Luminous=Blue

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There are many reasons as to why I love reading Yuri. Sure there are the terrible fan service ones with very cut and paste relationships (Looking at you NTR) or the one shot wonders with impressive art but disappointing stories or characters (Transparent Light Blue). However every now and then, one will creep up on my radar that I get swept away in by it's visuals, yet stay for a much more interesting story with thought provoking characters. Luminous=Blue is the prime example of why I love Yuri manga.

"How interesting can another Yuri slice of life be?" its no more slice of life than ... Doki Doki Literature Club is (Minus the traumatizing horror) I may be getting ahead of myself here, but very few manga at all have been able to grasp me within it's opening chapter and keep me from going to sleep that night until I either can't physically keep going or I run out of chapters to read (which is what happened here). Lets get down to the Basics.

Plot:

Luminous=Blue follows protagonist Kou Tarumizu, a young photographer who transfers to the school of her idol, only to learn said idol has hit a wall and the profound photography club has since been disbanded. She quickly befriends a pair of very conflicting girls after seeing how happy they looked together and asks to take pictures of them. That's how it starts. However she finds herself caught in a web of deceit and manipulation. "Wait that doesn’t sound like a cute romance!" because it really isn’t. There’s plenty of cute moments, but the ultra-detailed art contributes to both a very beautiful series and a deeply disturbing one, with plenty of room to fill in all the blanks with the lies told by the characters. I'd hesitate to say dark yet it's certainly provocative, and not in the fan service way. Basically, this is a love triangle story, but not at all what you think. This comes with some very strong material on being honest with your feelings, subversive manipulation, the way photos reveal our hidden emotions, and very raw framing of sexuality.

Characters:

Kou is a typical first year highschooler, burning with motivation and passion for the arts...and far too innocent for the world she's about to face. I can't express just how much I empathize with her. We all go through that transition phase, stepping into the next journey or segment of our lives and I think it's as important here. The story is framed through her lens, and this brings about a very different portrayal on typical Yuri relationships. Nene and Amane are the focus of Kou's photography interests, however amazing that first shot of them is though is only what their relationship use to be. I really like the fact they are ex's in the current story, with Amane constantly reminiscing what they had where Nene just wants to stay friends. Yet it's not that simple with Kou now thrown into the mix, and well.....that's all i'm willing to say outside the forums.

Art:

Need I say more about this? Manga's often have to strike a balance between the theme's it want to present, how easy it is to ready and how polished it wants to look. I can think of a number of manga that look amazing, yet are either impossible to understand whats going on or don't carry the themes the story tries to convey. Blue is the exception of this. Beautifully detailed, and expresses everything we need to see (and hides what we need to imagine). No frame is wasted.

We have been graced with good Yuri manga recently: Kase-san shows how you can have a good series with simply a strong foundation for a Yuri relationship, without making the slice of life moments dull. Bloom into You shows what happens when you put characters and story before fan service. After Hours develops a mature adult relationship with relatable characters and it's just so refreshing to read. You will just have to see why this one is so special since Luminous=Blue is a must read for Yuri lovers and one hell of a stepping stone for those wanting to get into it.

(After Final Edit)

I've had to seriously drop my previous score when the last chapter was released. What should have been a whole volume's worth atleast, the last chapter of this manga suddenly decides to wrap up what was a strongly progressing story with intimate developing characters. This was far too rushed. All the drama and character motivations were suddenly just swept aside in a quick confession of love, ending with the main characters literally holding hands and walking into the sunset. The manga did not take the time to actually develop the bond between Kou and Nene, nor did it justify Nene and Amane getting back together, or build upon any of the themes it started with. It's like this manga was seriously conflicted in the story it wanted to tell and instead of coming to any sound conclusion, it got hooked up within it's own love triangle and just decides this was what was always meant to happen?

Woah I really underestimated this one! I only just bought it today and didn't expect much of it, but it was so good! I already read a lot of yuri series so I thought I'd be tired of all these highschool love triangles and I am, but this one's different. The author had a different approach to the subject.
Since they normally wrote more sexual stuff, this manga also wasn't all innocent like a lot of high school yuri mangas are (due to Japanese culture).
Also the art was beautiful with a lot of details in it, I really enjoyed that, I really can only recommend it!
I ... have to agree that the ending was a bit rushed, but I loved the outcome and really didn't expect that!

Overall I can only recommend this to shoujo ai/yuri lovers!!

Poly representation in yuri manga is great however this just isn't it. The premise was interesting however I found it hard to be invested in the main relationship because of how messed up the main characters were. I wouldn't say this is inherently bad, however it became an issue when the author attempted to shove their entire "development" into the last chapter and ignored all of the drama that had occurred in the past chapters. One good thing I can say is the art is absolutely gorgeous and probably some of the best art I've ever seen in a yuri manga.

Overall I recommend you ... to read it and make your own opinion of it, it's only 10 chapters after all.

bittersweet

story: 9/10
charaters: 8/10
art: 7/10
read 10/10

The stroy is amazing and so inocent, but also complex. The art is simple and that suits the story. If you want a story with a big plot twist and a tiny bit of gl "smut" (kissing) than this is perfect for you. But be aware that if you start reading the first vol. and finished it, you NEED to have the 2nd vol. near you cause you will get mad at yourself not getting it right away. The story is really emotional and super sweet you will get addicted.

So go to your nearest bookstore and buy it ...

your gun_shot_girl :3

A good premise that doesn't quite deliver.

Story: The manga starts out strong and manages to pull you along for about the first half. Around that point, The manga starts doing time compressions, except it doesn't really feel like much time has passed. There are these montages, that visually are quite fun, but ultimately they don't do a great job of showing the passage of time. That is to say, from a plot perspective, I don't think the plot is rushed, but the manga feels rushed towards the latter half. There's a feeling of the mangaka knowing the larger plot points and where everything needs ... to go, but not quite nailing the execution when it comes to going from plot point to plot point.

The relationships are often cute and have some good dynamics, but they needed a bit more room to breathe.

Art: One of the higher points of this manga. Individual panels are often fantastic with expressive characters, distinct designs, plenty of detail, and decent environments. However, I found the paneling a bit disjointed. Large jumps occur every once in awhile that make it a little bit hard to follow what's going on in some scenes.

Overall, it was a nice read that didn't overstay its welcome, but I kind of wish it had? It felt like it should have been three or four chapters longer.