Yuzumori-san

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Ah, Yuzumori-san. The first manga I’ve ever started reading, and now it’s over. In the end I have mixed feelings about this manga, mostly because I liked certain chapters much more than others, so I decided to write a review about it.

Yuzumori-san is a manga about a high school girl who encounters a girl who’s in elementary school and instantly falls in love with her. In that one sentence you already have a same-sex relationship and a large age gap, so people may describe the protagonist as weird or gross as she is a lesbian lolicon. However, this manga knows this and the protagonist does ... as well.

The part that makes Yuzumori-san really shine is the protagonist, as she is struggling immensely between her strong affection towards this elementary schooler, and her sense of morale which keeps her from actually laying a hand on the girl. The latter force is shown to be the strongest, but these forces get really close. This struggle is the part I liked the most about this manga. The protagonist really is a kind and innocent maiden, her “primal desires” just happen to be different from the norm.

Having said that, the biggest problem I had with this manga is that everything I talked about and makes this manga great in my opinion only really happens in the first 23 chapters, with chapters 1 through 15 being the high point. From chapter 24 onwards (and also somewhat between chapters 16 and 23) the manga doesn’t focus on these aspects as much to make room for drama. That in itself is not necessary a bad thing, but if it replaces something as great and amazing as the first 15 chapters it really becomes a shame.

That is actually about everything I have to say about this manga; I absolutely love the protagonist and what goes around inside her head, but only really that much in the first 15 chapters. The biggest “flaw” this manga had was that it chooses a different path after that and focuses more on drama and sadness, instead of embarrassment and happiness.

You should read this if:
- You like to see girls be embarrassed out of their love for someone
- You like to see sense of morale win when it comes into conflict with strong desires
- You are attracted by little girls but would never lay a hand on one of them, you want to protect them instead

You shouldn't read this if:
- You are disgusted by either homosexuals or relationships with a big age gap (remember though: this manga really is about pure and innocent love)
- You can’t handle (relatively) sad things happen to happy characters
- You are attracted by little girls and hope our protagonist will rape the other girl or something like that, if so: please get out of here you sickening bastard

Initial score: 9.5/10
Final score: 8.5/10

[This is my first manga review and only my third review overall, so please feel free to tell me if I did something wrong or did something right!]

Right off the bat, there's one thing that needs to be said upfront about this series: its main character is a lolicon, and the story is about the line she walks between friendship and infatuation with a 4th grade girl. Most people will probably choose to ignore it based on that sentence alone. But what if I told you that against all odds this manga is a work of art that handles its theme with tact and maturity? Would you reconsider?

I've never read anything quite like Yuzumori-san, but I have to say, I loved every second of it. It's like the inverse of every other ... romance series I've ever come across. Instead of hoping for their relationship to advance when the "will they or won't they?" moments happen you find yourself on the edge of your seat pleading that the main character will manage to restrain herself from acting upon her lustful urges for this gradeschooler.

You see, Yuzumori-san alternates between two very conflicting but somehow synergistic art styles: the fluffy, flowery way that the series' slice-of-life and romantic moments are drawn, and tense or disturbed panels whenever the main character's carnal desires surface or there is emotional turmoil. Our main character Mimika is acutely aware that her sexual attraction to the young Yuzumori is "wrong". Mimika spends the series agonizingly trying to resist her own deviant urges, trying to protect Yuzumori from herself while still remaining close to her. Chapters can therefore rapidly oscillate between happy, cute and funny moments of the two acting like a normal couple and angst / despair, with a feeling a bit like you've been suddenly thrown into a page of a horror manga. In spite of this, the manga never veers too far into the territory of being tragic or dark and retains the bubbly feeling of your standard slice of life yuri story.

This contrast is pulled off so well that you can find yourself simultaneously disgusted with and rooting for the main character, who is forever struggling to follow her moral compass and maintain a wholesome relationship with Yuzumori in spite of her pedophile nature. And Yuzumori herself, a precocious but lonely child, is loveable in her own right. She deeply cares for Mimika, the guileless way she interacts with the eternally anxious Mimika is hard to hate and the two make for an oddly compelling duo.

My only complaint would be that the series has very little to offer besides the one single plot device of getting Mimika flustered and having her struggle to control herself, there is very little advancement of the story before the last few chapters. But all in all, I'd recommend it to anyone, even if they'd probably give me a disgusted look for doing so.

DO NOT READ. This is gross pedophile bullshit. You go "oh, is this the next girls love manga i should read?" from the cover of just the one girl's face and the GL tag, then get smacked in the face by ""lolicon"" disgustingness. The two main love interests are a high schooler and a young child. I perked up when i saw a yuri with 8 recoomended reviews and 0 mixed or negative reviews, only to read the reviews of 8 people who should be put on a watchlist. If you are a normal person, dont touch this shit with a 500000 foot pole.