Please note

This review is all subjective and my own personal opinion. You do not have to agree with it, nor am I asking you to. I hope that this just helps you get an idea of what the manga I am talking about is like and form a basic and general consensus on it. The ratings I give anime and manga are mostly my personal overall enjoyment. I have not watched the anime adaptation, and it has been around a month since I have read the manga. This review will be spoiler free, however I will be discussing the ending in a later segment of the review. It will first be discussed in broad terms, then I will go into more explicit details of the ending, which will be hidden with a spoiler tag. If you do not wish for any spoilers whatsoever, please skip to the ending segment of this review. A big thank you to Nikz for proofreading this review and giving me feedback. TL;DR will be at the bottom.

Introduction

Citrus is yet another Yuri manga, featuring the two main characters Mei and Yuzu Aihara. Yes, they are sisters. I should say step sisters. The story starts off with Yuzu Aihara being transferred to a new all girls school, a very strict one at that. Her carefree attitude is quick to make trouble and enemies at her new school, namely the school council president Mei. After an eventful school day, she returns home to find that she has a new step sister, and lo and behold, it is Mei. Quite cliché, and some would say a bit cringe inducing. Soon after realising this, Yuzu receives a kiss from Mei, leaving her flustered and confused. This sparks her feelings for Mei, and thus begins the events of Citrus. Could this beginning have been better? Perhaps, but I soon got over it. I can easily see why this may turn some people off this manga, but it takes a little commitment.

Plot

This manga’s plot mainly revolves around Mei and Yuzu, them trying to build their relationship and them facing the problems that come their way. I will say though, the plot is not exactly this manga’s strongest point. The plot basically goes like this, a new character comes along, they bring a new issue, issue gets resolved, and repeat. New characters keep being introduced for the sake of having a new complication to resolve. Needless to say though, the characters do go through development through the resolution of these difficulties, and they build new bonds too. That in turn makes up for the repetitive plot structure, at least for me it did. The plot was overall not bad, it was decent enough overall to keep me reading. The plot was simple, having the characters resolve an issue and through the resolution, they gain some development out of it. Straightforward, but it was effective enough to keep me reading. I always liked to see how the plot would unfold and how the characters would change. Given the nature of Citrus, it can get a bit cliché at times, and uncomfortable for reasons I will delve into later. I was invested in knowing what happened next, but that was mostly thanks to the characters in this manga, and the relationships they hold.

Characters

There are a wide range of characters featured in Citrus. Having too many characters is not necessarily a good thing, as it can leave many characters not having enough development and time in the story, ultimately leaving them feeling unnecessary. This can be felt to be the case at times with Citrus. I mentioned earlier that the plot structure is mainly a new character gets introduced and a problem comes with them. That is mainly how characters are introduced in Citrus. As such, it can leave the reader overwhelmed with being bombarded with a wide array of characters, as soon as they were done reading the resolution to something else. Luckily, the characters are not completely tossed to the side, they are kept as a part of the story and make multiple appearances after their introduction. I never felt that their placement in the story was too forced, but I can see why others would see it that way. As for the characters themselves, I found them to be interesting and intriguing to read about. The main two characters are somewhat cliché with their personalities, Mei being the stoic, quiet girl and Yuzu being outgoing and cheerful. Harumin, one of the more regular supporting characters, plays the role as the pole for Yuzu to lean on. She supports Yuzu numerous times throughout the story, and is established as such quite early on. One character that gets introduced a little later on is Matsuri Mizusawa. Personally, she was one of my lesser liked characters, she felt quite annoying at times. That said, she is quite pivotal in the plot at moments. Whilst she does get some development throughout the course of the story, I do feel that there could have been more, but it is what it is. Another notable character is Himeko Momokino who is Mei’s childhood friend. In my opinion, she is one of the weaker characters in the manga. She is essentially the voice of the school rules to Yuzu mostly at the beginning, but it dies down later. One of my favourite characters in Citrus is Shiraho Suzuran. She is one of the more interesting characters, having an unique personality and the uncanny ability to read people very well. Alas, she is introduced in the latter parts of the manga, so she features in Citrus less.

Art

The art was something I really liked about Citrus. I found the quality of the art to be quite the spectacle when I first starting reading Citrus. The detail put into the expressions onto the characters only builds upon the emotions they convey, and help better deliver the plot and characters to the reader. There is a lot of blushing in Citrus, and I personally felt it was drawn well. The settings were done decently, and overall the world just looked luscious.

The uncomfortable bits

From what little I have seen from looking around, it seems that Citrus has gained some notoriety for having many instances of forced sexual actions and the like in it. This is not without reason. Stuff like that does happen multiple times in Citrus. Fret not, it never crosses the line of going too far, if you understand what I am saying. So why is all of this in Citrus? Fan service? Relationship building? To make the plot more intense?

Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide

It could also be to hook the readers in, waiting for Mei and Yuzu to take that next, big and intimate step in their relationship. Just so you know, that step never takes place in Citrus. It might in Citrus+, but that is something time will tell.

I honestly could not tell you the answer. What it means and what it purpose it holds is up to you, the reader. I will say though, it does feel unnecessary at times, but it can make the plot more… interesting for the lack of a better word. But this can most certainly be a huge turn away for some readers. It can most certainly make one uncomfortable reading it. If that kind of thing is not to your liking, you may want to stay away from this manga. If you can handle it, then perhaps you will want to give Citrus a try.

The ending

If you do not want any spoilers whatsoever regarding the ending, please skip ahead to the conclusion of the review. A problem that I have come across in the romances I have read is their abrupt ending. They end suddenly, and just leave me there desiring for so much more. Given that romances make me even more emotionally invested into the series, it makes getting to the end feel even worse. Citrus does suffer from this issue, perhaps being one of the most abrupt endings I have read or watched. It was so sudden, and I was surprised that it ended there. Given the nature of the ending, it does leave one wanting to see more, especially if they have enjoyed reading Citrus. In further detail of the ending, major spoilers ahead:

Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide

The ending pretty much goes like this. The trope of the main character running to see their loved one takes place in the ending segment of Citrus. Yuzu rushes to see Mei before she agrees to an arranged marriage. After stopping it, the two exchange words, and promise to marry each other. Straight after that… it cuts to their wedding. Immediately. Nothing else, straight to that. It was so sudden and felt out of place. Whether this was due to time constraints or something else, I am not sure. On the bright side, Citrus+ is being released as a sequel, which fills the gap of what happens in between their promise of getting married and the wedding. Personally, it would have been nice for the wedding ending to not be present, and just go ahead with what is going on with Citrus+ right now. But that is just my personal take on it.

Conclusion and TL;DR

Despite its flaws, I enjoyed Citrus. I found myself immersed in the story and characters, finishing the whole manga in two days. Is this something I would recommend? It is a bit hard to say. If you want to get into a new Yuri, with some nice art and interesting characters go for it. If the uncomfortable bits are something you cannot get past, then it may be best to put this one aside. The score I am giving here is my personal overall enjoyment, but if I was being purely objective, then I probably score Citrus at around an 60 or below. To summarise this review:

• The plot structure can get a bit tedious, mostly it following the routine of a new character gets introduced, they bring a problem, said problem gets resolved and repeat. But overall, not terrible.
• A wide range of characters, some stronger than others. The way they are introduced can be a bit weak. But, they are never fully left in the shadows, and remain a part of the story for the whole way through.
• Great art, strongly conveys the emotions of the characters.
• Citrus has a few uncomfortable sexual moments, you will have to bear with it in order to complete Citrus.
• Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide

  The ending is really abrupt, and leaves much more to be desired.

Thank you to those who took the time to read this review. I hope you were able to get something out of this review. If you did not like this review, then I apologise for wasting your time.