Full Color College Yuri Manga ‘Monologue Woven For You’ Debuts in English

The first volume of Syu Yasaka’s Yuri manga series Monologue Woven For You (Kimi ni Tsumugu Bouhaku) was released in English digitally Tuesday by Seven Seas Entertainment. The series is drawn and published with full-color illustrations. Physical editions are scheduled for release on February 22.

Monologue Woven For You follows Haruka, a university student, and former stage actress. Although she once dreamed of chasing the spotlight, she abandoned her goals after a mysterious past trauma. She meets Nao, who rushes for the stage head-on. The two quickly form a bond that turns to romance, as Nao helps reignite Haruka’s love of theater and gives her a new goal to reach for, supporting her girlfriend without hesitation.

Ireviewedthe first volume of Monologue Woven For You and found it to be a neat premise with a fumbled execution. Praising the cute moments, set pieces, and central relationship, but criticizing the moe art style and plot. The series was awarded a 6/10 overall rating.

The series was initially published in three Japanese volumes by Takeshobo and was serialized on Manga Life STORIA Dash. The final volume was released in October 2021. Monologue Woven For You is translated into English by Samuel R. Messner. The second volume is scheduled for English release in June 2022.

Syu Yasaka is a Japanese artist known for BanG Dream!andHigh School Fleet artwork and doujinshi. Monologue Woven For You is their first serialized work and first English release. Yasaka operates under doujin circle Smile Studio.

You can check out Monologue Woven For You volume 1 digitally and preorder the paperback edition ahead of its release later this month: https://amzn.to/3uCdGal

Reading official releases helps support creators and publishers. YuriMother makes a small affiliate commission from sales to help fund future coverage.

LGBTQ Manga Review - Monologue Woven For You Vol. 1

“A collection of incrediblyadorable Yuri moments of magic and love woven together with a depthless story.”

Syu Yasaka’s Monologue Woven For You has a lot going for it and its initial presentation is superb. Even I was a little struck when I first heard of the series sometime towards the end of its two-year, three-volume run in Manga Life STORIA Dash. A full-color manga following university students? They both have a passion for theater yet ultimately different experiences and trauma for it!? AND THEY GET TOGETHER EARLY ON IN THE STORY!!?? Indeed, everything about Monologue Woven For You sounds fantastic. Even the cover looks like two beautiful still out of a gorgeous and grounded Yuri anime series we have never seen. Unfortunately, the execution of these individual elements never comes together in quite the right way, turning what should have been a fantastic manga into barely more than a mediocre one that I must caveat my recommendation for at almost every turn.

Monologue Woven For You follows Haruka, a second-year university student, and former drama-enthusiast. Haruka loved performing on stage and her dream was to be an actress until a mysterious event in her past closed the curtain on her dreams long ago. She meets Hayama Nao, a first-year with an incredible passion for acting. The two are drawn together, becoming fast friends. Soon thereafter, Nao confesses, and Haruka eagerly accepts her feelings.

The rest of the story unfolds as a series of incredibly cute moments and set pieces between our two characters. They have an incredible amount of passion for each other and are very closely attached even at this early stage in their relationship. During these events, small details of their characters’ past are unveiled, some naturally in the story and others from flashbacks. It is an effective way to slowly uncover the well-set up mysteries about the characters and their past, such as why Haruka left the theater and why Nao is so captivated by her.

Unfortunately, there is a bit of an identity crisis in the story. Monologuedoes not seem to know exactly what it wants to be. In some moments, it plays more like a typical romance drama, and others a fluffy slice of life comedy. And for a series about actors and the theater, one would think there would be some play arc? Part of this inconsistency is the lack of any real conflict. Nao and Haruka’s relationship is so good, save for Haruka’s secret past. The manga keeps almost looking like it is going to set off some conflict with Nao needing to devote time to the stage and Haruka feeling ignored, or maybe Haruka struggling to support Nao’s theater dreams after her own painful experiences. But no, these are never explored or developed and are a sadly missed opportunity I hope volumes two and three capitalize on.

The central relationship and characters were equally conflicted. On the one hand, I loved Haruka and Nao together. This manga was full of many adorably gay moments with the two spending a lazy morning cuddling in bed or impatient cooking dinner “together” (one doing all the work the other all the pawing for attention). The best part of the couple is how passionate they are for each other. One of my favorite moments is when Haruka goes to eat with an old friend and passionately divulges how much she wants to support Noa’s dreams and how much she loves her in a beautiful monologue detailing the many small elements of Nao that only a lover would notice and admire. It really sells the relationship and makes me so happy that these two are together.

Unfortunately, while I love Nao and Haruka’s relationship, I do not care for either of them individually. In fact, there is not much to care for, as neither girl has much in the way of personality. Sure, they both have goals and histories with the theater, but I could not tell you if one was clumsy, quick-witted, or kind. I think at most there is one character moment where Nao gets flustered when her phone rings during foreplay and then is too embarrassed to continue. As I was reading the many wonderful moments of romance and charm shared between the two, it felt like I was reading a random collection of shorts on Pixiv done by a Yuri artist featuring two nameless girls. More time was needed prior to the relationship to establish both characters.

Monologue Woven For You’s big selling point is that it is a full-color manga. Something not unheard of, especially given the rise of full-color webtoons, but uncommon. Now there is a reason manga is made in black and white… it’s cheap and quick. However, the skills for good line art do not necessarily translate to colorwork, so a project with Monologue’saspirations needs a deft hand and probably a fair number of assistants. Yasaka pulls it off rather well, but there are no panels or sprawling displays of gorgeous colorful art and it feels like such a missed opportunity. I was ready for the visual to wow me, especially given the fantastic front cover, but was left sorely disappointed. In the end, the color was a nice feature and cool selling point that did little to add to the overall work.

Furthermore, the character designs are great, for a middle school slice of life. However, it is far too moe for the setting and supposed age of the characters. It somewhat fits with the cutesy cuddles and head pats sprinkled lovingly throughout the manga, but it clashes way too hard with everything else. I cannot possibly imagine these two twelve-year-old-looking girls renting apartments, cooking for each other, and going on vacation, all of which I should not have to imagine because they are in this freaking manga. It was especially uncomfortable in the few moments featuring the characters in their underwear and the one non-nude sex scene. It is a bad sign when I have to stop reading flip back to check that these characters are adults because I feel uncomfortable.

Monologue Woven For You is a neat premise with a fumbled execution. It has a great presentation, an adorable relationship between two characters who care deeply for each other, and plenty of “aww”-inspiring moments. There are some great scenes readers will return to just to giggle happily and post online squealing. But, there are a drastic number of failures, including a directionless plot, characters lacking much in the way of personality, and the same boring, fluffy, moe art that was tired 10 years ago (now in color!). There is potential for the next two volumes to help the curtain rise on this series, but for now, readers should approach this one as a collection of incrediblyadorable Yuri moments of magic and love woven together with a depthless story in whatever basement a theater mom made the middle school drama club’s production costumes in.

Ratings:
Story – 5
Characters – Individually 3, as a couple 9
Art – 7
LGBTQ – 8
Sexual Content – 4
Final – 6

Check out Monologue Woven For You Vol. 1 Today: https://amzn.to/3rAVkEQ

Reading official releases helps support creators and publishers. YuriMother makes a small commission from sales to help fund future coverage.

This review is made possible by the support of Avery Riehl and the YuriMother patrons. Support YuriMother on Patreon today for exclusive articles, early access, and to help fund LGBTQ+ content.

Review copy provided by Seven Seas Entertainment. My thanks to translator Samuel R. Messner, adaptor Asha Bardon, and letterer James Dashiell for their incredible work on this manga.

Happy birthday to me!! Here’s some seiusa

百合、くりえみ X 真奈

I see a lot of people saying that girls can’t read BL because they are fetishizing mlm relationships but I think that’s not how it works.

*I’m a woman so I can’t say if it’s totally wrong or right but I want give my opinion as a bisexual woman*

Let me start saying why I read BL: I like reading romance, for me it doesn’t matter if it’s straight, mlm or wlw, I like seeing people falling in love and being cute together, I grew up watching romantic movies with my mom so this influenced the way I see romance.

As a girl who also like girls, straight people or gay man reading wlw stories doesn’t bother me, but if you bring the ship dynamic to real life and force it on two real girls it’s wrong, and it’s fetishizing, ‘cuz you don’t see them as a person but as a sexuality, and I think it’s the same with BL/mlm stories.

You shouldn’t treat real people like fictional characters or a sexuality only, ignoring their feelings and opinions, and a lot of young girls do this shit, and that’s why gay or bi men think it’s uncomfortable.