Archive for May, 2010


Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime, Volume 20 Part 1

May 26th, 2010

If there was ever a volume of Yuri Hime magazine worth buying, Volume 20 is that volume. It was the most stellar issue to date. I’ve mentioned that I have now taken to skipping any stories that simply don’t interest me – out of 18 stories, I skipped only 2 and liked or loved all of the ones I read. This was a great volume from beginning to end.

It begins with cover art by Fujieda Miyabi of Sarasa and Seriho from Ame-iro Kouchkan Kandan, and moves right into a pin-up by Morinaga Milk on one side and Dite on the other.

The first story, “Tsuki to Drop” is a variation on the group date gone wrong plot, when Nobara gets jealous of the guys paying attention to Tsuki at the gokon.

In “Mukou no Budou”, Itsuwa is regretting not taking the chance to reach her hand out towards Mitsue, when she had it back in high school. Seeing Mitsue with a lover now hurts more than she was prepared for.

Miwa-san is a typical OL, whose life changes when she quite accidentally meets actress Nagae-san. Suddenly, her life is filled with new people – and new feelings. These last two stories are both stories about adult women, so of course they made me happy.

And, although “Yomijinrazuno Tsukari Desu” is back in a school setting, there was something so refreshingly goofy and fun about it that I liked it anyway. When Tsukasa gets a love letter from “S”, she thinks it’s from Sumika, and goes the old-fashioned route by befriending her to get closer to her. However, she completely misses the fact that the writer of the love letter shares the same initial with her best friend, Sakurako.

Morishima Akiko’s series about grown-ups, “Renai Joshika,” brings two of the couples together in a business overnight in a cheap hotel in Hokkaido. This story has a number of things I’ve never seen in a Yuri Hime manga before, including some very clever fourth wall breaks and femme drag for the two butches, Mitsuki and Saki. And it looks like Mitsuki and Kaori are reigniting their old relationship. It’s been 15 years since they were lovers – I’ll be interested to see how their adult relationship works out.

“Yr Yr” covers that awkward space between a confession and a response.

And we’re going to end with an utterly squee-worthy chapter of “Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan” about which I can say very little without spoiling it. Sarasa and Seriho go out on a second date. To say that Seriho brings a U-haul would not be that far off. lol Seriously – this chapter is worth the price of the magazine. (I’m a little shy of halfway, but pressed for time today.)

Speaking of the price of the magazine. I know that many of you would purchase it if it were cheaper to get but sadly, the reality is that unless you live in Japan, it has to be shipped, until they – and we – have a model that works for legit digital reproduction (something I am working on, because it’s time to stop discussing the problem and start talking about the solution.) The magazine is about $9 USD and the shipping can be twice that easily. As you know, I always link to the Amazon JP entry for the magazine, because I have an affiliate account. I know it’s pretty steep shipping from there, but that cost per item goes down when you buy many items at once. A 20-item order can have a cost per item of about $4 USD, depending on what you get. Here are some other options:

BK1 books has more shipping options, so you can go a slower/cheaper route. You do need to know some Japanese to use their site, where on Amazon JP you can check out in English.

Also, if you live in a major city, a large bookstore can potentially get a subscription for you. And, if there is a Japanese bookstore anywhere in or near your town, they probably won’t have any difficulty getting it for you. Asahiya, Kinokuniya and Sanseido all have overseas stores and all are glad to provide subscription services. It helps to show up with a cover, or a printout of the title and/or the ISSN for them. We speak with an accent. :-)

There are also an online subscription services available from Sasuga Books and CD Japan, although neither have Yuri Hime listed, I’m sure they will be glad to assist you.

J-List does have Yuri Hime listed in their magazine section, and a subscription is available through them.

And Anonymous tells us that HMV JP also has an English-language interface, with a caveat that HMV’s overseas shipping is EMS only, no SAL. Thanks Anon, much obliged.

So, there really are a lot of options for you to buy Yuri Hime, and make the point that there is a legitimate overseas market. The more we buy, the more our voice is heard. In the near future I’ll expand about how this can change things for all our benefit – and talk about the solution I mentioned above. :-)

Part 2 tomorrow!





Light Novel: Samurai Age – Koiseyo Ikusa Otome-tachi~!

May 25th, 2010

Pickings for Yuri Light Novels are surprisingly thin this year. I’m not quite done with the Light Novel, Samurai Age – Koiseyo Ikusa Otome-tachi~!, (サムライエイジ―恋せよ戦乙女たちっ!) but I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. It’s not great literature or anything.

To synopsize, this Light Novel is about the week of summer vacation at Suou Academy, a school in which the students fight with live swords. We are never told why, nor are we told anything about any of the students’ backgrounds, their families, anything. They all manifest at this school in the middle of summer break and will presumably disappear again into oblivion the moment I stop reading.

The heroine is Mitsuki Yayo, who wields a family heirloom (about which we learn nothing) and whose roommate, the ethereal beauty Jougasaki Sen, is deeply and passionately in love with Yayo. They, and their friend Kisaragi Natsu are part of the dorm/group/association “Juumonji” (about which we learn nothing.) The other dorm/association we learn nothing about is “Kurenai,” headed up by the hyper masculine and hirsute Yama Tadashi-sempai. Juumonji is headed by the princely Teikokuji Hijiri-sempai and the banana-curled beauty Sarashina Souju (on whom Natsu has a crush.)

So far, they have all gone to the pool, had a barbecue, drunk, smoked, danced and even fought a few times. A fine summer vacation, in my opinion. They also talk a lot. About stuff. Yayo talks about the things she wants to do but feels she can’t, although she’s not sure what they are. It’s riveting, I assure you.

This story is from Yayo’s point of view, so for us Yuri fans it’s a tad frustrating. Sen, whose childlike personality does not preclude her from a raging passion for Yayo, is completely honest about her desire for her roommate, and she tries many times to get what she wants, but in a non-invasive way. She tells Yayo she loves her before kissing her; tells her she wants her before embracing her. Unfortunately, Yayo, although she feels flattered – and a little doki-doki when Sen is holding her – is really quite straight and has the hots for Yama-sempai. She feels bad for not returning Sen’s feelings but, she can’t help that, really. In effect, this is a story from the point of view of the straight friend the girl is in love with. It’s a little painful for us, but Yayo isn’t a jerk or anything about it. There is unlikely to be a girl-gets-the-girl end, because that’s not where the story is going.

Natsu also contributes to the Yuri factor. The first time we see her at the pool, she is suddenly referring to Sarashina-sempai as onee-sama and looks her over with obvious desire. Sarashina-sempai, blowing the curve for all banana curled-hair characters is nice, smart, and sensitive to Natsu’s needs, as she provides the poor girl with a little service. Sadly, Sarashina-sempai is also straight and in love with Teikokuiji-sempai.

Will Juumonji defeat Kurenai in the great battle? Who cares…? In the end, Yayo will get Yama-sempai and if Sen was smart she’d nab Natsu on the rebound. But, she probably won’t. (Update: Finished it – not such a bad end as I anticipated. Yayo is named the new dorm/group/association leader by Yama-sempai and Teikokuji-sempai and she, Sen, Natsu and Sarashina head out for parfaits. Oh and the loser in the battle was the teacher who brought a gun to a swordfight and was killed for her efforts.)

Ratings:

Art – 6 Yama-sempai’s eyebrows worry me.
Story – 5
Characters – 6 If we knew anything about them, I’d probably like them more.
Yuri – 5 It’s all service, but it’s not too bad
Service – 7

Overall – 5

If this is a franchise-extender for a game or something I wouldn’t be surprised. It very much seems as if I’m supposed to know all the “why”s already.





No News Report This Week

May 22nd, 2010

I’m out of the office for the next few days with limited computer access. I’ll do my best to approve comments, but it might be some time before I reply to anything. If I don’t approve your comment or reply to it I am either away from the computer, do not have computer access or am ignoring you. Pick whichever works best for you. ^_^

I’ll pick up with the news reports next week. Thanks for your patience!





Maria-sama ga Miteru Light Novel: Watashi no Su

May 21st, 2010

Have you ever considered how difficult writing a story without conflict must be? I mean, think about it – no screaming matches, no tears, no throwing things, no hand of god tragic events…what is there to care about?

Would it even be possible to write a story in which everyone was just…nice?

Watashi no Su is that story.

Because the Yumi/Sachiko/Touko era of the novels is over, we now turn our eyes to other characters around Lillian. We are introduced to Momo, a first-year whom we ultimately learn is in Touko, Noriko and Kanako’s first-year Tsubaki class. One day, just as she’s leaving class, she passes out. Eiko-sensei, the school doctor has her escorted home by a second-year, Tamaki. Tamaki is instantly likable and a little goofy-whimsical, reminiscent of Sei. When asked what to call her, Tamaki suggests Tama-chan or Tama-Tama. Momo declines politely and sticks with Tamaki-sama. Tamaki suggests that Momo call her “onee-sama” but when Momo asks don’t they have to be soeur for that, Tamaki’s reply is, “well…why not do that then?”

That night Momo learns that her mother is marrying the younger man she’s been dating for a while. It’s a second marriage for Kaya, Momo’s father died while she was still young. Momoko likes Shuu-chan and is fine with that, and fine that they’ll be moving into his family house.

When they get to meet the family, it turns out that Shuu-chan’s grandfather also has a second marriage – a much younger woman named Tsubaki. And they have a daughter, Momo’s age. You see this coming, right? Yes, it’s Tamaki.

So, when Momo works out the relationships, Tamaki would be her step-great-aunt. Tamaki declines to be called this, so they stick with Tamaki-sama. :)

The rest of the story is just…stuff. Stories from both sides of the family, parties, who’s going to do the laundry when, the stuff I call “playing house.” There is no conflict, except in very small ways, when people share lives.

It’s really nice. Nice to have Momo and her family welcomed by Shuuto’s parents and grandparents, nice to have Shuuto and Momo get along. It’s just…nice. Every chapter is a pleasure to read and the final ‘crisis’ is obvious, small and…my god, it’s nice.

I went into this book wondering if Konno-sensei could make me fall in love again. I mean, let’s face it, Yumi and the gang were charming and lovable and it’s really hard to just set them aside. You keep wondering how they are. :-) Cleverly, Konno places this story in a time and place that the story has already covered, so you *know* where and how they are, which frees you to just enjoy Momo’s story. And by god, what a nice story it is.

Ratings:

Overall – Nice

The Oshaka-sama mo Miteru series is continuing as well. I find I also like Yuuki and his friends and am looking forward to bits that we don’t already know about from the previous novels. Basically, Konno-sensei can write characters that are really likable – which is, in itself, incredibly difficult to do.





K-On! Manga, Volume 1

May 20th, 2010

If it were up to me, every guy who wanted to write about women would be required to read/watch K-On!. I find the series to be utterly delightful in every way, and about as realistic a portrayal of a bunch of girls hanging out as I’ve ever seen. It’s not a “realistic” series but it’s got just the right mix of realism and fiction to make a great story.

The K-On! manga is a series of 4-koma strips and has all the usual strengths and weaknesses of the format. Volume 1 is a great example of the format actually working.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. For those of you not already familiar with the series, K-On! is about the “light music” club in a high school and the four (then five) girls who are make up the band. Ritsu is the drummer and the on-again-off-again-responsible President of the club. Yamato Nadesico beauty and bassist Mio is a fan favorite, because she’s the most shy and retiring, fans got to see her underwear and she writes funny song lyrics. (The last is not probably part of why most fans like her, but it’s why I do.) Lead guitar and lead character is the pleasantly loopy, idiot savant Yui. Tsumugi, the keyboardist, with her daikon eyebrows, is our passport to Yuri, and latecomer Asuza plays second guitar and second fiddle to Yui’s gags.

What makes K-On! work is the characters and the interaction between them. It’s natural, carefree, goofy. The characters are more than just one joke, maybe as many as three or four jokes per character – it allows for more combinations in the playbook. Above all, what I like best is how freely they share food and touch each other – something that, at least in my experience, is pretty natural for female friends. When Yui hangs over Mugi’s shoulders, it’s not “Yuri,” it’s what friendship looks like.

Nonetheless, Yuri there is, if only in Mugi’s mind. For it is Tsumugi, with her “Mugi-vision” fantasy scenarios that pairs the various girls in the band. Many fans see the obviousness of Mio and Ritsu as a couple, but Mugi doesn’t limit herself to imagining just them. :-) Fujieda Miyabi had a fan-work for this series at the last Comiket of basically nothing but Mugi imagining them all paired up. It was very silly, on top of the normal silliness of the series itself.

The anime was a big hit in Japan – and totally understandably so. It was and is delightful. The second season is running as we speak. The manga has already been licensed by Yen Press and I very much look forward to its release here. I hope that someone picks up the anime (if no one has yet done so,) because that’s a series I will glad throw my money at – I’ve been tempted to buy the Japanese DVDs already.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 10
Story – 9
Yuri – 3 for “Mugi-vision”
Service – 3 for the whole underwear thing, but other than that, it’s probably more like a 1

Overall – 9

This is the kind of series that just totally works in every direction. The characters, the art, the writing all work together a complete package of entertainment.