Takako Shimura

I still love this series and the way Shimura tells the story of Shuuichi Nitori, Yoshino Takatsuki, and their circle of friends and family. It is touching, sweet, and a little bit idyllic (with a dash of fantasy) as the reader sees the children experiment with their identity presentation and learn to navigate in society, both as trans* and as pre-teens.

With this particular volume, I found myself especially drawn to Takatsuki, who reacts to teasing about her preference for being boyish by show more rejecting that identity entirely and dressing in (for her) very girly skirts and dresses. I wish that the narrative looked closer at her motivations and character arc here, especially as she reaches out in confusion to the only trans* adult that she knows, and is treated rather badly.

Instead of a longer look at Takatsuki, we are treated to scenes in the Nitori household with Shuuichi and his older sister Maho. I did like that this volume goes outside with those two as Maho tries to meet her idol by joining the same modeling agency - and forcing Shuu-chan to do the same (while dressed as a girl, of course). The series so far has repeatedly pointed out how it can be easier for a girl to be like a boy in society, but not vice versa, and by going to the modeling agency, the reader sees how this affects family members, too. Maho loves her younger brother, but is confused about him - yet won't let other people bully him (even as she does so herself!). There's a weird but kind of funny set of scenes where Maho makes Shuu-chan go on a date with the boy Maho likes (who met Shuu-chan in volume 2 and formed a crush), and Shuuichi's new friend Makoto goes along to be a chaperone.

Speaking of Makoto, I rather liked that we now have a gay character in the group of friends, though I feel that it's a bit convenient and awkward that he, too, is interested in cross-dressing with Shuuichi. It stretched my suspension of disbelief just a bit much that there are so many similar kids in this one 6th grade class.

There are actually several elements in this volume that were difficult for me to get through, even as I enjoyed the book as a whole. The first is Makoto, but also the incident with Takatsuki and Yuki-san, and for a third, Shuuichi's first wet dream.

Frankly, these three elements felt too stereotyped and pandering to social expectations/misbeliefs than what I have been led to expect from the series. When Takatsuki goes to Yuki-san for support, Yuki goes into "man mode" and practically feels up Takatsuki's budding breasts while gushing about Takatsuki's girly body. It was extremely uncomfortable to see, and made me feel a bit sick. It also seemed out of character for how we've seen Yuki in the past, like it's treating her as a pervert/criminal for being trans*. Likewise, Shuuichi's wet-dream was odd - he was dreaming about being a girl and wakes up having ejaculated in his sleep. Is the reader to take it as a sign that he's sexually stimulated by cross-dressing, as though it's a perverted fetish? (And not an uncommon assumption, I'm given to understand.) Of course, in real life, it would probably just be a coincidence, and the author could even use it as a way for Shuu-chan to explore his burgeoning sexuality and the confusion it brings, but in the context of the manga, it felt cheap and exploitative to me.

On the whole, I'm still interested in this series and looking forward to buying future volumes from Fantagraphics, though I wish these gross bits had been excised. (I have knowledge of the plot through the children's first year of high school, by reading the chapters as they are serialised, and had completely forgotten that the two parts had happened or had been so awful until I got the hardbound English volume, so if they do continue on, it might not be very much.) show less

Maho drags Shuichi to her audition and asks to be accepted or rejected as a set. They're accepted, but their new modeling gig turns out to be both excitement and torture for poor Shuichi. Also for Maho, who is gradually beginning to understand that she is maybe being cruel towards Shuichi because she's hurt that Riku likes Shuichi more. She arranges a date for Riku and Shuichi, andShuichi finally can't take it anymore – he tells Riku that he's Maho's brother. At school, others read Yoshino show more and Shuichi's exchange diary and make fun of Shuichi. Yoshino tries to help by distancing herself from Shuichi and dressing as a girl. During their time apart, Shuichi makes a new friend, Ariga Makoto (referred to from here on out as “Mako-chan,” because he'd like it), another boy who'd like to be a girl (this phrasing becomes important later on - I suspect Mako-chan isn't so much trans as he is gay and interested in cross-dressing).

Mako-chan seems to be one of the most emotionally stable characters in the series, steady even when he takes on Maho at her worst. After she almost calls him a faggot:

"You were just about to leave a scar on my heart that would never heal. And I would never have forgiven you for it. But you stopped yourself first, so I'll let it slide." (136)

Yuki's overly touchy feely behavior bothered me since her introduction, and in this volume Yoshino reached her breaking point, becoming so uncomfortable that she tried to slip away from Yuki's place without telling her. If I had been Yoshino, I probably would have too. No matter what Yuki, Shuichi, and Yoshino all have in common, Yuki is still an adult with a sometimes screwed up sense of boundaries.

In this volume we learn that Yuki's relationship with her parents isn't very good. Maho's near slip-up with Mako-chan and her behavior lately with Shuichi makes me worry about what Shuichi's relationship with his own family might be like in the future. I worry about what's going through Maho's head.

I wish Shuichi were more outspoken. He just allows Maho to drag him wherever she wants, never saying what he wants. Does he want to be a model? Does he want to date Riku? Then again, the problem may be that he doesn't know what he wants, or is afraid to say his wishes aloud. But, ugh, it's frustrating to watch.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

I didn't care for these first two volumes/first English volume of Sweet Blue Flowers the way I did for Shimura's other English work, Wandering Son. The artwork is pretty as in the other, but the story is a little confusing and slow.

Sweet Blue Flowers must be relying heavily on the reader making plot connections from the typical Girls' School/Romantic Friendships stories like Marimete which I'm only passingly familiar with, because there were a lot of scenes that took me three or four reads show more and very close examination of facial expressions and panel progression to have some idea of what was happening - but those times felt like a trope-call out, like a reference to something for the reader to fill in the gaps. And since Akira, one of the two protagonists, is going to a Catholic girls' school, it seems like the references are probably intentional. There are mentions of how it's normal for girls to have fake relationships with each other, since there are no boys, for example.

Fumi, the other protagonist, appears to be actually queer instead of just temporarily-lesbian, and I am curious how her story will play out, and what will become of Akira's friendship with her. There's a lot of very clichéd romance happening, so I'm not sure what I expect - there's teacher/student, age gap, and unrequited loves, all of which can be a little awkward or even offputting.

I'll pick up the second book from Viz to see how it goes, but I might look for a used copy or a library copy. The story is interesting, but not super compelling to me, since I lack that familiarity with the genre. show less

Takako Shimura is probably best known for two manga series. The first, and my introduction to her work, is Wandering Son, a series which sympathetically explores some of the challenges faced by transgender and gender non-conforming youth. (Wandering Son is an incredibly important manga to me personally and I will forever lament the fact that it will likely never be released in English in its entirety.) The second manga is Sweet Blue Flowers, another series with queer themes, this time show more focusing on bisexual young woman and lesbian teenagers. While the anime adaptation of Sweet Blue Flowers has been readily available in English for years, the publication history of Shimura's original manga has been more fraught. Originally translated in 2012 as part of the failed JManga digital initiative, the first volume was subsequently released by Digital Manga in a less than stellar ebook version after which the series languished unfinished. Surprisingly, Sweet Blue Flowers would be rescued by Viz Media, making it one of the first yuri manga to ever be released by the publisher. The first print omnibus of the Viz Signature edition of Sweet Blue Flowers, collecting the first and second volumes of the series originally published in Japan in 2005 and 2006, was easily one of my most anticipated debuts of 2017.

Fumi Manjome and Akira Okudaira were very close as children but the two girls fell out of touch after Fumi's family moved away. Many years later they meet again by chance while commuting by train on the way to their first day of high school. They don't actually realize who the other one is at first, but soon Fumi and Akira's friendship is rekindled and their relationship blossoms once more. Since they attend different all-girls schools they don't get a chance to see each other as much as they might like, though. Even so, both Akira and Fumi are faced with some similar trials which bring them together–making friends at their new schools and finding an extracurricular club to join that interests them among other things–but not everything is the same for them. Although complimentary, the two young women have strikingly different personalities, resulting in drastically different experiences and interactions. And while Akira doesn't seem to have put much thought into romance, Fumi has recently had her heart broken. But now Fumi has fallen for an older student at her school, Yasuko Sugimoto, a young woman who is interested in Fumi but who is also dealing with an unrequited love of her own.

Shimura's artwork in Sweet Blue Flowers is simple and refined, but is still able to carry the emotional weight and expressiveness of the story. The focus of the manga's illustrations is almost entirely on the characters themselves. Except for when the actual setting is intended to make an impact, such as the hallowed halls of a prestigious school or the imposing home of a distinguished family, backgrounds are minimalistic and sometimes even non-existent. Just enough is implied to give readers an impression of place and location. This technique, along with Shimura's use of light and shadow, is reminiscent of intentionally minimal set design used in some theatrical performances which in turn nicely echoes the high school stage production of Wuthering Heights featured prominently in the first omnibus of Sweet Blue Flowers. The characters' involvement with the play is an important part of the series both aesthetically and thematically. The connections to theater and creative performance arts present in Sweet Blue Flowers can also be found in Shimura's other work, including but not limited to Wandering Son.

Sweet Blue Flowers is a wonderful series. The manga is emotionally resonate, with a realistic portrayal of the experiences of young women who love other young women. The characterizations and character development in Sweet Blue Flowers in particular are marvelous. Shimura effectively captures the nuances of a multitude of personalities and how they interact with one another, showing both individuals and their relationships as believably layered and convincingly complex. Sweet Blue Flowers is a relatively quiet story, but the emotional drama is powerful and the manga conveys a compelling sense of authenticity and honesty. I am loving the series and find that I am completely invested in the lives and well-being of Fumi, Akira, and the other characters as they navigate their adolescence. Life and relationships can be challenging and messy, something that Shimura does not shy away from in the manga. The young women in Sweet Blue Flowers grow and change, gaining maturity through their mistakes and missteps as well as personal clarity as they slowly discover their own identities. Sweet Blue Flowers is a worthwhile and lovely work; I'm so glad that it's finally receiving a proper release in English.

Experiments in Manga show less