dawn_chen 's review for:

Mizuno and Chayama by Yuhta Nishio

3.0

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It’s rare to find a sapphic manga about two teen girls in love that doesn’t involve fetishization. This story has some powerful imagery, especially regarding Chayama in the first half of the story when she was dealing with bullying and seeing Mizuro as her only “light”, there was this one panel where she said “don’t take my light away” that really made me feel for her. But overall the story was paneled in a way that is nonsensical, Chayama and Mizuro’s relationship, albeit sweet, was underdeveloped and rushed. Also the whole conflict regarding the town and the two girl’s rival families and their interests isn’t flashed out so well. The bully/antagonist character was meant to be sympathetic I think but just came across as a sociopath who changed their mind super quick in the end?? Like if not for Chayama and how uncomfortably relatable she reminds me of my personality when I was closeted queer and bullied in middle school, I think I would have dnfed this even tho it’s such a rare sapphic manga.