Volumes: 1/1 (Complete), In Print
Yuri
Genre: LGBT, Memoir
Summary: In this intimate memoir from a lesbian manga artist, Nagata Kabi, she talks with a naked honesty about the events in her life that lead to her hiring a escort from a lesbian escort agency, an act that for her was half desperation and yet also trying to take control of her life. She details the period of time in her life after dropping out of college, feeling like it wasn’t something she wanted to do, but not knowing what she actually wanted to do. After struggling in and out of part time jobs, a couple interviews ask her what she's passionate about, which she answers about how she’s always wanted to make manga, which led to the creation of this comic.
She tackles a lot of difficult subjects in her life, from discussing her budding lesbian sexuality, her craving for touch, reassurance, unconditional love that she doesn’t know how to get in her life. She struggles with becoming an adult and also the hallmarks of adulthood, for her parents this means having a full time job, for her it means not being a sexless virgin anymore. Meanwhile she struggles with depression and anxiety, her stress induced pulling out hair from her head, cutting herself and eating disorders as she tries valiantly over and over again to try and turn her life around.
Review: This manga is the top lesbian manga out there and also a very rare candid autobiographical memoir from an actual lesbian. (Compared to most Yuri comics which are written generally by straight men). It caused a bit of a splash when released and won some awards, and was particularly very well received by the LGBT community.
I’m very fond of this comic, it’s an up close and personal look at the inside of someone’s life, and an unusual viewpoint you don’t see often, especially in manga. And the mixture of the minimalist artwork and the incredibly personal details really makes for a soul-baring, and fascinating read. It’s also so incredibly intensely honest as she shares many things that most people wouldn’t even admit to their closest friends.
That being said, it’s also really difficult to read as she struggles so much, and tries so hard, and yet the story emotionally is kind of like falling in a pit and trying to get out of it over and over again. But this particular book ends on a high note, full of hope, and the majority of it is about her experience with the escort agency, and her early success publishing the comic about it online.
The thing is though, this book is technically the first in a series, followed by My Solo Exchange Diary, and then followed by the forthcoming My Alcoholic Escape from Reality. Honestly if you want a happy, upbeat ending and a more focused, stronger story, I would just read this one and stop. Anyone who knows anything about depression, troubled families, conservative Asian culture, knows that her problems won’t be solved just by hiring an escort.
Highly Recommended: While this autobiographical memoir will be of most interest to those in the LGBT community, it’s of such a rare intimate and soul-baring quality that I would recommend it to general readers as well. That being said, though this is the first book in a series, I would recommend only reading only this one if you want a focused story and a hopeful ending.
Age Rating: R: This is sexually explicit, although not like hentai or anything.
LGBT Friendly: 10/10
Sequels: My Solo Exchange Diary, followed by My Alcoholic Escape from Reality
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