Rai: I have to admit I was really concerned when I first heard about this series. Based on its title and its cover, I thought it was going to be about a student at an all-girls school who got paid to date other girls – or something along those lines – instead of legitimate girls love.
But after reading the synopsis and starting the series, I was pleasantly surprised. What Yuri Is My Job! is really about is a high school student named Hime. She’s extremely popular and friendly with everyone. But of course, there’s a catch: she’s faking it. Her true personality is very cynical and selfish; her actual goal is to make everyone adore her, so she can (somehow?) become a trophy wife later in life.
One day, Hime accidentally trips down a flight of stairs, bumping into and knocking over another girl. The fall breaks the girl’s arm, so she forces Hime to work at her job in her place. It turns out that the girl is a manager of a themed café, but it isn’t just any café: its theme is an all-girls academy. The workers, who are all female, serve food to the café’s guests and act out different scenarios as if they’re actually at an all-girl school.
And pretty much all of the skits are like something straight out of Maria-sama Ga Miteru or Strawberry Panic. In other words, they are full of yuri tropes. Senpai teasing or correcting their kouhai, “sisterly” embraces, moments where the girls’ lips almost touch… Oh, and flowers. Lots of flower backdrops.
It’s an obvious jab at the infamous Class-S yuri subgenre, and I honestly think it’s hilarious. Although I know the girls are acting, I can’t help but squee at some of the queer moments – just like the customers in the café that watch as everything unfolds. The customers’ reactions add a funny touch to the story.
So far, the manga isn’t all just fake yuri fan service, though. Underneath the service, there’s a lot more going on. Hime, who is usually praised, has difficulty with the job at first. What’s more, she has a senpai — Mitsuki Ayanokouji — at the cafe who dislikes her and is always scolding her. Hime needs to learn how to deal with this “singularity” since “everyone” loves her. Plus, she needs to make sure she doesn’t mess up the café’s sacred GL atmosphere, which she does pretty often.
As the story goes on, we learn more about Hime and the reasons behind her façade. She can be stereotypical at times, though that is part of her character. She can also be… really stupid. It’s annoying, admittedly. But she is interesting enough that I don’t dislike her, and she does show some good qualities… sometimes. Plus, the art and her interactions with other characters are so great that her questionable traits are forgivable.
Furthermore, the narrative itself added to my enjoyment. About half of the story is told behind the scenes, such as in the café’s dressing room or at school, where we can see Hime’s interactions with her coworkers or “friends.” The other half is told while she’s acting at the café, and we get to see her thoughts as she does so.
So, we basically see Hime’s struggles and character development along with random bursts of yuri. It’s quite a unique experience. As for any real love happening between the female characters, there are hints about it. I won’t say who, but one of the characters noticeably has a crush on Hime. My guess is that a love triangle is going to form.
I’m usually okay with series where girl crushes are a little implicit, such as Kiniro Mosaic. However, I do hope we see a genuine relationship form in Yuri Is My Job, especially with the series’ name and the fact it’s promoting – whether jokingly or not – Class-S tropes, which can be harmful when taken seriously. But only time (and more issues) will tell if this will happen. My fingers are crossed.
Altogether, Yuri Is My Job! is a fun twist on GL, combining both older and newer elements from the genre. If you aren’t familiar with S Class series, you may not understand all of the jokes. But even so, it’s an entertaining and funny read for anyone who likes yuri. I am definitely looking forward to reading more – I just hope that eventually we get to see some real romantic relationships form between the female characters.
Rai’s rating: 4 out of 5
Helen: Hime is a perfectly ordinary high school girl who goes to a perfectly ordinary high school, although she’s been roped into a bit of a strange job. At work, Hime plays the role of a first year student in an all-girl’s boarding school who has just begun to work in the school’s cafe, and in real life this means her job is one part waitressing duties and one part acting, something that should be a cinch for Hime! But after years of charming, flattering, and fooling her classmates, Hime’s co-workers seem to be the only people who can see through her facade and it’s putting her in quite a spot!
Yuri Is My Job! is a silly send-up of Class-S yuri tropes, like having some of the girls in the cafe pair up as “sworn sisters” for part of their act, and having these tropes being used with a wink and a nod might be more palatable to new yuri readers than older works which played these ideas straight. I found the set-up quite fun, more fun than I had expected, and the setting lends itself well to a variety of different character interactions and antics.
On a similar note, my biggest complaint with this first volume was how Hime has apparently been living this life where she never has trouble with people doubting her sincerity, until she begins working at Cafe Liebe and suddenly everyone is seeing through her. You could make the argument that bunch of people who play-act as a part of their work would be the most likely to see through Hime’s intentions but these workers are also high school students, it’s not as if they have that much more life experience!
Other than that slightly-jarring detail, this was a start that really stood out in today’s English-translated yuri landscape. Hime’s somewhat antagonistic relationship with Mitsuki is nothing new, although Hime being so dense about it is a bit unusual, and Kanoko’s subtly implied crush on her isn’t terribly surprising either, but putting them all together in the fake school cafe is quite fun. I do hope that the cast gets a bit larger as the story goes on — we already seem to have a good sense of all of the major players so I’m worried about the novelty of the setting wearing off quickly once we get too familiar with the characters. But regardless, I had a lot of fun with Kodansha USA’s first foray into yuri manga and I hope they continue to publish a great deal more!
Helen’s Rating: 4 out of 5