Today’s review is not so much about content as is about form.
Yuricon Jimoto Hougenhen, available in Japanese as ユリコン: 地元方言編, is a Yuri doujinshi collection based around characters who speak in specific Japanese dialects. Artists include names well-known to us here at Okazu, Kitao Taki and Takemiya Jin as well as others whose work I’m now interested in tracking down, Ichiji and Kanarase.
Accents focused on are Kouchi, Saitama, Hokkaido and the inevitable Osaka. The stories are all cute rather than fetishy or compelling, with a goofy idea behind the collection as a whole. But very interesting is the fact that we can get this doujinshi on our Kindle devices/ apps! Now that is amazing.
The collection is untranslated from Japanese…this is not an English edition. But it is the very same edition that Japanese readers can get on their digital devices, which makes it a really awesome shift in the globalization of digital works AND a great way to practice reading Japanese dialects at the same time. ^_^
And, because this is a doujinshi – and therefore creator owned – you know the folks who made it are getting paid from your purchase. It’s a win all the way around!
Ratings:
Overall – 8 A little goofy and sweet.
I’m not going to lie to you…getting this is cool but not nearly as cool as buying directly at a comic event. However, as most of us can’t pop over to Japan for every event, getting doujinshi digitally is running a close second. And you won’t have to have ever say things like you’ve organized quaternary storage for your collection, which I did, last weekend. ^_^; Here’s all of Yuri Shimai, Yuri Hime, Yuri Hime S, Yuri Hime Selection and Comic Yuri Hime from 2003-2016.
I love digital books. Just sayin’. ^_^
Yeah, getting access to these books on kindle is super convenient. It might even reduce the damage next time I’m in Toranoa :)
I’ve bought this one and it’s up next in my backlog; I imagine it’ll be a bit of a struggle though as I tend to find fictional portrayals of regional dialects go pretty heavy. I’ve spent plenty of time in Osaka but I’m not fully equipped for media Osakaben :)
Totally understand! I’m a sucker for doujinshi, but the space they take up has gotten quite out of control. I’m due for a weeding of all the ones I don’t keep re-reading over and over. So digital doujinshi are where it’s at for me!
Frankly, Kyoto-ben is the worst for me of the mainland Japanese dialects. I had to figure out Nagoya’s accent on my own, since no one ever even noted that they have one!