- Mangaka : Naoko Kodama
- Publisher : Seven Seas Entertainment
- Genre : Shoujo Ai, Slice of Life
- Published : November 2020 - Ongoing
When Mayumi’s fiancé leaves her for another woman, she decides to move to the countryside and start a whole new life as a high school teacher. But living in the countryside isn’t what she had expected as her new landlord, Rin is straightforward, rude and always put herself in Mayumi’s business. As time pass, Mayumi soon realizes that Rin has responsibilities of her own, and one of them is raising a young child on her own after experiencing a major tragedy. As both women start to rely on each other, their relationship has been steered to something special.
Contains Spoilers
Discussion Time
In reality, getting dumped by your best friend/fiancé because they cheated on you with a man or woman, who is also your best friend, is the worst kind of situation anyone would like to avoid. Those feelings might lead you to make a life decision to move to the countryside as a way to run away from this problem. As you arrived in the countryside, you were approached by a man around your age. Wait…that’s a woman.
Back to the topic, the manga focuses on Mayumi’s point of perspective on life, and the pacing of the story is decent where the character development feels natural. Drama aspects, check. Kodama didn’t hold back on the yuri element of the manga. The overall character designs felt simple but you can feel the mature atmosphere coming from them due to their personalities and actions. The environment and backgrounds are memorable and immersive.
1. Character Development
Moving to the countryside is probably one of the biggest decisions to people who used to live in an urban area where you have access to everything in terms of wants. Of course, the story immediately introduced a handsome man who turns out to be a woman. Kodama got us there, so good job on making Rin look like a boy. Rin is the Seagull Villa’s manager which makes Mayumi her tenant, and it is her responsibility to assist whenever needed.
Mayumi took the first step to work as a teacher in a high school, so it is fair to say she is relatively new to the experience. Making use of her knowledge of Education from college, she kept thinking of ways to solve school bullying and overcome nervousness in her job as a teacher. That was where Rin comes in to help Mayumi to improve herself as a person and vice versa. As the story progress, both Mayumi and Rin slowly got to know each other and realized that both of them are not so much different even though they have challenges of their own.
2. Yuri
We initially thought the chemistry between Mayumi and Rin would be nice and slow, but Rin just went for the kiss with a Mayumi who they just met on the same day with the power of alcohol! It was weird how Mayumi let that kiss slide, and that was done by someone she had just met, which is not realistic, but the story is fiction. Don’t do this in real life. Consent and rational decision is essential, so don’t do something when you are drunk. But that doesn’t mean that such a situation didn’t happen in reality.
The best part of the yuri romance in this manga is how both Mayumi and Rin’s personalities were opposite to each other. Yes, they can create tension or even a conflict of interest, but sometimes different people with a different set of minds and views can lead to a better answer, which, in this case, better chemistry. The overall yuri experience in the manga is wholesome, cute, and natural in their way.
3. Details
It is nice to see colored pages at the beginning of the story to get to know the characteristics of the main characters looks incredible! The shadings look so good, including the shadings. The elder people, the environment of the countryside both indoors and outdoors felt so relaxing, and you can imagine the smell of fresh air, the sound of the insects and seagulls in specific locations. It wasn’t just the character designs that factor the artistic looks, but their personalities bring forward their beauty as well.
Final Thoughts
Umineko-sou Days (Days of Love at Seagull Villa) is about Mayumi discovering the purpose of her life and learning how to forgive herself for changing for the better. The romance between Mayumi and Rin is cute, but this volume didn’t indicate that they are officially a couple yet despite the progression between them, even though both characters have their own set of issues and opinions, are somewhere in between, which leads to better character development. The character designs look adorable, and there is a mature atmosphere behind those looks and words that were manifested by their personalities and actions.
Overall, if you are interested in experiencing a character who moves to the countryside to start a new life and have a Yuri relationship with someone who is a polar opposite to you in a slow pace, relaxing life, you might want to give this manga a go. If you do read this manga, let us know what you think in the comments below!
Author: Nobodies17