Insofar as it depicts the pleasant, mildly bittersweet elements of love and growth, it is sensitive and natural. The flat, minimal art allows the reader to interpret the mood freely and impressionistically based on the words, and the equally simple narrative everything is hinged upon. The feelings and expressions of the characters, the moods of particular scenes aren't heavily implied by the art itself, despite some occasional cartoony facial expressions. The effect, for me, is a more poetic reading experience. I am largely deciding how things feel for myself.
Things like homophobia, infidelity, and lies exist here, but they do not culminate in substantial trouble for the characters. Perhaps there is enough of that elsewhere in queer fiction that it's not needed here.
I want to defend the art style somewhat, as contrary to what seems to be the prevailing opinion in other reviews I've read online, it's one of my favorite things about Yamaji Ebine's work.
First of all, it is almost unnecessary to make a connection between Yamaji Ebine and Nananan Kiriko. They are two (presumably) queer women, writing about similar subject matter, with extremely similar art styles, and both have been published in Feel Young. Indigo Blue came out about 5 years after Blue, and obviously their similarities extend beyond their titles.
Other than Nananan, Yamaji Ebine's style for me is evocative of the Franco-Belgian ligne claire comic art style, as well as pop art and art nouveau, which in and of themselves have been influenced by Japonisme, western Europe's 19th century fascination with Japanese art. Some of the other Feel Young artists like Kyoko Okazaki and Unita Yumi come to mind when looking at Yamaji Ebine's panels. Yamaji, like Nananan is taking this philosophy of flatness and equal line to an extreme, while sacrificing some of the cartoonishness and messiness of someone like Kyoko Okazaki for a more clean and empty look.
The design of the whole image, whether it be a panel or full page, is of key importance; rather than a cute, recognizably manga-style character design, or detailed, realistic background. Negative space, the emptiness between and around lines is treated as a tool. Emptiness cannot remain empty, the viewer fills it in. I also see this art style as a rejection of the assumed limits that have seemed to envelope manga's stylistic diversity over time. Manga artists are not merely in dialogue with other manga artists, and beholden to the commercialized stylistic tools of manga; manga is a part of the lineage of Japanese and world art. In one panel, Ichiko is seen holding a Wayne Thiebaud art book.
I think artists like Nananan Kiriko and Yamaji Ebine want to preserve this lineage and dialogue with broader art, rather than pigeonholing themselves as "merely mangaka." It's not to say, "this manga is not merely manga, it's art," but rather "all manga is not just manga, all manga is also art." Characters are supposed to be people, why should they need to be stylized a certain way in order to appeal to readers who are people just like them? Rather, let's focus on the image as a whole, made up of lines and of empty space, and treat a manga, visually, as a work of art.
