A realistic portrayal of lesbian women in a sea of GL afraid to say the word "lesbian"

What might surprise someone who is not a fan of GL, is how little queerness is actually represented in stories. The word "lesbian" has been used so in so few of the many GL manga I've read that i can count every series that does it on my hands. Even within these series that embrace the term "lesbian" even less actually go into the struggles a queer person might face. All of this to say, "Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko" is a huge breath of fresh air in this regard. Not only do the characters of the story directly identify themselves as lesbian women, the story actually tackles the struggles that a queer woman might face in modern japan. There's even a lesbian bar!

Characters
Ayaka is a wonderful character, almost exactly what I would want from a romance protagonist. She doesn't bumble around, mull over every minor loss, and try to give up. She actually tries to make her love work out. Sadly, we don't really get almost anything else about her character. Her interests, aspirations, and, hell, even the reason she stays so infatuated with Hiroko are all a mystery. We get a quick flashback to how she fell in love, but it wasn't much more than a "love at first sight" type deal. With how much she has to put up with Hiroko throughout the story, I honestly don't even know why she stays in love. I guess love is just like that sometimes.

Hiroko was a character I actually did not like throughout most of the manga, but as the story went on I came around to her, and would say she is my favorite of the leads. At first, her reasons for turning down Ayaka and lying to her face about almost everything seem quite selfish, or just plain stupid. However, without spoiling, the reason she actually does this is incredibly reasonable, and very compelling. one thing I cannot get past, however, is Hiroko being a womanizer. No. Fucking. Way. is this girl denser than a black hole someone who has dated tens or hundreds of women. By the time she actually realizes Ayaka is in love with her, I was blown away. The amount of selective dementia one must have to not realize a lesbian who constantly says "I love you" is into them is crazy. All of this when apparently she's dated tons of women before? wouldn't you pick up on SOMETHING? on second thought this might be more realistic than I first thought, knowing the lesbians I've talked to.

The Problems
Sadly, while this manga handles queerness incredibly well, and has some great characters to boot, it doesn't exactly string everything together as I would have hoped. The main issue I have with this manga is the chemistry between the two leads, or more so the lack-there-of. As mentioned before, Ayaka's whole personality as the story presents it is pretty much being in love with Hiroko. Hiroko does actually have aspirations and fears unlike Ayaka, but they still don't really mix. The two just kind of feel tacked on to one another, especially with their large age gap. They are also so unalike it's almost impressive. We are never given any sort of example on what these two girls might have in common to do on their off time, except, i guess, sex? Honestly I felt no spark between these two throughout the entire story, It was just kind of Ayaka screaming at our faces that she definitely wants to be with Hiroko for whatever reason.

I didn't mention the final character, Risa, earlier because she fits much more into this section. Very early on in the manga Risa is introduced as a possible love rival to Hiroko, and this immediately made all the cracks in the manga split like an eggshell. Risa actually has a small bit of chemistry with Ayaka. Not much, but some nonetheless. Introducing her as a love rival immediately shows how bad the chemistry between the leads is, as while Risa and Ayaka have almost no chemistry, they are like a meth lab compared to Ayaka and Hiroko. I feel this story would be better if it was about Ayaka dealing with heartbreak, and Risa comforting her. Instead, she is just a love rival that makes the main couple look worse than they already did. Risa's scenes with Ayaka are genius, and handled amazingly, even with the way it turned out. Despite them not developing romantically, the development that does happen is incredibly compelling.

Overall
When I came into writing this review, I was originally going to say this series was unrateable, and give it an NR. However, In writing this review, I realized that this manga's positive qualities really are so unique that it deserves high praise, despite its flaws. Contrasting this manga's highs with it's lows is very hard, as they are so polarizing, but nothing really outright ruins the story. Despite it's huge flaws, I would recommend every fan of GL to give this manga a shot. If you don't typically read GL manga due to it's usual portrayal of being lesbian, then definitely check this out. No manga is perfect, but this one brings enough to the table to push past its flaws

85/100 (Rating subject to change)