Éclair Orange: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart, the fifth and final book of the Éclair anthology is a hefty volume full of favorite Yuri creators, with some of the best stories so far in the series.

The cover story by Nio Nakatani follows two women ready to make a significant commitment to their relationship.

Among the many stories we have Miyako Miyahara’s happy accident with two girls who braid their lives together in “Unbreakable Distance.”

Cocoon, Entwined creatorYuriko Hara, whose art is unmistakable, does a fantastic and phantastic story about reliance and dependence.

“Wavering Lips” by Ruka Kobachi is a short poignant story about the path not taken while Taki Kitao’s “Please Go Home” is kind of the opposite, a story about chance encounter leading to a life-changing decision.

Kazuno Yuikawa’s “A New Star” is a stark, powerful science fiction entry that covers a *lot* of territory in a short story touching on freedom and servitude. I quite like this one.

Entries by Kabocha, Canno, Kiriyama Haruka and others explore a number of ways relationships work.

The Éclair series is perfect to introduce readers to a wide selection of Yuri artists and Éclair Orange is a fine conclusion to this fun anthology series that has, I hope, introduced you to a new favorite or two. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

For those of you who would like to see more Kazuno Yuikawa or Taki Kitao, Kadokawa has put together special collected works volumes for each of those creators in Japanesde: Éclair Special Kazuno Yuikawa Masterpiece Collection (エクレアSpecial 雑草譚 結川カズノ百合作品傑作選) and Éclair Special Sukinano ha Onnonoko Kitao Taki Yuri Sakuhin Kessakusen (エクレアSpecial 好きなのは女の子 北尾タキ百合作品傑作選).

Éclair Rouge: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart is the fourth volume in Kadokawa’s Éclair anthology series put out by Yen Press. Overall, I thought it a pretty decent anthology, with some inclusions I very much liked. It still makes me so personally happy that you’re able to read work by Kitao Taki and Amano Shuninta in English, finally.

There are some changes made from the Japanese edition, which I reviewed almost a year ago. I know of two and think I understand both, although I don’t know specifically if I might have also chosen them, having not been in the position of editing this volume. So let’s address these up front and then get in to happier tidings. Yen was very honest about having cut a story from the Japanese edition. I have been asked what it was about, but to be perfectly honest, I can’t answer that. My copy of this volume in Japanese is buried in a carton with a thousand other volumes, while I have undertaken a massive cleaning and renewal of my office. While I cannot tell you specifically what was objectionable, I know Itou Hachi’s stories tend to be unreadable for me and I feel absolutely no loss whatsoever not having to skip past it quickly.

The other change is something I cannot do more than speculate why as it was made. In my review of the Japanese edition, I noted that Morishima-sensei had added trans inclusivity into her story, “When I Undo Her Button.” The scenario is that a woman does not like to show her body to anyone, not even her lover. At the beginning of the story, Rikako wonders why that might be. Among other possible scenarios, she considers if Miyu might be trans. Rikako’s not concerned about that, she’s concerned that she hasn’t communicated to Miyu that she is loved unconditionally. Please do not assume the worst of Yen. Since we do not know why the choice was made, let us give them them benefit of the doubt and assume it was a specific request, or something similar. It is absolutely possible that they thought mentioning being trans in that context would read like it was on a list of bad things that had to be accepted and, with that reading, was best left off.

All that having been said, my favorite stories remain the same, Kabocha’s “Nice to See You, It’s Been A While” and Taki Kitao’s “The Legend, the Newbie & Me” which gets to the heart of her style that I enjoy – crazy reaction faces and silly situations. Fans of Canno will be happy to see the continuation of her “Unemployed Woman and High School Girl” series.

Translator Eleanore Summers does a fab job and the lettering by Erin Hickman ought to be noted, especially when the font really captures the tone of the original. I know Yen doesn’t always credit everyone who worked on a book, but the technicals are solid, so hats off to the entire crew.

If you’re a fan of Yuri manga, Éclair Rouge: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart gives you a chance to experience some of the best creators in the business.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

All in all, a solid Yuri anthology. This volume is a hefty 251 pages of content by creators who are riding a wave of popularity in Yuri – some of them have been doing it for 20 years, some are relative newcomers, but they all bring a lot to the table. The next one in the series is Orange, which came out last winter in Japanese. There has, so far, been no further volumes of the series in Japanese.

Ultra Jump magazine has put out two different Yuri anthologies, featuring work by creators from their ranks. Both Volume 1 and Volume 2 happened to also include work by my favorite artist. Yuritora Jump ~ Ultra Jump Yuri Digital Anthology~, Volume 3 (ユリトラジャンプ～ウルトラジャンプ百合アンソロジー～ Vol.3)sadly, for me at least,  did not include her work.

More damningly, it featured one too many “clever” stories in which a character was being lead on for some unpleasant reason…revenge, or the other character was a compulsive liar, or or something. The details are all now fuzzy, although I real the issue recently, nothing was memorable enough for me to do more than say, “Oh, at least this one isn’t horrible.”

Anthologies are always hit or miss and every collection will always appeal to different people differently. For fans of Yuri artists, there are a few names which might be recognizable. Most probably American readers will be happy to see work from Dr. Pepperco, creator of Goodbye, My Rose Garden. If you follow the same anthologies I do, you’ll also recognize Miura Kozumi’s name, a creator whose work is often featured in Galette meets collections, and possibly Tsutsui‘s.

Because this is a digital only release, I picked it up on Global Bookwalker. It is also available on JP Kindle.

Ratings:

Overall – 6

As an anthology, it wasn’t terrible, but this is probably a volume I won’t go back to. Needs more Hayashiya-sensei.

Imagine my glee when I discovered that Yuri Hime Comics was releasing a Yuri manga anthology for My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!. I mean, I was pretty darn gleeful! ^_^

Among the many things I enjoyed about the anime and the Light Novels that I have so far read for Hamehura, the top two qualities that make it an island of tranquility in the midst of 2020 is the gentle, wholesomeness of the thing. “Villainess” Katarina Claes lacks all the qualities of a good villainess – instead she is loyal and good-hearted, a bit of a doofus and, while not cunning, per se, she has flashes of disarming insight into people’s inner nature. The format of the Light Novels, particularly, mean that with any given scenario, we experience it twice, once from Katarina’s perspective and once from the perspective of a person who will be charmed by her.

Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shikanai Akuyaku Tenseishite Shimatta…GIRLS PATCH (乙女ゲームの破滅フラグしかない悪役令嬢に転生してしまった… GIRLS PATCH) follows this formula in several cases and in others simply revels in the Yuriishness of the “friends” ending of the initial arc. There’s nothing more explicit than a kiss and a bit of drunken “breast pillow”ing, I guess one would have to call it. Instead, the rivalry between Mary, Maria, Sophia and Anne, although she’s less a suitor, for Katarina’s love and attention is featured in nearly every story, with at least one story each focused one of them individually.

I’m honestly glad to report there is nothing sexual in this anthology, which would have set my teeth on edge, nor are there stories where one of the three rivals gains exclusive access for more than a scene. Both of these would have shattered the idyll created by the friendship end. Instead there are yummy sweets and tea and farming and tree climbing, just as there was in the initial anime season. What the scenarios lack in originality, they make up for in verisimilitude.

I recognized only one of the artists’ names, but the rest are new to me. My favorite storywas “Triple Booking” by Peke, the final story of the collection in which Katarina agrees to spend the day with each of her friends and we all end by cheerfully agreeing that Katarina’s a goof and we’ll all spend it together. Happy chuckles all around.

Ratings:

I can’t even say ratings are that variable, as they mostly parrot the series art style, with that harmlessly moe character design.

Art – 7
Story – Not really, but that’s not why you’re reading
Character – 100 THIS is why you are reading
Service – 3, maybe 4, depending on your feelings about Katarina’s face on Mary’s chest
Yuri – The feelings are there, but that’s all we can hope for…let’s call it a 5

Overall – 7

There’s nothing here that takes a single step out of the formula for the show, so if you’re not a fan, you can give it a miss, but if you enjoyed Hamehura, and enjoy doujinshi collections for your fave anime….and can marvel at the thrill of a Yuri Hime doujinshi collection for this series(!), as I do, it’s worth your time.

Today we’re looking at Syrup: A Yuri Anthology, Volume 1, in English this month from Seven Seas. By the time I considered reviewing Syrup Shakaijin Yuri Anthology ( シロップ 社会人百合アンソロジー), Seven Seas had already announced that they had licensed it. And, because a number of Yuri anthologies by Futabasha, Kadokawa and Ichijinsha had been pushed out at the same time, (many of them indifferent,) I never previously reviewed the Japanese edition here. ^_^

Syrup is notable for two reasons. One, the collection is entirely stories about adult women (indicated in the Japanese by the word Shakaijin – people in society. We might half-jokingly say “productive members of society” – i.e., adults. Within the limitations of each artist’s style, the characters can be seen and understood to be adults.

The other, more notable, reason is that there are a lot of notable names in this collection. Kodama Naoko, Yoshimura Kana, Amano Shuninta, Mocchi_au_Lait ,Ohi Pikachi, Kurogane Kenn and Morinaga Milk all have entries here, as do names you may be less familiar from Okazu, but who have been around a while, like Ito Hachi, Yukiko, Shioya Teruko, Goumoto and others.

The stories are a nice selection of doujinshi/short-story tropes and most have positive ends,. The only minor, but nagging, issue I have is that many of these stories feel very like not-gay, not-women are writing. Those kinds of stories were women are behaving in or saying or doing things that they don’t typically do. Like answering “I like you” with “I’m a virgin!” Uh…ohhhkayyyyyy…. I’m not saying no one has ever done that, and heaven knows that lesbians can be really awkward about dating…these just felt off the mark if you know what I mean. There was a lot more male gaze perviness from the female characters than is, in my opinion, usual for women. But none of the stories were unacceptably off-putting and several were very sweet. ^_^

Unexpectedly, my favorite story was by Kurogane Kenn. I know, I know, that’s crazypants. But his melange of otaku fervor, lesbian life and Comic Market hit the spot for me.

Ratings: Everything is variable, but this is art from some of the top names in the Yuri business.

Overall – 9

Syrup is a very good Yuri anthology for your growing Yuri anthology section of bookshelves and a great way to add work by some of the best in Yuri for your Pride month purchases.

Many thanks to Seven Seas for the review copy. ^_^