Hey, everyone~ So, I recently began writing manga reviews for the OASG, and my first review just went up. And… of course, I wrote about a yuri manga! The one I chose was Mushroom Girls in Love by Kei Murayama.

As the name suggests, this manga is about mushroom girls that fall in love and follows the story of recently married Arriala and Erriela. The twist is that it takes place on a planet inhabited by intelligent mushrooms and fungi that are all female – hence, where the yuri element comes in. It also had a lot of very interesting political.

Overall, this manga was very different. You can see more of my thoughts on Mushroom Girls In Love if you read my full review on the OASG~

Wait, There’s More

In the official review, I tried to avoid spoilers because I didn’t want to ruin it for anyone. However, there is some stuff I would like to discuss, so I will write it here. Please be aware that there will be spoilers.***

In Mushroom Girls In Love, it’s normal for women to have romantic relationships since everyone is female. AND it’s also normal for these female couples to have children since mushrooms reproduce asexually. In fact, a female mushroom can potentially be the mother or the father of the child. This is awesome. If only it were that simple with humans; it would solve a lot of problems and heartache for LGBT couples on our Earth.

However, it turns out mushroom mating is not that simple. Actually, it’s really complicated. In both the real world and in Mushroom Girls In Love, there are incompatible mushroom types that cannot mate. I’m not sure what happens on Earth when mushrooms are incompatible (it was way too complex for me)… but in the manga, mushroom girls can get sick and rot if they mate with another mushroom that is incompatible.

And unfortunately, this happens between the betrothed mushroom girls. Erriela’s flesh starts to decay, but luckily, they are able to save her in time. Arriala doesn’t care if they can’t mate or have children; she still loves Erriela. But the rest of the mushrooms care. They start telling the couple that they should get a divorce – that there is no point in them being married since they can’t have children.

It’s a pretty small moment in the manga, but it really stood out to me. I think it mirrors human society a bit. In my experience, gay couples are always being asked, “What about kids?” And sometimes, even straight couples are questioned when they don’t want/have children. There is this idea, at least in American culture, that everyone NEEDS to have kids. But the truth is that not everyone wants to. Some couples, gay or straight, just want to be together, or have other ambitions. Is that so hard to believe? In my opinion, not everyone should feel pressured to have kids, especially with the world being so overpopulated.

Altogether, there were some really interesting political and social themes in Mushroom Girls In Love. It’s part of what makes it such a unique yuri manga – and a unique manga in general. Whether or not you’re a girls love fan, you should check out this manga if you want to read something very different.