ふたりエスケープ

FUTARI ESCAPE

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
4
RELEASE
December 16, 2022
CHAPTERS
36

DESCRIPTION

Two young women–one an overworked manga artist, the other a complete slacker–try to escape the realities of adult responsibilities. Whether it’s running off on a day trip instead of being productive or going into debt for an epic meal, the two always have fun when they’re together! Enjoy this delightful (and relatable) slice-of-life tale about the little pleasures in ducking away from the hard stuff.

(Source: Seven Seas Entertainment)

Notes:

Originally released as a doujinshi at COMITIA 130 and 131. Began serialization in Comic Yuri Hime on July 18, 2020.
Includes 4 extra chapters.

CAST

Senpai
Kouhai

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

winnowgirl
85/100
Cute, silly, and just a little thoughtful, a no-frills slice of life ride.
Futari Escape is a manga that holds a dear place in my heart, though admittedly for more personal reasons than objective ones. That said, it's still a fun slice of life manga that knows how to get a good laugh, has surprisingly excellent art, and doesn't 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 don't know our two protagonists' names. It's a simple premise and uses that to its advantage, so in a way I'm 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 manga's 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 kouhai's editor, who becomes a semi-infrequent face near the end, so if you don't like these two, you're 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 she's damn cute to boot. Her outfits are always drawn absolutely lovingly, and I seriously cannot heap enough praise on them. She's 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 she's more often than not the catalyst for each chapter's new shenanigans. Her design is a little more basic, but it's still perfectly charming, and it's 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 chapter-to-chapter beats are something I amusingly don't have much to say about. The shenanigans are funny, the characters are cute, and the manga rarely falls into feeling repetitive or stale. There's definitely a few chapters that missed the mark for me -- in particular the chapters about kouhai's 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 two's 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 there's a non-zero number of panels that ambiguously imply a fade-to-black bedroom scene, but it's all very background and quiet, and I sort of prefer it that way. Don't get me wrong, I'll take dramatic whirlwind lesbian romances any day, but sometimes it's 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.

It's also a breath of fresh air to see an adult character who's 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 today's world is exhausting, and working any job, much less one as stressful and time-consuming as being a mangaka, is even more so. I'm a firm believer that not all escapism is bad, and that sometimes it's just what's needed to keep you alive. What's the point in living if you're not going to have any fun? Futari Escape seems to agree with that wholeheartedly, and for all that the two's activities could be seen as irresponsible, they're also framed as justified and even bordering necessary.

Now that I'm approaching the conclusion, I think it's time for me to make a confession. Part of why I'm so attached to Futari Escape and senpai in particular is because it's a bizarrely similar situation to my own life. I won't say too much because I don't wanna dox myself, but as a varyingly long-term unemployed naturally blonde part-Asian lesbian living with my dark-haired employed partner, I feel a sort of ridiculous degree of kinship with senpai. That's definitely not the only reason I like Futari Escape, but it feels wrong to write a review and not at least mention that.

I don't have much else to say besides that. I'm scoring it at an 80 because although aside from a few chapters that didn't land for me there isn't much wrong with Futari Escape, it also feels like it was still a little way away from realizing its full potential. That said, it's still good fun and well worth the read, for senpai's cute outfits and snaggletooth alone if nothing else.
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