Maka-Maka

That's not Yuri to me,

This is just a big fantasy of guys who imagine that girl are randomly open to have such intimacy with one another. Either girl are full lesbian and there is no place for sex with guys, or they are bi but separate their friends from their lover. A girl friendship isn't that, neither is a lesbian relationship. Or otherwise the two protagonist are real cowards for never commiting to each other when they actually prefer to be together. They cheat their boyfriends but more importantly they cheat themselves and that's really not an healthy way to live any relation. It's not because it is a relation between girls that it's less of a cheating. It's not realistic in this sense because how can they be so open and not care that people see them being intimate together in public and yet not daring to commit to one another at the same time. Clearly they seems to not care about what people may think.

For a Hentai it's good because it gives more than sex, it also gives intimacy. The depection of feeling is really good and feel reel, the aesthetic is nice, realistic (for the body proportion). There's really a big effort with the color on every scene. And sex is never set aside !

Great Hentai but not so good yuri

This manga is a window into the perfection of all the good that two girls have when they're with one another. There isn't much else to say about this for me. It's a picture on which only smiles, beauty, and happy times are captured, the entirety of this manga..

There are few things harder than to draw a sexy manga and have it be truly sexy (not just featuring grotesquely exaggerated screwing, like much hentai features), AND have it be visually beautiful, AND have it depict one believable route by which a couple can arrive at having a real, loving, sexual relationship.

When the relationship is a lesbian one, with all the possibilities that that raises for embarrassment, guilt, and/or shame on the part of the inexperienced member ruining the whole process—the job of depicting all that is even harder. Here, KISHI Torajirou has done it all superbly.

There is an atmosphere of fun and gentle love that permeates this story that really gives a sense of what a fine thing sex can be—and a completely believable one at that. This is the best explicit love manga I've ever read.

The subtitle kinda says it all: sex, life and communication. The women in this manga really don't get any of that from the men that they're with. Most of the time men treat them just as sex objects to the point where they don't trust men or in Jun's case doesn't fully trust anyone period. While they both enjoy sex its never quite as good with men because how they are made to feel about it. They don't feel the same kind of emotional connection nor is there the communication with men that they find with each other. Nene and Jun at several points mention how guys are insensitive in the way they speak to the women. They date men because in one sense that is what society expects of them, but they are never satisfied with them. What starts off as messing around evolves into sex buddies and then a passionate relationship. The sex is better for them because of the emotional connection, the feelings of understanding and respect (they value each others creativity), the beginnings of trust, and frankly the dangerous excitement (whether its sex in public places or that they are 2 women involved with each other that goes against society). Its refreshing that both characters are women in their 20s not some high school romance and it has a much more mature angle.

Visually I really like it. The drawings are very nice and the female proportions are realistic and really good. You can see this especially with Nene as she has a more natural figure with some fat on it and her body has the right indentations in the proper places. Her body really looks like its based of a real live model. I also thought most of the coloring was decent.

Now, I don't mind so much that this doesn't have a traditional linear narrative. Its more like snapshots of their time together. The problem is that it emphasizes the sex a lot and may turn off some readers. Its using sex as a vehicle to try to say something about relationships between people. However, imho I think it relies on this tactic too much. I would have liked to have seen more discussion between the women or with other people, because its a very one sided point of view we are getting here that only focuses on their emotions. They both mention at certain points that what they are doing maybe unfair to their boyfriends, but we never really see them have to deal with the fallout or repercussions of their decisions nor do we see them have to struggle with how heterosexual people or friends might view their relationship. I think it loses some of the drama because of that and because there isn't quite enough discussion about relationships and sex the good parts get overshadowed by the sex scenes. I think there was potential for it to be much deeper, but perhaps it was just meant to be an erotic story so it didn't need to go much further. Still there's some smart parts to it that elevates it to me to about a 7 or a B to B- rating, decent but not great.

This was one of the earliest series that I've read, which pertains to Yuri in its explicit definition. Rather than a cutesy shoujo-ai or mild yuri, it goes in-depths in all respects. Dreams, goals, past experiences that led to current circumstances, human relationships. Now, I understand that people are entitled to their opinion but I seriously find Hell Clues' assessment that the couple are mentally unhealthy is...well.. bigoted. People aren't perfect. Manga seems to make other people a certain way usually but in this case, Maka Maka presents individuals with pasts full of good and bad experience. We only learn a bit about both Nene and Jun and how they came about to their present state. SURE it makes them seem sleezy/dishonest but isn't that realistic if you consider their past? Its a broken world with these two trying to make something out of it. They found solace among one another and in that sense, a true happiness. You, Hell Clues, only focused on the fact that yes, Nene and Jun sleep with multiple partners. Yes they may or may not be in an "official" relationship. But what about the partners? They were never portrayed as the "oh, I love you forever and ever." No. All, or most, of the portrayed men were in it for the sex. A little biased but not entirely wrong. I'll use the same imaginative you used.

Imagine you were in a relationship where your partner only uses your body. They don't particularly care about what you do, what you want to do, how are you, what you have done, simply put, they want to ravage your body. Yet you're identified as a couple. Society dictates that any other kind of relationship is abnormal. A sin. A mental illness. A passing phase. It may or may have been different at the start. He/she did show affection in courting you. But then it quickly degenerated into sex every time you meet. But you have a friend. A friend that cares for you and talks to you. Makes you feel alive rather than an accessory.

And so on. People, you, others, may exclaim their lack of sympathy for this couple by stating things such as "Coward" "Just break it off instead of cheating" "Needy" "Lying to themselves" etc But every case is unique and in this particular case, even if it is just a story, they are finding their own peace without really hurting anyone. There are also many forms of "cheating". Physical, emotional, and mentally are the broader terms. Physically is obvious while emotional and mental and more vague. Emotion may refer to trust (as in you rely on somebody else more so than your partner) or mentally you may think of somebody else more often. People interact. Its hard to monopolize someone completely without locking them away.

Actual review (I guess):
I liked it. The episodic way of narration generates a glimpse of their lives as they progress. Periods of time that seem to be more realistic than a never-breaking narrative. It started at a random point, unravels such that you learn a bit about their lives, then ends as would a rolling yarn ball...continuous. Its a story about two friends whom find solace within one another in a chaotic world. They are not perfect. Not by a long shot. But they are very human. They have problems and they deal with it (by committing to some action in a reaction, running away, or doing nothing...its still a response). They're both very sexually charged individuals (who isn't?).

TL, DR?
They're a believable realistic couple.

Just read it.. you'll understand.. but you have to see beyond the sex scenes, it's not what this is about.. it's the relationship of jun and nene that matters... and to those of the reviewers that said it doesn't change anything.. my god.. read again.. it all changes.. at a slow pace.. but it does.. if you haven't read all the story yet.. stop reading this post right here..

at the end.. it's clear that they finally recognize the love for each other.. and of course.. their relationship is only going to improve... but the author just left it all to ourselves to understand

truly beautiful...

This manga would be an excellent yuri manga if it werent for two things:

1. Jun is a slut who sleeps with any guy who praises her art.
   2)Nene has a boyfriend who she clearly does not even like, but still insists that she loves him. Even though she clearly loves Jun more.

These things normally wouldnt be a problem if they were resolved, but in the end theyre still exactly the same, boyfriends and all. They say they love each other but only as friends, yet despite this they have sex constantly. So close to making a masterpiece Kishi Torajirou, yet so god damn far. Raelly why an author would do that to their work is beyond me.

I really enjoyed this! I'm a bit biased since I was surprised that it was actually written by a man because the author doesn't really give men a break. What also surprised me was the focus being about two women, and this relationship was fascinating - from the emotions it presented to the character development it expressed. The mangaka did a fantastic job in crafting a pair of in-depth women, two girls with distinct personalities and realistic reactions that corresponded with how they were raised and what they went through. And though it's labelled hentai, I do believe there was a deeper connection between Jun and Nene than the regular, everyday, lovey-dovey romance. They built something that somehow made the term "lovers" seem incredibly mundane. Hats off to the good sir who crafted this masterpiece. Oh, and as an incentive you're guaranteed sex every chapter. (Not surprising as it is hentai) But the sex isn't just to throw it in, it has meaning - in the beginning as harmless fun - growing into an essential tool for conveying the undying feelings they have for each other. Once again, he did an amazing job in creating something with all the excitement of hentai, trading baseless sex for intimate passion, resulting in a work that cannot be missed for anyone seeking extraordinary romance and hot schmex.