[DeepL Translation - needs review] Volume 1 Introduction: I took in the daughter of my best friend whom I loved. Midori (31), who is not good at socializing and feels out of place anywhere, meets Haruko (14), the daughter of her best friend Tsugumi, whom she loved in middle school, at Tsugumi's funeral. ......This is a tale of sensitive cohabitation between Midori, who has no place to stay, and Haruko, who has lost her place in the world.
(Translator: DeepL)
I picked this up without reading the description, because I was instantly attracted to the art style and character design, and could tell there was something I would vibe with. Having finished all 3 volumes, it turned out to be a really sweet, and wholesome story :) Contrary to what I was worried about, while it is a yuri, it is not a romance. It is however probably one of the nicest 日常 dramas I've read, in a long time.
Anyway the initial setup is quite interesting. The somewhat 人見知りMidori (31) finds out her middle school best friend Tsugumi (who she clearly had feelings for) died, and while attending the funeral, meets Tsugumi's 14 year old daughter Haruko (who is the splitting image of her), and offers to take her in.
The story unfolds from there, as they both adapt to and influence each other, and deal with their grief, and try to grow as people. Some parts of the story are realistic, and others less so. But overall it's realistic enough, and wholesome enough that I want to see where the story goes.
A lot of the story takes part in flashbacks, and this can be mildly confusing at times, due to how similar Haruko and her mother look. Unlike many other works, which signal it with black background, is not so clearly delineated here (kind of like 青い花, tho not as extreme). I suspect this was intentional, and it represents lingering feelings and blurring the past and present, very well. There's a lot of emotional complexity in this series, and as is probably obvious, it deals with themes of loss, the meaning of family, etc.
Language-wise, I found the first book surprisingly easy, and the next two slightly more difficult. I think it could make for a decent early manga.
As an aside, the writer's other work 恋より青く is a favorite as well!