The yuri is strong in this one.

Story: 10
Holy crap this story was entertaining and interesting. The story follows Mari, an unpopular girl, and Akko, a pretty popular girl, and begins with Akko helping Mari become more cuter. Throughout the story, the relationship between the girls change and this is when it becomes a yuri manga. I absolutely enjoyed how they went post-confession with this story. Another thing I found absolutely wonderful were the activities the characters on the manga did. They went on group dates, drinking and such, a realistic version of high school.

The pacing was great, it didn't go too fast or slow, the story went with the first third focusing on Mari, the second third focusing on Akko and then the final third focusing on both of them as a couple (Not really equal thirds, Mari's section was the biggest and then Akko and then the last part, but it is easier to explain it that way). This led to interesting transitions that helped the flow of the story.

This story also hit a bit of home for me as well, but I will explain this when I discuss enjoyment.

Art: 10
Milk Morinaga is a talented artist and did an amazing job with the designs of the characters of this manga. All the characters were well drawn and the chibis looked extremely cute.

Character: 9
Really enjoyed the characters, as they are unique enough to be memorable, but not too unique in where the author was going overboard. The only character I had a problem with was Haruda, as his entrance into the anime felt forced along with his exit from the story.

Enjoyment: 10
I enjoyed the hell out of this anime. Any time the main characters kissed, I cheered! It's not because I am a guy who enjoys two girls kissing (who am I kidding, that is partly the reason) but because seeing their relationship grow was just making me happy and seeing the two main characters conquer milestones was quite cheerful!

A big reason why I enjoyed this anime, was that i have gone through a similar experience. This is has spoilers of the story and is about my personal life, you can skip it if you want.
I was really shy and not very confident in middle school, but a girl helped me come out of my shell. This girl did exactly what Akko did for me, showed me how to be more confident and more outgoing. Eventually, I started having feelings for this girl, but I wasn't sure if it was because she was one of my first friends or if I truly liked her. Reading this manga brought me back to those days of self-doubt and emotions Mari had were emotions I also went through when I was going through that.

Overall: 10
Another 10? True, I rate my manga's high, but all the mangas I have been reading have been really good! Girl Friends is my first yuri manga, and won't be my last.