Sayuri knows that it's hopeless to fall in love with a straight woman. That's an academic consideration, of course, when in her final year of college, she fell head over heels for Risa. The adorable first year consumed all of Sayuri's thoughts, no matter how hard she tried to avoid them, and when she graduated, Sayuri removed herself from all of her university friends in an attempt to stop pining…especially since Risa dated a man at one point. But she never forgot her, and all of her efforts are rendered null and void when Risa starts working at the same company…and kisses her.

Hanakage Alt's Senpai no Kohai is, in its slender volume, a beautifully sweet love story. Made up of only three chapters and a short epilogue, the story follows two women with very different expectations who nonetheless manage to find a way to be together. Sayuri is convinced that Risa never noticed her in college and that she never had a chance with the younger woman. Risa absolutely did notice her – and the way she looked at her – and was crushed when Sayuri vanished after graduating. As much as Sayuri thinks she needs to avoid Risa to stave off heartbreak, Risa is just as invested in finding her senpai again and trying to make something of the yearning she saw in her eyes. It's a nicely compact, tender tale with an impact that far outstrips its brevity.

Although it's only comprised of 106 pages, the creator manages to work with a lot of interesting themes. Sayuri's belief that Risa is straight and would be repulsed by her speaks to the internalized homophobia she harbors, with chapter three revealing the hurtful place that it comes from. Although she never says it, it's clear that Sayuri embraces her sexual orientation while still feeling some shame about it. It barely even occurs to her that Risa might be gay, bi, or pan; she's wrapped up in the idea that she needs to both protect herself from heartbreak and protect Risa from her.

That's what makes it interesting that in their adult lives, Risa is the one to pursue Sayuri. Risa doesn't have the same hangups as Sayuri, and arguably her romantic pursuit of her senpai is much more alarming than anything Sayuri ever does – some of Risa's actions could be viewed as stalking and forcible touching. All Sayuri ever did was look; Risa goes much farther. While later on we do see her reining herself in a little, such as when Sayuri asks her not to kiss her at work, there are some issues with her earlier behavior. As with many (although not all) romances, Risa's actions are meant to show the degree of love and desperation she's feeling, but just because something is a common genre element doesn't mean we shouldn't question its use in a given story.

Hanakage Alt's art does a beautiful job of both selling the feel of the story and of showing us how the two women have changed over the years. College freshman Risa is short and scrappy looking, with choppy short hair and a sort of wide-eyed look, while college senior Sayuri is elegant and refined with her long hair and tailored clothes. When they meet again, Sayuri's hair is shorter and her clothing is professional, and Risa's hair is long, while she gives the impression of being taller, even though that's unlikely given her age. Both women look more confident as adults, particularly Risa, although Sayuri is still the more mature of the two. The art never gets explicit with the kiss scenes or the sex scene, and that works for this story. It's not about our gaze on the women, it's about them gazing at each other, and in that, the book does a particularly good job.

Although this is short, it's still worth reading, especially for fans of sweet yuri that acknowledge lesbians have sex. The creator is delighted that her work has made it into an official English translation (and she was flattered that so many foreign readers related to her work), and it's not hard to see why this is a fan favorite. Senpai no Kohai is a warm, gentle love story of the sort you could read over and over again.