Shiroi Heya no Futari

Plot

The orphaned Resine decides, against her aunt's wishes, to attend the same boarding school as her mother. She finds it difficult to fit herself into the life of the school. Resine must also share a room with Simone, the rebellious daughter of a famous actress. Simone does not make Resine feel welcome, and Simone takes advantage of every chance she gets to cause trouble. Simone goes out late with boys, copies Resine's homework, and teases Resine every time she cries. In spite of everything, the two girls become closer, although Resine cannot name the feeling.

The school puts on a production of Romeo and Juliet – Simone is quickly chosen to be Romeo, whilst Resine is chosen to be Juliet. Resine expresses some worry about having to kiss Simone, but she is told that she can pretend to kiss Simone. On stage, however, their kiss is "passionate – and real". After the play, Resine and Simone go into the woods, and kiss again. However, a girl who missed out on the role of Romeo saw them, and she begins to spread malicious gossip about the pair.

Resine tries to distance herself from Simone because of the gossip, and Simone tries to comfort her. First she tells Resine to ignore the gossip. Resine finds that impossible. Later, Simone takes Resine out on the town to find her a boyfriend. Resine throws her energies into dating her new boyfriend, and Simone becomes depressed. Simone and Resine have an argument. Resine runs away, going back to her aunt's house and becoming sick. Some months later, after recovering, Resine learns that Simone had died. She returns to the school to find out that Simone had incited one of her boyfriends to kill her. Resine swears to keep on living, forever loveless and alone.

Commentary

Yukari Fujimoto regards Shiori Heya no Futari to have influenced works by Machiko Satonaka, Riyoko Ikeda, and Ichijo Yukari, becoming "prototypical" of a common yuri story in the 1970s and 1980s which Fujimoto dubs "Crimson Rose and Candy". Here, "Candy" is a femme character who admires "Rose", a more butch character. The attachment between Candy and Rose becomes the subject of rumours or even blackmail, even while Candy and Rose grow to acknowledge their relationship as being romantic. Rose dies "almost without fail" in order to protect Candy from scandal. James Welker regards these stories to contain elements of "lesbian panic". Welker presents Frederik Schodt's view that melodramatic endings were "common" in "early shōjo manga", but also presents Fujimoto's suggestion that "patriarchal forces" were responsible for the tragic ending of the "Crimson Rose and Candy" stories.