Here’s my take after reading and re-reading 32+ chapters of Citrus by Saburo Uta.
I find Yuri Manga interesting.
In a typical boy-girl love story, it is easy to relate to the characters one way or another as you already have an idea of how everything would work or go by. However, having a girl-girl romance completely turns everything 360 degrees. Your feelings as a reader would be stretched, bent, and twisted as the Juliet and Juliet of the story goes through experiencing love.
Citrus is a perfect example of what Yuri is and should be. It is a roller coaster ride of emotions from the excitement of thinking of riding the roller coaster, the anxiety of waiting in line, the nervous feeling of getting in the cart, and the tension building up to the point of no return, forcing your body to take those twist, turns and loops the bringing you to a sudden stop either wanting more of it or “I’ll never getting in there ever!” reaction.
The premise of the story is not that complicated to understand. Yuzu, the spunky and trendy gyaru transferred to an all-girls school due to her mom’s marriage to the father of Mei, the school’s mysterious and beautiful stern student council president. Things started to develop when Mei kissed Yuzu out of the blue.
This polarizing contrast between the two is the best part of the story since it opens a lot of great interactions as the story progresses. Yuzu initially would be thought of as the aggressor of the story but would later become a confusing mess as Mei gives out perplexing signals and actions to Yuzu. This goes on and on in each chapter up to the latest one at the post date of this review.
The story is a never-ending tease fest making sure that you would have less than enough for you to want more of their love escapades.
Another thing about Citrus is that the art perfectly depicts the characters. They are so fleshed out that they almost feel as real when you read and scroll back and forth through the pages. Even the supporting characters are well developed and no one is forced into the story.
Intense scenes are intense and you’ll feel the burn of every passion-filled panel of Yuzu and Mei showing their affection to one another. The great thing is, it never felt inappropriate nor obscene as it is true and respectful to the feelings of the characters.
You’ll understand what I mean when you read it as I give it a perfect 10.
