Girl Friends (Japanese: ??????? Hepburn: Garu Furenzu?

) is a yuri manga series b

y Milk Morinaga. It was serialized by Futabasha in the seinen manga magazine Com
ic High! between October 2006 and August 2010, and subsequently published as fiv
e bound volumes. The manga has been licensed in North America by Seven Seas Ente
rtainment.
Plot
The story revolves around the quiet and solitary Mari Kumakura, whose only notic
eable quality is her top of the class grades. Enter the cute and friendly Akko O
ohashi, whose goal is to get to know Mari and become best friends with her. With
Akko's help, Mari becomes more confident and sociable, quickly transforming int
o one of the more fashionable girls in school. As the story progresses, she beco
mes good friends with Akko, Sugi and Tamami. The group gets into all kinds of si
tuations: alcohol, boys, diets, fashion, friends and studies. However, as the pl
ot develops, Mari, and later Akko, becomes aware of the deeper feelings she poss
esses for her best friend, feelings that eclipse friendship. Caught between roma
nce and friendship, the two must come to terms with their love for one another,
knowing that by doing so, their relationship, and even their lives, could drasti
cally change forever.
Characters
Mariko Kumakura (?? ??? Kumakura Mariko?)
Voiced by: Mikoi Sasaki
The protagonist, whose nickname is Mari. She is a shy and polite person who
always sits by herself during lunch breaks and reads books. When Akko befriends
her, Mari starts to change and her personality starts to develop. She has recent
ly become less shy and more socially-aware. In an effort to distance herself fro
m her feelings for her friend, she goes out with a boy (despite having growing f
eelings of romantic love for Akko). Her resolve to remain "just friends" with Ak
ko did not hold for long; tormented by the then unaware Akko's kindness and care
, she kissed Akko on the lips on impulse twice, but then chooses not to speak of
it any more (on the realization that her love will never be reciprocated.)
Akiko Oohashi (?? ??? Ohashi Akiko?)
Voiced by: Aya Endo
Second protagonist, known to her friends as "Akko". A confident and attracti
ve girl who befriends Mari at the start of the story. She displays many attribut
es of a stereotypical teenage girl, such as being knowledgeable about dating, fa
shion, and dieting. She claims to know a lot about guys despite barely interacti
ng with them, intereacting even less so when she becomes friends with Mari. Over
the course of the story she developed feelings for Mari, and her increasing jea
lousy of Mari's boyfriend made that clear for her.
Satoko Sugiyama (?? ?? Sugiyama Satoko?)
Voiced by: Yu Kobayashi
Nicknamed "Sugi-san," she is an outgoing playgirl who has several boyfriends
, likes to go to mixers, and drinks a lot. It has been mentioned that she and Ta
mami kiss quite often (though only as a sign of friendship.) She often is seen a
s the most promiscuous and party-loving of the group and tends to strip her clot
hes off when she is drunk. She is surprisingly a light-weight when it comes to d
rinking. She sometimes is embarrassed to be friends with Tamami whenever the lat
ter girl is publicly cosplaying or engaging in her geeky hobbies. Sugi is often
viewed and revered as the "grown-up" in the group (in terms of her attractivenes
s, allure and knowledge about male-female relationships,) and Akiko has consulte
d her several times when it comes to issues involving Mariko. She is quite perce
ptive; she is the first and only person to figure out that Akko and Mari are in
love with one another. She seems a bit wary of this, as she is concerned about t
heir well-being, but chooses to watch over them from afar. In an omake chapter d
edicated to her, she even envies how the both of them can retain their innocence
 and purity.
Tamami Sekine (?? ?? Sekine Tamami?)
Voiced by: Mika Kanai
A cute and funny girl who is best friends with Sugi. Her nickname is Tamanin
. She is an otaku and often buys or talks about anime, manga, and video games. C
ontrastingly, she also likes nightclubs, drinking, food, and partying. When the
original group is split up, Tamami and Satoko grow apart despite promising to st
ay in touch and be good friends but with help from Mari and Akko they are reunit
ed. They have since been extremely close despite no longer being in the same cla
ss.
Girl Friends DRAMA CD
Scene 1 = Chapters 1 - 2
Scene 2 = Chapters 3 - Chapter 6
Scene 3 = Chapter 6 - Chapter 7
Scene 4 = chapter 8 - Chapter 10