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brittbat 's review for:
Breath of Flowers Volume 1
by Caly
A serendipitous read: After spending some time researching yuri titles at my library job, I found Breath of Flowers on a cart of books to be shelved. In 2021 I've both resolved to read more queer books and unexpectedly rekindled my interest in manga, so of course I checked it out.
The first volume introduces Azami, a high school student who is certain that she is attracted only to boys... Until her crush, Gwyn, turns out to be a girl. Because their high school has no girls' basketball team, Gwyn has been posing as a boy in order to pursue her athletic interests.
This obstacle is overcome rather quickly, and Azami readily adjusts to the revelation. Pretty soon the narrative shifts to high school relationship drama, as a competitor for Gwyn's affections emerges. I found this swift transition a bit jarring; I get that this is a lighthearted title, but realizing that your sexual orientation is not what you thought it was--especially when you're adamant that you know yourself already, like Azami is--then it takes time to come to terms with it. Seems like there should have been more angst!
I also found the cross dressing story line odd. I mean, I'm not going to side-eye an outlandish situation in a manga too hard. However, I kept thinking that it would all make much more sense and build a story with greater depth if Gwyn were written as a trans boy. In some scenes, that seems to be what's happening: Gwyn lives socially as a boy, binds, and appears to experience dysphoria related to puberty. Chalking all of that up solely to wanting to keep up her ruse and play basketball didn't quite add up for me.
Overall, though, Breath of Flowers presents a sweet, gentle romance, and I found that reading about two young women falling in love and figuring out how to treat one another was reassuring, despite the fact that my high school days are far behind me. I'll see how the plot thickens in Volume 2.
(Also of interest, at least to me: Caly is a French mangaka, which led me to reading through the creator biographies on Tokyopop's International Women of Manga page and realizing that I'm really uninformed regarding manga that is being created outside of Japan.)
The first volume introduces Azami, a high school student who is certain that she is attracted only to boys... Until her crush, Gwyn, turns out to be a girl. Because their high school has no girls' basketball team, Gwyn has been posing as a boy in order to pursue her athletic interests.
This obstacle is overcome rather quickly, and Azami readily adjusts to the revelation. Pretty soon the narrative shifts to high school relationship drama, as a competitor for Gwyn's affections emerges. I found this swift transition a bit jarring; I get that this is a lighthearted title, but realizing that your sexual orientation is not what you thought it was--especially when you're adamant that you know yourself already, like Azami is--then it takes time to come to terms with it. Seems like there should have been more angst!
I also found the cross dressing story line odd. I mean, I'm not going to side-eye an outlandish situation in a manga too hard. However, I kept thinking that it would all make much more sense and build a story with greater depth if Gwyn were written as a trans boy. In some scenes, that seems to be what's happening: Gwyn lives socially as a boy, binds, and appears to experience dysphoria related to puberty. Chalking all of that up solely to wanting to keep up her ruse and play basketball didn't quite add up for me.
Overall, though, Breath of Flowers presents a sweet, gentle romance, and I found that reading about two young women falling in love and figuring out how to treat one another was reassuring, despite the fact that my high school days are far behind me. I'll see how the plot thickens in Volume 2.
(Also of interest, at least to me: Caly is a French mangaka, which led me to reading through the creator biographies on Tokyopop's International Women of Manga page and realizing that I'm really uninformed regarding manga that is being created outside of Japan.)