axelmania's manga / #shoujo(277)

i dont recommend this for anyone but big utena fans whove already watched the anime, or maybe big shoujo fans wanting to see into another era. saito is playing with ideas went into deeply in the anime much more shallowly, and that is partially because this is a sincere (heterosexual) shoujo manga, with the yuri really only implied for more dramatic illustrations. attraction and its perusal are abrupt and everyones motivations are painfully clear. juri is straight and wants tougas attention! im serious! but the attraction to me is how everyone seems to be living in a timeless daze, trapped under the paper in a way very sincere to ohtori. aesthetically this is flawless and i wish i could buy an edition printed in pink or blue.

was the romance forced and cringey? yeah, absolutely. but thats not the selling point of this manga, its the cute and goofy isekai shenanigans, which more than deliver.