Known as one of the best of its kind in its native Japan,
Girl Friends is the story of budding love between two female classmates. The slow burn of their relationship feels refreshing when so many love stories rush into romances with unbelievable haste. It’s a charming story of friendship, school life and social acceptance, heartbreaking in its portrayal of the confusion, jealousy and shame that arises as a young teen realizes her feelings towards her friend are changing. Any reader can empathize with the emotions felt at some point or another, and that the story is about two young women makes it perhaps all the more important, especially LBGTQ teens looking for media they can relate to.
Girl Friends is released in English via affordable omnibus editions (volume one falls just short of 500 pages), so it won’t affect readers’ wallets anywhere near as much as their hearts.