Archive for April, 2009


Yuri News This Week – April 11, 2009

April 12th, 2009

Two quick things: One, I am working in an office again, so until I get settled reviews may be sporadic. I have a ton to review, I’m just running out of time to do it all. :-)

Secondly, in **one week** we are having the Yuri Monogatari Launch Party at the Rare Flix store in Secaucus, NJ. The party is open to everyone, and we’ll talking, watching and reading Yuri all night long, so please, please feel free to stop by and meet the artists and staff of Yuri Monogatari 6! The Media Blaster folks will have the store open, so you’ll be able to by Simoun, Strawberry Panic and more! Bring friends – the more the merrier!

Now on to serious stuff.

Yuri Manga

Aurora, the American imprint of Oozora Publishing (publishers of lesbian-themed ladies comic Mist back in the 90s) is up against the wall, as are all the American manga publishers right now. Yes, including ALC. We need to sell about another 500 copies of YM6 to break even. It’s a cold, harsh reality fans don’t care about but, it is a very real issue for publishers every day. Aurora is doing a deep discount sale on *everything* they publish, including Hitohira. So if Mugi’s struggle against shyness, or Nono and Mirei’s intensity appeal to you, consider jumping aboard the Aurora wagon and buying direct!

And, yes, ALC will be doing something similar, as *soon* as I have a second to spend some time on it. So look for a sale on ALC books shortly.

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Yuri Anime

The spring season offers us a cute mahjong anime called Saki which stars Kana Ueda as the lead voice actress and a Hikaru no-go-esqu intense friend/rival with whome Saki is easily slashed. And since Saki has been out as a manga for a while, I expect they already have been.

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Yuri Light Novel

After the riveting excitement of the last few Ichijinsha Iris novels, I was wondering if they sold well enough to bother printing more. Wel that answer appears to be – yes! A new Yuri Light Novel is coming out that tops off the scale on having almost every “Yuri” trope possible. Girls’ School, mysterious girl, Prince of the school…everything but the teacher on the motorcycle. We can still hope. :-) Oh, the title? see if you can not roll your eyes: Otome ha Hana ni Koi o Suru. No, I couldn’t not roll my eyes, either. lol

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Snatches of Yuri

Urapan is instantly reminiscent of Lucky Star. If you can imagine the LS girls in a music club, you’re not far off, apparently. :-)

Snow White- Kimi ni Mau Yuki takes place in a school for maids(?) in that fantasy land where there are no men, but there are romantic onee-sama relationships.

Tenzen Aluminum appears to be out of the same mold as Natural Four Color Heroines, but it is actually a “slightly” explicit 4-koma manga that is, according to one of my sources, “pleasing to the eye.” His eye and mine don’t always agree, but it’s nice to know. :-)

Sekai Seifuku Kirara Joshikan School. Crushes. Underwear. You know the drill.

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We’ll call it a wrp for this week. Thanks as always for all your support and here’s to see you all next week at the Launch Party!!





Yuri Manga: Akatsuki-iro no Senpuku Majyo, Volume 2

April 9th, 2009

Akatsuki-iro no Senpuku Majyo Volume 2 (暁色の潜伏魔女）is translated as “The concealment witch of color at daybreak II” which is a good argument for Japanese publishers not trying to do their own translation. ^_^

In Volume 1, we met Akira, a girl with the magic of electricity, who was burdened by a curse and is really looking for her sister at Tenshi Gakuen. She’s befriended by several of the other students, including Tokiko, and at the end of the volume she meets Yoru-sempai, her sister.

Volume 2 starts off with a glimpse at Tokiko’s true love, Shouya, who is in love with Yoru, who is in love with Akira, who is in love with a memory. Tokiko is desired by Tomo and Akira is the objet d’crush for Robert. It’s not so much raging hormones and love as raging crushiness and sincere “like.” Aside from the magic, it reminds me pretty thoroughly of high school, in fact.

This particular love polygon involves the characters in an extended-family of a sort, since they each want to support the person they like and are usually friends with each other. So when Akira is punished by a teacher for circumstances beyond her control from the first volume, they all pitch in to help.

Yoru creates a magic pill (magic medicine is her specialty) which she ends up taking, focusing her interest on Shouya who has a thing for her. but it turns out that she actually intended it for Akira, hoping to “become more friendly.” Akira rejects that, but is glad enough to be plenty friendly with Yoru as it is.

We follow Robert’s struggle with his magic power – the ability to make things move – that has severely lessened since he was young, and when Akira is struck with a cold, everyone moves heaven and earth to try and make her well.

Tokiko’s interest in Shouya brings Tomo up against a wall as she sees into Tokiko’s heart while trying to be kind to her. She’s not giving up, but she knows there’s really no chance for her.

And in a radical turn of events, a second girl trapped in an iron suit appears. Only this girl, Mimosa, brings with her an evil and unkind magic that possesses Akira and makes her do bad things. The book comes to an end as Akira faces the fact that it may have been a terrible mistake to let Mimosa out of her iron suit.

Yuri this volume is one-sided, a bit annoying, but constant. Tomo’s crush on Tokiko will remain unrequited, but it’s real. Yoru’s interest in Akira includes wanting to turn her into a love slave, so I think we can say it goes beyond sisterly feelings and there’s a random breast grope when Akira is possessed by Mimosa’s evil snake spirit.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Characters – 7
Story – 7
Yuri – 3
Service – 2

Overall – 7

As you know, I am not a Hakamada Mera fan, but as far as this particular artist goes, I think this way well be my favorite book and definitely my favorite series so far. It’s not great drama or hysterical comedy. It retreads extremely well-worn paths, but it’s quite nice actually, and comfortable, like a well-worn shoe…with magical shoelaces.





Hitohira Manga, Volume 2 (English)

April 8th, 2009

Friendship between women is a beautiful thing. Made even more beautiful to many by the relative ease with which is it distorted into hawt lesbo sexxors.

I say “relative” because when you read the gentle high school drama that is Hitohira Volume 2 hawt lesbo sexxors isn’t what leaps immediately to your mind. Not at first, anyway.

Then you notice that Nono and Mirei’s feud borders on the obsessive. And you think, “I have lots of friends, but don’t care about them *that* much.” (That presumes you have friends, of course.)

And then, Nono and Mirei get locked in a closet together and…you know…hawt lesbian sexxors isn’t really as far-fetched a thought as you’d assume.

But of course, that isn’t what Hitohira is about. It’s really about Mugi overcoming her pathological shyness, and her fear of being thrust into a lead role so soon. However, even as I type that it bores me all over again so, I for one, am sticking with watching Nono struggle with her condition and against Mirei’s suffocating love. Incidentally, if you’re actually interested in Nono’s condition, check out Scott Adam’s Blog in which he has chronicled his own experiences with spasmodic dysphonia.

Okay, okay, I’ll stick with the plot for a sec. Summer club practice, drama club drama, Nono shows her dark side, Mugi has a crisis per page and ends up doing what Nono wants anyway. Drama club vs drama club creates more drama, which ends up with Nono and Mirei locked *in a closet together* and screw the plot, it’s boring as hell. Nono and Mirei are the only reason we watched the anime and they are the *only* reason I’m reading the manga.

Technically, I think this book is very nice. Nice reproduction, nice paper, with a nice, if unmemorable font. Which is a good analogy for this nice, but unmemorable excursion into friendship between women. Or hawt lesbian sexxors. Whichever works for you. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6
Characters – 7
Story – 6
Yuri – 3
Service – 1

Overall – 6

Muchas gracias to Okazu Superhero Daniel P for sponsoring today’s review!





Yuri Manga: PreCure Splash Star: Chikuwaku Kiki Ippatsu!

April 6th, 2009

It’s been a long time since I first watched Sailor Moon and found my heart stolen away by fictitious, 2-dimensional magical girls. Over a decade, in fact. And in that time, I have become far more cynical about anime and manga. It’s impossible to not become cynical when you’re watching wave after wave of fetishism come and go and the same three plots used over and over. But. Every once in a while, I like to reexamine my “roots” if you will, and take a look once again at some mahou shoujo that is actually made for girls.

PreCure Splash Star: Chikuwaku Kiki Ippatsu! feels very much like a “movie” manga. It’s a single volume, self-contained story, with a superficial bad guy, a passel o’creatures and a simple plot. Rocket science it is not. :-) If you remember the Sailor Moon movies, the Card Captor Sakura movies, or pretty much any magical girl series movies, you know the drill.

Saki and Mai have a big date coming up. They are supposed to be meeting early but Saki, as usual, is running late. Mai wonders if her watch is broken, so she checks at a creepy clock shop. (All clock shops are creepy, really. All that ticking…) When Saki arrives, there’s no Mai, and in the way of such things, they fight about whose responsibility it is that they are now very late.

Out of sorts and out of synch with each other, they arrive very late to the big singing contest they’ve been practicing for. They are allowed in but, as they are in the process of – quite literally – falling on their faces, time stops. The bad guy whisks them into a world where a giant clock has ceased to function, throwing the inhabitants (mostly cute abstract shapes and creatures) into disarray. Our plucky victims who have come to get help are, in fact, the long and short hands of the clock. They are cleverly named Hour and Minutes. ^_^

Saki and Mai transform, but they are still peeved at each other, so their powers are insufficient. They are defeated and separated. Each wanders alone through Dali- and Escher-esque landscapes, worried about the other and rethinking their fight of earlier in the day. They also realize that their hearts have to be open or their powers will not be at maximum. With this revelation, they are reunited to their mutual delight, they defeat the bad guy, restore the clock and are returned to our world where, holding hands and in perfect synch, they sing their hearts out at the contest.

As I say – not rocket science. But there are some genuine positives in this manga. For one thing, Hour and Minutes are more likable than you’d expect. :-) The irritating little fluffballs that are Saki and Mai’s sidekicks are joined by more irritating little fluffballs, but as this is a manga I don’t have to actually *hear* them say “Floppy~!” and “Choppy~!” over and over.

And, most of all, this story is about how much Saki and Mai need each other – not just to be PreCure, but because they, well, *need* each other. They can handle anything, they say confidently, as long as they are together. Right after Mai swears to be together with Saki, forever. Oh, yes. Mai is totally besotted and Saki will be so very surprised the day she kisses her….ok, that’s just in my imagination. lol

Negatives – the utterly stock bad guy turning a raging horse demon thing. I blame Hottie Shinz for the images stuck in my head in reference to anthropomorphic horses. Anyway – that was kinda icky, but PreCure wins with the power of girl’s love, so yay! ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Yuri – 4
Service – 1

Overall – 7

It is once again my sincere pleasure to thank Okazu Hero Komatsu-san for his sponsorship of today’s review and for this chance to once again remember that for magical girls, their love for each other always saves the day. ^_^





Yuri News This Week – April 4, 2009

April 4th, 2009

Before we start today’s News Report, I just want to thank a few people. The Yuricon site went down last week, due to the sudden disappearance of the server owner. In mere *moments* of my asking for a new temporary space, I had several responses. I was quite overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity. Thank you all.

I also want to thank the past and current owners of Shoujo-ai Archive who have been hosting the Yuricon.org site since 2002. We have now parted ways as far as our sites go, but in every way, I wish them (and they me) the very best of luck. They are very good people, for whom I have nothing but respect and good wishes.

The Yuricon site is, with luck, going to be getting a facelift this year. When it does, I’ll be looking for a new, permanent home. But in the meantime, I want to thank a few folks who are (and have been) tremndous Yuricon heroes.

Thanks to Nora for offering hosting space as a temporary haven, so we can stay up and running!

Thanks to Zyl, Marie, Bruce P and many more of you who have donated to Yuricon. Yuricon has always been a labor of love. Your support is very greatly appreciated.

And thanks to everyone who supports Okazu. I absolutely could not do it without you. You are all my Heroes!

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And now, turning to today’s news….

It’s 2003 all over again. -_-;

Yuri Anime

Funimation has announced that they are picking up some of Toei’s titles, including one of my very favorite crappy anime ever, Air Master, Digimon Adventure 02 and Pretty Cure as well, for release here on the Funimation digital channel and also, hopefully, on DVD. If you were a Yuri fan about 5 years ago, you remember when Toei decided to enter the American anime DVD market, then proceeded to ignore everyone’s advice. Click the “Air Master” right-hand sidebar for the reviews of those misbegotten DVDs. I know it’s a piece of shit, but I adore Air Master and think that the OP is the single best anime theme ever. (I also am keeping my fingers crossed for Funi getting the third season of Digimon because that rocked the house. And my wife wants to mention that she *also* liked Air Master and, as we so rarely agree about anime, this is quite notable! lol)

The Queen’s Blade anime began this week, and I was amazed at how much more horrible it was than the manga. The manga is fetishy, low and crass. The anime is filth. Once again, Japanese otaku culture provides us with only the best in women’s crotch views. The Yuri is of the unrequited sister love variety, so I’ll see how far I get before giving in altogether.

senbei is pleased to report that the Season 4 DVDs for Marimite have “Maria-sama ni ha Naisho” extras, as did the previous three seasons.

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Yuri Manga

Yen Plus has divulged that they have picked up the Azumanga Daioh manga and are going to do it right this time. Azumanga was one of ADVs first forays into manga and while their intentions were good, it was at the very cusp of the days when names were changed and “localization” meant pretending the characters weren’t Japanese at all. I had skimmed Volume 1 in the bookstore, and never even looked at the rest, although I have been repeatedly assured that the manga treatment got better, if not actually good. It’ll be great to see it done by Yen.

Yuri Monogatari 6 hits the shelves this week! Look at all the news here today and think about this – hideously gigantic breasts, women who walk into the room crotch first, schoolgirls, sisters in love. Is *this* really what you want from your Yuri? It is not what I want. YM6 is the only Yuri publication out there that protrays women in love with woman, actual stories of lesbian life and love. Fight back against the fetishism, the plain old…yuck…of it all and get YM6 today!

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Snatches of Yuri

Okazu Superhero Dan P. cheerfully pointed out Ghost Talker’s Daydream 3 as a series with a “ill-fated” lesbian love triangle, and a plot that will make me cry. It appears to be an “sexy” version of TV’s Ghost Whisperer…or something. Sounds dreadful. We’ll see how it goes. lol

Several people have noted that the advent of Candy Boy has catapulted sister love back into the height of popularity. Bearing in mind that it also presents the least threat to men, because of course, a girl can love her sister forever, but she’ll still have to get married and have babies, because that is what one does – plus there’s always the chance that the guy reading this will get to do those hot bottle-blonde, siliconed twins, you know, as long as his credit card is good, making it an appealing fantasy space for “Yuri.” (Which is exactly why it does not appeal at all to me.) In honor of this trend, which I hope soon will move on and go about it’s business, the rest of today’s “Snatches” are Yuri-cest. Skip them if that kink does not appeal.

I will not be getting any of these, but if *you* are, please feel free to send us a review. I am actually ready, willing and able to post reviews of things I might not personally like – especially if you *do* like them. I am not looking for reviews of scanlations. Please only contact me if you are reviewing a manga you have purchased.

A series that I will likely not be trying, but hope one of you will is Chiisana Wakusei Chiisana Hanashi. It’s very love-love sisters. Fans of Kokoro Library will probably like it lots.

Eru Eru Sister is another series getting rave reviews from the Yuricest crowd.

And, another for the same crowd is Smile Sweet.

And another. Be- Twins. Because too much of a thing is never enough.

Again, if you read any of these, please feel free to review them for us. You do not have to “defend” your like of them – just provide an honest review. Email me for details on my preferred formats.

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And there is your week in Yuri for April 4, 2003.