Konatsu Amano is a high school girl who has just moved to a seaside town in Ehime Prefecture after her father is transferred overseas for his job. Lonely and unsure of her new surroundings, Konatsu finds herself gravitating towards Koyuki Honami, an older girl at her school who is popular but is seen as out of reach by her peers who view her as too perfect. Koyuki is also the sole member of the Aquarium Club, which in turn makes her feel cut off from others. In an attempt to help ease Koyuki’s and her own feelings of loneliness, Konatsu befriends Koyuki and the two gradually grow closer together.

This is one big ball of fluffy subtexty subtext. Honami is admired by everyone, which unfortunately keeps her at arms length from them. But it’s the lonely, new transfer student Konatsu who, unburdened by that, slowly breaks down the barriers to actually get close to her. It’s great how obvious it is that they slowly develop feelings for each other, but they have no idea themselves. Also, pseudo talking animals, and a nice wing job by the dads!

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The thorn inside the apple that made a princess sleep pricks inside Maki’s heart. Even while carrying that thorn as an adult, Maki has a premonition of a new love….that girl who looks a little like her first love makes Maki’s heart beat a little faster. However… in the end it was futile…again. That time, this time, it’s always the same. Why can’t she grab on to love… But, there is one love who waits for her… Rikachi crafts a whole new fairy-tale for Romeo’s best friend Maki in Ibara no Namida. Will she ever find a princess of her own?

From the author that brought us Sorairo Girlfriend. Another take on a fairy tale inspired romance. The tale this time is Briar Rose, the origins of what we know as Sleeping Beauty. It’s interesting for the early ties it shares with the previous mentioned work between Hiromi and Maki, but center stage now is the college friendship of Maki and Lilia. Maki is locked into inaction by habit and ends up losing out on the ones she desperately wants to be close to. Time and time again history repeats itself, but could there be someone so close by that she hasn’t noticed has slipped within her bed of thorns?

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A collection of stories each featuring a different trope or genre of couples, and each of them faces a different challenge on the path to matrimony.

For those that like a marriage in their yuri, this is a set of stand-alone chapters whose endings dovetail into the next. It’s sweet and funny all at the same time, and each features a different cast of characters, with each resulting in a wedding in one way or another. Every story is so different and yet so enjoyable. What really stands out is the way that the stories interconnect to each other, and the fact that they build up to some outstanding endings.

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Ange and Princess one-shot from Princess Principal. Princess tries to draw Ange out to get a bit closer, and it’s advice from Dorothy that helps her out.

There’s only a few doujins out there for Pri Pri, but this one is my favorite. Princess is desperate to re-establish the relationship they had when they were kids. Since direct attempts have failed, she gives the old cold shoulder a try to fish a black lizard in. And as always, Ange will be Ange.

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Tsuchiya works in a convience store, and lately has  a customer making regular visits: a high school girl by the name of Megu. Megu’s friends accompany her and are both supportive and grounding at the same time. However, Tsuchiya can’t help but notice that once a fuse has been lit, there’s only so much time before the fireworks go off.

Another short and sweet one. Monono does such great confessions, so this one of course caught my eye. Also, there’s something about two people being swept up in a summer festival to discover their feelings for each other that just appeals to me. Check out the other stories in the compilation this one-shot is a part of (Madder Kisses on the Rooftop).

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The mysterious mute Shizuku quickly befriends country girl Minato, and it turns out they share a common bond to the past involving Minato’s grandma.  Minato is all to wary to look too far beneath the surface of what is going on for fear of shattering their newly forged bond.

Dang, a warning: there are onion ninjas afoot (I blame Rock for setting them loose in the first place). There’s a lot going on in this one, but it’s got a high page count for a one-shot and deservedly so. A story with some rapid developments that keeps you moving from page to page, and from the tags you can figure out the tells as they appear. Still, it manages to pack quite the punch.

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Another doujin, this time Girls und Panzer. And if you’re not familiar with the franchise, fret not, it’s still quite approachable. The art appeals to me, in that it looks a bit rough, but it’s still quite expressive. The both of them are so shy and all too worried about coming on too strong to the other out of fear it will scare them off. And with them finally managing a hug and a kiss, somehow things progress much further than they first expected.

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