Aquarium

This manga has three stories in it. Naoka Uchiyama is a young girl who didn't manage to get into the high school she wanted. Rather, she's going to an all-girls school. She's in love with Ishida who doesn't return her love. For solace she likes to visit the aquarium but she runs into a boy who wants to go out on a date with her.

In Japan, students have to test into schools. You might take a test even to get into a particular elementary school; then one to get into junior high, one to get into high school, and then there are the even more high-pressured tests to get into a particular college. This is so important to some students that if they fail their test to get into college they will sometimes take a year off and become a "ronin," a student who failed the test and is studying to take it again. The schools you get into can have a major effect on the job track that is open to you after school, so many students and parents are very, very focused on this test-taking.

The pressure the boy puts on her along with other problems eventually drives the girl to attempt suicide by cutting her wrist. The rest of the story deals with her trying to resolve her feelings about the boy she met at the aquarium.

The second story is about an airplane stewardess who is really, really happy being a stewardess.

The third story involves a girl in high school who has been in love with a boy since junior high but has not told him. She sees him walking around with a different girl and is really upset but still says nothing to him. The rest of the story involves her trying to accept that but still being attracted to him.

This is a really nice, gentle shoujo type of manga; romantic, non-violent, cute, the first and third stories being the best.