A guy helps a drunk girl... and then they sleep together... and then she says she loves another girl... wait, what?

#~_Please note_~
~This review is all subjective and my own personal opinion. You do not have to agree with it, nor am I asking you to. I hope that this just helps you get an idea of what the manga I am talking about is like and form a basic and general consensus on it. The ratings I give anime and manga are mostly my personal overall enjoyment. This review will not be spoiler free. TL;DR will be at the bottom.~

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#~Introduction~

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Written and illustrated by Harumi Chihiro, Slow Starter depicts the story of Midori, who unbashfully loves 2D girls more than 3D ones. As things would have it, he goes to a bar with a friend and stumbles across a drunk girl. Worried for her, he takes her home, only for unforeseen events to start rolling...

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#~_Plot_~
Reading the synposis of this manga and seeing the word "nursing" you might think that what Midori did was a kind and wholesome act. Sure, I guess it was...

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~Huh?~

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~...~

This might seem sudden, but this really does happen within the very first chapter of Slow Starter. To summarise what happens:

• Midori is taken to a bar by a friend
• Midori encounters this girl, Igarashi Azami
• Wanting to leave and worried for her, he runs off with her and goes home
• She kisses Midori and asks to sleep with him
• And so, they go ahead and do it

That marks the end of chapter 1. When I first read this manga, I was at utter disbelief as to what happened. As if to rub salt into the wound, this gets revealled:

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~That just makes things worse.~

On top of the fact that the scene of intercourse is actually depicted and not implied this made reading the first chapter very uncomfortable for me. Although I can see the author's intent behind this scene with how Azami was illustrated during it, I cannot help but think that it could have been in a more mellow manner, or at the very least not at the very beginning. This scene serves to establish the plot for what is to come, which already has red flags. As soon as I read the first chapter, I was concerned.

To explain why I was concerned, I must reveal why I read this manga in the first place. I was looking around for Yuri titles that had males in it, since male characters in Yuri are seldom seen. I was curious to see how they would be implemented in genre mainly dominated by women. I somehow came across Slow Starter, saw it has a high Yuri tag and read the synopsis and decided to read it. After all, it is only 8 chapters, so it should be a quick read.

In other words, I went into this manga expecting a typical Yuri manga just with the addition of a major male character. However, after reading the very first chapter my expectations were flipped entirely. It is safe for me to say that going in with such expectations led to a worse reading experience.

To explain why this manga's plot is something I heavily disliked, I need to explain all of it, so there will be full spoilers ahead.

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Given the short chapter count, it is no surprise that events move forward very quickly. This turned out to be both a blessing and a curse, for reasons I will elaborate on later.

In chapter two, we are hastily introduced to the Azami's romantic interest, Kaoru.

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~At this point very little is known about her, all we know is that Azami likes her.~

The two exchange some words about Azami's first time and the two seem to be having a jovial conversation. Everything is good and we are left with a positive image of her only to be followed with... her naked with two other guys. What a twist! Only that it happened so quickly that any impact intended just felt frail.

~To be safe, I will not be pasting an image of this scene here.~

Chapter two closes with a new character introduction and a twist right at the end. Already it can be seen that there is a pattern of fatously fast development within Slow Starter's plot. The next chapter has the three meet up together, which could have been used to build suspense due to the readers seeing Kaoru's 'true nature' but it is just played off to be some fantasy.

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~What could have been a chapter that builds up suspense to make the plot more interesting just ends up being a basic otaku meets beautiful girl scene... number two.~

The following chapter introduces some backstory as to how Kaoru and Azami first met, and thus how Azami developed her crush on Kaoru. This was welcome, as it made the characters feel less bland and added some much needed developed in the already rushed story. But this takes up only a few pages in the chapter and the rest of it was far less engaging for me. Personally, I would have liked more backstory or even just character development.

As the story continues we are peppered with more teases at a relationship between Kaoru and Azami.

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~Although this was to fend off some guys, it does give the reader some hope...~

However, once again the manga throws away it all away for her to ask Midori to share the night with her right after that happened.

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~It is as if the manga cannot decide which direction it should take.~

If I keep going at this rate it will just end up being a retelling of the story however short it may be, so I will just summarise the rest of it quickly:

• Kaoru goes missing and from a suspicious character teased earlier, we are made to suspect he was involved
• After some investigating Midori and Azami go out to find her
• They save Kaoru from the stalker's house

Honestly, this segment is probably the most engrossing in the entire manga. It has some action in it, and the urgency to find Kaoru added some much-needed suspense to the otherwise very mundane plot. The segment was short but was probably the best part of the manga. Sadly, it did not save it from the following conclusion.

The conclusion was just a big slap in the face for me, disregarding everything that was previously established.

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Some tender and humorous moments are shared between the trio, and then everything plummets. Kaoru straight up just leaves Japan and goes to another country soon after as if nothing happened and Azami and Midori end up as a couple and have one more night together. This was quite rushed, but I would not have as much of a problem with this turn of events if it did not disregard everything else that happened. The entire basis of the plot was that Azami was in love with another girl who did not return her feelings (however this was already on shaky ground from chapter 1 with what happened there), flashbacks are given explaining why Azami likes Kaoru, and throughout the manga there are many scenes illustrating Azami's love for her. Furthermore, her love for Kaoru is blatantly showcased during the segment where they are trying to find Kaoru, driving her forward. This build up could have ended with something satisfactory, but in the end she just ended up with Midori, without recognising everything that happened beforehand. If this story had hinted at Azami developing feelings for Midori, then perhaps I would have not taken the conclusion so harshly. But because the entire manga revolved around her crush on Kaoru, the ending just left me feeling bitter.

Earlier I mentioned that the short chapter count was both a blessing and a curse. What makes it a curse is that the very short length forced the manga to move forward at egregiously high speeds forcing development and removing any immersion in the story. However, it is also a blessing as the direction of the story was not going anywhere good and ending it early was probably for the best.

So yeah, I did not like the plot.

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#~Characters~
There is really not much I can say about the characters. With the short length and lack of much development, the characters end up being bland with little depth.

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~Midori is characterised at the very beginning to be an introverted otaku.~
Although you may expect me to say he was the blandest character, he actually has the most development. He begins as very introverted and only interested in 2D girls, but through his experiences with Azami and Kaoru he starts to open up a little. This development, although meagre, really stands out in Slow Starter with a distinct lack of great character development. Midori may be a cliche shounen/seinen protagonist, but due to the rest of the cast he actually stands near the top, at least for me.

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~Azami's love for Kaoru is the main driving force for the story, but what else is there to her?~
It is hard to say what Azami's character is. Pretty much her entire character is her internal conflict regarding the love she has for another girl. Whilst this is by no means a bland conundrum for a character to face, since there was nothing else to Azami's personality she just ended up being dull.

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~Kaoru too suffers from a lack of character.~
First Kaoru is established to be the subject of Azami's affection. This serves to be her character until she receives more development, in which she becomes a beautiful woman who has a tendency get involved with multiple men. Other than some brief moments of her in Azami's flashbacks, not much else is done to flesh out her character. It really makes you wonder why so many people are infatutated with her.

There are some other side characters, but they are so insignificant I have forgotten their names. They play a very minor role in the manga anyway, with most of it focusing on the main trio.

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#~Art~
The art is something I thought that was not bad at all. I thought it looked fine, although it did feel like some scenes were lacking in detail, making dull moments in the plot even more bland. The expressions on the characters were done alright though, but I cannot think of much to say in regards to the art.
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#~_Conclusion and TL;DR_~
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~I think I have ranted enough.~

To be honest this manga is probably not even that bad. Maybe it is just average. But I just ended up not liking it at all, partly due to the expectations I had going into this manga. This manga had some potential with its premise, but it just ended up throwing it all into chaos and the finished product being one without direction.

The execution of this manga brings up the question "can male characters fit into Yuri?". Whilst the answer is yes, it is certainly not how this manga did it. I would even argue that this manga is not Yuri at all. Sure, it depicts a girl liking another girl, but in the end that does not even matter. What I think is a good example of male characters in a Yuri title is Bloom Into You, although to be fair they are side characters. Having a main male character in a Yuri would certainly be difficult. Even I do not know how it would be done. I think this manga could have done something good with its initial idea, however with how it is done I cannot say it was a good read.

In summary:

• The plot develops way too quickly leaving any development to have little impact.
• Most of the development that takes place in the manga is thrown away as the plot progresses.
• The cast fails to be overly engaging, being mostly comprised of dull characters.

Ultimately, this is not something I cannot recommend with ease. If you do want to read this, please do not go in thinking it will be a Yuri manga. Only disappointment follows.

In the end, most of this review ended up being negative ranting, quite unlike my other reviews. I do apologise if I brought the mood down. Hopefully you were able to get something out of this review. If would like to send me feedback on my reviews, please post a comment on this thread or feel free to send me a message.