Review : Yuri no Hajimari wa Dorei Kara

Where to Read : Mangakalot, Mangadex

Yuri no Hajimari wa Dorei Kara is the latest manga I’m reading, and the English title is My Yuri Started with Slavery. Based on the title, it’s meant to be a comedic yuri story, but does it deliver? I’m not quite sure.

As for the story, Hanamura Chiyoko is a self-proclaimed gyaru who transfers from a small town to the city, hoping to change her appearance to fit in a bit better. Unfortunately, her classmates label her as a gyaru, leaving her isolated in class. Then there’s her kouhai, Sakine who secretly has feelings for her.

The twist comes when Sakine receives a confession letter that she assumes is from a boy in Chiyoko’s class. She asks Chiyoko to reject him on her behalf. However, when Chiyoko goes to deliver the rejection, she encounters Yukishiro Mafuyu, known as ‘Yuki Onna’ to everyone because of her stunning cold demeanor.

It turns out the confession letter actually came from Yukishiro Mafuyu. When she learns that she’s been rejected, she attempts to jump out of the classroom window. In a desperate attempt to save her, Chiyoko pulls Mafuyu back and unexpectedly kisses her. It’s hard to say how it happened, especially since the manga panels aren’t very clear .. it’s definitely one of those moments you have to imagine like the rest of the manga panel in the series.

Anyway, some classmates witnessed the kiss, snapped photos, and it quickly went viral. Chiyoko vows to Mafuyu that she’ll take responsibility, uphold the truth, and try to bring Mafuyu closer to Sakine. But for some reason, Mafuyu decides that Chiyoko will be accountable and will now be her slave.

First of all, the characters in the manga are beautifully drawn and definitely the kind of characters I’d love to dive deeper into. However, the manga feels quite stiff .. you can see that stiffness in every panel.

As I mentioned earlier, it feels like the mangaka skips over many important panels leaving us to fill in the gaps ourselves. This isn’t usually an issue for most manga.. in fact, it’s pretty common. However, with the stiffness in the artwork, it creates a lot of unanswered scenes that can be frustrating to navigate.

Would I recommend it? I really like the characters, especially the three seniors, who are definitely ones I’d enjoy digging into. If you don’t have anything else to read, this could fill the gap. I’d give it a 2.5/5.