As the curtain opens for Red Garden, Volume 6, the four girls finally find some equilibrium in their shattered lives. One at a time, we watch Clare, Rose, Rachel and Kate come to the belated realization that they have never truly been alone. Armed with the knowledge that their existence meant *something* to *someone,* they head off for what they know will be a final battle.

The battle is itself, inconsequential. The two sides that needlessly fought, now needlessly die at each others’ hands. While Edgar loses everything he thought he had, Lise is returned to the four, and together they all face their final rest…in peace.

Is it some years later, or in an alternate universe that we find the same four reborn into a future city that is completely different and exactly the same. Metempsychosis brings them into contact with people they have known well in their former lives – but there is no recognition of that acquaintance. They’ve lived so long, they’ve had to be seventeen so many times, that they have completely changed personalities, in the same way people change clothes. As the Dead Girls, they terrorize and titillate the city. For money, for thrills, for something to give their life meaning, they fight once again. And again. And again.

At the end of the disk we are left with one of two things – a vague sense of unease and loss, or a vague sense of “gawd, that was awesome’ and the Dead Girls’ theme song stuck in our head for a week. ^_^

This was a disk well worth waiting for and my sincere thanks to Funimation for caving to our fan whines and releasing it on it’s own. It was so very, very worth your time and effort for our enjoyment!

The Yuri in this series is, as it always has been, Paula. Unlike the Paula of the manga, this Paula is supportive and empathetic, loyal and in the end, honorable. Kate receives Paula’s emotions with thanks and a sense of appreciation rather than rejection. It is a one-sided love, but it is a real love that is accepted without question. For this one thing alone, I would adore this series. But the series is far more than just this one thing.

Red Garden is a series I go back to, from time to time, just to enjoy spending time with characters that, despite their outrageous situation, come off as completely real and approachable. And that, in the end, is why I watch anime.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 8

Sadly, the cover copy wasn’t nearly as amusing this time as with previous volumes. “A suspenseful thriller with a keen sense of style.” I assume that’s a reference to clothing. They are teenage girls, after all.

Today my deep and abiding thanks goes to Eric P., one of my first Okazu superheroes, and a person whose support of Yuricon and Okazu goes way beyond mere financial. I want to take this opportunity to just say, thank you Eric, for everything. I absolutely can never thank you enough. (And I’m really only thanking you profusely because I know it will annoy you, ^_^) So, hey, thanks for sticking with this series and sponsoring today’s review!

Gokujou (ゴクジョッ。～極楽院女子高寮物語～) is exactly the kind of manga that I find it maddening to see included on Yuri lists because 1) it has no redeeming qualities at all and 2) it has no Yuri. What it does have is a lot of utterly pointless and emotionally stunted nudity, and “wacky” cluelessness about sexuality that forces situations that are vaguely sexual in nature. Because it takes place at a girls’ school, these vaguely sexual situations are fake-lesbian-ish, or Yuri if you are a spectacularly unaware fanboy.

What Gokujou *is* is a more nudity-filled, more pervtastic, even MORE stupid version of almost the same exact set of gags one finds in High School Girls…if Kouda was the lead character.

In the first chapter we meet Aya, a completely delusional sexual innocent who likes to show off her assets without the vaguest clue what she’s actually doing. Aya is plagued by hysterical situations like losing her underwear, so she steals the underwear from her friend Konatsu, and later the two of them tumble ass over teakettle, showing the whole school their nekkidness. This was the hilarious first chapter.

The rest of the book just goes downhill from there, in chapters where we discuss the wrinkles in pudenda, of course the inevitable breast-size chapter, and insane bathing suit at the pool – a chapter that also includes many close-up shots of strangely drawn female crotches. Guys – I know this may comes a shock to you, but we females do *not* have bulging crotches. It seems kind of obvious to me, but then – I’ve actually seen a woman naked and you probably haven’t. (I am seriously confused as to why, with ALL those pictures of naked women available for free on the Internet, mangaka can’t draw crotches that are anatomically correct.)

In any case, chapter after chapter involves Aya being curious, confused, bewildered and amazed at one exciting pubescent topic after another. The lack of anything like sweet innocent charm in this manga is really hammered home by the gaping mouths, bulging eyes, snot-running noses and sweaty faces of Aya in her various phases of non-thought.

To my mind, this series was created as a subtle punishment to those readers who like wacky sexual hijinks without any actual sex or sexuality involved. In fact, the whole thing makes women and their secondary sexual characteristics (and high school girls in particular) *so* physically and emotionally unappealing, I think every 12 year old boy should be forced to read it, so they’ll stay scared of women just a little longer.

Ratings:

Art – 8, it’s so good everyone looks awful
Story – 1, there is none
Characters – 1
Yuri – 5, if you equate a (clueless) sexual act between women as lesbian
Service – 841

Overall- 2

The artist, Miyazaki Maya, is known for “ecchi” comedy and has done some stories for Ichijinsha. Speaking only for myself, I have yet to find an “ecchi comedy” that is either marginally arousing or slightly amusing, much less both. Bulging eyes and running noses really don’t do it for me.