Girl Friends is without a doubt one of the best mangas I have ever read so far. I was lucky enough to get some copies of it off of my friend to read as I was dying to after hearing their opinions about it - and the fact that it was being made into an anime, too - especially while I wait in an agonizing lack of patience for Sasameki Koto's next chapter to make its appearance.
'Girl Friends' even as a title is essentially a play on words. The story itself revolves primarily around Mari Kumakura, a shy, simple girl who goes to high school, and is consequently in the same class as Akko Oohashi. Akko has always kept her eye on Mari, but has always been apprehensive about talking to her, as Mari is always alone and didn't want to disturb her. But one day Akko just decides to go for it - and after Mari's suspicions, as Akko is 'super, super cute and popular' and asks Mari if she would like a haircut, she realizes that Akko is actually a good person and is genuinley interested in getting to know Mari. What Mari doesn't realize, however, is that she would end up falling completely in love with Akko, and face a fierce battle with her feelings in her day to day life.
Now for those of you who do not wish to spoil this manga for yourself, you should really stop reading here but be safe in the knowledge that Girl Friends IS definitely worth a read, and if you are a yuri fan, this is the perfect manga for you.
But for those of you who have already read the manga, or who are interested in finding out more about it before reading, read on...
Apparantly the manga has gone on a hiatus and will be back in May, probably because they want to think of new ideas for Akko and Mari's relationship. Words fail me to describe just how blissfully happy I was that Mari and Akko FINALLY got together, after much angst and confusion and tears, which almost broke my heart in the first two volumes. However, Akko realizes that she too has fallen in love with Mari, which leads the both of them into an even more complex situation after Mari misinterprets a kiss from Akko as to be a 'just friends' kiss.
It was at that point I wanted to scream at her "what?! How could that possibly be a 'just friends' kiss given the settings that it was given to you?!" but luckily, Morinaga Milk already figured that's what most fans would be screaming either at their computer screens or their books, and decided to have Akko say those exact words to Mari as they stay at the heart stone on a school trip (if you haven't read this manga, this will all make sense to you once you get up to volume three).
For the most part, which surprised me somewhat, I didn't actually have a preferance to either character; it was nothing like most other mangas/animes I have watched, where I have a definite preferance to one of the couple (i.e. Sumika from Sasameki Koto, Chikane from KnM, Lucia from VVV...generally the tall, darker girls, then!), but Akko and Mari were both on a par for me. I liked them both equally, which is always a good sign.
Girl Friends is a beautiful mixture of romance, comedy, and of course, slice-of-life story. Akko and Mari's relationship is a lovely one to see develop as we watch mainly Mari's crush develop into falling in love with Akko, whereas with Akko, we just see her with a sudden realization that she has always loved Mari. Well, duh, Akko, we could have told you that - from the way you used to tell your friends about how cute and adorable you thought Mari was from the other side of the room! (yes, that really happened)
So, yuri fans, if you haven't read Girl Friends, WHY NOT? It's absolutely fantastic and it's a must-read if you like yuri. And even if you don't particularly like yuri, it's a loveable manga. I can't wait to see the anime.
10/10, definitely.
Thoughts/comments? x
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