In the Yuri manga Bloom Into You, there is a character named Sayaka Saeki.
Despite being neither the protagonist nor the heroine, she has established an overwhelming status in the Yuri community and is still praised by many today.
Ultimately, her love was never realized. Nevertheless, why is she loved so much?
Let's call the protagonist A, the heroine B, and Sayaka Saeki C. Their relationship can be expressed as follows:
A ⇄ B ← C
The vectors of the two main characters pointing at each other means they share a mutual love. Beside the completed AB pair, only the arrow from C toward her beloved B is left in solitude.
In Yuri works, women in this position sometimes appear.
And they always create legendary drama. They have no chance of winning. Yet, you can't take your eyes off them.
When AB progresses, she gets flustered; when she wins a date with B, we shed tears. Before we know it, we are following her movements with sweaty palms. That is the charm they possess.
Today, I will refer to characters in this position as "C-Girls" and introduce their way of life.
As a rough definition, let's summarize the characteristics of a C-Girl as follows:
- B (the heroine) has thick emotional walls. She isn't necessarily unfriendly. She talks normally and has friends. However, she lets no one into the depths of her heart. She wears hard armor around her soul for various reasons.
- The C-Girl knew B (the heroine) before A (the protagonist) did. In short, they have a long history. Naturally, she is in the closest position among friends. She has suppressed her love from the closest possible distance.
- A (the protagonist) takes the special seat next to B (the heroine) that should have been vacant. Why? Because that's what a protagonist does.
Today, I will introduce three representative C-Girls who have enthralled the Yuri community from *Bloom Into You, Adachi and Shimamura, and Kamiina Botan, Yoeru Sugata wa Yuri no Hana*. Please note that there will be spoilers for the main stories from here on.
Furthermore, this is by no means an article to mock their heartbreak.
What they faced was not a "heroine race" where entering gives you a fair chance as a contestant.
The special seat of their beloved was suddenly taken by the protagonist, the advantage of time spent together meant nothing, there was no opening to exploit, and there were no allies on this harsh path.
Even so, they struggled to be reflected in the eyes of their beloved and faced their love head-on.
No matter what anyone says, they had the great love of a lifetime.
I want to praise the courage and the trajectory of these women who rowed out alone into the surging seas.
[Sayaka Saeki / Bloom Into You]
A legend in the world of C-Girls. I'm not sure if she's the progenitor, but I feel that her appearance led to the recognition of the "C-Girl" position in the Yuri community.
Bloom Into You is a Yuri manga by Nio Nakatani.
The story follows the protagonist Yuu, who enters adolescence without knowing romantic feelings and feels left behind, until she meets Touko, a student council member who also doesn't know romantic feelings.
Yuu is happy to have found someone like her, but Touko, who wasn't supposed to know romance, falls in love with Yuu, and things get complicated.
Touko is beautiful, academically excellent, a student council member, and highly capable. Supporting her from the side all along is the legend of C-Girls, Sayaka Saeki.
If Touko's perfection is a 100, Sayaka Saeki is a 99.
She continued to threaten that position as a good rival and support her as a good partner. Why? Because she loves Touko, of course!
▲ Everyone thinks Sayaka is the only one who can stand beside Touko. Touko thinks so. Sayaka thinks so too. (Bloom Into You, Vol. 1)
Even for Touko, who didn't make anyone special, Sayaka was supposed to be the closest person.
Sayaka believed that supporting Touko's perfect side was what was best for her.
However, the protagonist Yuu continued to reach out to the side of Touko that she didn't show to others.
Recognizing her own cowardice in not being able to step in, Sayaka decided to face herself and convey her love to Touko.
Under a sky full of stars, Sayaka told Touko how she felt. However, that wish did not come true. Because Yuu was already in Touko's heart. Yet, the love she had nurtured was certainly conveyed to Touko.
Carrying an accumulation of love, watching her beloved—who wasn't supposed to make anyone special—direct a special gaze only toward a junior, she did not interfere with that junior and remained true to her own love. It was a grand romance that reflected her noble soul, like a high tower.
If this were ancient Rome, she would have been raised to the night sky by a goddess to become the "Sayaka Saeki Constellation" and be passed down through the ages.
It was a magnificent performance.
Or perhaps, it was too magnificent.
It is a famous story that three spin-off novels were released just to appease the spirits of fans who were stirred up by her noble love.
▲ A modern temple built to enshrine Sayaka Saeki.
[Kanade Gujo / Kamiina Botan, Yoeru Sugata wa Yuri no Hana]
Kamiina Botan, Yoeru Sugata wa Yuri no Hana is a Yuri manga set in a university dormitory where the changing relationships are thrilling. It was also recently adapted into an anime.
Let me introduce the characters.
▲ The most key person in this work.
Ibuki. A charming dorm leader. It's not a profession; the students take turns being the leader, so she is also a student.
She is known to love alcohol, but she never shows herself drinking in front of others. She has a constitution where she hiccups when she drinks, and being criticized for that in front of others has become a strong trauma for her.
In this work, the big key is "Who will she drink with, given she doesn't drink in front of people?" In other words, "Who is the one who can drink with her?"
Here, I introduce the C-Girl.
Gujo-senpai, a fellow dorm resident. Since she is a grad student, she is senior to the dorm leader.
Having feelings for the dorm leader, she spends her days with faint hopes like, "The dorm leader won't drink in front of me, but I want to drink together someday," or "Maybe she'll drink with me if it's good alcohol," but progress is slow.
▲ An intellectual older sister, but a bit timid.
Now, for the protagonist.
Botan Kamiina. A high-powered Yuri succubus who adds a ♡ to the end of every sentence.
▲ Even a line like "The dorm leader has a refined palate; I'm jealous you know so much about the taste of alcohol" becomes "I want the dorm leader's tongue~♡ (lick)" when Botan Kamiina says it.
The word "retreat" does not exist in a Yuri succubus's dictionary, so Botan aggressively attacks with the feeling of "I want to get close to the dorm leader~♡."
And like the dorm leader, she has a constitution where she burps when she drinks. She has the same scar as the dorm leader. Naturally, the relationship between the dorm leader and Botan progresses. They become a pair that drinks together.
From Gujo-senpai's perspective, a new student just came in and said, "By the way, I drank with the dorm leader the other day~♡," so things got serious. Gujo-senpai, who could no longer just say "someday together," begins her struggle.
▲ Hearing that the dorm leader likes people who can drive manual, Gujo-senpai hurries to take over the driving (and naturally stalls the engine).
Thus, a relationship is born between the dorm leader who won't let others in, Botan Kamiina who dives into the dorm leader's heart, and Gujo-senpai who struggles not to have the dorm leader taken away.
It's not a love triangle. The dorm leader only looks at Botan Kamiina.
The next day, Gujo-senpai invites the dorm leader for a drive for just the two of them and proposes drinking strawberry-infused whiskey together on a hill where the sunset is incredibly beautiful. This is almost the same as a confession, but she is met with silence from the dorm leader.
▲ The most beautiful way to be rejected in the world.
▲ The most beautiful way to be rejected in the world!!
Toward the dorm leader who couldn't drink in front of others, Gujo-senpai took a superficial approach: "If I give her good alcohol, maybe she'll drink with me."
On the other hand, Botan embraced the dorm leader's emotional vulnerability, saying, "It's okay for you to drink in front of people." And she added, "I have the same scar as you." Game over.
But let me say this: Gujo-senpai is a woman who would normally be popular without doing anything and isn't the type to be pushy, yet she was undoubtedly beautiful as she never stopped struggling, however awkwardly.
[Tarumi / Adachi and Shimamura]
Having achieved two manga adaptations and an anime, Adachi and Shimamura is now renowned as a masterpiece of Yuri novels. The final C-Girl is there.
As the title suggests, Adachi and Shimamura is the story of "Adachi" and "Shimamura."
With thin human relationships, Adachi and Shimamura are similar souls—somewhere between delinquents and school skippers—who shared a relationship of skipping class together on the second floor of the gym. Or so it was.
One day, after Adachi had a dream about being kissed by Shimamura, the situation changed completely. Adachi could think of nothing but Shimamura except when she was sleeping.
▲ Adachi was once a woman so cool she was called the "Ice Statue," but she became like this after meeting Shimamura. (Adachi and Shimamura, Vol. 5)
Adachi is the most awkward woman in the world. She is the kind of woman who agonizes over a Christmas present for Shimamura. (I received a correction that it was Shimamura, not Adachi, who gave the boomerang. That is correct. It was my memory lapse. Shimamura, what were you thinking sending a boomerang?)
Toward Shimamura, who doesn't seek anything special from others, Adachi—the woman with the hottest heart in the world (limited to Shimamura)—charges in with nothing but pure passion. That is Adachi and Shimamura.
The C-Girl, Tarumi, is Shimamura's childhood friend. She, too, was a woman who burned with the desire to become special to Shimamura, carrying love in her heart.
Tarumi finds Shimamura incredibly cute. She wants to get into a good vibe with Shimamura. However, she was also awkward.
▲ There is an incredible charm in this shaky way of inviting her. Tarumi probably wasn't like this before she met Shimamura. (Adachi and Shimamura, Vol. 5)
Once, the story of when Tarumi invited Shimamura to a festival was amazing.
Adachi, who happened to be working a stall at the festival, witnessed Tarumi and Shimamura on a festival date. She suffered a fatal wound to the point of it being life-threatening. Adachi's "madness" at this time is still talked about as the "Blade of Shimamura."
▲ Adachi became like a pill bug because she was too shocked. (Adachi and Shimamura, Vol. 5)
Ultimately, Tarumi was not chosen. Because Adachi was already in Shimamura's heart.
Finally, Tarumi called Shimamura to a winter riverbank, carrying her art supplies. There, she heard about Adachi, and realizing her defeat, she continued to paint the figure of her beloved—who would never be hers—on the canvas while shedding tears. Thus, Tarumi's love shattered and vanished.
In Closing
None of these C-Girls ever saw their love realized.
So, were they losers?
No. They gambled more than anyone. They chased more than anyone. They lived more than anyone.
Because that was more dazzling than anything else, they surely shine in our starry sky and continue to be talked about. Even now, they continue to shine.
