Manga Detail

This is a database of older and less well known anime and manga \| Menu \|
		Manga Detail -Help-

Back | Anime titles | anime in romaji order | Shoujo | W.M.T | Old Anime | Manga titles | Blog Home

Information

Title (English) Whispered Words

Title (Japanese) Sasameki Koto

Advertising
Fantasy Novel

Notes Yuri manga, originally published in a boys' magazine.
Now also an anime.

Manga author/artist Takashi Ikeda

Date 2007

Publisher Media factory

Edn. Language Jap

ISBN (review vol.)

Pages 162

Price

Size

Cover

Synopsis Briefly, 15-year old Sumika Murasame is academically gifted, good at sports, and skilled at karate, making her something of an alpha girl, and she is 175cm (5'9") tall, which does nothing to diminish her reputation for being a bit scary, and she wears thick-rimmed glasses. Secretly, she is attracted to another girl, her best friend, the pretty and openly lesbian Ushio Kazama. However Ushio is only attracted to cute girlies, not strapping young Amazons like Sumika.
Sumika hopes she can find a way to declare her feelings, while Ushio repeatedly pre-empts this by constantly chasing other girls, and pointing out that Sumika isn't her type. This is (so far) a story about unrequited lesbian love - those who hope to see the other sort should look elsewhere. Other characters include a cross-dressing boy who finds himself signed up as a (female) magazine model, several other lesbians, and a yuri manga fan-girl. Inevitably, Ushio pursues the boy believing him to be a cute girl.

Review This clearly isn't another Aoi Hana, being more in the familiar territory of exaggerated romantic comedy. As well as the two principals, there are several other lesbian pairings. There is also a cross-dressing boy, Akemiya, who is being photographed by his pushy little sister, and who looks quite sexy. Sumika is pressurised into going on a date with Akemiya, who turns up dressed as a girl. They have a snack in a cafe and then go clothes-shopping. It's all a bit much for poor Sumika, who finds him/her so cute she practically has a nosebleed. This series shows the potential of yuri romantic anime for comedy; however there's as much drama as comedy. As a drama it has a problem in that the humour lies in Ushio never realising that Sumika fancies her, and so the same cycle of Sumika's hope and disappointment threatens to spin out indefinitely. If Ushio got the message, the story would either end or morph into something else.
The early chapters of the manga are quite lively, but after a while nothing much is happening as Kazama fails to realise that Murasame is in love with her, despite endless attempts to give her the message (and the mangaka and publisher spin out their cash cow for as long as possible).
By the way, one is aware that successive generations of Japanese are getting taller, apparently because of improved diet, so Sumika's height may not that unusual. Still, at 5ft 9in she'd be a tall girl in any country!
Definitely one of the best lesbian comedy manga - recommended.

References

Back

Skin design by DivxDB

Information
Title (English)	Whispered Words
Title (Japanese)	Sasameki Koto
Advertising Fantasy Novel
Notes	Yuri manga, originally published in a boys' magazine. Now also an anime.
Manga author/artist	Takashi Ikeda
Date	2007
Publisher	Media factory
Edn. Language	Jap
ISBN (review vol.)
Pages	162
Price
Size
Cover
Synopsis	Briefly, 15-year old Sumika Murasame is academically gifted, good at sports, and skilled at karate, making her something of an alpha girl, and she is 175cm (5'9") tall, which does nothing to diminish her reputation for being a bit scary, and she wears thick-rimmed glasses. Secretly, she is attracted to another girl, her best friend, the pretty and openly lesbian Ushio Kazama. However Ushio is only attracted to cute girlies, not strapping young Amazons like Sumika. Sumika hopes she can find a way to declare her feelings, while Ushio repeatedly pre-empts this by constantly chasing other girls, and pointing out that Sumika isn't her type. This is (so far) a story about unrequited lesbian love - those who hope to see the other sort should look elsewhere. Other characters include a cross-dressing boy who finds himself signed up as a (female) magazine model, several other lesbians, and a yuri manga fan-girl. Inevitably, Ushio pursues the boy believing him to be a cute girl.
Review	This clearly isn't another Aoi Hana, being more in the familiar territory of exaggerated romantic comedy. As well as the two principals, there are several other lesbian pairings. There is also a cross-dressing boy, Akemiya, who is being photographed by his pushy little sister, and who looks quite sexy. Sumika is pressurised into going on a date with Akemiya, who turns up dressed as a girl. They have a snack in a cafe and then go clothes-shopping. It's all a bit much for poor Sumika, who finds him/her so cute she practically has a nosebleed. This series shows the potential of yuri romantic anime for comedy; however there's as much drama as comedy. As a drama it has a problem in that the humour lies in Ushio never realising that Sumika fancies her, and so the same cycle of Sumika's hope and disappointment threatens to spin out indefinitely. If Ushio got the message, the story would either end or morph into something else. The early chapters of the manga are quite lively, but after a while nothing much is happening as Kazama fails to realise that Murasame is in love with her, despite endless attempts to give her the message (and the mangaka and publisher spin out their cash cow for as long as possible). By the way, one is aware that successive generations of Japanese are getting taller, apparently because of improved diet, so Sumika's height may not that unusual. Still, at 5ft 9in she'd be a tall girl in any country! Definitely one of the best lesbian comedy manga - recommended.
References