Girl Friends by Milk Morinaga

Hey guys,

So, I'm late in blogging partly because I've been busy, but mostly because I've been distracted by another blogging site: tumblr. It's probably one of the coolest sites I've been on, next to MAL and facebook. :3 I really like it because it's so easy to use! Anyway, I've decided that I'm going to just post new blog entries whenever I can, which will probably be more around Thursday and Friday, than the Wednesday entries I'd planned. It's so hard to keep up with what I've been reading and watching. I always want to blog things I'm not finished with!

Okay, this week I want to blog about, 'Girlfriends' by Milk Morinaga. It's the first girl romance shoujo I've ever read (I think it might be considered a yuri manga) and I was surprised how much I liked it! 'Girlfriends' is about Mari Kumakura, who is a quiet straight A student, who draws the friendly and outgoing Akko Oohashi to be her friend. Surprisingly, they become best friends and Mari finds herself thinking about Akko more and more. Mari evenutally realizes she is in love with Akko. At first, it makes Mari unable to be around Akko, but when she thinks the prospects of going out with Akko are futile, she gets past her love and tries to fall in love with a boy. Akko sees this new relationship, and finds herself jealous over Mari's new relationship, and that's when Akko realizes she too feels for Mari. The story continues with Akko and Mari realizing their love for each other and the hilarious exploits the two best friends go through.

What makes this manga so interesting is how realistic and natural the characters are. They have real conversations about shopping, hanging out, etc. while also expressing genuine confusion over the way they feel about each other. Both Mari and Akko are adorable characters with very different personalities, which only shows that opposites do attract. I was really impressed with the plot, but perhaps it's because 'Girlfriends' was my first girl romance manga. Great series, and I definitely recommend it!

Check it out here: http://manga.animea.net/girl-friends.html

Best,
Pseudonymous Jayne :3