Last year, we published our review of the pretty explicit yaoi anime Unexpected Naughty Fukami-kun. Today, we are going to be doing something for the girls, with a review of the first volume of the popular and explicit yuri manga Asumi-chan is Interested in Lesbian Brothels! by Itsuki Kuro. Be aware that even from the start, this is a saucy manga — but just because it’s saucy, does that mean it has the sauce? Beware spoilers!
Premise
Asumi is worried that she peaked in middle school. Our young adult lesbian heroine, who has just turned 20, celebrates her first legal drink with a fellow student, Ouka, and is upset that her first kiss, with her childhood crush Mai, was the highlight of her life as a lesbian, and she hasn’t had any experiences since.
Her friend, a fellow sapphic, suggests: “why not spend the night with a woman from a lesbian brothel?”, and even offers to foot the bill for her first time. Asumi is initially shocked, insisting she’s never really gotten over Mai. But after she describes her, Ouka reveals: she thinks Mai is now working at a lesbian brothel.
After this, Asumi dives headfirst into an unknown world, both exploring her sexuality while looking for Mai, since the ladies available for reservation don’t use their real names, and she may have changed a lot over the last few years. Along the way, she discovers things about the world of sex, and about herself.
Getting Right Down To It
One thing that Asumi-chan is Interested in Lesbian Brothels! has in common with Unexpectedly Naughty Fukami-kun is that it is unafraid to get right into its subject matter without beating around the bush (as it were). Even in the first chapter, we have explicit sex between women — as well as a few fantasies from our heroine depicted on the page.
Not only that, but it has a similar sense of storytelling, which is also reminiscent of Bartender. That is to say, each chapter of the first volume explores (or at least touches on) different aspects of sex, and especially lesbian sex. This can range from Asumi totally surrendering to being pleasured in one chapter to wanting to actively be giving pleasure the next (though she ends up falling into her role as passive in the end).
Was It Good For You?
Each chapter is short, but I did enjoy the exploration of different aspects of Asumi and her sexuality throughout the first volume. The anthology-like style of depicting various elements and styles of sex was a great way to depict Asumi’s burgeoning interest in her own pleasure. Not everything might be for her, but she’s willing to try everything (though it is obvious that her main interest is likely BDSM).
Because the writer is a woman, despite the often fetishistic subjects discussed, this did not feel exploitative or overly voyeuristic in the same way that some other lesbian manga or anime can. For example, while I love the premise of Bad Girl and I think the show is well made, I feel like it was an anime about lesbians written by and for men. That sense isn’t here with Asumi-chan is Interested in Lesbian Brothels!, which is more focused on Asumi’s feelings than on making jokes.
That being said, the manga is funny, as well as being sexy. This is mainly down to supporting star Ouka, but many of the characters have moments where Kuro’s sense of humor shines though — not least when several of our ladies of the evening get together for a drink and poke fun at each other.
Additionally, the twist at the end of the first chapter, and the way it develops, is extremely compelling. The parallel stories between Asumi and Mai, both of whom are pining for each other, and searching for her through sex work, and how they seem to just keep missing one another makes it easy for the reader to root for them and keep reading as they keep getting closer among the lesbian brothel six degrees of separation, before the final cliffhanger at the end.
Conclusion
Asumi-chan is Interested in Lesbian Brothels! starts fast and keeps going. It is fun, funny, well-paced and sexy. There’s a reason that it has become very popular on social media since its English translations began to be published. An easy recommend.
