Yuri Manga: Stray Little Devil, Volume 5 (English)

January 20th, 2009

Up is down, good is evil, lions are lying with lambs and the whole world’s existence lies heavily on the shoulders of one young girl in Stray Little Devil, Volume 5.

The evil, manipulating angels and the good, innocent devils edge ever closer to war, as Pam struggles with her feelings for Lin-fa. Babylonian mythology is twisted into incomprehensible babble as the Tupismati’s power is unsurprisingly revealed to be the key to everything!

But, the one piece of “everything” that *we’re* all watching is Lin-fa, possessed by power too monstrous to control, coming >thisdeus ex machina she wears around her neck. As Babylonian mythology gives way to Qabala, we learn all the pieces of the story that, if we were to have thought about it for five seconds, would have been obvious anyway, but that’s okay – that’s what a climax is for. ^_^

So, Yuri? Yes. Pam and Lin-fa save all the worlds with their love for one another. Although we don’t see the *actual* kiss, we get enough of the lead-in that it’s kinda inevitable. lol The whole “I’ll give my life for you” and “Everything will be fine as long as I’m with you” is almost unneeded – but not unwanted. The epilogue offers another tears-of-joy embrace, just to put a period on it. So, yes, I’ll bow to the majority opinion on this one, and proclaim it “Yuri.” ^_^ And thanks to everyone who kept insisting I should make it all the way through this series.

Stray Little Devil broke no new ground; it was pretty predictable as these kind of series go, and it had questionable service, IMHO. But, I’ve definitely read worse, and wouldn’t hesitate to suggest it to readers who like their Yuri cute, sweet, slightly moe and with symbolic violence rather than real.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 6
Service – 4

Overall – 6

We have a new Okazu hero today! Clearesta T. step up please, take your bow and receive my thanks for sponsoring today’s review!

11 Responses

  1. darkchibi07 says:

    So this manga was Yuri after all, huh? Though the fact it took the entire series for it to fully realize, is it worth it buying the entire thing?

  2. @darkchibi07 – Depends on your likes and dislikes. If you like cute, sweet, moe service and a predictable magical storyline, then, sure.

    There is a 5-volume set for sale, so you save about $15 off the total. Here’s a link to the set on Amazon:http://tinyurl.com/6thlzt

  3. oneplusme says:

    Your challenge for today: name an anime or manga series in which the angels are not evil. I’m looking at you, Angel Sanctuary

    (Okay, so Oh My Goddess probably counts. But still, I do wish they’d stop flogging this particular dead horse.)

  4. @oneplusme It’s *irony.*

    Card Captor Sakura. Dead mom isn’t evil – does that count?

  5. Anonymous says:

    I’m glad you finally finished this series and were finally convinced of its Yuriness. ^_____^

  6. DezoPenguin says:

    Disgaea’s about the only one I can think of off the top of my head, and that’s based on a game. Though to be fair, very few game angels are good, either. Things like Luminous Arc and Final Fantasy Tactics are more the thing.

    I don’t feel cheated by having read this series as it had sufficient cuteness and humor to be entertaining, but I wouldn’t have bought it without the assurance that it turned Yuri by the end, since there are other series which are funnier and/or cuter.

  7. Aesyl says:

    Ah, I sponsored the review for this. I’m afraid I forgot to leave my name. Clearesta T.

  8. @Aesyl Great! Contact me at anilesbocon at hotmail dot com and I’ll send you your Okazu hero badge!

  9. Nimara says:

    I’m glad you reviewed this series. Thanks!

    Btw, Happy Obama-Day XD

  10. Aesyl says:

    Strange. I tried to email you, but it seems that mailbox doesn’t exist?

  11. @Aesyl – that’s because that is th wrong email – sorry. It’s anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com

    @kieli – No idea. My order for it was cancelled too. Along with three other Yuri books, otome kikan gretel, SSS2 and Gokujou. So I’m just as bewildered as you.

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