is a Japanese ''

yuri Yuri may refer to: People and fictional characters Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Jap ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

written and illustrated by Akashi. It was serialized online through Mag Garden's ''MAGxiv'' label on pixiv Comic from April 2018 to April 2020. It was licensed for an English-language release by

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed J ...

in 2019. The series follows Makoto Shimizu, an office worker who secretly works as a doujinshi artist, and Akane Maekawa, her co-worker and former professional manga artist.

Plot

When Makoto Shimizu, an office worker who secretly works as a doujinshi artist in her free time, is spotted by her co-worker, Akane Maekawa, while attending a yuri manga exhibition the two end up striking an unusual friendship. Makoto is intrigued by Akane, who claims to have never even heard of the word "yuri" yet was at the exhibition. As two gradually grow closer, Makoto learns that Akane once worked as a professional manga artist in the past but failed to get a series off the ground. Thus Makoto promises to support Akane's dream of being manga artist once again.

Publication

Written and illustrated by Akashi, ''Still Sick'' was serialized online through Mag Garden's ''MAGxiv'' label on pixiv Comic from April 2, 2018, to April 6, 2020. The series was collected in three

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

volumes from December 2018 to June 2020. The series is licensed for an English release in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Reception

In 2019 the series was nominated for Pixiv and Nippon Shuppan Hanbai, Inc's Web Manga General Election. Erica Friedman of ''

Yuricon Yuricon was an anime convention geared toward fans of yuri anime and manga. The first Yuricon event was held in 2003 in Newark, New Jersey with about 200 attending, although Yuricon has existed as an online entity since 2000. The event was org ...

'' praised the series, remarking in her review of the final volume that “Akashi ties the series up pretty tightly and allows us to close the book knowing neither we nor Akane and Makoto were jerked around by lazy writing." While she felt art suffered in some places she noted that "I will always take a well-told tale with slightly sketchy art over detailed art, with an underdeveloped story." Masha Zhdanova for '' WomenWriteAboutComics'' also recommend ''Still Sick'' when looking at how it and Gorou Kanbe's ''Don’t Call Me Daddy'' depicted homophobia and queer desire in contemporary Japanese society; surmising that "I genuinely recommend both of these comics if you’re in the mood for a character-driven romantic read about queer relationships."

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 2018 manga 2010s LGBT literature Japanese webcomics LGBT-related anime and manga Mag Garden manga Manga creation in anime and manga Romance anime and manga Tokyopop titles Webcomics in print Yuri (genre) anime and manga