Yuri Anime
The big buzz on the Yuri Network is the existence of Himegami no Miko, a possible new, alternate-universe series by Kaishaku recyclying everyone’s favorite lesbian priestess couple….again. The links on the site imply some kind of animation production. If this all sounds vague it’s because it all sounds vague. I want to thank a number of YNN correspondents for this item, but especially Aesyl for poking me to check back until the site had some actual information.
Ashley wants to remind everyone that the entire run of El Cazador can be watched streaming on Funimation’s online channel.
Speaking of El Cazador, the DVD volume is on the Yuricon Store.
Blue Drop Complete Collection is also on the Shop.
And as I reported yesterday, Ikkitousen DD will be out for November. I have actually heard some fans wondering incredulously why so *many* titles are coming out in November and December. Let me gently remind you of the phrase “holiday shopping.” :-)
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Yuri Drama CD
Say what you will about how painful it is to sit through, there is *no* doubt that Maria-sama Ga Miteru: Rainy Blue is the story of a break up. And now you can sit through it once more, listening to Yumi’s heart break as Sachiko drives away in the newest Drama CD. The good news is…after this, it’s *all* downhill.
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Snatches of Yuri
Significantly, one of Tokyopop’s new licenses, Seikon no Qwaser, is something that has piqued my interest *every* time I’ve seen it. There is a cool, competent female lead, uniforms, violence, and the smell of Yuri.
Death Co-mu-ni-ka-shun is another spin on school girls at a school for /fill in the blank/ theme. The first volume is apparently strong nioi-ke, the second volume not much of anything, but in Volume 3, Valentine’s day hits and with it, girls giving chocolate to one another – and a kiss scene.
Mahou no Jumon follows girls in a school for magic. In Volume 3, there’s enough girls’ love that two of the characters are discussing how using magic allows women to have a child together. This title also is significant because you can read three chapters online through KR comic’s reader:
For heaven’s sake, please don’t ask if these are in English. These are from a Japanese comic, from a Japanese magazine, on a Japanese reader for Japanese people…in Japanese.
Sugar ha Otoshigoro seems to have settled down to having a storyline by…Volume 3. Asami is ignoring Hatanaka and she’s getting desperate. In a dream sequence, Hatanaka sings a love song to Asami, who responds with interest….at the end of the volume we’re not sure what is real or not.
Last month’s Cobalt Shueisha had a Maria-sama ga Miteru story that starred Yumi, Tsutako, Shimako and Kagura, so it looks like she’s caving and writing more about “our” characters. lol
And I might as well put this down here too. There is an anthology movie, (i.e., made of shorts) called GL – Imp’s Seduction. The code phrase here for “this is for FanBoys” is “No Men Allowed.” In fact, I was talking to James Welker about that in regards to Yuri Hime, because it’s so suspicious sounding. As soon as a publisher puts “No Boys Allowed” or something similar on a magazine or DVD, you know *instantly* this is for guys. It’s so dreadful – it’s that whole fake girls in their lingerie eating bonbons, pillow fights and light foreplay crap in softcore sorority movies.The worst part is, if it *is* a book or movie that might appeal to women, tagging it like that is a clear “keep away” sign. So, now, these stories might actually be okay…which I doubt because Japanese on-screen kisses are excruciating usually…but ugh. Do I get this and suffer through a bunch of servicey, icky vignettes for what might be a good story or two as seen through the eyes of a Fanboy or not? I don’t know. I’ll have to think about.
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That’s a wrap for this week.
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I, probably like most reading your blog, really enjoyed Kannazuki no Miko, but I didn’t like the second installment of the characters. To me it seemed they sapped the romance, added more fanservice, and kind of just threw together a cheesy story. I’ll keep my fingers crossed though.
About the marimite drama CD – I thumbed through some passed Marimite posts here.. do you have a synopsis of this CD or are planning to write one? I’m curious because talk of a break up made me gasp considerably. :*(
@triskele – Actually, as far as I can tell, many of my readers (and myself) preferred Kyoshiro, because the happy ending was actually happy.
Also – Rainy Blue is the climax of the second season of the anime and the entire novel is summarized here on Okazu. Here is the specific arc “Rainy Blue.” http://okazu.blogspot.com/2006/01/maria-sama-ga-miteru-tenth-novel-rainy.html
<- prefers the Kyoshiro ending, liked the Kyoshiro characters, but also loved KnM (does this make me a loser fangirl?)
On Himegami – it appears to also be a manga starting next week, running in Young Ace. At least last week’s young ace had a “Next month, there is…” preview for it.
Ha! I knew Konno would cave and start writing YYK stuff again. I guess I’ll have to wait for that to show up in an anthology, though, because I don’t normally buy Cobalt.
And now that the drama CD for Rainy Blue is out, I really need to get that and Drops of the Rosary while they’re still available.
Question about the CD version of Rainy Blue– is it just a longer version of the anime version of Rainy Blue, or is it more like the novel? IIRC, the anime version of Rainy Blue made Yumi look like the victim when in reality she played a large role in the blame game.
Not that it matters, I’ll buy it anyway. A LMMF is me. *sigh*
@sarcastic_weasel Since I have not yet gotten Rainy Blue myself, I can’t answer your question, but typically, the Drama CDs lie somewhere between the novel and the anime in terms of detail. It’s got a running time of 65 minutes, so that’s pretty chunky.
About Qwaser. Are you serious? Maybe we are meaning different series, but AFAIK, Seikon no Qwaser, is about boy who by some unfortunate premise, has to transform into girl to fight other girls, and constantly find himself in fanservice situations(while in female body, of course). Yuri there being a girl who fell for his female form.
http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=5874
@LeXxich – I could very well be wrong.
I have not read the third volume of Mahou no Juumon yet, but I found the main character’s love interest a bit difficult to tolerate in the first two. Although it’s been a while since I read them, I recall being frustrated at how brutally insensitive she is. She manipulates the main character quite heartlessly actually. So while Mahou no Juumon is pretty drenched in GL overtones, I personally found it a bit irritating. It is also steeped in Araki Kanao’s typical nonsensical style, which somehow seems a lot less confusing in 4koma format (maybe because there are so many 4koma like that) but will certainly not appeal to everyone.
@J If you’d like to do a review of the series, please contact me! I’d love to have your perspective.