GIRL FRIENDS-ガールフレンズ

GIRL FRIENDS

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
5
RELEASE
August 21, 2010
CHAPTERS
44

DESCRIPTION

When it comes to grades, bookish high school student Mariko Kumakura is at the top of her class. Socially, however, she is shy and lonely, typically eating lunch by herself. Enter the charismatic and beautiful Akko Oohashi, whose goal is to befriend Mariko and burst her out of her introverted shell.

In the process of transforming Plain Jane Mariko into one of the cutest, most popular girls in school, deep feelings begin to emerge that suggest something deeper than friendship. Will these feelings destroy the budding relationship between Mariko and Akko, or will it turn into something else?

(Source: Seven Seas Entertainment)

Note: Includes 9 extra chapters.

CAST

Akiko Oohashi
Mariko Kumakura
Tamami Sekine
Satoko Sugiyama
Narumatsu
Chiharu Kuno
Urara Taguchi

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO GIRL FRIENDS

MANGA RomanceTenkiame to Houbutsusen

REVIEWS

TheAnimeSage
90/100
A Casuals Thoughts on Girl Friends
Girl Friends is my favorite manga, and it has been for years now. This was my fourth time reading it through(from start to finish), but there were numerous times when i would just re-read some of my favorite chapters. It is my favorite, but i should clarify that i have no delusions of it being the best manga ever made. I realize that it being my favorite is a result of a very personal experience, and a lot of the bias that resulted from said experience.

The main thing you should know about my first experience with Girl Friends is that i read it at a time when i wrote off the Yuri/Shoujo Ai genre(s) entirely. I thought they were worthless content not worth checking out, despite never really giving any a shot myself. I encountered the Girl Friends manga without even knowing it was Yuri, i just thought it was going to be a Shoujo. After i passed the point of no return, the point when its obvious it is a Yuri, i was already hooked. That first read made me excited to give the Yuri genre the chance it deserved. I admit i am super bias, so forgive me if it seems like i am overselling the quality, i just really love this manga.

The protagonists, Akko and Mari(these are their nicknames, but its easier for me to say and remember), are both interesting characters. Akko is an outgoing, straightforward character whose thoughts and actions tend to line up. She is good at socializing and making friends, but is bad with academics and handling more emotionally delicate situations. Mari is an introspective character who is good at academics, but doesn't really try to make friends at the start. Her thoughts and actions dont always line up, she will go along with things just to be polite even if she doesn't want to do them. Mari is probably the primary protagonist considering the fact that she is the perspective character for the majority of the manga. There are times when we are given Akkos perspective, but it is rare until the last dozen chapters. Their relationship is the focus of the manga, with it going from friendship to love.

What i like about the pacing is the fact that they sold me on the friendship first. In the early chapters, we see Mari and Akko develop as friends, with Maris mindset being clear that she only thinks of Akko as a friend. They hang out in their free time, text back and forth when they are not hanging out, keep each others secrets, they even go on diets together. The friendship felt genuine to me. This foundation is essential for the next part of the story, which is Mari's love for Akko damaging their friendship. As someone who has been in situations where i couldn't tell the girl i liked that i liked her, i can relate to the torment Mari feels during these chapters. It is interesting that it acts as both an internal conflict for her and a conflict for her friendship. Mari has to come to terms with the fact that she is in love with Akko and she has to come to terms with the fact that her friendship will never be the same. It also makes Mari question the friendship itself because you think you can tell your best friend anything, and yet this is a big thing that she has to keep from Akko. This is my favorite aspect of the manga for sure, seeing Mari struggle with these things made me always excited to see what would happen next. After seeing two people become so close just to see them become distant was very compelling to me. Akko realizing her feelings wasn't quite as interesting to me, but that is likely a result of Akko just being a much more upbeat character. Mari fears change, when her group of friends are going to face the class switches, she is terrified that it will mean the end of her friendship with everyone. A friend entering into a relationship, and therefore not having as much time to hang out is something Mari dreads. So when the nature of her relationship with Akko changes(because she realizes that she cant tell Akko everything) it really effects her mentality and she becomes emotionally distant. I suppose it was easier for Akko because Mari had already revealed her feelings to her, so when Akkos time came it would be easier. Regardless, Akko is the type of person who would have just gone for it from the start, even if she didn't know of Mari's feelings. It might not have been as interesting, but it was still damn entertaining. I like how dense Mari was at first, and the humorous situations that resulted. With a positive outcome, it is definitely a more optimistic story overall. This isn't a super deep story line, but i like that it had some depth in its characters and relationships. We see that friendship and love are both things that require effort to maintain.

While i will probably end up understating my problems with the manga, remember that i do not think is perfect or the most complex/deep manga in existence. While i like the fact that the manga had a lot of focus on the main characters and their relationship, i do wish there was a little focus on how everyone interpreted their relationship in the end. A big part of the final part is how they will have to overcome society being against lesbian relationships, but they don't really explore that. I don't expect it to go all in on that idea, but i would have liked to see how their families responded to this change. The manga is still good without this, but it is something i would have liked. My biggest complaint with content that exists in the manga itself is the few dialogue moments where they are clearly overselling the idea to the audience. I have noticed this in various manga, including hentai. There are these moments when the writer feels to need to make sure you get the idea. Mari's family always assuming she is acting the way she is because of a boyfriend makes no sense unless you consider that the writer is trying to reassure the audience that this is in fact a yuri. Whenever they commented about how 'its probably because of a boyfriend' i rolled my eyes.

I couldn't think of a organic way of talking about the art but here it is. I really love the art style and character designs. There are moments where the visuals do a good job at conveying the emotions of the scenes. Like the scene where Akko feels a void now that Mari is avoiding her, we see her looking at an empty space next to her on the train. This scene is very basic, but effective in conveying an idea visually. There are many moments like this peppered throughout the story, and it is effective.

This is obvious at this point but i loved this manga. I wont pretend that it is the deepest, most complex, best executed story in the world. But for me, a filthy casual, it is something i really enjoyed. Overall, i am happy i read Girl Friends.
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NapoJ
70/100
Más que amigas (reseña en ESP y ENG)
La siguiente reseña está en Español e Inglés (traducida con el apoyo de DeepL)

La versión leída es la traducción al español por Angi de “Love Makko Suki”

Manga Shoujo Ai de Milk Morinaga, una de las autoras contemporáneas más reconocidas en este ámbito, siendo Girlfriends un punto pivotal de su carrera. Previamente la mayoría de sus trabajos se conforman de One Shots de enfoque erótico, también Yuri, en diferentes revistas y compilaciones. En cambio, Girlfriends es un romance a fuego lento, se desarrolla durante los años de la juventud, cuya primera parte de capítulos son de los típicos devenires entre amigas.

Y he ahí una de sus principales cualidades, primero nos sumergimos en una historia de amistad entre dos personalidades dispares, que en el transcurso, conforme cada una se entiende mejor a sí misma y a lo que siente, se convierte en ese amor de juventud desprovisto de cualquier tipo de experiencia, alimentado de dudas, vergüenzas a la par que alegrías y expectativas.

Ese proceso no carente de malentendidos y miedos, tiene numerosas enseñanzas y lecciones demostradas de primera mano, empezando por la sinceridad a quién soy y que quiero, pasando por la aceptación de los sentimientos de los otros, la mejora de mi personalidad a través de la interacción del otro hasta el entendimiento de que ser apoyo hacia alguien más no implica renunciar a mis propias expectativas. Sí he de quedarme con algo, es la aceptación sobre el miedo al cambio de una relación establecida porque inevitablemente se ha enamorado, no lo pretendía pero ha sucedido e ignorarlo sería traicionarme. Una experiencia universal sin importar tu orientación sexual.

Su narración es sencilla, no hay estructuradas metáforas ni intrincadas reflexiones a nivel de diálogo o monólogo, lo cuál no implica que se carezca de puntos interesantes. La misma decisión de esta narración es directa a ser experiencia naciente de dos chicas comunes de secundaria, y en la presentación de los sucesos, Morinaga se permite cierta variación en los puntos de vista que enriquecen la narrativa.

No todo podía resultar sin fallas, aún más considerando que es su primer trabajo serializado de considerable duración, tal como reconoce la misma Milk en los comentarios de su último volumen. La planificación no es del todo óptima, si bien la transición de amistad/romance es su mejor aspecto, a su vez hay varios lapsos donde tenemos capítulos en que los puntos álgidos suceden en un par en vez de haber sido más estructurados en la línea temporal.

Como también se sienten sin mayor alcance las compañeras secundarias, para bien y para mal centradas en sus propias vidas lo cuál refuerza el ambiente de Slice of Life teniendo recurrentes conversaciones sobre moda, dietas, chicos o maquillaje. A la par que sacrifica el haberlas involucrado un poco más, así fuera de forma simbólica para hacer un mejor contexto temático alineado a las pretensiones principales. A su vez el aspecto familiar es completamente obviado.

Morinaga escribió que lamentaba no hubiese podido ahondar más en el grupo de amigas en las principales actividades escolares que seguramente conoces siendo aficionado al mundillo, de todas formas sí que tenemos plenamente determinado ese punto de comienzo y de finalizado, sea en el período escolar, como también en el aspecto físico y emocional de la relación principal, agradezco exista ese abordaje natural de la relación juvenil en proceso de descubrimiento.

Su estilo de dibujo es del Shoujo más típico, especialmente para la segunda mitad de la década del 2000. Los diseños estilizados, con expresivos ojos y detalle a la caballera, luciendo su aspecto femenino en el amplio diseño de vestidos y cambios de maquillaje, con esas decoraciones habituales de florituras y efectos alrededor del panel.

En cuánto al posicionamiento de personajes y sentido del ritmo, de vez en cuando tiene geniales paneles donde expresa el sentir de los personajes sin necesidad del diálogo (mirar hacia una parada vacía, centrarse en una parte del rostro, resaltar a quien está viendo el personaje), a la vez que de tener más de 3 personajes puede sentirse “sobrepoblada” la imagen, algo que notablemente corrige en el transcurso con paneles más amplios, y que, de forma tardía, incluye esas típicas expresiones graciosas para momentos particulares.

De todas formas, siendo ese trabajo primerizo a nivel de serialización, destaca ampliamente su esfuerzo en mejorar capítulo a capítulo, sobre todo considerando que se publicó durante años. Hay una marcada evolución de su visión y conceptualización como artista.

Igual eso no evita que los errores del comienzo no pudieron haber sido corregidos en el camino sin caer en una extensión no necesaria de la narrativa. En últimas tengo una conciliación de que varios elementos podían haber dado más de sí, pero no quedó insatisfecho, al contrario, la genuinidad, sencillez y honestidad de su presentación da todavía más brillo a esa juventud de descubrimiento, romance y el más puro amor, el primero.

English

Girlfriends is a Shoujo Ai manga by Milk Morinaga, one of the most recognized contemporary authors within the genre, with Girlfriends representing a pivotal point in her career. Prior to this work, most of her catalog consisted of erotic Yuri one-shots published across different magazines and compilations. In contrast, Girlfriends is a slow-burn romance that unfolds throughout adolescence, whose early chapters revolve around the everyday developments typical of close friendships.

And therein lies one of its greatest strengths: first, we are immersed in a story of friendship between two contrasting personalities, which gradually transforms—as each girl comes to better understand herself and her feelings—into that youthful kind of love devoid of experience, fueled equally by doubts, embarrassment, joy, and expectation.

This process, far from being free of misunderstandings and fears, conveys numerous lessons and firsthand reflections: beginning with honesty toward who I am and what I want, moving through accepting the feelings of others, improving oneself through interaction with another person, and eventually understanding that supporting someone else does not mean abandoning one’s own expectations. If there is one aspect I would especially highlight, it is the acceptance of the fear that comes with changing an established relationship because love has inevitably emerged. It was never intended, yet it happened, and ignoring it would mean betraying oneself. A universal experience regardless of sexual orientation.

Its narrative is simple. There are no elaborate metaphors or intricate philosophical reflections within the dialogue or monologues, though that does not mean it lacks compelling ideas. In fact, the directness of its storytelling reinforces the sense that this is a budding experience lived by two ordinary high school girls. Through the presentation of events, Morinaga allows subtle shifts in perspective that enrich the narrative.

Naturally, the work is not without flaws, especially considering it was her first serialized project of considerable length, something Milk herself acknowledges in the comments of the final volume. The planning is not entirely optimal; while the friendship-to-romance transition is the manga’s strongest aspect, there are stretches where emotional high points are concentrated into only a handful of chapters rather than being distributed more organically throughout the timeline.

Likewise, the secondary friends feel somewhat underdeveloped. For better and worse, they remain focused on their own lives, which reinforces the Slice of Life atmosphere through recurring conversations about fashion, dieting, boys, or makeup. At the same time, this comes at the cost of involving them more meaningfully—even symbolically—to better reinforce the story’s thematic intentions. The family aspect is also almost entirely absent.

Morinaga herself wrote that she regretted not being able to explore the group of friends more deeply during the major school activities familiar to fans of the genre. Nevertheless, the story clearly establishes both a beginning and an end, not only within the school period itself, but also in the physical and emotional progression of the central relationship. I appreciate the natural approach taken toward a youthful relationship in the midst of self-discovery.

Her art style is quintessential Shoujo, especially representative of the late 2000s. The character designs are stylized, featuring expressive eyes and detailed hairstyles, emphasizing femininity through an extensive variety of dresses and makeup changes, all accompanied by the decorative flourishes and visual effects typical of the genre.

As for character positioning and pacing, there are occasionally brilliant panels that express the characters’ emotions without relying on dialogue at all—whether through staring at an empty bus stop, focusing on part of a face, or emphasizing whoever the character is looking at. At the same time, scenes involving more than three characters can occasionally feel visually overcrowded, something she noticeably improves over time with wider panels and, somewhat later on, the inclusion of those classic exaggerated comedic expressions for specific moments.

Even so, considering this was her first major serialized work, her effort to improve chapter by chapter stands out significantly, especially given that the manga was published over several years. There is a clear evolution in both her artistic vision and conceptual approach as an author.

Still, that does not entirely prevent the early shortcomings from lingering, nor does it justify extending the narrative unnecessarily in order to address them. Ultimately, I feel several elements could have been explored further, yet I was far from dissatisfied. On the contrary, the genuineness, simplicity, and honesty of its presentation give even greater brilliance to that youth defined by discovery, romance, and the purest form of love: the first one.

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