Chocolate Kiss Kiss by Morinaga Milk

Hitomi loves Nana so much!
She's super affectionate

Konbanwa~

As we said, we’ve been very busy lately. After my last final, I felt so relieved, it was wonderful! I got home and read a bunch of romance oneshots, I think it was because I was dangerously manga-deprived. During my oneshort marathon, I decided to read a shoujo-ai oneshot called Chocolate Kiss Kiss by Morinaga Milk.

Now, I’m really not a fan of yuri or yaoi, I think it sexualizes homosexuality, especially yuri. Lesbians are constantly sexualized in the media, treated as a “turn-on”, or something “kinky” or something girls do when they’re drunk and want to act “dirty”.

It’s a disgusting, but sadly common phenomenon in culture. I rarely ever see lesbian couples treated like a normal couple in the media. Anyway, I avoided yuri and yaoi mangas for this reason, until while looking for an interesting oneshot, I saw this one. The story sounded innocent and the cover showed two average girls. I don’t know why, but I decided I’d give it a chance. If there was any sign of perverse, I could always drop it. Then I was amazed: it was a normal romance! A very sad and sweet romance, which I’ll share with you today, let’s begin:

Valentines Day is approaching and the lovebirds, Nana and Hitomi, are excited to spend for their first Valentines Day as an official couple. Nana wants it to be perfect to make up for all the Valentines Days she hurt Hitomi.

When they were middle school, they were close friends. Nana was aware of Hitomi’s feelings for her, but ignored them. She was unable to accept them or acknowledge the love she felt for Hitomi. She finally did though, and they began their secret relationship. Neither of them are prepared to tell their parents, nor their friends at school because they know the love between two girls isn’t easily accepted by society. Despite the secrecy, their relationship is stable and they express their love for each other daily through their actions and words. Despite the pain they’ve felt on other Valentines Days, they are determined to make this one blissful.

The relationship between Hitomi and Nana is beautiful and adorable. Hitomi loves Nana so much and treats her girlfriend so much affectionately, that is impossible to image there was a time she was able to restrain herself. Well, it’s probably because she had to restrain herself for so many years that she wants to hold her precious Nana all the time. Then there’s Nana, who is apologetic and feels she doesn’t deserve Hitomi for hurting her so many times. She works hard to make up for her past mistakes.

The psychological aspect of this oneshot is what impressed me the most. Even though story begins with mutual love, when they talk about their past it’s easy to image their struggles. Hitomi knew she liked girls and

Nana works hard to make up for
all the times she hurt Hitomi.
She seeks redemption.

suffered because she fell in love with her best friend. She spent some much time beside her, but couldn’t flirt with her or attempt to make a move. She was probably constantly afraid of a harsh rejection and losing Nana forever. Then there was Nana, who didn’t know she liked girls. She was in the closet, refusing to acknowledge her feelings for Hitomi and even ignoring the feelings Hitomi felt towards her. She ignored everything, refused to accept reality. They’re very realistic struggles; they suffered and grew from it. There’s also the fact that even though they are in love and are a couple, they still aren’t ready to announce their relationship to others. The oneshot doesn’t end with ‘happily-ever-after’, these two still have to overcome much more in the future as their relationship progresses. But, the mangaka, Morinaga Milk , shows us how much these two love each other throughout the mange, which is comforting. When a couple is truly in love, you really hope that they can overcome anything, you almost believe they can.

A beautiful, slice of life oneshot that changed my perspective on girl-love manga. There are still many of them that sexualize homosexuality, but I’m happy that romance like this also exist. I recommend this to anyone who feels the same way I used to feel about yuris. It will change your mind. Thanks for reading, hope you have a monohorn-filled day.

~Nadeshiko-chan