An Unexpected and Enjoyable Turn of the Lesbian Best Friend TropeAs some of my supporters over on Patreon will know, I recently put out a deep dive into the character Yaya from Strawberry Panic. In it, I discussed her role in the series as fulfilling the lesbian best friend trope. This archetype, a character who surfers for loving the protagonist, comes in various forms and is a staple of current Yuri and Yuri adjacent media. However, I thought it might be worth examining a work that entirely revolves around the lesbian best friend, Ana C. Sánchez’s Alter Ego. This Spanish manga was recently released by Tokyopop earlier this year under their Love X Love and international women of manga line. I was eager to see what Sánchez did with the classic Yuri concepts in this energetic one-shot.I mentioned that the best friend is usually a supporting character interacting with the protagonist, but in the case of Alter Ego, she is the main character. University student Noel is in love with her best friend and classmate Elena. However, she has never been able to voice that love before. She has always contented herself with being close to Elena. However, now that Elena has a new boyfriend, Noel’s chances to be intimate with her friend are dwindling. When Elena’s other best friend, a writer named June, moves to town and begins living next to Noel, it is too much for the girl to bear.The basic premise of this series is well established and easy to grasp. The story focuses less on Noel reconciling her feelings for Elena, as other unrequited love Yuri stories have in the past. Instead, the manga follows her struggle to deal with the changing reality of her friendship with Elena. While the two used to be solitary companions, the addition of Elena’s boyfriend and June clearly has Noel feeling insecure and fearful. These feelings manifest in some truly toxic behavior, including shouting at her friend and generally acting selfishly. Noel’s behavior makes it challenging to enjoy and root for her. However, to Alter Ego’s credits, the actions are always treated as inappropriate and not played for cuteness or laughs. Much of Noel’s struggles involve her guilt over her treatment of Elena. Unfortunately, although she makes some steps to make reparations, the single-volume work is too short to accommodate a complete personality swap, so Alter Ego is trapped between a rock and a hard place or making a likable character and keeping proper pacing.Speaking of the story’s pacing, it is relatively strong. Particularly in the first half of the story, the plot slowly moves forward as the stakes for Noel are established and escalated. As June enters the story, she appropriately disrupts the rhythm Sánchez set up while still keeping the progress constant. Through the chapters, we slowly begin to learn more about this young writer, and the focus of the story smoothly transitions from Noel and Elena to Noel and June. Alter Ego does a great job at helping readers discover elements of June’s personality and history alongside Noel, thanks to the latter’s perception and naturally building a relationship with June.Here is where we get to the central Yuri element of the story, June and Noel’s relationship. For (minor spoilers ahead), it turns out that both girls love Elena. This shared affection and their different perspectives of it drive the girls together. While Noel predominantly acts selfishly and controlling, June is the type of lesbian best friend that just wants to see the other happy, to sacrifice her own desire to know the one she loves is content. June imparts these principles onto Noel to mixed results, as discussed earlier, but the direction the work aims is clear, and the logic follows for both girls.June and Noel’s mutual love for Elena, the person who brought them together in the first place, becomes the foundation for their relationship. It is a rather fun twist on the lesbian best friend trope as the two girls begin hanging out together and share their interests outside of Elena. As one would expect, there is a fair bit of angst, a confession, and at the end, they are together. Unfortunately, while the premise that got them there is a fun manipulation of the lesbian best friend trope, the romance’s path is predictable with the rushed resolution you would expect of a one-shot. However, the execution is pretty smooth, and except for Noel, particularly at the start of the story, its characters are likable enough to carry to drama and romance.Sánchez’s artwork is above average. I particularly enjoyed her attention to the character’s outfits and designs. The settings are unremarkable but do not distract from the work’s overall quality, and the background characters add a lot to make the world of Alter Ego full. The more emotional scenes are illustrated well, with Noel’s pain and frustration being especially apparent. However, there are a few flaws and inconsistencies. Occasionally, especially in comedic moments, the art drifts a little closer to the moe edge and dips noticeably in quality. The character designs overall, while I enjoyed them, look a little younger than I would have expected. I honestly thought they were high school students until the work explicitly states that June is 24. Alter Ego already feels like an angsty high school Yuri romance despite its characters, and the art did little to help that feeling.Alter Ego is an enjoyable single-volume Yuri drama. Sánchez did an admirable job creating a compelling story and characters, and her play on unrequited love is exciting and enthralling. While it does little new, Alter Ego is a highly polished manga with flawed characters, interesting relationships, and superb storytelling. There are also some fantastic art inserts at the start of the manga and a few vibrant color pages that stuck in my mind longer than most similar volumes have. I recommend Alter Ego for a solid afternoon Summer read and am eager to continue following its creator to see what else she does. Thank you, Tokyopop, for bringing this international manga to English audiences.Special thanks to translation Nanette McGuinness, Editor Lena Atanassova, and the rest of the team at Tokyopop for their excellent work on Alter Ego.Ratings:Story – 7Characters – 6Art – 7LGBTQ – 6Sexual Content – 2Final – 6Check out Alter Ego in English digitally and in print today: https://amzn.to/3jFruf1Reading official releases helps support creators and publishers. YuriMother makes a small commission from sales to help fund future content.
Jun 29, 2021 • Subscribe
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