Japanese Title: Strawberry Panic

 

Similar: First Love Sisters

Nijipuri

Shoujo Holic

Sky-Coloured Girlfriend

Mousou Honey

Brother, Dear Brother

 

Genre: Yuri Slice of Life

Length: 2 volumes

 

Positives:

• Charming with mild humour.
• Some aspects of the art are nice, even if the overall quality is quite standard.

Negatives:

• No conflict.
• Doesn’t amount to much in the end.

(contains mild nudity)

On her first day at her new, prestigious all-girls school, Nagisa meets Shizuma, a beautiful and popular senior girl who shows her around. Nagisa is a bit of an innocent airhead, enthusiastic in her actions, making her a tempting target for teasing by her friends because she is cute when fooled. She falls for Shizuma’s beauty and grace while Shizuma is taken by her innocence and forwardness. Shizuma tries to seduce Nagisa, but she is too oblivious to notice. Their relationship culminates into a couple’s popularity pageant.

Overall, Strawberry Panic is purely about girls frolicking through a school, wind blowing through Shizuma’s hair, and Nagisa oblivious to her feelings. It’s a feel-good manga. Also, the title has nothing to do with the content.

Art – Medium

Cute-ish, simple art. Some beautiful environments. Half the work went into Shizuma’s hair.

Story – Low

Has charm, but no real conflict. I laugh at “drama” tags.

Recommendation: Don’t bother/Try it. Strawberry Panic is one for those looking for charm, mild humour, and no conflict. For everyone else, don’t bother.

(Find out more about the manga recommendation system here.)

Japanese Title: Boku no Futatsu no Tsubasa

 

Genre: Yuri Comedy Romance

Length: 5 volumes

 

Positives:

• Entertaining, even if terrible.

Negatives:

• No understanding of puberty or genital anatomy.
• Mary-Sue protagonist.
• Nonsense relationships.
• Vertical slits for eyes in half the panels looks stupid.

(contains nudity and sex)

When Hiromi’s cousin, Mako, moves in with her, she expects a boy, only to see Mako is a suddenly a girl. As it turns out, she is both (by a loose definition), having a sea-biscuit and a bajingo between her legs. She says hermaphrodite, but let’s not pretend here, she’s really a girl with an extra gentleman’s sausage – nothing else about her is male. Mako starts attending the same school as Hiromi, where she must hide the fact that she carries a hadidoo in her pants from everyone, including those she has a crush on.

I wonder if the writer of My Two Wings has ever looked at an anatomy book. If he had, he would notice that a man’s peeper and a woman’s hoohoo both emerge from the same place and opening of the pelvis, meaning you couldn’t have both as depicted in this manga. Furthermore, despite the fact that every part of hers is fully grown near the end of high school, including F-cup breasts, we are supposed to believe her nocturnal emissions and visits by Aunt Flow haven’t started yet. And no matter how much tape you use, you can’t stuff a python with accompanying walnuts inside a vajayjay and pass as a girl when wearing a bikini.

Almost all conflict comes from Mako panicking over her secret, especially when she dates people (why date in the first place then?). My Two Wings has some next level high school soap polygon. Mako likes a guy, who likes her teacher, who is the older sister of a classmate, who is obsessed with Mako, who is chased by another girl seeking to uncover Mako’s schwing-schwong so that the lesbian girl will fancy her instead. Then there’s Hiromi and her boyfriend, who cheats with the teacher, gets caught in the act, and he falls for Mako on the same day, pretending its deep seeded love. I probably shouldn’t mention all the lecherous activities Mako and Hiromi get up to.

There are a few elements outside of the relationships and privates drama, but it’s meaningless. My Two Wings is a ludicrous as it sounds. So bad, it’s hilarious.

Art – Medium

A surprising amount of effort went into the backgrounds; however, character anatomy, particularly faces are poorly drawn. Those slit eyes.

Story – Very Low

A hermaphrodite (woman with a wiener for all intents and purposes) having to hide her third leg at school? Bad, but entertainingly so.

Recommendation: So bad, you have to read it. The ludicrous premise and stupid scenarios are so unbelievably bad you must read this.

(Find out more about the manga recommendation system here.)

Japanese Title: Kimochi no Katachi

 

Genre: Yuri romance

Length: 2 volumes

 

Positives:

• Mercifully short.

Negatives:

• Still too long.
• The core problem preventing the relationship is pathetic.
• Ugly character art.

First-year high school girl, Satsuki, is in love with second-year Kano. However, Satsuki has a fear of touching girls because she doesn’t think it ‘normal,’ damaging her social interactions with Kano and other girls. What caused this crippling condition? Rejection from another girl. That’s it. The entire narrative hinges on Satsuki’s fear of touching girls and the friend who helps her overcome it.

Kimochi no Katachi is boring and ugly to look at. What a waste of time.

Art – Low

Ugly character design. I hate massively tall eyes coupled with a humungous forehead and massive hair.

Story – Very Low

A dull story of a girl with a pathetic problem in love with another girl.

Recommendation: Avoid it. Empty. Unremarkable. Nothing to see in Kimochi no Katachi.

(Find out more about the manga recommendation system here.)

Japanese Title: Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo

 

Related: Girl Friends (same author)

Secret Recipe (same author)

 

Genre: Yuri Romance

Length: 2 volumes

 

Positives:

• Pleasant, feel-good story.
• Soft, cute artwork.
• The two girls make for a sweet couple.

Negatives:

• Not much depth.
• Confusing structure because of one-shots about other characters in volume one. They are pleasant, but like all one-shots, they have no substance. (Not included in scores.)

(contains nudity)

Nana and Hitomi attended the same primary and middle schools, but when it came to high school, they went to different schools. Hitomi fell out of touch. One day, Nana runs into her on the street and they begin hanging out like the old times. Hitomi actually chose a different school out of nerves over Nana’s feelings for her; Hitomi feared she might reciprocate said passions. She does.

The story jumps six months to the mid-terms, the two girls dating all the while. Their relationship hasn’t progressed far though, as Hitomi never lets matters escalate beyond kissing, which make Nana sexually frustrated, affecting her grades.

Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry-Blossoms Pink is a simple story where the biggest dilemma is finding time for love without failing school. I enjoyed this manga, but I wouldn’t have said no to more depth.

 

Art – High

Similar art to Girl Friends, but with limitations in locations and scenarios.

Story – Medium

A pleasant story of two girls balancing school and love. Could have done with more depth and better structuring.

Recommendation: Try it. If you are looking for a feel-good romance with nice art, then Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry-Blossoms Pink is worth your time.

(Find out more about the manga recommendation system here.)

Japanese Title: Nijipuri

 

Similar: First Love Sisters

Shoujo Holic

Sky-Coloured Girlfriend

Mousou Honey

Brother, Dear Brother

Strawberry Panic

 

Genre: Yuri romance

Length: 3 volumes

 

Positives:

• None.

Negatives:

• Yet another generic ordinary girl in love with a high-class girl in an elite all-girls school.
• Bland art.
• Heard-before jokes. Not funny.
• Too many characters without establishment.

(contains nudity)

I have to wrack my brain to remember what happens in Nijipuri for this review. It follows an ordinary girl joining an elite school where she falls for an upper-class girl. Now I remember why this slipped my mind; Nijipuri is as generic as you can get. Every character, every joke, ever panel of art, and every moment is a copy from other manga.

What else can I say that isn’t a repeat of the negatives list above?

Art – Medium

Generic style. Bland imagery.

Story – Low

Generic story. Nothing to it.

Recommendation: Avoid it. So generic, Nijipuri goes in one ear and out the other.

(Find out more about the manga recommendation system here.)