Archive for February, 2021


Batwoman, Season 2 on CW

February 28th, 2021

It seems much longer than just two years ago that I reviewed the Batwoman live-action TV series on CW. It had some good elements and considering it came with a lot of baggage it inherited from the comic Batwoman: Elegy, overall it was pretty decent. Ruby Rose did fine job as Kate Kane, intense, never quite hopeful, but never totally hopeless. I didn’t much care for the Alice story, overall and honestly dislike the manic pixie nightmare type character that the Bat-verse is so fond of, but Rachel Skartsen did a fine job as Alice. And then Ruby Rose announced that she was leaving and Javicia Leslie was taking over and I thought…well, cool! Then they told us that she’s be an ex-con struggling against the system and I thought, well, ugh, white people writing performative black trauma, how unique and not at all stereotypical.

But here we are at Season 2 of Batwoman and it is significantly better than season 1. All the things that did not work at all in Season 1, are now working to the series advantage.

Skartsen’s Beth has turned out to be a great character once Kate was taken out of the equation. Nicole Kang’s Mary Hamilton, the character I liked best in the first season, has been able to step up, Leslie’s Ryan Wilder is a far, far, more interesting character than Kate, whose existence had been written as stagnating in the wake of her past experiences. Even Kate’s romances were left over from her past, Sophie and Kate were annoying. Yes, they do that do Ryan as well. I agree the lesbians do hang on to exes, but this is a little tired. That said, Sophie and Beth make a far more interesting working partnership and Ryan making Sophie see that “all crows are bastards” is not a terrible allegory. The writers seem to be taking care to be writing about the criminalization of poverty and the inequality of the justice system, rather than racism, but also not being completely gormless about how they are intertwined. And Leslie’s character is trying to move forward.

What had been an ensemble flapping around Kate, waiting for her to listen to any of them, has now coalesced into a solid team looking for Kate (whatevs) and fighting new and different baddies, something I can get behind, finally.

If it were me, I would have them find Kate, wrap up all that offscreen and move the hell on to some future baddie.

Notably, where the first season was lesbian, this season is queer af. Gay, lesbian, gender fluid, pronouns, all come up in discussions. Gay trauma not performed when it might have expected to be, which wasn’t bad. Queer baddies and goodies which I also like. This show has more than doubled the number of lesbians in Gotham so far, as well. Now we’re up to, like 7, lesbians. Not quite enough for a softball team. Maybe 8 if Mary is queer too.

Absolutely still may fave character is Mary Hamilton. She’s the secret Scarlet Pimpernel in the cast and I hope they don’t break her spirit for another psycho baddie plot. That would be the day I stop watching.

Ratings:

Cinematography – Still way too dark -7
Characters – 8
Story – 8
Queer – 9
Service – Kissing, sex implied

Overall – 9

A much, much, stronger cast and writing than season 1 which was held down by Elegy‘s plot. I look forward to more.

Between this and WandaVision I have come to believe that, freed of their comic book storylines, we’re actually seeing some excellent television writing for comic book characters.





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – February 27, 2021

February 27th, 2021

Yuri Manga

We had a bonanza of releases this week!

Shio Usui’s charming office romance story, Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon , Volume 1 is out from Seven Seas.

Also from Seven Seas this week we have Failed Princesses, Volume 3!

Akashi’s Still Sick, Volume 3, which finishes up another office romance story with a manga side plot is out from Tokyopop!

Kujira’s A Witches Love at the End of the World, Volume 2 is out from Yen Press. I’m very interested to see how this progresses as I never read it in Japanese. My review of Volume 1 is here. There is a Volume 3 headed our way in May!

Adachi and Shimamura manga, Volume 1, also from Yen Press hit shelves this week! This looks like it moves pretty quickly through the story.

Tokyopop released Ana C. Sánchez’s Alter Ego this week, which is a school life drama about crushes and love rivals.

Seven Seas has licensed the manga for Tai Ari Deshita. ~Ojou-sama wa Kakutou Game Nante Shinai~ (対ありでした。 ～お嬢さまは格闘ゲームなんてしない～), which is also getting an anime. Crystalyn Hodgkins has the news at ANN.

School Zone Girls, Volume 1, out from Seven Seas in May, is up for pre-order. Delinquent girls in love. I’ll check it out for sure. ^_^

YNN Correspondent Megan wants you to know that Comic Natalie reports on a new Yuri short story collection from an author named Battan (also the author of Ane no Yuujin), Mabataki, (まばたき) has at least one story which is Yuri.

 

 

Yuri Light Novels

I’m in Love With the Villainess, Volume 2 in English and it’s Japanese counterpart, Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou, Volume 4 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) came out this week. inori-sensei’s story has kept me on my toes for sure. ^_^ Volume 1 of the manga will follow up this summer.

Otherside Picnic series’ twitter account announced a Volume 6 on the way in Japanese. Volume 4 is out in English and  Volume 1 of the manga in English is coming this summer.

A Lily Blooms in Another World in paperback format from J-Novel Club is headed our way in Autumn 2021!

 

Yuri Live Action

We have a new key visual for Kanojo (彼女), based on Nakamura Ching’s manga GUNJO (羣青), which will be on US Netflix as Ride Or Die. Starring Mizuhara Kiko & Sato Honami this is slated for an April release in Japan. Komatsu-san on Crunchyroll News has nabbed the Kanojo trailer from Netflix and yeah, its not the same story as GUNJO, but it’s not too far off, I hope. The kind of super-intense pacing of the manga would have been a better mini-series than a movie.

It won’t be the same, I just hope that it will be good for what it is.

 


LGBTQ News

Again, Via Megan, Volume 1 of essay manga 性別X (Gender X) is out, about a non-binary person who is attracted to women.

And Megan wants you to know that Viz’s Shojo Beat has licensed Kieta Hatsukoi under the title My Love Mix Up. Megan says “it’s a shoujo but with a bisexual male lead. Comes highly recommended by people I trust.”

If you haven’t been watching it, I recommend Heaven’s Design Team, which is streaming on Crunchyroll…for a number of reasons, but also because Venus is a terrific trans character. ^_^ Like so many Kodansha series, it’s educational and fun.

Seven Seas has licensed LGBTQ+ manga Boy Meets Maria. ANN’s Rafael Antonio Pineda has the details.

Via YNN Correspondent Ivan V. Steven Universe has been picked up by HBO Max!

 

Anime News

Kageki Shoujo!! anime has a trailer and Daryl Harding at Crunchyroll News has the details.

Paul Chapman had more details and a short PV for game-turned-anime Blue Reflection Ray on Crunchyroll News.

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is getting a second season. Check out the trailer on Crunchyroll.

ANN’s Crystalyn Hodgkin’s has details and a scenery porn-filled promotional video for upcoming Aria the Crepuscolo.

 

Other News

 

Via Comic Natalie JK kara Yarinaosu Silver Plan (JKからやり直すシルバープラン) is a voiced comic promo episode about, it appears, a homeless woman in her 50s who finds herself waking up as her herself at 17 and able to remake her previous life choices. A kind of isekai story and probably would not have rated a mention here usually, but the cast stars Mitsuishi Kotono, Hisakawa Aya and Ogata Megumi and that’s a 1-2-3 punch for me. ^_^ Check it out on Youtube!

Speaking of Ogata-san, we wish her a speedy recovery after emergency surgery for a herniated disc.

Zombieland Saga is getting a stage play in Japan this spring. Crunchyroll News’ Daryl Harding has the details. Previously, CR announced that they’ve added Zombieland Saga Revenge anime to their acquisitions!

Komatsu-san has the delightful news item on Crunchyroll News of a web writer who wrote a song that could have existed in K-ON! and had it covered by Yui seiyuu Tomosaki Aki. ^_^

And while you’re doing a musical tour of shippable anime, check out the Uji City musical online festa that features Kyoto-area school bands performing music from the Sound! Euphonium anime series.

 

Become a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share and be part of the Yuri Network. ^_^

Thanks to our Okazu Patrons who make the YNN weekly report possible! Support us on Patreon to help us give Guest Reviewers a raise and to help us support more queer creators!





Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 3 (おとなになっても)

February 25th, 2021

Akari is ready to move on. She’s ready to reclaim her old career in the salon and stop running away from her life. She’s putting Ayano and her old ex behind her. She’s moving into a new place and ready to face a new day. Volume  1 and Volume 2 are old news.

So, in Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 3 (おとなになっても) when she walks outside for her first new morning and finds Ayano walking out of her own home at the same time, one can easily imagine some of the words that flit through Akari’s head. And when she gets off the train and finds she’s walking home with Ayano’s husband, she’s sure that a brand new level of hell has opened up just for her. Only, Ayano’s husband is, actually, kinda nice? And not in a creepy way, he just seems to be a decent sort. Even knowing this is the woman his wife is interested in, Wataru invites Akari to dinner. The story gets more complicated as Wataru’s NEET sister Eri now thinks something is up with Akari, but it appears she thinks it’s her brother having an affair.

Akari ends up being roped into a mini-marathon for the local town art festival. In doing so, she rediscovers her love of running. In fact, everything might be looking just great, if it weren’t for the fact that she just can’t seem to get away from Ayano, who she loves and Wataru who she’s come to like.

This was the first volume of this series that really focused our attention on Akari, as opposed to Ayano and like magic, I found myself way more engaged with the narrative. ^_^ I’m torn though, because I don’t want to care too much, either, because I don’t see this series having an ending I can live with. I just hope when the wreckage clears, Akari’s still standing.

Shimura-sensei’s artwork is confident and clean in this volume and to be very honest, this might be the best story I’ve read by her, narratively speaking. I don’t know what will happen and I am content to let it happen, which is exactly what I want from a drama about adults.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – Hrm….Ayano and Akari are still interested in each other.

Overall – 8

I’m putting my money down on this being a candidate for a live-action series.

Volume 4 is already out in Japanese and Volume 1 is available in English as Even Thought We’re Adults, (I reviewed that here on Okazu earlier this month) so share your thoughts in the comments if you’ve read it!





Goukaku Tame no! Yasashi Sankaku Kakei Nyuumon ( 合格のための！ やさしい三角関係入門)

February 23rd, 2021

Mayuki is determined to get into the school of her choice to be close to the girl she likes, her old sempai on the basketball team, Akira. But her grades are just not that great. She gets a tutor who goes to that very school,  Ootomo Kouko. When Mayuki had toured the school she saw two girls kissing and then having a fight, because the one girl said her affections can’t be limited to one person. Lo and behold! when Rin, her new tutor arrives, it turns out to be the one of those two girls who cannot love only one person.  Back at Ootomo, Rin and Akira are becoming closer, too and Akira really likes Rin. Mayuki hasn’t been able to tell Akira how she feels, but she has confided in Rin, who find herself attracted to Mayuki. But she really likes Akira, too.

Canno’s Goukaku Tame no! Yasashi Sankaku Kakei Nyuumon ( 合格のための！ やさしい三角関係入門) is about a three-way relationship that will undoubtedly work. It’s designed to work. We already know Rin’s  and Mayumi’s feelings and Akira’s are right on the cusp of being right there with them both. And yet, I did not much like this story. I’ll do my best to articulate why.

In Kiss and White Lily for my Dearest Girl, Volume 6 Canno had created a three-way relationship that I felt worked, where our reviewer for the volume, did not. I have a nagging suspicion that our opinions would be reversed this time. ^_^ To begin with, Rin starting the series with the declaration that she cannot choose – while I completely understand would be a totally valid way of self-identifying as poly, (especially before having the word to do so) – felt hollow presented with no context surrounding it. We are then backed into the relationship she’s currently in because of Mayuki seeing it’s end. And later we learn how it began, and we are left feeling awkward about Rin starting this new relationship before really handling the old.  On an entirely personal note, I was also made uncomfortable by Rin and Mayuki’s kissing. It seemed an abuse of power and age, drawn to be acceptable because the younger girl asked for it, which is exactly the opposite lesson one should take here. No, Rin. You are the older person, in a position of some (admittedly small) power. It is up to you to say no and establish boundaries. The deep kiss closeups are uuugghhh, for me. It’s like…I get it.

I found myself more interested in Akira, but am concerned that she will feel coerced into this relationship by Mayuki and Rin. The cover even bothers me! ^_^ It’s not Mayuki at the center of this relationship. At the moment, it’s Rin. Which brings me to the point I want to make. These characters are just too young for me. I found it hard to like Mayuki or Rin. I just…don’t care about them, separately or together. They are not interesting outside the fact that they have a relationship. Mauyki and Akira have basketball in comm. Rin and Mayuki have…studying for an entrance exam and teenage libido in common. Snooze. Ultimately, the linchpin of the three-way relationship, Rin, has the least going for her.

If you enjoy Canno-sensei’s art, then you will absolutely like this volume. There might be slightly more emphasis on reactions and close-ups than in Kiss and White Lily, but it is the art you know and love.

 

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 5
Story – 5
Service – Yep. Dressing/undressing, those kisses, some cleavage
Yuri – 8
Queer – 5 I don’t think this is the story I’d hand to someone to explain being “poly” to them, but if some folks read it and discover they are poly because of it, that’s all to the good.

Overall – 6

I hope they are all happy at the end of the next volume when it is released in the next few weeks after the series ends next month, but I am fairly convinced I don’t want to read the book to find out. ^_^; I might keep an eye out on Comic Walker to see how it goes.





Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Volume 3

February 22nd, 2021

Hanako is a young woman who has traveled from Japan to meet her favorite author. Volume 1 follows Hanako as she meets the beautiful, yet tragic Lady Alice and enters into her service. We watch their relationship deepen and their secrets come to light in Volume 2. Here we are, then, in the final volume and its hard to imagine that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And yet.

One of the burdens of writing historical fiction is, quite obviously, history. As Dr. Pepperco writes a story explicitly set in a time and place where the society would, could and did place women in mental institutions for the crime of independent thinking or non-conforming behavior, it takes commitment to write a better end. Volume 3 of Goodbye, My Rose Garden has that commitment. Therefore, as we watch over them benevolently, we see Alice and Hanako meet women of like mind, find solace in each other and create both the tunnel and the light for one another.

I’ve been talking a lot recently about media that imagines a better way forward. I also feel there is room for stories that supplies us a better way to look backward. Not every story needs an unhappy ending….but more to the point, not every real story had an unhappy ending. Some 130 years previous to the setting of this book, and some 300 miles to the northwest in Wales, about 6 hours by car now, Sarah Ponsonby and Eleanor Butler lived together and built a joyful life for themselves. (I find all arguments that they didn’t have a sexual relationship because they didn’t leave proof to be absolutely idiotic. Who does that? They called each other wife, let’s not be dumbasses.) Let us look to the Ladies of Llangollen then, for Alice and Hanako’s new life, in which they choose to live somewhere quietly together, supporting themselves as writers and raising a lovely rose garden.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 3
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8

I appreciated some of the visual touches in this book, but once again, far more important were the literary references. Victor Franks may not have been real, but the other writers whose works are mentioned, are. While it’s not in Hastings, I recommend to you The Feminist Bookshop in Brighton, another UK beach town with a long, queer history, where you can find classics like Kate Chopin’s writing and newer works, maybe a biography of Ann Lister, as well as a really terrific comics section, with a fair bit of lesbian representation…and even a Yuri manga or two! So, when this pandemic is over, maybe you and your girl can just play at being Hanako and and Alice for a day in a nice little queer-friendly bookstore in a English beachside town. ^_^

My sincere thanks to Seven Seas for the review copy! It’s always a pleasure to see how the Seven Seas team handles work like this, which has the interesting challenge of both time period and English ideas being translated from Japanese back into English. Nice work by translator Amber Tamosaitis, adapter Cae Hawksmoor and letterer Kaitlyn Wiley and the whole Seven Seas crew!