Even Though We’re Adults

\This post was originally published on [Cohost. Where linked-to Cohost articles were not archived, I’ve updated the links to go to non-Cohost copies.]

Once again I am doing a time-delayed share of a @Goyavoyage yuri recommendation. To add to what she said about Even Though We’re Adults: In addition to featuring adults only (I don’t recall any teenage characters in the manga, though maybe I missed one), it’s relatively unusual in having a male character who is treated somewhat sympathetically, not as either a villain or as a mere speed bump on the road to the main characters’ happy ending.

Regarding Sweet Blue Flowers, @Goyavoyage is correct that there are problematic aspects; however teacher-student relationships are not one of them. Never in the manga does a teacher (or any other adult) approach a student in an inappropriate way. And in each and every case where a student approaches a teacher that they have a crush on, the teacher quickly and unambiguously rejects them. Whether Shimura consciously intended this or not, the manga’s treatment of these incidents supports my theory that a major theme of Sweet Blue Flowers is a rejection of relationships based on a hierarchy of some type (e.g., senpai-kohai or teacher-student) in favor of relationships based on equality between individuals.

Finally, if anyone does want to check out my book on Sweet Blue Flowers, I’ve created a web version so that you can easily check out individual chapters — many of which started out as Tumblr posts. For example, see my discussion of Maria Watches Over Us, a series that I think, unlike Sweet Blue Flowers, very much advocates for and celebrates relationships embedded in an age-based hierarchical order.