Japanese Title: Citrus
Genre: Yuri Romance Drama
Length: 3 volumes (ongoing)
Positives:
- The art is good.
Negatives:
- Love interest Mei is a soulless character.
- Doesn’t evolve after a few volumes.
- Takes the student council seriously.
(contains mild nudity)
Citrus starts with the usual clichéd setup of a girl, Yuzu, moving to a new prestigious high school where Mei, a girl of high status, is admired by everyone and obviously the love interest. Student council president Mei clashes with the fashionable Yuzu over her permed hair, makeup and dress sense, all against the rules of this conservative school. Yuzu rebels, butting heads with Mei at every opportunity, even going so far as to insult the school principal, Mei’s grandfather. However, that first school night, Yuzu learns that Mei is her new stepsister since her mother remarried. Hate and attraction mix, turning to confusion for Yuzu.
While I can’t call the premise boring, I can certainly say so about the characters. Yuzu is inconsistent as she jumps between love and hate at the drop of a hat whenever the writer finds convenient, whereas Mei is plain boring, one-note. The writer didn’t seem to know how to create a cold yet interesting personality. Mei isn’t serious; she’s just boring, boring as waiting in line at Disneyland. This lack of rounding in the characters creates a superficial relationship, as we have no reason to believe they would be interested in each other. I am still not sure what attracts them.
If the author plans ahead for the rest of the series, Citrus has the potential to become something good. For now, give it a try to see if this manga interests you.
Art – High
The quality of the art is good, but there seems to be only three locations in the story, so there isn’t much to see.
Story – Medium
There are the grains of something good here, but an unprepared writer lead to a stagnant story.
Recommendation: Try it. There is little awful in Citrus, so you may enjoy it.
(Find out more about the manga recommendation system here.)
Nefarious Reviews 