The second volume of Syrup: A Yuri Anthology features stories by eleven different artists. This particular volume focuses on darker yuri stories, as it explores forbidden love.
Syrup: A Yuri Anthology Volume 2’s cover illustration is by Fly
Forbidden Fruit
Secret love is sweeter! The second volume of this popular yuri anthology goes dark, with stories about love between women that’s hidden, unrequited, fantasy-based, or even taboo. Explore the forbidden side of love with new and returning artists in Volume 2 of Syrup.
Naming this yuri anthology Syrup implies that it will contain sweet stories, but that couldn’t be further from the truth with this second volume. If you enjoy stories that involve cheating, then you’ll find a lot to enjoy here. For everyone else, though, this one might be a bit of a harder sell.
Not every story is about cheating, but the dark themes are prevalent throughout. If you want some happy, wholesome yuri, this is not for you.
The artists that contribute stories to this volume are: Kawanami Izumi, Goumoto, Tsuji Megumi, Canno, Amano Shuninta, Ito Hachi, Takahashi Mako, Matsuzaki Natsumi, Yoshidamaru Yu, Ikeda Takashi and Morinaga Milk. There are some names I recognise in there, as well as some that I’m not all that familiar with.
The front cover is illustrated by Fly. It looks fantastic, but it is not exactly representative of the darkness that lurks within. I guess there is a student x teacher implication to it, but that is kind of mild compared to some of the stories featured here.
As with any other anthology, I’d usually pick out a few stories as my personal highlights. After reading the first few stories I was starting to doubt I’d be picking out any, but as it turns out, there are a few stories in here that I did manage to enjoy.
Amano Shuninta’s A Passion for Your Work went in an interesting direction, for example. One of my favourites from the entire anthology, though, would have to be Ito Hachi’s The Left Leg Shackle. It’s incredibly dark, but at least there’s not cheating… Although one could argue what happens in that particular story is even worse…
Yoshidamaru Yu’s Swallowtail Takes Flight is another interesting one. This volume ends with Milk Morinaga’s At What Point?, which leaves the anthology finishing up on a slightly happier note.
The second volume of Syrup: A Yuri Anthology is a little tougher to recommend than any of the other yuri anthologies I’ve written about, simply because the subject matter falls into an area that some might not exactly be comfortable with. But it always goes to show that yuri does not have to be pure or wholesome, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
So if you’re fine with NTR, then you’ll probably find something to enjoy from this volume. It certainly won’t be for everyone, but what is?
Rory Muses 