Slow Starter
a review by SoulBlade17
a review by SoulBlade17
#
Written and illustrated by Harumi Chihiro, Slow Starter depicts the story of Midori, who unbashfully loves 2D girls more than 3D ones. As things would have it, he goes to a bar with a friend and stumbles across a drunk girl. Worried for her, he takes her home, only for unforeseen events to start rolling...
#
This might seem sudden, but this really does happen within the very first chapter of Slow Starter. To summarise what happens:
That marks the end of chapter 1. When I first read this manga, I was at utter disbelief as to what happened. As if to rub salt into the wound, this gets revealled:
On top of the fact that the scene of intercourse is actually depicted and not implied this made reading the first chapter very uncomfortable for me. Although I can see the author's intent behind this scene with how Azami was illustrated during it, I cannot help but think that it could have been in a more mellow manner, or at the very least not at the very beginning. This scene serves to establish the plot for what is to come, which already has red flags. As soon as I read the first chapter, I was concerned.
To explain why I was concerned, I must reveal why I read this manga in the first place. I was looking around for Yuri titles that had males in it, since male characters in Yuri are seldom seen. I was curious to see how they would be implemented in genre mainly dominated by women. I somehow came across Slow Starter, saw it has a high Yuri tag and read the synopsis and decided to read it. After all, it is only 8 chapters, so it should be a quick read.
In other words, I went into this manga expecting a typical Yuri manga just with the addition of a major male character. However, after reading the very first chapter my expectations were flipped entirely. It is safe for me to say that going in with such expectations led to a worse reading experience.
To explain why this manga's plot is something I heavily disliked, I need to explain all of it, so there will be full spoilers ahead.
Given the short chapter count, it is no surprise that events move forward very quickly. This turned out to be both a blessing and a curse, for reasons I will elaborate on later.
In chapter two, we are hastily introduced to the Azami's romantic interest, Kaoru.
The two exchange some words about Azami's first time and the two seem to be having a jovial conversation. Everything is good and we are left with a positive image of her only to be followed with... her naked with two other guys. What a twist! Only that it happened so quickly that any impact intended just felt frail.
Chapter two closes with a new character introduction and a twist right at the end. Already it can be seen that there is a pattern of fatously fast development within Slow Starter's plot. The next chapter has the three meet up together, which could have been used to build suspense due to the readers seeing Kaoru's 'true nature' but it is just played off to be some fantasy.
The following chapter introduces some backstory as to how Kaoru and Azami first met, and thus how Azami developed her crush on Kaoru. This was welcome, as it made the characters feel less bland and added some much needed developed in the already rushed story. But this takes up only a few pages in the chapter and the rest of it was far less engaging for me. Personally, I would have liked more backstory or even just character development.
As the story continues we are peppered with more teases at a relationship between Kaoru and Azami.
However, once again the manga throws away it all away for her to ask Midori to share the night with her right after that happened.
If I keep going at this rate it will just end up being a retelling of the story however short it may be, so I will just summarise the rest of it quickly:
Honestly, this segment is probably the most engrossing in the entire manga. It has some action in it, and the urgency to find Kaoru added some much-needed suspense to the otherwise very mundane plot. The segment was short but was probably the best part of the manga. Sadly, it did not save it from the following conclusion.
The conclusion was just a big slap in the face for me, disregarding everything that was previously established.
Some tender and humorous moments are shared between the trio, and then everything plummets. Kaoru straight up just leaves Japan and goes to another country soon after as if nothing happened and Azami and Midori end up as a couple and have one more night together. This was quite rushed, but I would not have as much of a problem with this turn of events if it did not disregard everything else that happened. The entire basis of the plot was that Azami was in love with another girl who did not return her feelings (however this was already on shaky ground from chapter 1 with what happened there), flashbacks are given explaining why Azami likes Kaoru, and throughout the manga there are many scenes illustrating Azami's love for her. Furthermore, her love for Kaoru is blatantly showcased during the segment where they are trying to find Kaoru, driving her forward. This build up could have ended with something satisfactory, but in the end she just ended up with Midori, without recognising everything that happened beforehand. If this story had hinted at Azami developing feelings for Midori, then perhaps I would have not taken the conclusion so harshly. But because the entire manga revolved around her crush on Kaoru, the ending just left me feeling bitter.
Earlier I mentioned that the short chapter count was both a blessing and a curse. What makes it a curse is that the very short length forced the manga to move forward at egregiously high speeds forcing development and removing any immersion in the story. However, it is also a blessing as the direction of the story was not going anywhere good and ending it early was probably for the best.
So yeah, I did not like the plot.
#
There are some other side characters, but they are so insignificant I have forgotten their names. They play a very minor role in the manga anyway, with most of it focusing on the main trio.
#
#
To be honest this manga is probably not even that bad. Maybe it is just average. But I just ended up not liking it at all, partly due to the expectations I had going into this manga. This manga had some potential with its premise, but it just ended up throwing it all into chaos and the finished product being one without direction.
The execution of this manga brings up the question "can male characters fit into Yuri?". Whilst the answer is yes, it is certainly not how this manga did it. I would even argue that this manga is not Yuri at all. Sure, it depicts a girl liking another girl, but in the end that does not even matter. What I think is a good example of male characters in a Yuri title is Bloom Into You, although to be fair they are side characters. Having a main male character in a Yuri would certainly be difficult. Even I do not know how it would be done. I think this manga could have done something good with its initial idea, however with how it is done I cannot say it was a good read.
In summary:
Ultimately, this is not something I cannot recommend with ease. If you do want to read this, please do not go in thinking it will be a Yuri manga. Only disappointment follows.
In the end, most of this review ended up being negative ranting, quite unlike my other reviews. I do apologise if I brought the mood down. Hopefully you were able to get something out of this review. If would like to send me feedback on my reviews, please post a comment on this thread or feel free to send me a message.
7.5 out of 8 users liked this review
