YMC #59: Stretch

A story about two hot adult women living together. It’s Shou Higashiyama’s Stretch, the mangaka who wrote Prism.

Genre: Adult Life, College, Slice of Life, Roommates, Yuri (Most likely…maybe).

Number of Volumes: 4. 45 chapters

Plot Summary: Komatsu Keiko and Saeki Ran are roommates. The kouhai, Ran, is studying to become a doctor and introduces Keiko to stretching. This is their everyday life and how they implement stretching within their lives.

As the plot summary explained Stretch is about the daily lives of two attractive young adult women sharing an apartment and incorporating stretching exercises…at first. Eventually the stretching is shown less frequently until it is omitted from the plot. It is worth mentioning that the stretching techniques shown in the early volumes of the series do in fact work and are worth incorporating in one’s daily regimen…provided the reader has enough motivation to make it a weekly routine, let alone daily.

As mentioned in the prologue Stretch is written and drawn by the same mangaka who drew the yuri nation’s undisputed unfinished symphony known as Prism. That alone was worth grabbing many yuri fans’ attention. Then it became clear this was one of THOSE kind of series. The ones that play the “waiting game”, basically “Will they or won’t they?

That’s right. Stretch is one of those series that throws several hints of a yuri relationship brewing between its protagonists and maybe, just maybe the two will fall in love and confess their feelings for one another by the end. This is definitely a manga for the patient.

Besides the occasional hinting and initial guide to daily stretching routines Stretch also covers the lives of its leads Ran, Keiko and the people they know/knew. At some point in the story flashbacks are shown for both girls showing what their lives were like before their destined meeting. It even includes the early days of their living together. Suffice to say these chapters fill the drama gap.

The main draw besides the hope Ran and Keiko will eventually hook up is both the concept and how it carries on. Let me put it this way. Should Stretch eventually end the way I hope it will end, this manga could become one of my favorites of all time. Besides the goodness of two sexy women living together their daily lives are really neat to me. It is difficult to explain but each chapter finds a way to make the wait worthwhile. I do not mind waiting and hoping because each chapter interested and amused me. Obviously this does not apply to everyone but if the writer’s plan is to continue delaying the (hopefully) inevitable until the right moment they have to make sure what happens during the wait is worthwhile. Stretch does a commendable making it worthwhile. Then again I am patient and love slice of life media so that plays a factor in my enjoyment of this series.

As for Ran and Kei themselves, Ran is the more energetic of the two. Really that is all that needs to be said to explain their dynamic.

Overall Stretch is a manga for the patient. Kei and Ran play well off of each other, their daily lives are amusing, the stretching guides are informative while they last and the teasing is steamy enough to keep avid readers coming back for more. Again this is not for the impatient.

PS: Not mad…