After Hours

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

I'm not typically the kind of person who reads romance novels. I find them very cliched and formulaic.

Which is exactly what After Hours is.

The thing that sold it to me is the chemistry between the characters, I found them very enjoyable and they felt human. At least to me.

The rest is okay, the plot is formulaic girl meets girl they fall head over heals for silly reasons, contrivance happens and they nearly break up but blondy's conviction results in her patching things up with her girlfriend and everyone doesn't live happily ever after.

I think more than the characters, the thing that stuck with me with ... After Hours was the ending.
Things don't turn out perfectly okay, we don't return to our established status quo but they also don't flop miserably. It felt like a bitter dose of realism in an otherwise silly romance story. A feeling I found deeply relatable and one that moved me to consider After Hours among my favourite manga series.

Read this if you are looking for: A tender yuri story in Tokyo’s nightlife scene with just enough drama.

Recommendation: Pick it up!

“After Hours” follows unemployed Emi who is whisked into the world of nightclubs and raves by new acquaintance and DJ Kei. The two women bond quickly as Emi joins Kei’s group of friends and helps put on events, even as Emi struggles to deal with both her past and future. Kei and Emi are a joy to watch, as Nishio Yuhta’s character art greatly enhances comedy and drama alike, and detailed panels and wardrobes bring to life the dazzling world that has so enthralled ... Emi. Many of the more tiresome yuri clichés are avoided, and while the overall narrative of the women’s relationship is nothing new to the genre, the adult characters and unique setting help make “After Hours” feel very fresh.

I really liked the "simpleness" of the first two volumes, but the 3rd one kinda ruined everything for me. It took an unnecessary plot turn, just to make it more "exciting", since the first two volumes were rather chill. I kinda get why the author would want to do it, but it's a bit of a risk to do it in the last volume and especially so sudden. It feels like he didn't really plan this originally, but then needed something to stretch the plot a bit more and maybe hook more of the readers, who found the first two volumes a bit "boring".
For me, ... personally, I loved the chillness and this sudden "exciting" event just felt off. Nothing I could enjoy. It did turn out good in the end, but it really was unnecessary and could've easily been handled differently.

Volumes 1 & 2: The story was chill, the characters were easy-going and there barely was any drama. Just daily life stuff, nothing huge. I found the music stuff really interesting – what goes into planing a DJ show, everything behind the scenes. I've never been to a club (or ay night-scene party) and never really had any interest in going, but now I'd actually want to check it out. Also maybe someday try out VJ-ing.

The drawing style is nice. Similar to the story, I found the style to be rather "simple" (in a good way) at first, but then the last volume had a more detailed and "serious" style, if that makes sense. Nothing bad, it was still amazing, but I prefer the "simple" style more – both art and story, in this case.

Volume ratings:
1st: 4.5 stars
2nd: 4.5 stars
3rd: 2.5 stars