Honestly I was one of those who didn't exactly liked Hanjuku Joshi because the main story was uninteresting to me. However, I totally adored the side couple of teacher-student (to be fair the student was already 18 and the teacher is not much older) adult relationship. Being a working female adult, mangas depicting Yuri relations in life beyond high school honestly fascinates me and tends to catch my interest. This manga was exactly one of those.
The story is about 2 high school best friends at 26, discovering what "home" and "love" feels and means to them. Sumi, the short haired protagonist, is a worldly traveler who drifts from place to place while the other protagonists affectionately known (though never explicitly explained) as Sally, is a typical office lady in a stable, good income job living in a city. 5 chapters have been released for this but essentially the last 2 chapters is the same as the first and third chapter, though told from a different viewpoint.
The manga explored on one hand, how Sally's affections for her jet setting best friend grows and how she comes to terms how disconcerting and insecure is it to love someone with such a carefree lifestyle.
I think I have had a similar conversation before like this...
The discomfort of the one who gets left behind
The manga explored on the other hand, how Sumi's love for her best friend evolved over the years from a school crush to anger and denial, then acceptance that it might never happen, before leading up to the events of the manga where the waiting finally paid off. By the way, I use the term 'waiting' loosely, because honestly the kind of I-will-not-date-anyone-while-waiting that frequently comes up in dramas and anime, never happens in real life unless it is a long distance relationship (which cannot be considered as waiting, then). So, this cycle is pretty typical to like 99% of real life lesbian relationships out there, but strangely, not many Yuri manga has been drawn that explores this past the high school juncture.
Ah, probably what every lesbian adult went through...
**NSFW part ahead, turn away if you are under 18 or 21, or it is illegal, depending on your country!
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... last warning of it!!**
Sex is drawn pretty realistic in this manga too. Nothing too overtly perverted, but enough for you to appreciate the skinship that is happening between the 2 women.
The manga also wastes no time exploring irrelevant plot points, something one shots are pretty good at (but sadly longer-running mangas like Hanjuku Joshi would suffer from).
Art is fantastic as usual, as expected from a renowned mangaka. However, if you are looking for a Yuri manga with moe-kind characters, then this manga (or works from this author in general) would disappoint.
In summary, I would rate this a solid 7/10, above average. Try it, if you have an hour to spare and like Yuri manga. Adult females like me would enjoy it especially.
Tl;DR: this is a sweet manga with a realistic depiction of Yuri (I.e lesbian) relationship between 2 mid 20s adults struggling with what it means to be in love and to be "home". I recommend it for a good short read if you have an hour to spare sitting in a cafe (more private corner though) or at home.
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