I know, I know. This review has been done before. However, since I wasn’t the one who wrote it—and now having read the manga myself—I kinda can’t hold back. Let’s just say I have a very strong opinion when it comes to this specific work, so let me just have my release 😉

Also, click here for the guest review by FoxyLadyAyame~

Title: Drei Blütezeiten
Author: Fumiko Fumi
Year: 2011
Genre: Romance, Drama, Slice of Life, Love Triangle

Sumika, Akio, and Chinatsu are cousins who only meet during the funeral of Sumika’s father. They quickly become friends and end up spending most of their childhood days together.

Though, as time passes, things change. The twins, Akio and Chinatsu, slowly drift apart, while still staying close to Sumika. She, on the other hand, develops feelings for Akio and eventually gets together with him. However, she always knew that their relationship was not supposed to prevail….

So far, so good. The story doesn’t sound too exciting, but it could turn out quite entertaining, to say the least. Now, after having finished reading this, I can’t say it was very exciting or entertaining. First of all, the story simply seemed weird and hard to follow.

Everything happens quite fast; we see them as children, then a time jump to the present where we only get a short introduction of the characters. After that, Sumika and Akio immediately get together. We aren’t left with much time to actually think about the events that are presented to us, and thanks to this kind of pacing (as well as the missing character details), I was left confused quite a few times.

Only in the later chapters did I actually realize that Akio was, in fact, never really into Sumika, but interested in his best (male) friend instead. In retrospect, there were some moments in which this was hinted at, but it was done in such a weird way that it confused me rather than make me consider this possibility.

In later chapters, the yuri kicks in, in the form of Chinatsu suddenly confessing to Sumika after she was more or less dumped by Akio. Let’s just say that the few innocent kisses don’t really make this a yuri manga, like it might be claimed to be by some people online. It’s a manga dealing with homosexuality, but rather focuses on the male part, and of course Sumika’s feelings for her gay friend. So yeah, the yuri comes in last and feels much like a simple addition to the story rather than a solid part of it. It’s there, but it doesn’t need to be to make the story work out. It just adds in a little more drama, that’s all.

Making it even worse, Chinatu’s feelings stay unrequited, which was definitely no surprise, but it left a bitter feeling for me, because I was actually expecting something more.

Art-wise, this manga left no impression on me. The art looks nice and simple, but only the cover stands out a little. What really irritated me, however, is the sex scenes that more or less happen quite unexpectedly throughout the whole thing. I’m mentioning this in the “art section” of my review because what really weirded me out about these is not only the fact that they happen out of nowhere, but the fact that they feel really out of place, considering how innocent the art style looks and makes the story feel.

All in all, it was a disappointing read. And if you know me, you also know that I usually don’t give out bad ratings. In this case, however, there were too many things bothering me. It’s not only the failed yuri, it’s more the whole feel of the story, the unappealing characters, and how I feel like the author tried to make the story special by just adding in some scenes that were supposed to be deep and thought-provoking, but actually weren’t.

I know this manga is available in Japanese and German only, so most of you have probably never heard of it. Though, I really want to hear what you guys think. So if any of you can actually find the Japanese RAWs, I’d be willing to translate this work, since I have the German translation anyway.