This manga series of three books was recommended to me by someone on Twitter. She said the artwork is stunningly beautiful and I agree fully with her. 🙂
Maki’s first love was a her high school classmate, a girl named Midori. On their graduation, Midori breaks up with her saying: “We are adults now, too old to be fouling around dating girls”. Ten years later Maki hasn’t forgetten her first love Midori and she gets reconnected with Midori through a chance encounter. But Midori reveals that she is pregnant and engaged. Maki is torn between her feelings and the happiness she sees within Midori about her child. But finding out more about Midori’s soon-to-be-husband, raises a lot of red flags with Maki.
And when Midori shares a secret she has been keeping for a long time, the flame of Maki’s love burns brighter. Can they start anew?
Is it teasing or does she still love me?
I need to give a warning that this short series contains domestic violence and childhood traumas. Can’t spoil too much of this series but I highly recommend it as a dramatic, funny and yet painful romance story.
Nomoto loves to cook and de-stresses herself by creating a lot of dishes but always too big portions that she can eat by herself. She decides to invite her neighbour Kasuga, whom she first found a bit intimidating, to enjoy her meals together. Slowly Nomoto realises that her feelings towards her neighbour are a bit more than friendship and I love to find out how the story further progresses. There are only two books out and Nomoto has just researched what lesbianism means.
I didn’t pre-order this series because I didn’t know if I would enjoy the story. I started reading one girl love series and it became very toxic and frustrating, which means that annoyance just projects on future other series so I wait until I see more reviews from others or if I can check it out in stores (I’m looking at you “How Do We Relationship?”, so frustrated with that series) I know, I know I need to let this shit go but “How Do We” just fucked me over.
Below you will see the page that pulled me in the series.
My first thought, the audacity of this man. Good for you Nomoto thinking this is just gross. I’ve always been repulsed by the assumption that women are just there to cater men. And looking at the rhetoric going around in very conservative circles that women are nothing more than just birth machines.
It’s all lovely as you as a woman wants to have kids or be the carer in the household, it is your own choice. But not everyone fits this bill. When we cook, my husband and I are a team in the kitchen, I do not want to be the only one that works on the meal. We are both equally responsible for the household. The whole Stepford wives spiel creeps me out. I have the urge to set a man on fire when I notice him doing absolutely nothing in kitchen, cleaning or childcare. Yes, I broke up with guys that just wanted me to replace their mothers.
I often find myself rebelling when someone says: “Oh your husband must love that you wear pretty dresses or do you often cook him great food”? after finding out I have Indonesian roots”. I do things for myself, not to please him. If our marriage was based on just pleasing him, I’d never gotten married. So fuck the patriarchy!
Lesbian Pride Flag
While the story isn’t that far yet, the mangaka created this image for the start of Pride Month on her Twitter account. Guess I just have to wait for this relationship to further develop but whatever course it takes this series is just wholesome. Two women confronted with the image society expects of them and not having any of it. I love them to bits.
The elaborate detail of the dishes Notomo makes is just mouthwatering good. I often suggest to my husband that we need to make this and he agrees.
