(L) Girl Friends (yuri manga from Milk Morinaga)

[darkchibi07]

Has anyone been following this fairly recent yuri manga that's being serialized in Comic High? Here's the cover for Volume 1:



And here's the cover of the rest of the series, Volume 2 - 5:



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Here's the rundown of what happened so far.

Spoiler for spoiler up to ch. 14:

It has slice-of-life elements in it especially with the female protagonists Mari and Akko doing what normal, everyday high school girls do. Later on Mari is starting to develop affectionate feelings towards Akko beyond friendship. At first she thought it was nothing, but it got to a point when Mari unconsciously started to kiss Akko while she was still sleeping!

The next couple chapters dealt with Mari trying to figure out her own feelings since this can affect their friendship. Mari did admit to Akko that she kissed her while she was sleeping, but Akko said that's it's no biggie since it normal between girl friends. Mari thought it was relief, but then she pondered that her kiss far more than just "friendship". Big obstacles occurred when Akko announced she had a boyfriend which complicated Mari's situation (a.k.a. she became somewhat emo ).

And it got even MORE complicated when Mari decided to go out with a guy in hope she can live off a normal life and forget these feelings. The most recent chapter released by MakiMaki (which is I believe is Chapter 14) proved that did not work, and it ended with another cliffhanger with Mari pinning Akko down and kisses her. Mari then ran off saying that this love can never be fulfilled. Akko ended up blushing like crazy!

So overall we got ourselves some interesting yuri melodrama into the mix!

[Ultenth]

I have been, kinda surprised that hasn't been a post up about it yet.

The recent events have been really awesome, I went back and read ch 13 and 14 like 5 times each. This is definitely one of the best current yuri(actually more shoujo-ai techniqually) manga's out at the moment. It's really too bad the genre is really so underrepresented, I wish there were more good longer series in this genre, but it's mostly one-shots. This and Strawberry Shake Sweet are probably two of my favs at the moment, that one is really funny and cute. I want to read more of Sasame Kikoto, but no one is scanlating it at the moment, other than the first chapter.

Spoiler for ch 14:

I wish it wasn't monthly though, I don't want to have to wait a month to find out what Akko's reaction will be, but I'm really happy that it still went down.

[darkchibi07]

Better than waiting bimonthly for the newest chapter of Strawberry Shake Sweet!

[Irenicus]

Oh sh-, 14th's out since when!?

The end of 13 was a big turning point in the plot. And I'm really steeling myself right now because our innocent and harmless Yuri Hime-chan (although I love her long hair better! ) has just done something really terrible in her depression.

Spoiler for nuthin' big:

I really wouldn't want to be that guy. Your crush accepted your awkward confession -- big hopes, big dreams, and new heights of ecstasy! -- and soon enough you'll realize she isn't very happy at all and is in love with another...

I'm curious how Akko will react in general though. She could be normal as usual, which would hurt Mari-chan really badly; she could get a little friendly jealous, which would be what one would expect in a normal reaction; or she could *gasp* (please please please make this happen!) realize she feels a little more for her adorable best friend than she first thought.

Onwards to reading 14 I will!

Edit: P.S. Strangely enough I find these girl-girl romances a lot more tasteful than many boy-girl affairs. Selective samples (1 good Yuri vs. 10 straight of varying quality) or a genre quirk?

[Ultenth]

Yeah. =(

Like I said, I <3 Yuri/shoujo-ai, it just sucks that there are so few current series, and on top of that most of them are monthly or bi-monthly, or else not even being scanlated. Oh well, I've just been kinda reading through some of the Yuri-hime mag stuff up on Lililicious to sate my craving. Morinaga Milk also has some pretty good one-shots out there as well.

It also happens to be that almost all of the ones I'm currently reading are at huge cliffhangers, so I have to wait a month or more to be able to see the next chapter.

And yes, 14 is out, go read it! In fact read it 10 times! And then be sad and wait a month like the rest of us poor souls.

[nadare]

I always thought Girl Friends was bimonthy XD. Can't wait for September 22!

[Shiroth]

Thanks to this thread, i've just read the first chapter and i'm loving it already. The set up's done quite well for things to come --- defiantly wrote with the intention of building a relationship. Can't wait to read more.

[nadare]

Oh yeah... If you are interested in Girl Friends

Morinaga Milk's other works might interest you.

One in particular is almost the same as Girl Friends(they even look the same) All scanlated by lililicious

This is the Nana and Hitomi series

Even if we're not friends
If I kiss her ring finger
Chocolate Kiss Kiss
Wishing on the moon

looking at the cover from mangaupdates, the short hair is Nana and the long hair is Hitomi XD

Yes, those four stories are connected and have the same couple

[X207]

nie, thanks to this thread i got the heads up for ch14. ive followed this for a while but it was more of a passing thought to check for updates bc its monthly.

[Ultenth]

Originally Posted by nadare

Oh yeah... If you are interested in Girl Friends

Morinaga Milk's other works might interest you.

One in particular is almost the same as Girl Friends(they even look the same) All scanlated by lililicious

This is the Nana and Hitomi series

Even if we're not friends
If I kiss her ring finger
Chocolate Kiss Kiss
Wishing on the moon

looking at the cover from mangaupdates, the short hair is Nana and the long hair is Hitomi XD

Yes, those four stories are connected and have the same couple

They actually have almost all of Morinaga Milk's work up at lililicious.net just look under mangaka search and you'll find pretty much all of the non-H stuff (and some of the H stuff too). They are pretty much the best site for yuri stuff in general in my opinion, as they actually scanlate probably 70% or more of the yuri stuff that is available in english, heh. Seven Seas seems to actually publish most of the yuri stuff here in the states, at gomanga.com, but just like everywhere else there still isn't very much to begin with. And yeah, Girl Friends is monthly, it's in Comic High! (same as KnJ, Potemayo, and Joshikousei) which is a monthly book. Yuri Hime (which Strawberry Shake Sweet is in) is quarterly though.

Oh and to:

Originally Posted by Irenicus

Edit: P.S. Strangely enough I find these girl-girl romances a lot more tasteful than many boy-girl affairs. Selective samples (1 good Yuri vs. 10 straight of varying quality) or a genre quirk?

I agree, as discussed in another thread, I prefer them because generally speaking most (but not all) of the relationships seem to be more equal, and less possessive. There also usually isn't all the shallow oogling like in shonen romances, nor the near-rape scenes by the studley slutty male lead like in most shoujo stuff. Overall it seems to be more romantic and I guess "pure" in my eyes because they usually fall in love for personalities and not looks as well, and tend to just take better care of each other. Sometimes I wish I was a hot lesbian chick too, LOL!

[risingstar3110]

Planned to make a thread about this manga, but I guess I'm a little bit slow xD

Atm, this is my favourite manga. The tension was built up really good, the cliffhangers were nicely done, and the drawings+details were perfect.

Even when it's tempting, I rather would not want it to go weekly because like Milk Morinaga admitted, mangaka have own limit when have to deal with quality Vs time

About the discussion

Spoiler for Chapter 14:

The screen in last three pages: with Mari hold Akko shoulder, push her down, then slowly move her hand to her face as she kiss. Then as she move away, her hand touch lightly Akko's lips(with tear falling from her face) and she mentioned "her dream would not come true". (Akko was shocked and stunned all that time)
That's screens is just so desperately, painful.
Brilliant, master piece of works

I have to rush through it because the tension but then reread like 10 times or maybe 20.... Maybe I am addicted with this manga-_-'

I also recommended anyone who like this and haven't check Hitomi-Nana series (the 4 mentioned in Dadare post) to have a look at that series. Much shorter but really solidified.

PS: I still do not know what's the difference between shoujo-ai and yuri. Yuri is for more mature audience?

[Ultenth]

Correct, Yuri is similar to Yaoi in that it will often have full nudity and/or sex scenes (sometimes the sex scenes don't show nudity) Shounen-ai and Shoujo-ai are just about people of the same sex being in a relationship, they don't neccessarily go beyond even hand-holding or kissing, and usually stop short of nudity or full on sex.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by risingstar3110

PS: I still do not know what's the difference between shoujo-ai and yuri. Yuri is for more mature audience?

Well, the Japanese use yuri for the whole thing, whether sexual or romantic, explicit or implied.

Shoujo-ai, in the other hand, is a western coined term (it's not used in Japan), used by some western fans to describe yuri without explicit sex.

I personally use yuri for the whole thing, as even American publishers such as Seven Seas use that term.

[Ultenth]

Yeah, generally speaking I use yuri as a catch-all as well, but on sites like baka updates, ANN, mangafox or other sites where manga is listed by genre, shoujo-ai is an option and some manga is listed under it and not yuri. So it is good info to know regardless if you use the term or not. Similar to how Japanese people have taken many English words and corrupted the meaning, it really only matters how the people YOU are in contact with use it, not so much people that you rarely see from 5000 miles away, unless you're just attempting to be elitist that is.

[darkchibi07]

Originally Posted by nadare

Oh yeah... If you are interested in Girl Friends

Morinaga Milk's other works might interest you.

One in particular is almost the same as Girl Friends(they even look the same) All scanlated by lililicious

This is the Nana and Hitomi series

Even if we're not friends
If I kiss her ring finger
Chocolate Kiss Kiss
Wishing on the moon

looking at the cover from mangaupdates, the short hair is Nana and the long hair is Hitomi XD

Yes, those four stories are connected and have the same couple

You know, I find it rare for an actual yuri story that deals with a yuri couple already established, and most of those one-shots there mostly deals with how they can handle their lesbian relationship in the long run. It's just so downright cute yet pretty compelling. If Girl Friends is definitely going to be long-running, we might see similar aspects found in those one-shots.

[risingstar3110]

Originally Posted by darkchibi07

You know, I find it rare for an actual yuri story that deals with a yuri couple already established, and most of those one-shots there mostly deals with how they can handle their lesbian relationship in the long run. It's just so downright cute yet pretty compelling. If Girl Friends is definitely going to be long-running, we might see similar aspects found in those one-shots.

It's rare for a story about a normal couple deal with their relationship after have been establishing also. They often ended up boring and director/mangaka have to put a third wheel in to cause more mistakes

That's why i find the series of Hitomi and Nana was so interesting. Refresh, maybe not; but enjoyable, it definitely is

[NeoSam]

This is one of the manga that I'm currently reading from Comic High! (other than Kodomo no Jikan and Potemayo), a great seinen magazine, with lots of moe seinen manga

[Shiroth]

Just read upto chapter 14. My original opinion stays the same that the way this is written is what makes me love it so much. There's just so much love from the manga-ka that's expressed by the characters.

Anyway..

Spoiler for Chapter 14:

The second Mr childhood friend appeared a few chapters back, i knew straight away that he'd be the key that would have Mari expresses her feelings in some way for Akko. Still the build up to the final few panels in this chapter was absolutely wonderful. That is the true way for a girl who's in pain because of her feelings to come forth and let her know.

It's going to be very, very interesting to see what will happen after that kiss/Mari's words to Akko.

[Ultenth]

I'm really curious how if they ever do end up together how the mangaka will deal with it. Often times in many romance manga I enjoy the lead-up and the confession events, but some of them jump the shark once they actually get together and have to deal with drama. I really hope this one doesn't do that, and from what I've seen so far it doesn't seem it will. I definitely agree that one of the best things about it is just how much the characters care about each other, gah, I don't wanna wait 3 more weeks for the raws, me wants it now!

[CygnusX]

I've stumbled a phew weeks ago on Milk Morinaga's work after a thorough search for some girl love mangas with nice art Though I have been tempted to make a topic about it, I didn't cos it's a yuri or shoujo-ai or whatever ... and I wasn't sure if it would be liked ... though I'm glad there is a topic now!

I've read his, err her (I knew that just didn't think of the gender while writing :s) other work first and especially Nana and Hitomi's story was really nice, only a pity it was so short. Soo I was very glad to find Girl Friends, which basically is about the same but more stretched, exactly what I was hoping for. While reading, I keep being amazed by the cuteness of the girls.

It'd be nice if it was released more regularly, so more chapters could be made and more volumes with different situations, but I fear this manga will be max. 3 volumes, though that's already a lot more than his others works so I'm already very happy!

This manga scores very high in my list, even above most male-female romance stories. Can't wait for the next release!