Futari Escape is a manga that holds a dear place in my heart though admittedly for more personal reasons than objective ones. That said its still a fun slice of life manga that knows how to get a good laugh has surprisingly excellent art and doesnt overstay its welcome. In particular one of its greatest strengths lies in its ability to not overexplain itself even by the end of it we still dont know our two protagonists names. Its a simple premise and uses that to its advantage so in a way Im very glad that it ended before it got stale. Each episode our poor overworked kouhai gets fed up with the harsh realities of having a day job and her carefree unemployed senpai assists her in escaping that reality activities and excursions that very narrowly walk the line between justified relaxation and irresponsible escapism. The mangas name is Futari Escape after all but more on that later. First things first these two are pretty much the only characters in the entire manga save for kouhais editor who becomes a semiinfrequent face near the end so if you dont like these two youre really not going to like the manga at all. Luckily for me I love them Senpai is a wonderful mix of irresponsible and practical aloof and caring silly and thoughtful and shes damn cute to boot. Her outfits are always drawn absolutely lovingly and I seriously cannot heap enough praise on them. Shes ridiculously cute and her snaggletooth is a great touch that really completes the whole look. Kouhai is more of the exaggerated ridiculous type but that just makes it that much more interesting to see what she actually gets passionate about and shes more often than not the catalyst for each chapters new shenanigans. Her design is a little more basic but its still perfectly charming and its fun to see her dress up. Speaking of outfits the art in general is really something to discuss. The poses facial expressions and details are all charming and often times enough to sell a joke even without dialog but the backgrounds are what really get me. In particular I found myself relishing every time they left the house just to see more panels of lovingly rendered cityscape and urban sprawl. A lot of the locations they go to are real too which is a nice touch. The actual chaptertochapter beats are something I amusingly dont have much to say about. The shenanigans are funny the characters are cute and the manga rarely falls into feeling repetitive or stale. Theres definitely a few chapters that missed the mark for me in particular the chapters about kouhais weight gain felt in poor taste and by the end the premise was starting to wear thin but it was never excessive to the point I was turned off of it. Futari Escape is also a yuri manga The twos relationship is never explored in any significant way or much at all really but every so often a chapter went out of its way to demonstrate just how much they care about each other. They clearly view themselves as a couple and theres a nonzero number of panels that ambiguously imply a fadetoblack bedroom scene but its all very background and quiet and I sort of prefer it that way. Dont get me wrong Ill take dramatic whirlwind lesbian romances any day but sometimes its nice to see two women just... existing as a couple without any need to label themselves or make grand demonstrations to be viewed as legitimate. Its also a breath of fresh air to see an adult character whos unemployed and not have them be either the entire punchline for constant jokes or made out to be a sort of tragic failure. Futari Escape quietly makes a very salient point through its nonsense living in todays world is exhausting and working any job much less one as stressful and timeconsuming as being a mangaka is even more so. Im a firm believer that not all escapism is bad and that sometimes its just whats needed to keep you alive. Whats the point in living if youre not going to have any fun? Futari Escape seems to agree with that wholeheartedly and for all that the twos activities could be seen as irresponsible theyre also framed as justified and even bordering necessary. Now that Im approaching the conclusion I think its time for me to make a confession. Part of why Im so attached to Futari Escape and senpai in particular is because its a bizarrely similar situation to my own life. I wont say too much because I dont wanna dox myself but as a varyingly longterm unemployed naturally blonde partAsian lesbian living with my darkhaired employed partner I feel a sort of ridiculous degree of kinship with senpai. Thats definitely not the only reason I like Futari Escape but it feels wrong to write a review and not at least mention that. I dont have much else to say besides that. Im scoring it at an 80 because although aside from a few chapters that didnt land for me there isnt much wrong with Futari Escape it also feels like it was still a little way away from realizing its full potential. That said its still good fun and well worth the read for senpais cute outfits and snaggletooth alone if nothing else.