Adachi to Shimamura

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The second floor of the gym – this was where we always met. It was class time, but of course, there weren’t any classes going on in a place like this.

This was where Shimamura and I became friends. We hung out here – talking about TV shows and cooking, playing some ping pong….This is where we fostered our friendship.

Keeping my head propped against the wall, I let out a small sigh.

What was this feeling? Yesterday, I’d dreamt of me and Shimamura kissing.

Not that I’m like that. I’m sure Shimamura isn’t either. It’s not even something worth repeating myself about, but really, it’s not like that.

It’s just that when she hears the word “friend”, I want her to think of me first. That’s all.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Adachi and Shimamura
安达与岛村
安達としまむら
Related Series
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Latest Release

Date Group Release
12/31/21 Sneikkimies v10c4
12/31/21 Sneikkimies v10c3
09/25/21 Sneikkimies v10c2
09/25/21 Sneikkimies v10c1
06/25/21 Sneikkimies anime special 3
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02/12/21 Sneikkimies anime special 2
12/30/20 Sneikkimies anime special 1
12/15/20 Sneikkimies v9c5
12/05/20 Sneikkimies v9c4
11/17/20 Sneikkimies v9c3
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10/21/20 Sneikkimies v9c1
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8 Reviews sorted by


emmeka
emmeka rated it
June 5, 2020
Status: --
Adachi and Shimamura is, simply put, yuri's masterpiece - if not perhaps one of the greatest romance series to grace light novels as a medium. It is a shame that it remains little known and most people come to the series by way of the incomplete manga adaptation, which fails to grasp most of the nuance and introspection from the novels. I can only hope that the upcoming anime adaptation will do it more justice, in the meantime, do yourself a favour and read this, even if light novels aren't... more>> usually what you opt for. It's just that good.

-Characters- 10/10

The main duo are the highlight of this series, and certainly some of the best written and most relatable out of all the yuri I have read. Both are extremes of emotional states all of us have felt at one time or another, and both are fundamentally flawed human beings, an improvement over the contrast of plain and perfect that makes up the usual leads in romantic fiction. To illustrate, both main characters are delinquents (in their own words) in the beginning. It is their gradual emotional development, both in general and towards one another, that makes up the substance of the series.

First, we have Shimamura. Shimamura is a reasonably functional and sociable teenage girl who just has no real attachment to life. Relationships with others, hobbies, school - she is unwilling to put in anything beyond the bare minimum effort towards them, being herself completely disinterested in all things. She is passive, never taking initiative, never voicing any preference or resistance about where the flow of time carries her. If you had to sum her up in a word, she is listless. It is this listlessness which causes her to skip class, and it is her indifference which initially causes her to accept Adachi's own flaws and behaviour without a fuss.

Adachi, on the other hand, is Shimamura's opposite. She is painfully unsociable, and aware of it. She finds herself totally incapable of connecting with others or even conversing with them smoothly, the entire experience of it is grating and difficult to her. She is a loner in every sense of the word, without a single substantial relationship in her life, even with her own family. It is this suffocating loneliness which causes her to skip class, causing her to encounter the indifferent and all-accepting Shimamura, the first person she ever truly wants to interact with.

The main pair are complemented by a suite of minor characters, who appear both in their own self-contained mini-stories and in the main chapters. Namely, there are the main pair's classmates who attempt to befriend Shimamura: the cheery and petite Hino, and her childhood friend the busty and airheaded Nagafuji. These two are very entertaining and often the source of comedy in the series, and their grounded and open natures are the perfect foil to the main characters.

On top of those two, recurring characters are both main characters' mothers (who are decidedly present in the series and have characterization of their own, against light novel norm) ; Shimamura's estranged childhood friend Tarumi, Shimamura's shy but energetic little sister; as well as Yashiro, an enigmatic being who proclaims herself to be an alien that seems to be possessed of supernatural powers. While the latter might seem out of place in the series, her presence is oddly fitting. Yashiro is given a fairly large amount of the series' text and at one point or another forms bonds or interferes with every character in the series. Her guileless attitude and honesty often serves as contrast to the emotional deficits of other characters, to their benefit and to the benefit of the story.

-Story- 9/10

Fundamentally a slice-of-life series, there isn't much plot to speak of to the series besides the slow but steady advance of the relationship between the main characters as the months and seasons come to pass. The story is told primarily in the form of alternating moments of day-to-day life from either Adachi's perspective or Shimamura's. Almost all of the text itself is made up of the two's inner thoughts and dialogue, giving you an idea of how character-driven rather than plot-driven the story is. For people who don't normally enjoy slice-of-life, they may initially find this lack of anything substantial occurring to be dull. They may also find the rate at which the romance progresses to be painfully slow - whole volumes can pass without any sort of major development. However, though drawn out, there is character progression in this series to make up for the lack of more dramatic plot.

Though it is slow-going, the romantic development in the series is painfully good. By that, I mean it is very realistic for a couple of awkward teenagers going through the unease of gay romance. Adachi especially spends page after page agonizing over her feelings, testing herself, trying to decide what it is she actually feels. She is ashamed and unsure, and you can sympathize. Adachi is aware that she isn't very good at her romantic overtures, but she persists through all discomfort regardless. Shimamura in turn is hard to hate, she wonders what it is she wants from Adachi, or from others more broadly, and how to react to Adachi's feelings and actions. Both make plenty of mistakes in these efforts along the way. You can find yourself laughing and having your heartstrings pulled in the same chapter, with both humour and heartache generally being caused by the aloof Shimamura's reactions to Adachi's angst.

There is also the subplot of Tarumi, Shimamura's best friend in elementary school. Tarumi and Shimamura try to awkwardly bridge the years they've spent apart, and both want to grow close to one another again - to the detriment of the jealous Adachi. She seems poised to play the roll of the rival-in-love to Adachi, but since the story is still ongoing at the time of this review, she has yet to play a major role.

Additionally, those larger chapters are usually interspersed by brief 2-3 page vignettes from the lives and perspectives of other minor characters, such as their classmates Hino and Nagafuji, Shimamura's nameless little sister, or the mysterious blue-haired alien girl Yashiro. And yes, you did just read "alien girl" again, there is some subtle and unique magical realism to this series in the form of not only Yashiro but also seemingly genuinely powerful fortune tellers, none of which is elaborated on to an extent that you'd call it a subplot. Like the main characters do, you are supposed to accept their existence at face value as a part of the scenery.

-Overall-10/10

To summarize, of the dozens of yuri series I have read or watched, this is by far my favourite. It's been quite a few years since any novel made me laugh aloud and then nearly brought me to tears the way this one has. I wholeheartedly recommend it and can barely wait for translation of it to continue. <<less
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Erilyn
Erilyn rated it
May 19, 2019
Status: v8
It's a cute, slow slice of life story about Adachi being super gay for Shimamura but kind of in denial about it, which motivates her to try and close the distance between them through various things, and Shimamura mostly just going along for the ride. It's very introspective and switches between the two characters' viewpoints, with their personalities revealed by their thoughts, including them thinking about events in their pasts (there are also side stories about other characters at the end of every chapter in most of the books). It's... more>> really cute how Adachi acts like a total dork due to being overwhelmed by her feelings, and Shimamura gradually discovers the pleasure of teasing Adachi all the time, which can make her even more flustered. <<less
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Akakito
Akakito rated it
June 5, 2020
Status: v7c3
Honestly, Adachi and Shimamura’s story is one of the best out there in the yuri/lesbian media. It’s not your typical slow burn, angst-romance story. Something I really get annoyed with is that 90% of female characters in shoujo act like genuinely good people. I know that’s something weird to get annoyed with, but it just doesn’t feel real or human. Everyone has selfish desires, everyone goes through this limbo of not knowing what to do with their lives, we question our existence and we wonder whether we are good people... more>> despite our flaws. Adachi and Shimamura's story not only takes time to build the most beautiful love story ever, it also takes time to build up the ugly tears and the thoughts of any teenager who doesn’t really understand why we have to interact with other people to keep ourselves sane. I’ve never related more to a couple of characters, even when they are so different. Adachi's gay disaster tendencies, Shimamura's existential crisis, and their fear of loss. What a great story Hituma Iroma has written. <<less
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insyder1201
insyder1201 rated it
September 5, 2018
Status: v3
Up to where I read so far, this book is pretty good.

It is from the perspectives of Adachi and Shimamura, two friends who met at the start of the high school year. The first volume starts about a month after that.

Basically the whole book is full of Adachi trying to get closer to Shimamura and thinking about her 24/7 while Shimamura has a life and thinks of Adachi as a slightly annoying clingy friend. Not even the cute type of annoying, the normal type of annoying you would see IRL... more>> but not in a Japanese fictional text.

Spoiler

It took about 5 pages for Shimamura to agree to spending Christmas with Adachi.

Adachi wants to be "special" friends with Shimamura, enough that they can spend Christmas together and walk around with their fingers intertwined.

Shimamura really could not give a rat's ass. She only agreed to go with Adachi on Christmas because she thought Adachi had no other friends (well, she was right though) and was lonely. During Christmas, Adachi tries to hold her hand and Shimamura slaps it away then lectures her about asking her first because she didn't know if some pe*vert grabbed her or something.

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This is not like in other books. In other Japanese romance books, both sides are usually at least a little interested in each other by the third volume. I'll just say that this one is a bit slow. <<less
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Cazcy
Cazcy rated it
December 12, 2020
Status: v8c1
By far one of the greatest LN I've ever read. I'm a huge Yuri reader be it Manga or LN and the author does such a great job with the story. The character development the author creates is very well done as well as the imagery painted in your mind as you read through the different scenes. The characters are very likable as well with witty remarks and enjoyable conversations. I'm almost caught up with the translations and honestly I have to pace myself because I don't want to because... more>> I don't want to have to wait. I'd rather choose to wait and digest what I've read already before moving on. If I didn't I would have blown through this LN series in a few days.

Thank for the great read! <<less
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WartimerSloth
WartimerSloth rated it
January 9, 2022
Status: v10
This is addicting slice-of-life to read and I sort of hate it. The tension and emotions are realistic and relatable, but the personalities and lack of growth in characters makes most scenes feel interchangeable. So it's like a buffet of sweetness and anxiety with no other dishes in sight. I guess that's more of a vending machine than a buffet.

What brought this rating far down was the sense that characters were just mice in a treadmill. There is character growth early on and then it mostly stops. The occasional scifi... more>> moments nearly always undercut the emotional tension rather than convey any sense of wonder, which is more poor planning than poor concept.

Big issue for me that made the couple feel unrealistic or simply tragic:
Spoiler

The flash-forwards where the main couple are adults living together for years but care-starved Adachi had never integrated into Shimamura's accepting family. Not an iota. Basically strangers. The story can either contradict its bonus chapters or show the only further growth for the leads is for them to become working adults.

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<<less
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RygentNation
RygentNation rated it
October 24, 2020
Status: v3
Hallloooo,

I recommend this to people who could withstand slow-burn romance with a slap-dash (is that the word?) of comedy. The storyline slowly reveal it characters, and it's much more detailed than the anime/manga adaptation (well, duh!).

The translation is top-notch for sure! Like, dayuuuum, it's like the legit translation professional level !

Overall, I'm not sure how to say it properly how I feel bout this novel, but, it truly worth it to read on a slow day/weeks/months/quarantine (tee-hee). By the way, this one was truly underated based how good it... more>> was and the translation quality too! <<less
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nin
nin rated it
September 30, 2022
Status: v9
One of my favorite yuri novels due to how flawed the MCs are. Adachi is completely and utterly obsessed with Shimamura to an absurdist degree. As a minor spoiler of an example ... more>>
Spoiler

Shimamura responds to her acting odd in a situation by saying she's talking to herself, and Adachi manages to get jealous that Shimamura isn't talking to her instead. That's right, she gets jealous when Shimamura spends too much time with Shimamura

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. While Adachi is definitely Shimamura's most important person at some point, she doesn't really feel a lot of affection, to the point of near sociopathy. Honestly, I'm not really convinced Shimamura likes Adachi more than her grandparent's dog that she knew since she was a child, which just shows how little genuine emotion Shimamura seems to feel at times. This is even true after they become an actual couple, though as flawed as the characters are, they do try to work through them slowly because of how they love each other, despite the imbalance in how much affection they each feel emotionally. It's a hilariously dysfunctional couple, but as they are dysfunctional in complementary ways, it does feel like they are perfect for each other in a twisted way. I'm not convinced that a real life relationship akin to theirs would realistically work out, but it's fun to see them struggle and somehow succeed.

The side characters aren't as interesting, but they're likable enough. <<less
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