The third entry of the Éclair yuri anthology series is Éclair Bleue. As ever, it is “A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart”, featuring contributions from different artists. Names I know, and ones that I am unfamiliar with have all contributed to this anthology.
There are fifteen different stories within Éclair Bleue, as well as a few colour illustrations.
Front cover of Éclair Bleue, featuring Yuzuki and Nacchan from U35’s story Blue Line
The girls’ love anthology returns with another collection of stories to warm your heart! This third installment revisits old favourites and entices with brand-new tales of love. Explore maidenly hearts with new chapters from authors like Canno (Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl), Nakatani Nio (Bloom into You), and Fly (Kemono Friends: Welcome to Japari Park!).
As with the previous two volumes, let’s start with those who contributed to Éclair Bleue. The cover is illustrated by U35, and there are also colour illustrations by Reine Hibiki, Non and Yutaka Hiiragi. The stories in this volume are by U35, Canno, Miman, Nakatani Nio, Musshu, Aya Fumio, Tamamushi Oku, Kazuno Yuikawa, Fly, Kagekichi Tadano, Kabocha, Shuninta Amano, Taki Kitao, Hiroichi, and Auri Hirao.
Right away, I’ll say that I believe that Éclair Bleue offers a stronger selection of stories than Éclair Blanche, perhaps due to many of them having a more positive tone. Not every single story is exactly a happy one, but I would say this collection does lean towards the lighter side.
Most of the stories in the anthology tend to involve school girls, but there are office ladies, teachers and working women all present as well. There’s even a story involving sisters, if you’re willing to give that a chance. It’s probably worth mentioning that things might not be quite as they seem with that particular story. There’s also a couple of age gap stories, too.
Whenever I write a about an anthology like this, I pick out a few highlights. Éclair Bleue is no exception to that, so here are some the stories I enjoyed most, with a little bit about each.
Miman’s Soul Mates shows that perhaps one shouldn’t rely on things like charms and fate when finding love.
Nio Nakatani’s Comm-ear-ication involves a fox girl and an ear fetish.
Musshu’s The Girls’ Destination is about two girls and their music.
From Tamamushi Oku, we have The Joy of Big Boobs. I think that title speaks for itself.
There are pretty eyes and mind reading in Kagekichi Tadano’s Open Your Eyes.
Sato, Tears, a Woman and a Woman might just please anyone looking for office ladies in love.
Hiroichi’s Love Drops is a sweet story.
Finally, Auri Hirao’s Let’s Make a Yuri Manga! is about… well, another title that speaks for itself, I’d say.
The colour illustrations are always a treat, and the contributions from Reine Hibiki, Non and Yutaka Hiiragi are no exception. Special mention to Yutaka Hiiragi’s picture, which is a bit on the kinky side.
All the stories in Éclair Bleue are worth your time, but it just so happens that the few listed above are the ones that I found most memorable. The beautiful thing about an anthology like this is that different stories will appeal to different people. Of course, yuri is the uniting factor with all these tales.
An excellent collection of yuri stories, that will appeal to a variety of tastes within the genre. Definitely worth the attention of any yuri fan.
Rory Muses 