Haruka, Akiho, Fuyuka, and Natsuki
Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu is a Yuri manga written by Eiki Eiki and illustrated Zaou Taishi, a duo best known for their (many, many) Yaoi mangas. The story is set in St. Teresa's school for girls and consists of five individual stories focusing mostly on the growing romance between two pairs of schoolgirls, although one story focuses on the adults and another, on two unrelated girls.
There's some focus on lesbianism.
The stories, in order, are:
- Expressions of Love — New student Akiho has to deal with some mixed feelings for her best friend Haruka, a popular girl with a tendency towards Skinship Grope.
- She-Wolf — Shrinking Violet Fuyuka transfers into St. Teresa's, looking forward to life in an all-girl environment. Unfortunately, she becomes the latest target of the local
Memetic Molester, Natsuki "the She-Wolf". - First Kiss — Focuses on Reiko and Ayano, the school counselor and teacher respectively, as Reiko reflects on their own days as students together, and how their relationship has changed.
- Little Red Riding Hood Strikes Back — A follow-up on "Expressions" and "She-Wolf", Akiho helps Fuyuka try to clarify the nature of her relationship with Natsuki.
- Spring/Summer/Winter/Fall — The conclusion for the two student couples, featuring a Beach Episode.
- Her — A side-story; Two girls, Inoue Chiharu & Aida Miho, have feelings for each other, each convinced they're weird for it but planning to seduce each other at the exact same time.
There is also a borderline-Hentai "doujin" by the original authors titled simply HaruNatsuAkiFuyu, exploring the two main couples' intimate moments. See also Love Gene XX, another yuri manga by the same mangaka.
Not to be confused with Kat and Ana's theme from the original WarioWare game.
Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu contains examples of:
- A-Cup Angst: Haruka has a baaaad case of this. She later decides she doesn't care, as long as she has 'Akiho's breasts.'
- Bait-and-Switch Lesbians: Deconstructed in "First Kiss", given that Reiko and Ayano dismiss their romance as a simple Pseudo-Romantic Friendship, realizing years later they've been in denial about it the entire time, and were both unable to make a move because they thought the other had been sincere in moving on.
- Beach Episode: "Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall" involves a beach vacation.
- Beta Couple: Akiho/Haruka to Fuyuka/Natsuki. Ayano/Reiko to all four of them.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: In bed, Fuyuka is waaay more aggressive than you'd think from her shy everyday behavior, as Natsuki has to discover the hard way. They later decide to determine who takes the lead with Rock–Paper–Scissors.
- Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: Natsuki falls into this in "Little Red Riding Hood Strikes Back", confusing and dismaying Fuyuka, who finally wants Natsuki to act perverted towards her.
- Cast Full of Gay: Well, all the girls, anyway.
- Commitment Issues: Haruka, despite being ostensibly in a relationship with Akiho, keeps applying Skinship Grope on other girls, much to Akiho's anguish. Eventually, Akiho makes it abundantly clear that she doesn't like it, and Haruka stops. While not necessarily afraid of commitment, until then Haruka didn't see a need for it.
- Deadpan Snarker: Akiho.
- Does Not Like Men: Fuyuka intentionally switched to an all-girl's school to get away from men; we find out the reason for this later.
- Double Standard: Rape, Female on Female: Natsuki seems to believe in it, at least, in the part that women cannot hurt other women.
- Finger-Suck Healing: In "First Kiss".
- Gayngst: Generally averted, although some of the girls do have anxiety their feelings might not be real or reciprocated.
- Handsome Lech: Haruka and Natsuki are both extremely pervy, but also well-liked due to being hot and athletic.
- Meaningful Names: Haruka, Natsuki, Akiho, and Fuyuka.
- No Periods, Period: Averted in "Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall".
- Nudity Equals Honesty: Natsuki strips topless in front of Fuyuka to let her feel her heartbeat and to demonstrate that, Natsuki's Memetic Molester tendencies aside, Fuyuka has nothing to fear from her. It works, and the two of them enter a relationship by the next chapter.
- One-Gender School: St. Teresa's.
- Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: Fuyuka worries her relationship with Natsuki is this despite being sexually attracted to her, while Reiko and Ayano believe their past relationship was this. Averted in both cases.
- Rape and Switch: Both Natsuki and Fuyuka have an aversion to men due to traumatic past experiences, although it's never claimed that this is the cause of their lesbianism.
- Sacred First Kiss: Invoked by Reiko and Ayano in their youth, who decide to share their first kiss with each other precisely because of its significance. It ends up very important to them years later, when both realize that whomever else they kiss, they always think of each other instead.
- Shrinking Violet: Fuyuka, although she shows shades of Covert Pervert after opening up to Natsuki.
- Situational Sexuality: Discussed in "First Kiss".
- Skinship Grope: Haruka's M.O.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Akiho is cool as a cucumber most of the time, but she can get more emotional around Haruka, particularly when she finally expresses that she doesn't like it when Haruka gropes other girls.
