Yuri Bear Storm Volume 2 by Kunihiko Ikuhara definitely lived up to how much I loved volume 1 and this is manga that is firmly on my watch list from now on.

Yuri Bear Storm continues to be the quirky little manga that succeeds despite a ridiculous premise. The universe is made up almost exclusively of bears, or at least some of the characters believe, while others are beginning to push at the possible mental health issues underlying that assumption. Through all this, three young women are trying to figure out relationships and emotions, and keep finding themselves in over their heads. The art is full of energy, the writing is light and fun when there are jokes to be had and serious when the time is right, and the books flies on by. If you are into offbeat fantasy romances that are LGBTQ-friendly, consider grabbing a copy of this. It’s surprisingly cute and fun.

CONTENT NOTE: While there is no full nudity, it gets close, as the three main protagonists are trying to figure out how to be high schoolers and have relationships. Parents should review this before handing it to younger readers.

Review will be available at the provided link of May 16, 2019.

Yup - this series just keeps on getting weirder and weirder, and someone told me last week the anime was EVEN WEIRDER???? How could this be? I must watch the anime and see if it's true.

Cutesy and silly. Pretty much sums up any yuri manga or anime, if you ask me. Three stars is actually stretching it for me, but I was feeling generous.

Warning this contains some inappropriate adult/minor situations (nothing too serious but certainly weird) and brings up mental illness issues which are pretty much ignored. Leaves you hanging (again like every manga and anime out there) with no conclusion to any of the story lines.

I got an ARC of this book.

So I am so confused at why I enjoy this story as much as I do. The first one had me convinced that this was going to be pretty weird and might just go off the rails pretty quickly. The second volume has me looking forward to the third. There is just something about it. It is bizarre, but still completely within the realm of normal, somehow. 

So the question of who is and is not a bear has gotten more complicated, but also more defined. Two of the main characters are now confirmed as not being bears, but I was pretty sure that one was from the first volume. I am not even sure the issue of bear-ness is one that I should be focusing on. The characters are getting fleshed out and getting back stories now. There is some pain and depth that was really brought to the front in this volume. I didn't expect it from the level of ridiculousness that this series has already achieved. 

I am a little confused at the random fan service shots in the manga, but they are really forgettable. If I didn't just see one in the last few minutes, I wouldn't have remembered that they were there. I would worry that this was becoming one of those stories where the sexiness of the main character mattered more than the actual story if they were more prominent, but thankfully the romance seems more center stage than the sex. It is really hard to find a mutual love in a lesbian series in manga that doesn't rely on sexual assault or a huge age difference. So that this story has been completely mutual and consensual has been amazing. 

I am really getting into this story. I need to know what happens. How will the characters deal with the confirmation of what happened in their parents' lives? How will they move on? Will the real criminal bear be punished? I am just full of questions and excitement. Maybe it will even be revealed that they really aren't bears after all. That would make the story a lot darker, so I really hope they are bears.

I simply adore this series so much! The way this has continued from the first volume felt really natural and it felt as if we learnt a lot more about the characters. They become even more developed. I did feel that this felt a bit more fan servicey in places with the naked girls nut that is the only issue I had with this.

The artwork is beautiful but the story was hard to follow for me. It may be because this is the second volume - maybe I missed some integral plot points by not reading the first one?