Archive for 2011


Yuri Network News – August 27, 2011

August 27th, 2011

Yuri Manga

OMGOMG, finally!! Poor Poor Lips, Volume 3 (プアプア LIPS 3) has a release date! Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until October. We don’t have a link yet, either. /sulk/

The second volume of Fujieda Miyabi’s Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan (飴色紅茶館歓談), which is full of wonder and delight, is up on Amazon JP for pre-order. Shipping date is in November.

Media Factory has announced that Sasamekikoto (ささめきこと) is going to end in the October issue of Comic Alive, which goes on sale on Sept. 27. No complaints from me – 9 volumes is a solid run and it was a great story.

Hidamari Sketch, Volume 6  (ひだまりスケッチ) is hitting the streets this week.

Kuroyuri Shoujo Vampire (黒百合少女ヴァンパイア) is an 18+ collection. Although the Amazon entry has no picture, I can pretty much picture it clearly in my head…and kinda wish I couldn’t. ^_^;;

Yurikam (ゆりキャン) has been all over the Japanese Yuri lists. Like the above entry I’m pretty sure it’s not my style, but it may be yours. It’s about a model Yurika, who is unpopular with men. (Note on the transliteration…normally I’d go with Yurikan, but the title *is* meant to be “kam” short for “camera.”)

From Tsubomi, one of the series I like best, Hana to Hoshi, Volume 1 will be out in October.

According to its website, Comic High will be re-running Morinaga Milk-sensei’s Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo starting in the October issue, which comes out at the end of September. Morinaga-sensei has also contributed an illustration to charity doujinshi Smile/Yell. I’m guessing that she’s found a place at last where she feels comfortable and I’m really, really glad for her.

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Yuri-ish Anime

Out of the forehead slap with frustration news file, Yurisei-jin Naoko-san is getting an anime Blu-ray release.

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Other News

Animate in Akihabara is running a special Madoka Magica Shop from August 27 – September 4. No promises, but I might just be able to make it. If so, I will get you pictures.

NIS announced the North American license for the Black Rock Shooter Game.

At Hooded Utilitarian I resurrect an ancient article I wrote many, many years ago, discussing the qualities of anime that make it stand out for so many Western fans.

Thanks to MagicalEmi for this catch: Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor. This may well be the best Tumblr ever created.

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Okazu News

This month Okazu turned 9 years old (and Yuricon officially became a tween at 11.) I asked for some good ideas to celebrate and we have a winner! Anonymous suggested that I donate one book for every year to my Library in honor of Okazu’s birthday. I think that’s a fine idea!

So, I will definitely be donating 9 new wonderful books to the local library in the days ahead to join the many I have already donated there (they shelved Wandering Son in YA comics, I love them so very much….) This Sunday is Read Comics in Public Day, so visit your local library and check out their comics, then go and read them in public!

Anonymous, email me at anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com and I will send you your copy of Strawberry Panic Complete Novel Collection!

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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: Aoi Hana (青い花), Volume 6

August 25th, 2011

In Volume 5 of Aoi Hana (青い花), I commented that Fumi had made it past the third stage of coming out, saying something to a complete stranger. In Volume 6, she makes it to 3.5, telling close friends.

During summer vacation, the girls all head to a hot spring, accompanied by freshman Haru and, more notably, the teacher that Haru says is her sister’s lover. Fumi overstays her time in the outside onsen because she’s embarrassed and subsequently passes out. When she wakes in her room, the teacher comes in to see if she’s okay, and Fumi ends up asking her a question about liking another woman. This is not unconnected, as Fumi’s embarrassment is, in part, at catching herself looking at Akira’s naked body in the bath.

Later that night, Fumi also inadvertently says out loud that she’s in love with A-chan, and Akira says, also out loud, that she knows. There is a tension now between Fumi and Akira; but whether it’s anticipatory or not, they aren’t quite sure and neither are we.

Once home, Akira visits Fumi and asks if maybe they should just try dating and see how that works out. Body and mind exploding with fear/joy/freaking right out, Fumi has completely lost whatever cool she usually has. But, at some point, Fumi pulls herself together and, when they are out on their first date, she kisses Akira with no second thoughts.

Fumi is speaking with her friends, Pon-chan and Mugi, when Pon-chan asks if Fumi is “that way,” (and Mugi flips out at Pon-chan because you don’t *ask* that kind of thing!) we see that Fumi has once again adapted to her new, stronger self and replies quite calmly and honestly that yes, she is “that way,” then lets her friends work it out for themselves. Which they do, very quickly, because after all Fumi is their friend and they love her. (In a nutshell, the number one reason for coming out, IMHO.)

But, wait, there’s more! Fumi’s parents leave on a romantic trip over Christmas, leaving Fumi and Akira to stay home. They buy cake, crack open the bottle of champagne Fumi’s Dad had received and Fumi proceeds to get just tipsy enough to say things she wants to say to A-chan. And so she does. About how she wants to have physical intimacy with her friend. Knowing that the excuse of the alcohol is the best lead-in she’s ever going to get, Fumi drags Akira about three steps forward in the relationship, the same ways she has since the very beginning – by being honest.

Fumi ends by saying that it’s really probable that A-chan’s “like” and her “like” are different, but she really likes A-chan…who responds by embracing her.

And I smiled. I smiled through just about every single page of this book. My god what I would have given for Fumi to have existed when I was 15.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Yuri – 10
Service – 1

Overall – 10

If this book is ever translated into English, I will endeavor to make this story the light at the end of the tunnel for every gay teen in America. There are a lot of young women out there who need Fumi in their life.





Kurogane Pukapuka-tai Manga, (黒鉄ぷかぷか隊) Volume 2 – Guest Review by George R.

August 24th, 2011

It’s Wednesday and we all know what that means here at Okazu…Guest Review Day! Once more we have the lovely and enthusiastic George R. with a review about Navy ships, cute girls and Marimite parodies.

Volume 2 of Kurogane Pukapuka-tai (黒鉄ぷかぷか隊) welcomes us back for more fun and adventures with the Nubile Nippon Navy. Volume 1 left us with a couple teasers to encourage us to buy this volume. They worked on me.

After a brief color section to set the mood (bathing on Unebi), we’re off to see what’s in store for Unebi and her crew. First comes finding a place for Elza, the Jewish girl Nina entrusted to Unebi last volume. Vice-captain Kuki’s bed isn’t agreeable with the crew, and the chase leads to the engine room where Elza finds a protector in chief engineer Kobayakawa, who is tall, strong and well built. Her good ear for engines, trained aboard U-800, earns her a home there.

Plot arrives aboard HMS Aldebaran with Mary and Captain Ann. The ensuing battle around a small island gives everyone a chance to show their stuff. Elza completes her integration with the crew by helping out with damage control. Chika steers so Aldebaran‘s torpedoes explode on a nearby reef rather than hurting Unebi. The “stuff” vice-Captain Kuki shows is her lack of trousers, since she rushed straight to the bridge from her bunk. The shock from the torpedoes tosses her off her feet, and she naturally lands with her nearly-bare crotch in Mamiya’s face. Mamiya’s reaction arrives with the strength of an express train (Engine No. D5215 to be precise) and she leaps up, invigorated, to return to her duties (less a bit of blood from her nose). Chika and Obama work together to overcome the forward turret being jammed and land a shot which blasts off Aldebaran‘s rudder, sending her hard aground on the island.

Life aboard Unebi consists of more than baths and battles. Among other amusements is a Judo match among the crew, though Kuki’s most effective attack on Mamiya has nothing to do with Judo. The paymaster, Murakami, also produces and sells a doujinshi, which must be kept secret from the higher-ups. Of course Kuki finds a copy someone dropped. In it she finds prose story, whose opening parodies MariMite (the sailor-collars are on navy-, not school-, uniforms, and it is the IJN Cruiser Yamayuri which is a garden of maidens, but the resemblance is obvious.) The story is a romance between a barely disguised Mamiya and Kuki (complete with “onee-sama”s and blushes). Kuki finds this disturbing, but an impassioned speech from Chika saves the doujinshi for the crew (including Mamiya) to continue enjoying.

Further relaxation for Unebi‘s crew comes with leave at Penang Island They enjoy the beach in swimsuits. Mamiya cuts a dashing figure in hers and is admired by most all, though she has eyes only for Kuki–not to mention delusions of a night on the beach with her. Mamiya gets a real-life reward when Kuki puts a hibiscus from their drink in her hair, declaring it cute.

Chibi-Kiku, the pilot, is more interested in finding a replacement for her plane destroyed by Aldebaran. She finds her dream, an A6M2-N Rufe. However, its pilot doesn’t believe Chibi-Kiku’s piloting skill and challenges her and Atsuko to a race. The stakes are: he’ll give Chibi-Kiku the plane or Unebi‘s whole crew will parade naked down main street. Our daring vice-captain accepts the challenge, confident in her crew, despite the plane Chibi-Kiku has to use is a decade older and 100kph slower. Her confidence in Chibi-Kiku is well placed as she wins through skill, strategy and the Unebi crew’s work on the old plane (including tuning the engine and dropping the drag-inducing floats).

Obama also has other interests than sunbathing, though Kobayakawa coming along as guard-dog saves the men of the island from her. The two do stop the Gestapo agent we met last volume from hurting a pair of kids, leaving him disabled on the ground.

Waiting for HMS Aldebaran to get her damage from Unebi repaired on the east coast of Africa. Mary works out her frustrations by shooting cans on the dry-dock wall. Ann comes up and works out her sexual frustrations on Mary, who manages to enjoy the experience while still maintaining her accuracy with a rifle.

Captain Joanna throws cold water on this exercise, literally. She has arrived with the cruise HMS Europa (which looks exactly like HMS Exeter) to hunt Unebi. Before she can do more than take Ann and Mary aboard, Nina shows up with U-800 and her torpedoes. The poor dock suffers hits from both Nina’s torpedoes and a collision with Europa. Mary saves them from further attack with a shot right through U-800‘s periscope lens, forcing Nina to break off.

In this volume Kurihashi-sensei has done a better job stringing the tales together into a longer narrative. The focus is still frolicking fun with the girls. His artwork of both girls and ships remains good. Once again, an interest in naval affairs helps to enjoy this manga.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 5
Yuri – 6
Service – 6-8 (depending on your particular fandom)

Overall – 7 (lower if ships do nothing for you)

While I enjoyed this volume, I liked the first one better. I found the fanservice humor growing less funny. Perhaps it was my mood at the time, or maybe the jokes lack staying power. Looking back, I think the two volumes are comparable. Also Mamiya deserves better characterization than a horny schoolboy with long hair, breasts and a nice figure. I’d rather see a real relationship between her and Kuki (or between any other characters) than the jokes we’re given.

Thank you so much George, for this review! I think I might have stabbed something if I were reading this manga, so I’m very happy you were there to take this on. ^_^





Hayate x Blade Manga, Volume 14 (はやてｘブレード)

August 22nd, 2011

When it comes to Hayate x Blade, Volume 14,  (はやてｘブレード) there are no adequate words to describe what it made me feel. So…I’m not going to try. I will tell you this – I screamed. A lot. But that’s hardly a good description.

As I read the chapters that comprised this volume in Ultra Jump magazine, I decided what this review would be.

 

 

 

 

I’m going to let this volume speak for itself. So, here is my review of Hayate x Blade, Volume 14:

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Yuri – 1
Service – 1

Overall – 10





Sound of the Sky Anime Disks 1 & 2 (English)

August 21st, 2011

As I approached the midpoint of Sound of the Sky, I conceded to myself that I am just never going to be the audience for anime like this.

I know so many of you really enjoy it – and I don’t hate it or anything. But, I cannot help thinking how it’s pretty much nothing more than a remake of Aria, with far, far worse character art.

To begin with, the story isn’t a story, as I said in my initial impressions. It’s a slice-of-life story, with a plot bunny, i.e, new girl wants to learn to play the bugle. In sports manga/anime series, we fill up the spaces of the series with the protagonist practicing and practicing until they drop, then dragging themselves upright and practicing some more.

In Aria, we spent a lot of time being driven around Neo-Venetia by the Undines-in-training as they practiced and practiced. By Episode 6 of Sound of the Sky, we have had exceedingly little practice of bugling going on. But we did have an episode where everyone dressed up like 1920s American gangsters! So, there’s the series’ priorities in a nutshell. I stand by my comment that this could have been set anywhere, at any time.

What Sound of the Sky is, is a character piece. Like K-ON!, the plot isn’t important, episode plots are the backdrop to character development. I have no doubt at all that we will learn Rio’s backstory, and Kanata will fulfill her dream to become the most awesome bugler ever, and therefore we will be filled with joy as her bugle’s song reaches the sky. But, as Episode 6, I still think that being clumsy, forgetful and clueless isn’t cute *at all” and so I really just don’t care much if she suddenly shows us awesome bugle-playing skills.

The war-torn country interests me, but we really know nothing about the war, or the people, or the countries involved. No effort has been put into world-building. That’s not a deal killer, but when once again contrasted with Aria, Sound of the Sky falls way short.

Let’s talk about why I keep comparing it with Aria. Both:

– series are about a cute, clumsy, personable girl who desires to become skilled in a specific, atypical skill.

– have settings based in a hierarchical, (but loosely run) organization.

– have the focus of each episode on, not the practice, but the people and situations encountered.

– series are targeted to male audiences, with primarily female casts.

– Felicia is Alicia. It’s really obvious that she’s meant to be.

The background art for Sound in the Sky is good, but the character art gives the phrase “moe blobs” a whole new level of meaning. This screencap isn’t even as bad as it got. There was a scene between Felicia and Rio as they stood in a hall talking in which they were both barely outlined. The fact that the background is rendered in detail makes the character art stand out as even worse than it would have with bad backgrounds. In a character-driven story like this, it seems silly to lovingly render the stairs, but barely draw in the main characters. I’m not watching this for the stairs.

All that having been said, I can see why there are fans of this series. Every character is likable, if you like that type of character. Felicia is the caring, laissez faire leader, Rio is the hypercompetent (read: slightly butchy) XO, Kureha is tsundere, Noel is the monotonal savant (I don’t know the fan-name for the type, feel free to let me know and I’ll edit this) and Kanata is the feckless genki type of protagonist otaku love so much.

I’m pretty swayed by character, usually, but these types seem assigned in a completely mercenary fashion, to fill the checklist, rather than to fulfill the needs of the story. The overwhelming feeling I get from Sound of the Sky is “story by committee” rather than a story from the heart.

Obviously, if you find moe and clueless, cheerful protagonists appealing, you’re very likely to enjoy this story. many people have told me that I won’t be disappointed at the end and others have told me I *might* not be disappointed. ^_^ I have very low expectations at the moment. Here’s why:

There is a movie from 1987 called Batteries Not Included. At the climax of the movie one of the alien robots – the very tiniest adorable little baby robot – dies. (I tried to find a video clip of this, so you could see how manipulative it was, but didn’t find one before I got bored and stopped.) The violins swell in the most manipulative music ever. The fact that the one song we’ve heard so far is Amazing Grace (which is a very beautiful and instantly manipulative composition,) means I can’t help but anticipate the end of this series will be much the same level of manipulative as Batteries Not Included. I hope, I really do, that I am completely wrong. If you want to tell me I’m wrong, feel free of course, but please do not post spoilers, thanks! ^_^

Technically, the visuals look very good on my computer screen. My TV is old and not widescreen-capable, so the visuals get cut off on the sides.) The sound is fine, I look forward to hearing music that is not trying to tug at my heart strings.

In any case, I can *completely* see why people like this series. I don’t yet, but I didn’t like Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha until episode 10, either. I’m willing to be convinced.

Ratings: After the series is completed.

Oh, hey, I forgot to talk about Yuri. Mostly because there isn’t any. Kureha has a selfish crush on Rio. That’s about it.

Again, my thanks to Okazu Superhero, Eric P. for his generosity and kindness in sponsoring this review, and here’s hoping that my final review of the series will be more glowing than this!