The Rows of Cherry Trees



The Rows of Cherry Trees by Takahashi Makoto is a one-shot manga from 1957 that could be considered a precursor to the Yuri Genre. The story centers around three students competing in a ping-pong tournament at the Sakura Girls' Institute.

This manga provides examples of:

 * Cherry Blossoms
 * Clingy Jealous Girl: Ayako towards Chikage
 * Disappeared Dad: Yukiko's father died of some undescribed illness.
 * Nostalgic Music Box: Yukiko has one that her late father gave her.
 * One Gender School: Sakura Girls' Institute
 * Onee Sama: Chikage is the affectionate type.
 * Opening Narration
 * Playing Sick: Yukiko claims to have a headache in order to get out of ping-pong practice; in reality she's angsting over her relationship with Chikage.
 * Present Tense Narrative
 * Purple Prose: The narration tends towards this.
 * Romantic Two Girl Friendship: The plot centers around the Class S Love Triangle between Yukiko, Chikage, and Ayako.
 * Sempai Kohai: Chikage and Yukiko
 * Sparkling Stream of Tears: With the emphasis on "sparkling."
 * Shower Scene
 * Tsurime Eyes: Ayako