Stuff like That

I’ve come to the end of volume 2, and I still haven’t said much about what’s going on with Fumi and Akira. Allow me to remedy that, in my last comments before I wrap up this volume.

Like many schoolgirl yuri relationships, Fumi and Akira’s progresses relatively slowly, with only three significant developments across the entire volume.

The first is Fumi’s rejection of Yasuko. Her relationship with Yasuko firmly cemented Fumi’s identity as a lesbian (to the reader, but I also think to Fumi herself). At the same time, its ending and her subsequent recovery left her open to the (re)kindling of her feelings toward Akira (SBF, 1:88–92, 1:135–40, 1:333–35).

That led directly to the next significant development, Fumi’s telling Akira that she was her “first love” (SBF, 2:138–41). Since this was not an unambiguous confession, it leaves both Akira and Fumi at loose ends: Akira cannot discern precisely what Fumi’s present-day feelings are toward herself. She also wonders about both her feelings (or perceived lack of them) toward Fumi and her more general feelings about girl-girl relationships.

Meanwhile, Fumi is tortured about what Akira’s feelings are, even to the point of being led astray, imagining that something is going on between Akira and Ko Sawanoi. She struggles to regain the self-confidence she evinced when rejecting Yasuko.

We see this in Fumi’s ultimately unsuccessful attempt to participate in the Fujugaya drama club’s production of Rokumeikan (SBF, 2:279–86, 2:308–10). It’s unclear why Fumi actively persists with this, given her evident discomfort and feelings of inadequacy. She tells Haruka Ono that she “wanted to show her up” (“her” meaning Yasuko), but what exactly did Fumi mean by this (2:316)?

Perhaps Fumi wanted to mimic Yasuko’s smooth self-confidence, the attitude that initially swept Fumi off her feet. Being in the play as Kiyohara (a supporting role but a major one) would put her in a similar position to Yasuko in Wuthering Heights. With Akira also in the play, she’d have plenty of opportunities to impress her, just as Yasuko impressed the girls of Fujigaya the year before.

But, as Fumi ultimately concludes, she’s in no way equipped to step into Yasuko’s role, much less to “show her up.” “I’m simply not like Sugimoto. This is just … the way I am” (SBF, 2:308). Fumi walking away from the play relieves her of that burden. In combination with her dissatisfaction with her answer to Haruka, it also leads to the third and final significant development: Fumi’s confession to Akira, which in essence concludes the volume (2:335). (The final scene at the Kamakura rail station is inconclusive.)

So where do things stand now, at the end of volume 2? We’ve already had a kiss (between Yasuko and Fumi) and a confession. In a typical schoolgirl yuri work, a confession and a kiss would be the climax, and we’d be ready to call it a success and go on to the next thing. Yet here we are with another two volumes still to come.

From Fumi’s point of view, things are relatively straightforward: she knows who she is (a woman who loves women), knows what she wants (both an emotional and physical relationship with Akira), and has come right out and asked Akira for just that. The major suspense in subsequent volumes will be whether Fumi gets what she wants.

As for Akira, she still reads as asexual and (mostly) aromantic, so whether she’s even able to have that sort of relationship with Fumi is still in doubt, let alone whether she’s interested in doing so. However, there are some points we can contemplate.

First, Akira isn’t repulsed by the idea of two girls having a relationship. Her fear seems to be more that she’ll be embarrassed if she quizzes Fumi and finds out Fumi’s not interested in her (SBF, 2:221). She mainly appears to be somewhat confused and unsure what to think (2:219–20).

Second, it’s also clear that Akira has no interest in boys or men. Whatever interest Ko Sawanoi might have had in her, it’s apparent that she feels nothing towards him—which makes Fumi’s insecurities about Akira and Ko a bit unrealistic, even if jealousy does make her temples hurt (SBF, 2:156).

Finally, it’s been intimated that girls can arouse some sort of response in Akira. The first instance was in volume 1 with Yasuko (“I can see how she’s such a lady-killer.”) (SBF, 1:234). The second was arguably in volume 2 in her reaction to seeing Fumi and Ryoko standing next to each other (“… seeing Fumi and Ueda together felt strange.”) and to Ryoko’s “key-chain” comment (2:276, 2:212–13). Given that all three girls are tall, and both Fumi and Ryoko have long hair, I don’t think it’s too much to conclude that Akira may have a “type.” If so, Fumi fits it to a T.

Where will Akira and Fumi go from here? That is the primary question to be addressed in the final two volumes.