Octave · review
Life is complicated and confusing, especially when you realize you, as a girl, like girls; and this manga portrays that perfectly. The inner conflict the main character goes through about being with a woman without having been with a man is something I think a lot of lesbians can relate to and it's incredibly realistic in it's execution. The relationship between the two leads is tumultuous and that's one of the reasons I like this manga so much. They are confused by their own feelings, for yukino she's discovering herself which makes a relationship even harder to maintain when you have so many questions aboutyourself, and yet they pull through because they love each other. Overall it depicts a very mature and realistic romance between two women trying to figure themselves out. Altough I do love that Setsuko (and Yukino after a bit) is very confident in her identity, It's refreshing to see lesbianism explicitly adressed in a yuri while not being conflicting, shameful or even hurtful for the character.
About other aspects of this manga, I would describe de atmosphere as melancholic, also something I love. I say this because some of the main character's dreams don't come true within the 6 volumes but because of that, it makes it easy for the reader to imagine their life beyond what we've read, something I think is lacking in A LOT of romance mangas and that I really appreciate. It's also a good delator of the idol scene in Japan. I will say while I loved the story development and the ending, I think at times it went a bit fast and I would've loved to read more of this. But I recommend this wholeheartedly and it is a very welcome change of pace from high-school romance yuris, as much as I love that genre!
P.S: If you're looking for other more mature girl love stories (and I'm not saying explicit) I really highly recommend ottona ni nattemo as well.