In Volume 2 of est em’s Golondrina (ゴロンドリナ), Chika comes face to face with the several possible outcomes of bullfighting. Yes, the bull might die (and the odds are that it will) but equally the matador might die or be wounded or maimed.

She learns that a matador is not unyielding, he must in fact work with the bull, to lead it. And yet there is a moment, when it is either the matador or the bull. One must lose. In the end, bullfighting is just another game of chicken.

In an internal monologue, Chika tells us in more detail about her childhood, about the losses and neglect she suffered, the life she built for herself and the life she was led into by a woman admirably suited to be matador to her bull. And then loss again, and despair. And now she is the matador, and the bull is both a bull and a symbol for the forces that have buffeted her.

Chika also learns that the only woman welcome in the bullfighter’s space is Maria-sama. We learn that Chika’s real name is Maria and are left to ponder the irony.

The book takes its stance at the end when Chika faces down her first bull, makes her first kill and is given her matador’s name – Golondrina. This story cannot be (and really, should not have been from the beginning) for the faint of heart.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 7
Yuri – 4
Service – 1

Overall – 8

Quick reminder – pictures of bullfighting are not bullfighting any more than pictures of sex are actual sex.

est em is an artist well-known for creating unconventional manga with a tinge of BL. How exciting for me, then, when I encountered Golondrina (ゴロンドリーナ ), an unconventional manga with a touch of Yuri.

The story begins as Chica, sobbing miserably in a bathroom, contemplates suicide. Blade to wrist, she just cannot bring herself to do it but, despite that, she still wants to die. We learn why in a flashback – Chica’s lover Maria has left her. Worse, she’s left only because Chica’s a woman. Yes, they were happy, but Maria wants a marriage, a child…a “normal” life. Chica is devastated.

She tries again to die, this time by stepping in front of traffic in the pouring rain. A car screeches to halt in front of her and the driver, an old man, yells at her – what does she think she’s doing? She tells him she’s trying to die, at which he throws her in the car and takes her back to his place to dry off.

Disconcerted, crying in her sleep, Chica wakes in the old man’s house. When he sees that she’s a girl, he realizes he’s made a mistake. He was going to make her into a Matador, but since she’s a girl…

The last straw snaps, and Chica demands that he take her seriously and teach her, because she wants to die in the ring.

Thus begins Golondrina, a manga about a young woman training to become a matadaor.

The art is classic est em – everyone is thin and less gangly than they have any right to be. Chica comes off as consistently hot-headed, but hard-working. Her friend Sechu, who is dead set against this, is still a good friend. We hardly had time to learn to hate Maria, but we are given plenty of time to learn about Antonio, Chica’s teacher. Is he a murderer, as Sechu says, or is he a man left behind in this life by a student, maybe lover? We learn a tantalizing bit about Antonio, but by the end of Volume 1, we don’t know much about him, really.

We do know that, despite being grossed out by bullfighting, Chica still says wants to die by the bull – in front of Maria if she can. Then we can see that her hard training is having some effect on her – even Sechu tells her she looks cool as she practices with the pink muleta.

Bullfighting is the ultimate in macho sports – will Chica make it into the ring at all? We’ll have to tune in to find out

Ratings:

Art – 8 The art is pleasantly realistic, without any attempt at photorealism
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 2
Service – 1, which is to say there is some nudity, but really not at all of the Fanboy type. Everyone looks their age. This is a Josei manga, but even the guys aren’t particularly pretty. (See Art rating)

Overall – 8

Ultimately, as with any est em story – indeed, with most manga – it’s the characters that are the strength here. And, as my wife points out, pretty much anyone looks good in a suit of lights. If the cover is any indication, Chica will not be the exception to this.

Back in 2011, I reviewed the first volume of Girls Jump magazine. I loved it instantly. It was full of talented female creators, drawing without any apparent limits on story or art.

I loved the variety, the sheer talent and the wtf-ness of so many of the stories. Now, over a year later, I’ve gotten my paws on the 2012 volume of Girls Jump ( ガールズジャンプ) and it’s just as wonderful.

The second story, “Hatsukoi Guardian” by Aiki Haruko, was perhaps the very best. It follows a  female wrestler in high school as she deals with falling in love with an attractive male upperclassman in her school. She and her friend were both drawn as beefy, masculine looking girls – not as caricatures, just short-haired and strong, the way an actual wrestler should look. Although it did not have a happy ending, I loved it for the atypical female characters.

The short, tragic and battle-filled lives of bees are sung in the paean “Vespa” by Nakamura Ching. One bee, reaching out to save the other from drowning in a jar was absolutely epic. “short, but seems long time of their life” is a most fitting tagline.

Est Em has contributed a story about a shoe salesman, “IPPO.”

There was a unsubtle timeliness in “Damatte Sumi-chan” about a woman who incessantly Twitters. Maki Hirochi really nails the real-fake tone so many people adopt on the social platform. ^_^;

Hirao Auri gives us “Supernova” about a schoolgirl and the space girl she befriends…and their decision to face a future together, even as the planet faces destruction.

The magazine wraps up with old school, overdressed, vaguely European Vampires in “Darkness Blood” by Yukito. I have no idea what happened, I was too busy looking at the hot vampire woman in knee boots, velvet jacket and corset to read the story. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

As with the last volume, this brief overview does nothing to really explain the assortment and ability of the creators. Honestly, I really hope you’ll all get this annual volume and enjoy the hell out of it, as I have.