Yuri Reviews: Yuri Card Games?

January 5th, 2006

Really? Yuri card games? Well…sort of. ^_^ Today’s card game review was brought to you primarily through the generosity of Touko_no_doriru-san, whose gifts still make me happy, every time I take them out and read/look at/listen to them. So, let’s see…9 months later, I still thank you!

There are many and various fan made games based on parody and original series. H-games, dating sims, fighting games, etc. These two card games are also fan/artist created and you’ve probably seen some of the art without knowing where it came from.

First, let me introduce you to Seeraa Fuku o Anata ni…:

What makes this card deck so notable is that the art is by the same artist who does Transistor ni Venus and a bunch of other Yuri stories. Each card is a drawing of a different school uniform, with each school identified for ease of “fuku spotting.” For instance, I randomly pulled the “Seisshin Shoujo Gakuin” uniform, which looks to be a natty light blue and a striped blue and white summer blouse.

No actual *Yuri* except on the cover there, but it’s got that “six degrees of Yuri” thing going, since the artist is so very much a Yuri mangaka. Yuri by inference, shall we say. And lots of goofy uniform fun if you’re into that kind of thing.

Next up we have the reasonably well-known Mari-un-Zero:

Now THIS is a notable deck. The game is, like the one above, basically UnoTM-like. But the art is all done by artists you know and many pictures you’ve seen on Yuri picture boards live here in bright color. The four suits are the three rose families and a “brown” suit with other non-rose characters. Shizuka, Mami, Tsutako, etc. Many of these pictures are Yuri, or Yuri-esque and most of them are brilliant. For fun, I’m including two here, so you can see what I mean:

The first is probably a picture you’ve seen around. The artist is Shoutarou Tanaka and I’m sure some wonderful reader will jump right in with his website URL, since I don’t have it to hand. I included the second because this particular large-eyed picture of Kanako is drawn by Miyabi Fujieda, author and artist of Iono-sama Fanatics. Cute, huh? ^_^

Mari-un-Zero is a popular fan work and has lots and lots of lovely pictures. I always feel guilty about opening the box and taking the cards out to look at them though! ^_^

Lastly, I wanted to share with you something that is really not Yuri at all, but it is timely. One of the popular diversions for many centuries at New Years in Japan was a game called Hyakunin Isshu. In short, each card has one half of the first line of a Heian period poem. The second halves of the lines are laid out on the floor between two people and when the first line is read all hell breaks loose as the contestants try to obtain the second half. The one with the most cards and least brusies wins, presumably. We actually did a modernized, westernized version of this game for Onna! and we expect to the next time, as well. It was fun and popular – even if the verses were too hard for most of the contestants. (Which is a rant for another time, because I picked verses which are very famous…sigh…)

Anyway, as New Year’s Day has just passed, and as every time I saw anyone playing this game on TV in Japan it was women, AND as we know how much sexual tension competition breeds (coughBattleAthletescough,) I thought it might be fun to show you what a deck of Hyakunin Isshu cards looks like. This is my deck, btw – not a picture I found online. Last time I was at Sanseido bookstore in Edgewater, NJ, they had decks and decks for sale – even deluxe models with CDs with someone reading the verses. Lots of kimonoed fun, trust me. The women who played this on TV when we watched were *vicious.* It was a scream.

At any rate, whether or not “Yuri” per se, lots of beautiful girls and women, some great art and fun card games for all. ^_^

3 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    Ohhh, Hyakunin Isshu is the game they played in the 4th Maria-sama Ga Miteru manga, right? Since my grasp of Japanese isn’t very strong, I just knew they were playing some sort of card matching game but couldn’t really understand. But when you described it, I flipped through my manga and sure enough, saw Sei saying ‘hyakunin isshu yarimashou’ XD Now that I know what it is it makes that scene a lot clearer. Thanks for explaining about the game. Sounds like a lot of fun. ^^

  2. Yes, that’s the game. I meant to mention that it is, indeed, part of the New Year’s Day arc in Maria-sama ga Miteru, along with Babanuki, which similar to Old Maid, and Shichi Narabe (which is what Kashiwagi wins so slimily. LOL

Leave a Reply