Hot Springs Episode

As they did after the performance of Wuthering Heights in volume 1, the students of Fujigaya take advantage of the school break after the performance of Rokumeikan to get away for a brief vacation. This time the accommodations are courtesy of Haruka Ono, whose grandparents happen to own a hot springs inn (onsen) and are happy to welcome her and her friends, not just from Fujigaya but from Matsuoka as well (SBF, 3:141–43, 3:196–98).

The onsen visit is a staple of anime and manga set in high schools. It’s usually an excuse for comedic hijinks as teenaged boys employ various stratagems to try to catch a glimpse of teenaged girls in the bath. The girls’ naked bodies are typically wreathed in strategically-placed plumes of steam—steam that sometimes magically disappears when it comes time for anime DVD or Blu-ray Disk releases.

In Sweet Blue Flowers, Shimura too provides the readers of Manga Erotics F (and us) with some “fan service,” but I think the significance of this section lies in more than mere titillation. Shimura draws Fumi’s naked body, but she depicts it from Akira’s point of view (SBF, 3:204–6).

Akira has listened to Fumi talk about her having sex with Chizu and her desire to have a physical relationship with Akira. However, Akira has not been confronted with the reality of what that implies until now. Underneath Akira’s embarrassment and confusion, we sense that she is finding herself physically attracted to a woman’s body. (“S… S-Sorry! But you’re so pretty—I had to stare.”) But she doesn’t know yet what to do with that feeling.

Although Fumi also gets a chance to see Akira naked, the more significant event for her is after the bath, when her staying too long in the hot springs causes her to almost faint. Her collapsing on the bench attracts the attention of Hinako Yamashina and Orie Ono, who are chaperoning the girls on their visit (SBF, 3:214–17).

Since Fumi doesn’t go to Fujigaya, she doesn’t know Hinako (or she Fumi). However, due to Fumi’s friendship with Haruka, she knows that Haruka’s sister Orie has a girlfriend, and Fumi figures out that that girlfriend is Hinako (SBF, 2:330). So Fumi takes the opportunity to confide in someone who’s a relative stranger but who might understand what Fumi’s going through and be a sympathetic listener (3:218, 3:225–27).

Erica Friedman has pointed out the importance of yuri protagonists “[having] an example of an adult woman in a stable [lesbian] relationship … a person to get advice from and … a role model.”¹ The key phrase here is “in a stable relationship.” In other words, Hinako already has a partner and has no romantic or sexual interest whatsoever in Fumi. This marks a clear contrast to other yuri and Class S works in which older women seek out younger women and seduce them.

For example, compare Hinako’s behavior toward Fumi with Misao Katsuragi’s toward Reiko in Nobuko Yoshiya’s “Yellow Rose.” The ornate language and concluding heartbreak obscure the fact that, in essence, “Yellow Rose” is a tale of a teacher exploiting her age and superior position to initiate a romantic relationship with a younger student placed in her charge.²

Not so with Hinako, who behaves toward Fumi as one would expect a teacher to act toward a student, repeating the scrupulousness she previously showed in her dealings with another student (SBF, 2:167). (This is true of other characters in Sweet Blue Flowers; see, for example, Mr. Kagami and Yasuko.) Although the manga is silent regarding exactly what advice Hinako provides to Fumi, she does ask Fumi two key questions: “What kind of relationship do you want with [Akira]?” and “Do you want to be a couple?” The unstated implication is, “Do you want you and Akira to be a couple like Orie and me?” (3:243).

We’ve previously seen that Hinako and Orie were in the same year in high school and began their relationship after Orie’s crush on the older Shinako ended (SBF, 2:160, 2:163–64, 2:168). Though Fumi has no way of knowing this, their situation thus resembled Akira and Fumi’s after Fumi broke up with Yasuko.

However, Fumi does see that Hinako and Orie are two women whose relationship endured beyond graduation, and this has an impact on her. As the chapter concludes, Fumi recalls Hinako and Orie and thinks to herself that she would like a similar relationship with Akira. Not realizing that Akira is not asleep, she speaks aloud of her feelings and is surprised by Akira telling her in turn of hers. Although Akira’s feelings toward Fumi are not the same as Fumi’s toward her, there’s something there. That something is significant enough that Akira wants them to date and explore where their relationship might go next (SBF, 3:246–56).