Nameless Asterism Volume One – 20 Question Manga Review

What’s the manga? Nameless Asterism, Volume One.

Huh? Sounds pretentious… I know, I had to look it up. ‘Asterism’ means a prominent group or pattern of stars not quite as big as a constellation.

Okay, and what’s it about? It’s a big ol’ lesbian love triangle, well kinda…

Uh-huh. What do you mean by “kinda” who are the characters, what’s going on? Well, there’s three middle-school girls; best-friends Tsukasa, Nadeshiko and Mikage. Tsukasa’s a sporty but somewhat shy girl, and she’s secretly in love with Nadeshiko. Nadeshiko’s a tall, stoic beauty and she’s secretly in love with Mikage! And Mikage’s a popular, friendly but kind of opinionated girl, and she’s not-so secretly into any guy who asks her out.

Introducing the band.

Oh, so only two of the girls are gay? Well, at the moment. And although the manga—in typical Japan style—doesn’t really acknowledge bisexuality, and argument could be that Tsukasa might be bisexual…

Wait, but isn’t Tsukasa the one who’s in love with a girl? Yes, but she gets asked out by a super handsome boy from another school, and while being very wary about the whole thing since she’s never really dated anyone, she still goes out with him. Though it’s more peer pressure to do so than anything else so I could be wrong, I just didn’t want to discount bisexuality as a possibility!

Dating is hard. Especially if you’re not into the gender of your date.

“Normal”? Yeah once again—in typical Japan style—anything that’s not heteronormative is instantly labelled as being “not normal”, there’s the usual ‘but I can’t love her, we’re both girls’ shtick that’s as tiresome as it is problematic. But these are genuine thoughts that girls and boys have while growing up in any country, not just Japan, so they’re not invalid it’s just a shame teenagers (and adults even) have to even have this conflicted internal dialogue about their sexuality.

*sad face*

 

So there’s a boy involved too now? Not really a love ‘triangle’ now is it? I guess not. Also protagonist Tsukasa has an identical twin brother named Subara who likes to cross dress in Tsukasa’s clothes and wear a wig and when he does so looks exactly like her.

That awkward moment when your twin brother wears it better.

Uh… okay. And he tries to break up Tsukasa and Kyousuke (the new handsome boy), which I don’t know if I’m just projecting here but seems to me like he might have a bit of a sister complex going on here…

Oh dear. As I said, I’m just ~reading between the lines~ again, I could be wrong! I hope not though.

Hmm…

So what actually happens in the first volume? Uh, not a lot actually! It’s predominantly a slice of life format manga, just with the romance put on top. The 3 girls do ‘best friend’ things like talk in class and goof around and go out places, you know the usual. All the while occasionally cutting to inner-monologues form either Tsukasa about how much she loves Nadeshiko and wishes she could say something to her and Nadeshiko thinking about how much she loves Mikage.

Sounds a bit dull. I wouldn’t say it’s dull, it’s a bit repetitive but they mix it up a bit because Nadeshiko has actually admitted to Tsukasa that she loves Mikage and so there’s the added drama/anguish of poor Nadeshiko having to listen to the girl she loves talking about how much she’s in love with someone else (and a girl at that)!

So complicated!

Well that at least carries a bit of dramatic weight. Plus Tsukasa’s mostly afraid of telling Nadeshiko how she feels because she values the friendship the three of them have and is worried any kind of love confession will destroy that.

All right, I can see how this is a bit more interesting than you previous led on. Hey! Are you criticising my ability to plot summarise!

A sweet moment. I hope they end up together…

More or less. What are the characters like? I really like Tsukasa, I’m so glad they’ve written her and drawn her the way she is. Like she’s obviously a pretty girl, but they aren’t afraid to make her look borderline Tomoko from Watamote on occasion. And while it is a total cliche to make a lesbian character tomboy-ish and into sports, I don’t think it’s too obnoxious here. Nadeshiko has some interesting character traits, and she’s very tall, but otherwise not much to go on. Mikage’s ~enthusiasm~ wears a bit thin but I do like how blunt she can be when talking to Tsukasa about her love life—or lack thereof.

Introducing yourself to strangers on a karaoke group date is hard.

Wait! Did you say these were “middle-schoolers”?! Um… yeah, like 12 questions ago, bit slow on the up-take there aren’t you?

So a lesbian manga about “middle-school” girls? Are we going to have a repeat of our Yuru Yuri argument? Listen, there’s nothing the least bit sexualised about this manga, there’s not as much as a single kiss the entire volume. And there’s absolutely nothing fetishistic about young women trying to work out their complicated feelings at an emotionally and hormonally charged time in their lives.

But are middle-school girls really thinking about this kind of stuff? I don’t know! I’m not a Japanese middle-school girl questioning her sexuality, and neither are you! You can’t compare yourself at this age to how people are now, kids grow up a lot quicker and experience things a lot sooner than we were in school!

That’s how middle schoolers talk right?

And why exactly is it called ‘Nameless Asterism’? I mean you told me what an Asterism was but I still don’t get it. I guess one way to look at it is these girls are a small constellation of bright and shining stars in their own right, but amongst a sky full of likewise asterism’s they’re not particularly important, hence the nameless part.

Hmm, kinda poetic when you put it like that. Final score and recommendation? There’s nothing especially remarkable about this series, but that’s kind of why it’s so endearing. Sure there’s secrets being kept and emotions being wrought and complications to be had, but I don’t get the feeling this manga thinks it’s anything deep or profound regardless of its pretentious title. It’s just telling a story about teenagers that’s packed with angst and humour and pointlessness like a lot of early teenage years. I’m not fervently waiting for Volume 2 but I’m still curious where the story will go and will gladly spend time with these characters again. Not the brightest star in the sky, but pretty nonetheless; 77 out of 100.

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Yuru Yuri – 20 Question Anime Review

What’s the show? Yuru Yuri

Ah! I’ve been around you long enough to know what both of those words mean? Oh?

So in the west this show is called ‘Laid Back Lesbians’? *face palm*

What? Was I wrong? You’re wrong in that no it’s not called that in the west, it’s still Yuru Yuri. But you’re not wrong in that’s pretty accurate for what goes on during most episodes.

I won’t even feign surprise that you’re watching a show like this. Like what? Don’t judge a book by its cover; this show is way more than just girls love. It’s first and foremost a comedy, and a genuinely hilarious one at times too!

Fine, I’m listening, go on. So the main characters are four middle school girls-

Stop, I’m sorry, did you say middle school girls? That’s perverse even for you! And there you go transplanting your heteronormative assumptions on things that shouldn’t even be seen as the least bit sexualised but because you consider lesbianism a fetish as opposed to an actual way of life you can’t separate something as honest and pure as self-discovery from what you search on RedTube whenever women’s sport comes on the TV!

I… I’m sorry, I just assumed because you watch so many fan-service anime that this was just one and the same. There’s literally no fan-service here unless you consider girls exploring their complicated and raw feelings for other girls to be fan-service, in which case I suggest you leave.

No, no I’ll stay. Again, sorry. It’s fine, I forgive you this time.

So who are our characters? Protagonist; Akarin! Akari has a serious issue, she’s very forgettable, to the point where the show itself forgets she’s even a character in her own show to hilarious comedic affect. Like it’s hard to put it into words but the way this show treats its protagonist is akin to high art. It’s brutal and cruel and unexpected but insanely funny and entertaining.

And the rest? There’s Kyoko who is fun incarnate, but also incredibly clueless at times. A great deal of the one-liners and randomness that make up the comedy comes from her. Then there’s Minami who is the strong, silent type, she’s the level headed one of the group but can’t resist a pun. And then there’s Chinatsu, who’s the super cute one who has a passionate crush on Minami despite the constant suggestive advances of Kyoko who idolises the pink haired princess because of her resemblance to her favourite anime character a magical girl called Mirakurun.

So that’s everyone of importance? Not even close! Then there’s the members of the student council, Ayano is the vice president and is as straight laced as the come but she’s secretly in love with Kyoko, even if she’ll never admit it. Ever by her side is Chitose who is a total pervert and imagines Ayano and Kyoko in suggestive situations at every available moment, which causes her near-fatal nosebleeds. And then there’s ‘doth protest too much rivals’ Sakurako and Himawari who just seriously need to get laid. And I could go on, but well, there’s a couple more characters who benefit from the surprise of their discovery in episode 9 of the season.

Things got complicated, and quick! Don’t presume that because it’s all cutesy on the surface and is about middle school girls that it’s somehow less complex than the myriad other school based shows out there.

Lesson learnt. So what’s an average episode of Yuru Yuri contain? Making fun of Akari’s non-presence no matter the situation. A lot of talking, then finally a plot developing, then doing everything to subvert those expectations, then something totally random. Intersperse some sexual tension and unreturned feelings and heaping dollop of total nonsense and you have the average episode of Yuru Yuri.

Dare I ask who your best girl is? Usually if I have to think about the matter longer than 10 minutes it usually means I don’t have a best girl.

What?! Shocking, I know. I think because the characters relationships are so dependent on one another, not just emotionally within the show but structurally externally too, I can’t really choose.

Maybe it’s because they’re middle school aged you feel weird about picking one as a ‘best girl’? Nope, no weird feelings about that at all.

For once I’d just like you to have a normal response. No chance!

Fine, whatever. Anything else to add? The final episode of season 1 is one of my favourite episodes of any comedy or slice of life anime’s I’ve seen so far, it starts off strong and keeps building and building, I was in awe of what I was witnessing. If I were reviewing that episode alone I’d probably give it 99.

Wow, high praise indeed, but what about the season as a whole? Final score? If you’re put off by the title or the genre or the ages of the characters at least give it a go, you’ll know pretty quickly if it’s the show for you as the first couple of episodes are very indicative of the rest of the season. Personally I couldn’t get enough of it and am glad there’s another two seasons to watch. Unforgettable, 92 out of 100.