Archive for February, 2011


Cardcaptor Sakura Manga Omnibus, Volume 1 (English)

February 28th, 2011

513FFeTeOrLIt was no real surprise to me that I have never before reviewed Cardcaptor Sakura here. By the time I was writing regular reviews, the English edition of the anime was out of print and so was Tokyopop’s manga edition. I’m sort of sorry for that, since this was a Gateway Yuri story for a lot of people in that post-Sailor Moon phase of Yuri audience development. Because I am revisiting this series, but some of you may not be, let me tell the story from the beginning.

Cardcaptor Sakura was one of the earliest CLAMP mega-hits. (Not *the* earliest, but right in the zone.) As a manga it ran from 1996 – 2000 in Nakayoshi magazine, which meant it was riding on the magical girl coattails of the massive popularity of Sailor Moon. It had…one of everything. There was Yuri, BL, it was chockful of intergenerational relationships (my first thought was that there was *some,* but then I started to think about it and the list got longer and longer….) It had cute girls and beautiful women and cute boys and beautiful boys and even some handsome men. It had arguably some of the best magical creatures ever to grace a magical girl series. (Admit it, ladies, how many of you swooned over Yue?) And, not coincidentally, the voice cast of the anime was stellar – also major crossover from Sailor Moon. I have not loved everything CLAMP has produced, but no one can tell me that they are not geniuses at their business. Cardcaptor Sakura was a milestone.

The story contained in this CCS Omnibus Volume 1 is a simple one – cute, athletic, cheerful Sakura finds a book which, when she opens the cover, proves to be a book full of cards. The cards immediately scatter to the four corners and the creature depicted on the cover of the book comes to life. His name is Cereberus (nicknamed Kero-chan); he is the Guardian of the Cards. Because she could open the book at all, he tells Sakura, she must have magical ability. It is her task to gather the cards once more because blah, blah, blah.

Sakura is not the only one in the family with magical ability. Her deeply odd older brother, the bishounen Touya (Toya in the English edition) also can “see” things. Toya’s best friend is the real reason we all watched/read the series – Yukito, who has a secret within him that makes him even *more* the reason we all read/watched this thing. Unashamedly, I hung on Yuki’s every word, as he was voiced by Ogata Megumi, whose voice still sends chills up my spine. Sakura’s father is perfect, her mother is deceased, and their story becomes increasingly relevant to the overall plot of this omnibus volume as it progresses.

Sakura’s exploits as the “Card Captor” are filmed and enabled by her filthy rich and extremely besotted best friend Tomoyo. For those of you who came to Yuri in later years, Tamao from Strawberry Panic! was specifically meant to be a Tomoyo clone.  Tomoyo is practically the *definition* of the best-friend in one-sided love – in the manga this is made quite plain…and given historical precedent.

Ultimately, Sakura develops a rival in the form of Li Syaoran, which added shota and, eventually, heterosexual romance into what is a really entertainingly bent series. (^_^);  And let’s not forget Kaho-sensei. No…we must not forget her. She is, in any case, unforgettable.

So many of the things that made Cardcaptor Sakura work were an effect of timing, CLAMP’s unerring ability to squeeze a genre until it bleeds money and their raw talent for telling character-driven, beautifully drawn series. Cardcaptor Sakura is beautifully drawn, the characters are likable and the story, which has become a cliche of itself, still works. How can I say this? Because I have read the original in Japanese several times and in English several times, I have watched the anime several times and, when I hit the last page of this Omnibus, I thought, “I want to see what happens next!” Seriously, I did. I KNOW what happens next, but I can’t wait to read it again.

Technically speaking, Dark Horse did a fine job. I don’t recall being irked by the translation, the S/Fx are translated inline most of the time, except in a few spots where they were easily replaceable. The addition of color pages was a delightful bonus, I’m very glad that they thought to add those. If I were *forced* to come up with an objection to this omnibus I would say that this nearly 600-page volume is not, perhaps, little kid friendly. But in this world where Harry Potter novels were devoured by tweens, perhaps even that is not an obstacle. If you know a tween who likes fantasy, or just needs the smallest push to becoming an otaku, consider buying this series for them.

For me, though, the true pleasure of this Omnibus was spending time with old friends. Seeing Yamazaki lie so cheerfully, Tomoyo kvelling over Sakura, Kero-chan obsessing about sweets and Yuki eating gigantic lunches…was just, so…nice.

If you have never before read this series, I really hope you will. It’s got significant Yuri cred; it was, in its time, a gateway series for a lot of GL and BL fans. It’s CLAMP doing a series that is unshockingly an excellent example of the genre and, if you like XXXHolic or, especially, Tsubasa Chronicles, *this* is where major players came from. It’s good to know your roots.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 9

As I have said repeatedly, I am not a nostalgic person. Reading this volume, I came as close as I’ll ever get to it. Many, many thanks to Okazu Hero Eric P. for letting me wallow, just a bit, in pleasant nostalgia. ^_^

Dear Nozomi/Right Stuf, if you’re looking for another anime series to resuscitate, Cardcaptor Sakura would not be a bad choice. Hint hint





The Advantages and Disadvantages of Self-Publishing Your Manga

February 27th, 2011

I get an amazing number of emails asking how to become a published writer or mangaka. I’ve talked about some of the most important things a young writer or artist needs to know and about getting involved in the manga industry, here on Okazu.

Today I’m going to address the advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing your work. This primarily relates to print models, but has a lot of application to online models (e-publishing, print-on-demand, apps, webcomics) as well. 

The Advantages of Self-Publishing Are:

1) Creative Control – No one will retitle your book, or pick a cover image you hate. From start to finish, this will be your vision.

2) Cutting Out Middlemen – Because you do not have to impress an agent who then has to impress a publishing company, you can bypass other people putting their fingers into your pie. Any profit you make is yours.

3) Takes Less Time – Again, because you are not spending hours of your time looking for or communicating with an agent, your book can go from manuscript to printed matter much more quickly.

The Disadvantages of Self-Publishing Are:

1) Creative Control – it is *up to you* to make every last decision down to the color of the border around the ISBN…heck, it’s up to you to get an ISBN at all.

2) Cutting Out Middlemen – Because you do not have an agent, you may not have guidance from an experienced person in the publishing company who can help you shape the book into something that has more sellability.

3) Takes Less Time – Again, because you don’t have agent or publisher, you may also be lacking steps like editing and proofreading which are *absolutely critical* for any publication, from poetry to non-fiction.

Also to consider: Publishers rarely provide serious promotional backing to a new author. They may give you leads to radio hosts or bookstores that might potentially welcome you for an interview or signing, but it will still be up to you to make it happen and to get to those locations. As a self-published author, you have no promotional assistance at all, so there’s no difference really. I believe strongly that you, as the author, ought to be out there pounding the boards whether you self-publish or go through a company.

What publishers offer are: editorial guidance, copy editing/proofreading and possibly, a modest advance. Publishers also provide distribution through bookstores and websites. You will still be responsible for selling that first book mostly on your own.

What self publishing offers is: A chance to learn the process from beginning to end, so you know exactly what it takes to get a book done. You will be responsible for lining up distribution and sales and promotion, but you’ll reap all the rewards, not just a portion of them.

The choice to look for an agent/publisher or strike out on your own is yours. Either way, there will be a lot of work ahead of you – some tears, possibly heartache. But whichever way you go, you’re sure to learn a lot about yourself and what you want from your creative life in the process. 





Yuri Network News – February 26, 2011

February 26th, 2011

Yuri Manga

It’s a festival of blossoms, today. The Endless Room saga from the Tsubomi anthology has been released as a collected volume. (Room in a hotel, all the people who stay in it, their lives and loves…)

Also from Tsubomi, comes Tandem Lover, a story I thought started off crudely, but then softened up quite a bit. And Kuroyome, another Tsubomi series that I can remember nothingwhatsoever about, has got a collected volume, too.

And, while I’m at it, the 10th volume of Tsubomi itself is available now, and Volume 11 will be available in April.

The fourth volume of Pure Visual Yuri Anthology Hirari, will be hitting shelves in April, as well. (Wow, a non-Hobunsha title.)

From the creator of MAKA-MAKA and Mars no Kiss, Torajirou Kish,i comes a new story hailed by all the Japanese Yuri lists, Otome no Teikoku. It’s a Young Jump title, but there’s a synposis on the Business Jump website that boils down to “schoolgirls gone wild.” Ho-hum.

Hobunsha, the publisher of Tsubomi is re-releasing Hakamada Mera’a Saigo no Seifuku in two volumes. Volume 1 and Volume 2. (Tecnically, they are the Upper and Lower volumes, so don’t be surprised if the entries on Amazon JP does not say Volume 1 or Volume 2.)

Back to the bizarro world for a moment, in which Oka’s  Hen is being reissued. I know Gantz is a huge hit, but do they really expect the audience for that to be interested in this? Lucky for Yuri fans, though, who can get a copy of this long out of print Yuri story.

And to end this section, something for me – Rakuen Le Paradis, Volume 5 will be available at the very end of February.

***

Snatches of Yuri

Of possible interest to Yuri fans is Onee-sama ha Budokai de Odoru. Could be good, could be typical, JP Yuri lists rated it with a high Yuri temperature.

Onna no ko no Naisho Hanashi Collection has a horrible title, but a line-up of names that write Yuri or almost-Yuri, an,d so, if you are the kind of person who still insists on believing that there’s a secret world behind the gauze curtain and you’re getting a peep or two…this will likely be a perfect book for you.

***

That’s a wrap for this week.

Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!





Yuri Manga: Wildrose Re:Mix disk a and disk b

February 26th, 2011

Yuri Hime Wildrose was a 6-volume anthology of Yuri manga by Ichijinsha, the publishers of Comic Yuri Hime. Those six volumes were extremely variable, and tended to focus more on “Plot, What Plot?”-type stories than those being serialized in the Yuri Hime magazines. Wildrose has been re-launched as Girls Love (and the missing apostrophe has been the subject of many a Japanese Yuri blog post, something I admit I find amusing.) I have reviewed all 6 of the Wildrose volumes:

Volume 1 – Volume 2 – Volume 3 – Volume 4 – Volume 5 – Volume 6

You’ll note that I did not much like them, precisely because they focused on stories where the extremely thin plots were meant only to barely cover the sex scene. It’s not that that kind of story can’t be done well, it was just that mostly, these weren’t. In the end, I gave away the entire set.

 

The two Wildrose Re:mix disc-a and disc-b volumes are exactly what they sound like – some of the (presumably most popular) stories from the earlier collections, focusing on artists that are working within the pages of Comic Yuri Hime. As with all collections, there is good, bad and ugly, and your opinion might differ strongly from mine, depending on what you like. I did not like most of these stories the first time, and was no more thrilled the second time. However, there were a few from each volume that I found enjoyable enough, even though I’ll admit to finding explicit, bodily fluid-filled sex not all that appealing, really. I guess I’m just a romantic at heart. (I wrote that in hopes of getting you to spit-take. Did it work? ^_^)

If you’re one of the crowd that prefers your Yuri manga to be short, uncomplicated and full of sex, this would be an excellent two-volume collection to purchase. There’s even a few cute stories in it.

Ratings:

Overall – Everything varies widely, let’s be generous and say…6

Probably the most interesting thing about these two volumes was the mystery of who bought them. Some anonymous Okazu Hero sent them to me and did not include a message, or a name. (Anonymous Porn would be the best band name, wouldn’t it?)

26 Feb Note: Mystery solved! Today’s review was sponsored by Okazu Superhero Dan P. Thank you very much Dan, for letting me relive some of the better Wildrose stories.





Yuri Manga: Blue Friend, Volume 2

February 24th, 2011

In Volume 1 of Blue Friend (ブルーフレンド), we met Ayumu and Misuzu. Ayumu is popular, athletic and smart and although Misuzu is cute, she is the class outcast.

At the end of the first volume, Misuzu’s horrible past is revealed to the entire school and Misuzu collapses from stress.

In Volume 2, we learn more about Misuzu’s horrible past trauma and it’s pretty much what we guessed (dead mother, neglectful father, sexually abused by an adult.) Bizarrely, Satsuki, who showed up in the role of gadfly who knows all, turns out to be on our side, although she does it in the meanest, most tedious way possible.

It turns out that the culprit in the serial harassment of Misuzu was someone who should really be ashamed of themselves – an adult who was there during the past circumstances. It was really hard to understand – from my perspective, anyway – why anyone would blame *Misuzu* for anything that went on. It was more and more obvious with each new indignity, that she was the victim in the past and was being victimized again, now.

And, indeed, the student body seems to sort of think that too. So, when the school festival rolls around and the class choses a play, they rally behind Misuzu, as she struggles with the lead role. By the time she’s managed not only the lines, but the body language and the final embrace – of a boy! – the class is 100% behind her.

At which point, I thought – there are two ways this story could go and the one that seems “happy ever after” would be the worst choice possible. Because, at this point in the book, Misuzu is happy because she is making Ayumu happy. Even worse, Ayumu is starting to convince herself that Misuzu *needs* her – in a way that would never allow Ayumu to have her own life.

Amazingly, the story did not go there. Instead, the story chooses the harder road – the road in which Misuzu and Ayumu do not go walking off into the sunset happily ever after, in a horribly unequal and co-dependent relationship. Misuzu, having finally been allowed to shed her past, chooses to become a person on her own, so that, should she and Ayumu continue as a couple, she can stand on her own as an equal partner. I admit, had the story gone the other route, I would have been disgusted with it. This ending is less apparently “happily ever after” but it is definitely more “healthily ever after.”

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story- 8
Characters – 7
Yuri – 6
Service – 1

Overall – 7

Blue Friend was a throwback to some of the classic shoujo Yuri of the 90s, with a fresh, healthy, hopeful perspective on their future. Whether they move on as friends or lovers, we can smile, certain that Ayumu and Misuzu will both be okay.