I've been slow to try this collection. Tried some of Rokuroichi's other work, didn't like it, and her(?) art's kind of ugly. But I gave this collection a shot, and... didn't like it either.
This series' protagonist, Chizuru, is a girl who used to be part of a trio of unpopular girls. Kae, a stylish girl from Tokyo, transferred into her class and gave her two friends makeovers, making them popular. Chizuru effectively became the odd man out, quietly tagging along with Kae and her two "friends" as they proceeded to pal around, mostly ignoring her. Without ever speaking to Kae, Chizuru built up a godly image of her in her head and proceeded to get a crush on it.
One day Kae- gasp- talks to Chizuru (and to her credit, is more pleasant than Chizuru's friends are when they do address her), so Chizuru celebrates by buying the same orange lipstick she sees Kae buy at a make-up store. (Hence this collection's strange title, originally Kuchibiru ni Saketa Orange.) This isn't the first time Chizuru has bought something just because Kae did. Chizuru also buys a wig that looks like Kae's hair and secretly wears it and the orange lipstick in her room while imagining Kae having sex with her.
One day Kae's two friends need to stay at school extra-late, so Kae and Chizuru hang out. They don't have any chemistry, but we are meant to believe that Kae thinks Chizuru's something special. The next day, Kae visits Chizuru's house and sees the wig and they have sex and are supposed to be in love.
Then there are two bonus one-shots. "Close to Your Heart, Okay?" is about two cousins who are being raised together, in case you wanted some eau de incest on top of the boring and awful that already is this book. They have sex, one is afraid the other is going to dump her, and that doesn't happen. "Don't Know If This Is Love" is about two best friends who get together and have sex.
The only thing I can't complain about is the translation of this book's JManga release. ALC has done another quality translation, however lousy the story it's telling in this case is. It is possible to make a premise that has been done many a time (like popular girl x unpopular girl, or best friends who get together) good, or even excellent, through strong writing and characterization. This book doesn't do that. Every character is flat, every coupling contrived and devoid of chemistry, and I found my mind wandering off more than once. We have gotten a bunch of worthwhile yuri manga titles licensed in English lately- A Transparent Orange in the Lip isn't one of them.
Art: D
Story: F
Overall: F
I remember the part where the popular girl finds the wig in the other girl's apartment and takes it as a sign to get it on rather than run the hell away. That was hilarious. Like that kind of behavior is normal love and not a sign of stalker crazy or anything.
ReplyDelete@Anon- Hahaha, I know. We don't understand TRUE LOVE, clearly.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this review, it's kind of boring only reading reviews about stuff people liked.
ReplyDeleteAnd in this case I can also agree with you, this Manga was not that great, even though I have to admit that I really like this art.
But for me this story sometimes felt very awkward especially the thing with the wig and the libgloss.
And I don't really understand how they still got together in the end.
@Lena- Thanks! =) I like to focus on reviewing titles I like, but it is good to have some variety.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, me neither. It felt like they only got together because they're the leads in a yuri manga.
Moral of the story, becoming like the person you love by replicating their traits, fashion sense, hobbies and whatever else the weirdo can think of...never works. If I can find anime gifs portraying this, I could use it for my next Life Lesson post. It should be cool.
ReplyDeleteI have read this before but I do not remember it that well. I'll probably write a YMC review about it as well. It's not long anyway.