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Archive for 2023
Hana no Asuka-gumi Infinity, Volume 7 (花のあすか組 ∞インフィニティ)
Buckle in, folks, today’s review is going to be a lot of expository commentary for a payoff that may seem small to you, but is hella powerful to me.
Our story begins in 1985, with the creation of the Hana no Asuka-gumi! (花のあすか組!) manga series by Takaguchi Satosumi. It ran for 10 years and, in that decade, told the story of a suicidal girl Kuraku Asuka, who was saved by a manipulative and sociopathic two-bit criminal, Kijima Yohko, who happens to be the half-sister of Asuka’s best friend Doumoto Miko. Yohko was a horrible person and Asuka and she fell passionately into a toxic and unstable relationship. Neither of them had the emotional wherewithal to confront what we can see were intense feelings for one another, so like the street gang kids they were, they just kept beating the crap out of one another. Yohko functionally sold Asuka to the leader of all the girls gangs in Tokyo, where Asuka became Hibari-sama’s favorite toy and Minister of the Left. When Asuka left Hibari-sama, she never forgave Asuka and has spent the last nearly 30+ years trying to get her back. Yohko ends up dying in a fire to save Asuka from…well from the next shitty thing she’d do to Asuka, really.
In 2003, in Shin Hana no Asuka-gumi! () Asuka returns from America, and is immediately dragged into another war with Hibari’s organization, the Zenchuu Ura, (which is pattered after the Imperial Court, with area masters from the 23 wards of Tokyo, unaffiliated “outside” groups and absolute HORDES of special teams, which I will not list, because we could be here for ever.) Suffice it to say, typically Asuka “saves” the life of a young girl, who was dragged into shit over her head, fights off the Zenchuu Ura and shrugs. This series ended in 2009, but in Volume 5 something unbelievable happened. I reviewed that volume in 2007, but let me quote a passage. I assure you it is salient:
In Volume 5, something I wrote in a Hana no Asuka-gumi Fanfic actually happens. Now, that’s really no big deal. I make it a point to try and stay in character when I write fanfic…or at least write the characters in a way that’s plausible, unless it’s total crackfic. But in this case, I did something sort of odd, even though I thought it completely plausible. I had the dead Yohko talk to Asuka in her head. Imagine my complete surprise, nay, shock, when I started reading the chapter in Feel Young magazine and dead Yohko started talking in Asuka’s head! I think my reaction was something like this:
“Oh. My. God.”
/still pause/
“Oh. My. &^$!ing good god.”
/Me holds the book up and suddenly breaks out into a spastic dance of hysterical fangirly joy./
P.S., I wrote the story years before the new series ever began.
To make it all better, Miko’s reaction to Asuka’s confession that dead Yohko is talking to her practically came out exactly the same as in my story too.
So since the ’00s, my weird little conceit has been canon – dead Yohko talks to Asuka inside her head. Exactly the way I imagined she might, even the same sentences, in the same way, for the same reason. A+ for plausibility, Erica.
In 2018, 9 years after Shin Hana No Asuka-gumi! ended, Hana no Asuka-gumi! BS Hen () ran for two volumes. This was mostly focused on cyberbullying and expanding Hibari-sama’s influence. NOW she has groups outside Tokyo though the Honeybees, a kind of fan club that also runs underground contests and other miscellaneous money- and victim-making prospects. I think this story was mostly to see if this series still had selling power. Welp, yes it does, because the next year, Hana no Asuka-gumi Infinity (花のあすか組 ∞インフィニティ) launched. It is now finished at 9 volumes. And let me tell you….a LOT has gone on.
But you don’t care about the School Wars or all the new groups that have popped up, or that Tenshi has now ascended from pretending to be a boy in a boy band to running her own special forces, along with other godly-named fighters. Or that Asuka LOST this battle and was unable to save the girl and – for the very first time – she completely lost her cool and had a major meltdown.
Here is why I am telling you about Hana no Asuka-gumi Infinity, Volume 7. Of course…it’s Yohko. Dead Yohko whose voice can still be heard by Asuka, as clearly as if she were standing there. The thing is no one but Miko and the rest of the Western Outside Group knows about Yohko. Well, Hibari-sama and her aide-de-camp, Kasuga, but they don’t care.
So, as the School Wars are about to start – once again it’ll be Asuka vs everyone – former Area Master (head of a Tokyo Ward gang) Akae comes back, with her hair shorn to look like Yohko. She knows Yohko is Asuka’s only weak spot – and she seems to know the whole story. She tells the others that Yohko is the only person Asuka cared about, that she was everything to Asuka.
In the final page, Akae, looking like Yohko, walks out to face Asuka who is in the middle of a battle.
Friends, I screamed.
It’s been almost 40 years since Asuka met Yohko, while nursing a broken hand after a fight she lost in Shinjuku, it’s been 30 years since Yohko died in fire. Asuka is one year older and Yohko is still the most important thing in the world to her. I love this series so much. ^_^
My reviews here about this series have been sporadic and mostly incoherent as I try to explain the complicated structure of the Zenchuu Ura and the whole series, but there is a category for it: Hana no Asuka-gumi. Of these reviews, let me suggest these two for fun.
2006 – Drama CD: Hana no Asuka-gumi Gaiden (花のあすか組外伝) – this was one of two Drama CDs for the series. I still haven’t found time to listen to the other, but this one is one of my prize possessions for reasons that will become obvious if you read the review.
2011 – Yuri Artbook: Kuraku Asuka Mairu! (九楽あすか参る!). This was another item that absolutely centered my obsession with Yohko and Asuka’s relationship, in a literal sense. As well as giving space for Hibari-sama to be a complete freak.
So, look, I know none of you are running out and reading 52 volumes of an untranslated 40 year old gang girl series – except Ashley, love you! – but IF you want to read a 40 year old gang girl series with 52 volumes of manga, two movies, a live-action TV show, 2 anime OVAs, 2 Drama CDs and 2 novels, make it Hana no Asuka-gumi!.
Ratings:
Overall – 10
Seriously, I screamed.
Kiss the Scars of the Girls, Volume 1 Guest Review by Christian LeBlanc
Vampires crossed with Class S!
And set in the future, no less.
With a setup so fun
You would think volume 1
Should be more fun than paint drying, not less.
For a story that’s set “in the far, distant future,” Aya Haruhana’s Kiss the Scars of the Girls from Yen Press languishes in Yuri tropes of old. Emille Florence is our bright, cheerful, young and blonde protagonist, who falls for her assigned cool and distant big sister Eve Winter (whose first name rhymes with “Leave,” the very first thing she says to Emille upon meeting her). Maybe it’s the tea parties with cookies and cake, maybe it’s the secret rose garden (“vampires love the scent of roses”) or maybe it’s the school uniforms that the cast of Maria Watches Over Us would think were too old-fashioned, but I’m just not feeling this ‘future’ vibe. (Or this ‘vampire’ vibe, but we’ll get to that.)
Set at an all-girls’ school where students are assigned a “big sister” on their 14th birthday, Emille spends a great deal of time trying to win over Eve, who, as luck would have it, appears to have hidden, secret reasons for not wanting to get close to anyone. Emille’s friend Yucca Lotus seems to have an unspoken crush on Emille, while Violetta Emme (whose name I keep reading as Violent Femmes) also likes Emille, but not as much as she likes bullying her classmates and obligatory big sister.
Since this is a manga where everyone at the school is a vampire, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this was going to be a book that portrays vampiric content without vampiric identity. Unseen vampire hunters do factor into things, however, attacking the students with swords and shotguns whenever they visit the local town to hypnotize the local ladies enough to feed on them. Vampires are persecuted for their appetites (with no gore, but much blood), but never in a fun, ultra-violent way (which is a missed opportunity in my opinion).
The vampires in Scars work a little differently than the vampires you’re probably used to, in fact: when a vampire turns 14, they start requiring human blood to live, losing interest in the food they used to love eating. The implication here is that vampires are living (as opposed to undead) creatures, seemingly born this way. These vampires also have no trouble with sunlight, fall easily to any type of weapon, and lack the immortality (and mystique, if we’re being honest) of your stereotypical bloodsucker.
Overall, Kiss the Scars of the Girls feels like a missed opportunity. The vampire angle doesn’t do anything to make this Class S story stand apart from other Class S stories, except to give a narrative excuse to have the occasional student die violently. If you’re Ride or Die for Class S stories, then by all means give this book a try, but if you like your Yuri vampires to be comedic, or violent, or even inappropriate, you’ll probably feel like you have no stake in this.
Ratings:
Characters – 4 (Shiki Amakuni, we barely knew ye)
Story – 4 (does very little with either Class S or Vampires)
Service – 1 (scale this a little higher if you’re into shoulders)
Yuri – 5
Overall – 6
Erica here: Thank you Christian for this look at what I found to be a surprising license.
I am reminded by Amazon that I have to tell you that the book is linked to an affiliate link, in case you may have forgotten.
Female Intimacy and Slice of Life Anime Article on ANN
You may remember that this past spring I was extremely ill with Long COVID. During my recovery I turned towards slice-of-life anime in an attempt to feel engaged by something, anything. Struggling as I was with concentration and focus, these anime helped me relax and find myself again. And, in watching them, I discovered something else…powerful stories of intimacy between women.
This motivated me to write up an article and Anime News Network kindly gave me the space to discuss these anime. I hope you’ll enjoy The Joy Of The Everyday: Emotional Intimacy Between Women in Slice-of-Life Anime. If you do, please leave a comment on ANN!
She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat, Volume 3
Last winter I reviewed Yuzaki Sakaomi’s Volume 3 of Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna (作りたい女と食べたい女), expressing my delight over the entire volume – even squeeing throughout. Today I was able to revisit those moments of joy with the release of She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat, Volume 3 out now from Yen Press.
In Volume 1 we met Nomoto Yuki and her neighbor Kasuga, two women who bond over their use food as a form of escape from stress and entertainment. In Volume 2, Nomoto realizes that her feelings for Kasuga are more than friendship. Here in Volume 3, Nomoto finds another friend and confidant with her online pal Yako, a woman who loves food, but doesn’t care about cooking. And Kasuga befriends the neighbor who lives in between then, Nagumo, a young woman with a very fraught relationship with food. The four women build a family together, a space in which every one of them is accepted for who they are and their needs are accommodated. This volume is moving and funny and adorable in equal measure.
Yako gives Nomoto a primer in sexual diversity, freeing Nomoto up to stop comparing herself to other people and find her own story. Yako’s light-heartd acceptance and casual speech really blasts barriers away, so it’s an especial delight to have Caleb Cook’s outstanding translation here. In this volume we also get to see the core issue between Kasuga and her family, which is, simply, lack of respect. This is echoed by Nagumo, so they become close over the shared experiences of dealing with family that blames them for not being compliant. I don’t think I have to tell Okazu readers how powerful a message that is. When Kasuga comes to understand how she feels about Nomoto, there are layers and layers being addressed.
In this month, where we have I’m In Love With The Villainess in anime, with heartfelt discussion of queer experience, this manga is the perfect pairing for even more discussions of diversity within sexual and gender minorities. ILTV is a great ice-breaker for folks unused to these conversations in their entertainment, but She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat, Volume 3 is rooted in real experiences and reflects the kind of community that we as queer fans create for ourselves.
An outstanding volume of one of the best LGBTQ manga of the last few years.
Ratings:
Art – 9 Yako and Nagumo give Yuzaki-sensei a chance to ramp up expressions to 11
Story – 10
Characters – 9 (only to give them room to be even more wonderful)
Service – 0 Unless, like Nomoto, you consider watching Kasuga eat “service.”
LGBTQ+ – 10
Overall – 10
I was also pleased that letterer Phil Christie get to retouch S/Fx, at least on some pages, where it wouldn’t affect the art. More of that, please!
There is one more volume available right now in Japanese, but since Chapter 40 of the manga, the series has been on hiatus due to the manga artist’s health. Were’ all wishing Sakaomi-sensei a safe recovery.
