Archive for the Amano Shuninta Category


Aisarete mo Iindayo, Volume 1 ( 愛されてもいいんだよ)

September 2nd, 2021

In Amano Shuninta’s Aisarete mo Iindayo, Volume 1 ( 愛されてもいいんだよ) we meet Kimura Rin, an office worker who is being sexually harassed by a superior at work. She has no allies among the women in the office, and the harassment is exactly on the line that some men think is being friendly, but is not that, at all.  As she cries alone in the bathroom of the restaurant where her group is having their after-work drinks, Rin encounter Ryou, who thinks she needs to fight back. Ryou tells Rin that she is a lesbian sex worker for ‘Yuritopia’ and tells her how much it costs. Rin takes her up on it, and that experience changes everything.

Rin quits her job and decides to become a sex worker. There’s a lot to learn and of course that learning curve is the story. She sleeps with a Yuritopia sempai and it just serves to highlight how out of her depth she is. Even Ryou turns out to be not what she seems, as the cast at Yuritopia seem kind of cliqueish and not at all kind. Which, I will admit, bothered me quite a bit (and  didn’t make the Yuritopia manager look good. She was nice, but if her employees are jerks, then, uh…something’s not okay.)

Eventually, she gets her first date, a repeat customer of the company who likes to go out with the new girls. The situation is confusing, until she figures out what that customer is looking for and she gets her first high rating. She’s on her way in her new life!

My absolute favorite scene was probably the most ridiculous one, where Rin chooses her working name. She’s stressed out and unsure. The manager gives her a cup of hot chocolate to soothe her nerves (hey, here’s some caffeine and sugar, that’ll relax you!). Rin takes a sip and as the sweet, warm flavor fills her, she decides her name will be Cocoa. It was very her. ^_^

Amano-sensei’s art is really interesting in this series. It’s well-drawn, but she’s focused on partial views, shadows and  skewed perspectives which really works well to communicate Rin’s feelings. As the story ends, the panels become straighter, the backgrounds a little more detailed, giving us a much more grounded feeling.

This volume ends with an interview with Obou, a straight male representative of a lesbian sex work organization, Club Tiara. the same organization made “famous” by Nagata Kabi-sensei in My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness.  I knew it was a guy who ran that, but it still makes me feel icky that it’s not a woman in charge, so I declined to read the interview, but the questions seemed to focus on the technical details. What are the various courses, how are cast chosen, that kind of thing.  I checked out Club Tiara’s site and found that they offer options for women, men and couples, which makes perfect sense. They have specific infor for lesbian customers, a phone service, naturally, and a guide to using their service. I didn’t  check to see if they do streams or sexts. As websites go, it’s got a welcoming, not an exploitative “Hot girls live! XXX!!” feel, which is reassuring. If anything, their site felt a bit like a josei manga magazine. I don’t know if this is something I want for myself, but am glad that it exists in the world.

They also are promoting a number of manga on the Club Tiara site, including Nagata-sensei’s and Lesbian Fuuzoku Anthology from Ichijinsha that I reviewed here on Okazu, along with the sequel.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8 Rin really grew on me
Service – Not really? It’s about sex, and isn’t coy or creepy; the art is artsy, rather than explicit. So sex, but no fanservice.
Yuri – 9

Overall – 8

Volume 2 is out now in Japan and I imagine I’ll read it, (probably on Bookwalker, since I’m out of space..again. ^_^





Touma-kun (冬馬くん)

May 10th, 2021

Last week I talked about an objectively problematic book from Galette Works, by an artist I quite like, The Rain and the Other Side of You. This week, we’re going to look at  book that is objectively also problematic, but subjectively, I really like it anyway. Today we’re talking about Amano Shuninta’s Touma-kun (冬馬くん), also from Galette Works, a collection of her series from Galette magazine.

“Everybody’s boyfriend” Touma-kun is a girl in a girl’s school who thinks all the girls are very pretty and wants everyone to be even prettier. Touma’s not good at studies, but she is a genius with hair and makeup and loves nothing better than to make the girls around her even prettier. Each chapter of the story follows one of the girls or women of the school as this uncarved block, Touma-kun, reaches into their hearts and brings out their inner beauty, then loves that beauty with her heart soul both physically and psychically.

In one chapter, we see Touma do the hair and definitely seduce one of the teachers…when the teacher is called into the principal’s office, the principal nails it in one that she’s been to see Touma-kun….which, along with the fact that Touma-kun tells one of the students that the principal made the salon space for her makes the principal kind of suspect.

Why is this problematic? Well, one could say that Touma-kun seduces the girls as she does their hair and makeup. Touma’s not manipulative in the sense  of using the power she wields over the girls around her. She’s happy to make them prettier, however she can and she gives of herself freely, as well. She won’t be tied down, no matter how many girls want her for themselves…and a few of them do. Touma’s a student and the teacher’s first reaction, upon waking up naked next to her is to scream “What am I doing?” Again, we even suspect that the principal has also sat in that chair. So there’s all of that as well. But intent goes a long way here. Touma’s likeable and not at all creepy, maybe even a little overly simple.

After graduation, Touma’s schoolmates get together hoping that they get one more moment with everyone’s boyfriend, but Touma never shows. Obviously, Touma is not moving on to university, but we do see she’s gotten a job as a hair and makeup stylist, and continues to make the women she works with prettier by whatever means she can.

So…depending on your definitions, maybe problematic, maybe not. From my perspective, while I can see potential problem areas, I found Touma so sincere and honest a person, that it was impossible for me to resent her actions. Your mileage may well vary. ^_^

I adore Amano Shuninta’s art always, and the loose lines of faces and hair in this volume absolutely are in the gold for me.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 2 implied, mostly
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

Amano Shuninta’s Touma-kun (冬馬くん) is a beautifully designed and executed story, by a talented Yuri artist.

In my head, Touma-kun is voiced by Paku Romi, specifically using her voice from the Hatsu/Koi Shimai drama CDs where she played Hiiragi Touko. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Galette, Issue 1 ( ガレット創刊号)

June 15th, 2017

It doesn’t take a lot of industry insider knowledge to note that collaboration and crowdfunding are driving the independent comics industry these days. The number of comics anthologies coming out in the west is staggering. These are all the books that the mainstream publisher don’t have room in the budget to back, but which clearly have a space ready and waiting for them on reader’s shelves. The crowdfunding/collaboration bug hasn’t quite caught on in Japan as much, perhaps because mainstream manga publishing has a lot more room for what we consider “indie” comics and because the comic markets have created an economy that makes it relatively simple for people to self-publish, something we haven’t had in the USA until very recently.

There are some notable changes in the Japanese manga landscape. Digital publishing has taken off through Kindle, Kobo, Renta! and other sites, and online distribution has picked up on Pixiv and Note.mu. So manga artists who were formerly required to dance to the tune of a monolithic publisher’s editorial staff can now just opt out and carve out space on their own. Or fill in the gaps between work with established magazines by keeping the content coming online.

Which brings me to today’s review.  The inaugural issue of Galette is a fascinating combination of all of these factors. Folks who work together on magazines, who sell near each other at comic markets got together to create a collaborative “mook.” They crowdfunded it online, and are publishing and selling it online and at shows. 

The names associated with Galette are (at least to readers of this blog) legendary. Amano Shuninta, Takemiya Jin, Momono Moto, Hakamada Mera, Yotsuhara Furiko, Otomo Megane, Otsu Hiyori. If these names seem familiar to you, you might remember that they were among the line-up of Tsubomi magazine. And if there is a single criticism I have of Galette it is that it reads like an issue of Tsubomi magazine. Not that Tsubomi was bad. I just hoped that, away from the constricted ideal of “Yuri,” Tsubomi presented, these authors would fly. Some of them do run pretty well, but no one gets lift-off velocity. The issue also includes a number of names I’m not familiar with, urisugata, Yatosaki Haru, Yorita Miyuki, Asube Yui, and Hamano Ringo, all of whom present well-constructed and well-drawn shorts. I’m going to take a stab that some of these folks are assistants of better-known artists, just from their familiar, but not identical, styles.

Most of the stories are firmly in the well-worn, comfortable groove of schoolgirl narrative. Not all, but most. And even some of these were a bit unusual and some outright challenging, so the creators must get credit for that.

Momono Moto’s opening salvo gave me some real hope, with a charmingly unrealistic encounter and a great ending that could lead to more…either on or off screen, depending if she continues it or not. Takemiya Jin’s story hit me in my soft spot for yanki girls, and almost all of the other stories were good to very good. A number of the stories really delve into the mindsets of the characters in the way that one doesn’t see too often.

What I’m hoping to see, honestly is, what happens when these excellent artists find themselves unfettered. Will any of them hit heights they only dreamed of, or is tales of young women in love what they really wanted to tell all along? I guess we’ll find out. ^_^

Thanks to Paul on the FB group, we know know that Galette, Volume 1 is available on US Kindle as well! It’s still in Japanese, but you can get the digital version on non-JP Kindle. That’s all kind of awesome.

Ratings:

Art – 9 This is some of the best work I’ve seen from everyone in this book
Story- 8 Variable, but good.
Characters – 7 Variable, some of whom are really weird. ^_^
Service – 2 Surprisingly little, now that I think about it.
Yuri – 10

Overall – 8

Volume 2 is already available and sitting on my to-read pile. I hope this mook series is industry-changing. I really do.

Last year at MoCCA, creators who contributed to Power & Magic put together a map of where they’d all be at the event, so you could get as many signatures as possible. At TCAF, there was a secret  – I have no idea why it was secret, and how secret could it have been, really? – map of people selling Yuri on Ice! doujinshi. I think it would be really cool for the folks who contributed to Galette to post a map of their locations at Comitia or Comiket so you could stamp rally the signatures.

Today’s review is for Jin, who has been patiently waiting for me to get around to it. ^_^ 





Yuri Manga: Philosophia

December 11th, 2014

philosophiaAmano Shuninta’s Philosophia began its life as a series of doujinshi. I was fortunate enough to get some, but not all, of them, when I attended the 2011 Girls Love Fest event. I was never able to get the entire run so of course was thrilled that Yuri Hime Comics had collected the whole set for me and published it as a single volume.

The story is told from the perspective of a young college student, Ai-chan, who meets and bonds with college sempai  Shi over smoking and coffee. Shi is hard to understand or get to know, and Ai resistant to the idea that she might be “interested” in her. But after Shi falls ill, and it’s Ai who gets her to the hospital, it’s impossible for Ai to ignore her feelings, as confused and confounded by Shi as she is.

Shi, who has been very aware of Ai’s interest has made it all but impossible for Ai to get to know anything about her life. In the middle of the series, we learn why. In part it has to do with a complicated love-hate relationship with her family and especially her young stepmother, with whom her relationship is exceptionally complicated.

We also look back at Ai’s relationships and her inability to really understand like or love. She’s mortified at herself for liking, perhaps, loving Shi, when the other woman clearly prefers to remain at an emotional distance.

Shi contacts Ai once more to let her know that she’s going out of the country. Ai finds out when her plane leaves and meets her at the airport. Shi kisses Ai, but it’s clearly because this is “Goodbye.” Shi will never return home.

Ai goes on to become a teacher, but in a new epilogue, she meets a half-sister Shi does not know she has who is a dead ringer for Shi.

To say that this is a series for adults is not an understatement. The feelings here are complex, nuanced, complicated and fundamentally not “happy” or “sad.” Barring the epilogue, this is a story that might very well take place in the real world and, as such, does not have an impetus to end, much less happily ever after. As I say, it’s a book for adult tastes.

The epilogue, which was drawn especially for this volume, posed a unique problem for me. I, not having a twin, but being a common “type” am frequently mistaken for other people. Nonetheless, I’d like to think that I, as a human, have an individual “me”-ness that precludes someone who found me interesting being able to simply transfer those feelings to a simulacrum, which is kind of the set up here. Ai will now have a “new” Shi to get to know, hopefully one unburdened by the complicated life of the other. But…really? Because although this person looks like Shi, what is the likelihood that she is like Shi, but without the baggage? And worse, they meet because they are teacher and student, which ideally puts another layer of  emotional distance between them. So, while the meeting is presented as a reboot of a sort, I feel that if Ai and Shi were real people, then it would not make Ai happy to have this Shi-alike in her class, particularly. ^_^;

Shuninta-sensei’s art is already pretty strong in this series, with her characteristic style almost fully developed. And to my recollection, I hadn’t seen any recent Yuri manga in which cigarettes and coffee were such important plot devices, so it was both nostalgic and modern at the same time.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – Complex, real, not tidy at all 10
Story – 8
Yuri – 6
Service – 2

Overall – 8

I very much liked that the characters’ names were incorporated into the title. Ai (Love) + Shi (Wisdom) = Philo + Sophia

An adult read, which went down smoothly and left a strong aftertaste. A refreshing change of pace from featureless characters in Yuri pantomimes.





Yuri Manga: Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na Nanika, Volume 3 (私の世界を構成する塵のような何か)

June 19th, 2014

The winner of my 2013 Best Yuri Manga of the year was Amano Shuninta’s Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na Nanika (私の世界を構成する塵のような何か). Volume 3 wraps up the series with drama, but without crisis, which is pretty much the reason I voted this Yuri Manga version of The “L” Word as my #1 manga of the year. In case you missed them, here are my reviews for Volume 1 and Volume 2.

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Graduation is approaching and Ruki and Sacchi are awkwardly dealing with their obvious feelings for one another and Ruki’s unsuccessful attempt to move their relationship to a new level. The awkwardness grows when they run into Sacchi’s ex by chance; it’s obvious he’s matured and moved on. Ruki worries about them getting back together and about her inability to become stronger. Meanwhile Sacchi begins to worry about Ryuu’s interest in “her friend” that day – with a final text, tells him never to contact her again.

Asuna and Sacchi begin student teaching at a  nursery school, Maasa takes control of her own company, while Meru tries to help her, Ruki starts driving lessons, as they all take steps to build adult lives.

Ruki has something else to worry about when she learns Sacchi  has spent the night with Remia and the playgirl has indeed struck again. She takes Sacchi on a drive, but ends up getting them lost and, mortified, is forced to let Sacchi rescue her. They have it out between them, finally about how they feel. Whether they will get together is left up to the future, since they don’t know where their lives will take them.

Both groups run into each other one last time at  graduation. Fueko gets one last chance to blow Asuna off,  we learn that Maasa has hired Meru as her personal assistant, thus proving that she’s been a total softy all along.  Maasa gets a personal powerup, trading in her weird shirts and cheap flipflops for a sharp haircut and suit, now that she’s a CEO. Remia is a wolf as she always is, and Sacchi and Ruki walk  off together, with all the possibilities of life swirling around them, like the dust that constitutes their world.

I am unremittingly in love with this series. The characters are imperfect, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, sometimes annoying as hell – in other words, realistic. The art is exactly the style I like best. The story-telling is quiet, understated and unpreachy. There’s no drive to pair everyone up, but the potential Maasa-Meru pair gives me hope for both of them. Maasa’s tender side is safe with Meru, and Meru’s fragility is safe with Maasa.  In any other series Fueko and Asuna would have reuninted, but not here. Like life, relationships are sometimes messy.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 9
Service – 4 Nudity

Overall – 9

Terrific series, executed with skill. More of this, please.