.
I'm not going to pretend that Sono Hana hits that mark, but it does some things really right.
Story: 5
This is porn. Even though it's light porn, it's still porn. There is no story other than about 5 minutes of flashback that implies the girls weren't always friends. In fact, they weren't. These characters are apparently picked from a Voice Novel hentai game.
Art: 9
The best hentai character art I've seen in awhile. The lines are good and dark and the color pallet is suited well to the characters. There's no "sliding screens" of a scrunchy hentai face with a moan while they push a picture up and down. Every second is animated, and its done well.
Sound: 7
Standard fair. Both girls are voiced well. Music is average. There's a typical flowy water sound during all the sex, which is kind of comical when you realize it's there.
Characters: 8
Somehow, they gave both girls really strong personalities in 25 minutes of burying their faces in each others muffs and boobs. You get a strong sense of their relationship, who fills what role, and how much they care. It sounds tacky, but you really get the sense that these two girls are in love, even high school love specifically.
Further, the girls seem to want to please each other, not provide a show for the invisible audience. That really impressed me, which is something missing from a lot of Yuri. Sakura Trick, for example, failed at this. I say it a lot, but this is why we need more Yuri, for even the Yuri Ai producers to watch this and say, "This shit right there, that's good Yuri. We need to at least make sure our girls seem this much in it for each other."
Enjoyment: 8
It was good. Didn't even fap. Watched for the glow between the girls and was not disappointed.
Overall: 7
It's still just porn, even really sweet and sensual porn. If this had been episode 7 or 8 of a series dedicated to these girls and their relationship, it would be "Best Yuri."
