Maka-Maka 1

This is hands down the most well-designed volume of manga I’ve got on my shelf.  I don’t know why my porn is always so impressively presented, but the obi-jacket-cover play with the illustrations on the front and back blew me away.  The inside is full color too (art and all), with some nice designs for some of the trimmings like between-chapter bonuses and the publication information page and all that.  It really goes above and beyond anything I could have hoped for.

Now, I was well aware that a large part of the book was about Jun and Nene having sex, but I thought the story was about two adult women in a relationship.  And in a way, it is.  But I sort of… lowered my expectations significantly when the first chapter read like a male fantasy about what women do when they’re alone together.  Thankfully, there are only a couple of other chapters like this, but I was disappointed that Jun and Nene weren’t actually lesbians.  Their relationship is still interesting though, and I don’t know that it would have added much to the story if they were lesbians.  Basically, they’re best friends, and a lot of what they do with one another ends with some friendly sexual play time, occasionally in public places.  Usually this is just groping and some touching, but it gets more and more explicit as the stories go on.  Each chapter is about 7-8 pages long, and there are 12 stories in this volume.

The thing I liked best about it was how happy both characters were all the time.  Their careers/school came up occasionally too, and each was immensely supportive of the other.  I just like seeing this type of healthy relationship, for a change.  Also interesting is that their friendship is never questioned or even brought up.  They just talk and hang out, and then things will inevitably move on from there in every chapter.

It’s original purpose was most likely all about the sex (which is probably why Jun and Nene aren’t lesbians, I’m guessing the target audience was male), but I think its cool that so much subtle detail about the relationship between the two girls was included.  It’s an interesting and unique book, but it’s definitely for a niche audience.