Adachi to Shimamura

[peterYuri]

https://medium.com/@peter91916/the-...e-yuri-genre-and-its-discovering-e41eadb95654

One comment above was quoted, guess who

 

[mmosimca]

https://medium.com/@peter91916/the-...e-yuri-genre-and-its-discovering-e41eadb95654

One comment above was quoted, guess who

This was a ridiculously long read, and I honestly only skimmed most of it. I agree with some parts and disagree with others. The big thing that I agree with is that fiction is fiction and does not have to accurately represent the real world or real world relationships. The point is to make the reader think or have fun, not to simulate reality exactly.

My major criticism is that the author ignores almost entirely that many of the narrative choices that underpin the genre have been done historically with the intention to minimize homosexual relationships. These choices weren't even often the author's intention but something forced by editors and publishers to "make it sell".

As an easy example, the reason for the extremely common Yuri trope of "we can't put a label on our relationship" is because using labels like "girlfriends", "lovers" (between women), or even "lesbian" is something frowned on in Asian society.

It's fine to like the Yuri genre the way it is. I know a few people who like how vague a lot of Yuri is and how many series don't feature sexual interest (arousal/lust), mostly because they are ace.

But the criticism of 'Yuri bait' in those cases can feel valid because of the history of the industry and Asian society pushing against the true desires behind the genre. Frankly, I think it's time to trash the genre descriptor 'Yuri' altogether and move towards a world where we call the series with romantic/sexual interaction "Girls' Love" and the ones without that just "Slice of Life with female protagonists".

To return to the topic of this series briefly, I'll say that it is not Yuri bait, not even in terms of sexual interest. I'll spoil a bit in the text after this if people are curious.

Spoiler

Shimamura asks Adachi if she's sexually interested in her Volume 11 Chapter 4 of the Light Novel. Adachi manages to respond that she is ("Shimamura... sexy."). Shimamura says that she's okay with having sex with Adachi but that she's never really thought about it before now. Adachi manages to tell her that it's fine and that she will wait for Shimamura to want her too. Shimamura apologizes for being slow, and Adachi begs her off, saying it's fine and that she's not slow. Shimamura summarizes the conversation as "Adachee-chee hornee-nee", which renders Adachi practically catatonic.

 

[zokoi19]

honestly I don't understand why this is so highly rated. I tried reading the novel but I the author's writing style turned me off, so I tried reading the manga, and after 5 years of following the manga, I can say with confidence that the series fucking suck to me, especially since I don't relate to or like any of the character.
It seems like the author tries to develop deep character with complicated personality and problems, but all of that just feel flat and utterly nonsense/whimsical/dumb to me.

(I've read many things over the years, and I can say with confidence that there are many novels/manga better than this. Hell, even the CN manhua/novels are better than this, which say a lot tbh.)

anw, for any new readers who skim the comments to check the story before reading it, my advice to you is: if you don't like/relate to the two MCs within the first 5 chapters, this probably won't be your thing and it's best to skip it.