Archive for 2023


Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story on Nintendo Switch, Guest Review by Eleanor W.

September 13th, 2023

Hello again. I’m back for another game review. You can find me lurking around the Internet @st_owly as usual. Today I’m looking at:

Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story. The Nintendo Switch Game

I LOVE Birdie Wing, it’s everything I ever wanted out of a sports anime, so I was very excited to discover this was being localised, but…

When you first load the game, there’s a quick tutorial to show you the controls, then on you go to “story mode,” which loosely follows the storyline of the anime and sets up matches against various characters. And when I say “loosely” I mean it. There’s no meat to it, barely any of the anime story is actually there, it’s more like random characters appear, there’s a bit of dialogue and challenge Eve to a match. When you finally beat the last stage it just kind of stops and puts you back to the main menu so quickly you don’t realise what’s happened, and there’s no resolution to the story or anything. My main thought was “that’s it??”

There’s also a free play mode which is just the Nafrece U15 course and Anri’s putting shop. 

The graphics are fine; nothing special, but not terrible either. One big omission is that there’s no voice acting, even just yelling the names of the attacks when you/your opponent used them would be better than silence. The multi hole stages are also incredibly frustrating, as you can’t save after each hole, so if you fail the stage you have to go right back to the beginning. I lost count of how many times I failed the final 6 hole stage, but I do think the game learns when you’re bad at it and matches your opponent to your level. It’s very bizarre seeing Eve and co get double bogeys.  (I HATE PUTTING). 

The best way I can really describe this game is half finished and wasted potential. It seems like there’s so much more that could be done with it, but for whatever reason it was rushed out in this incredibly incomplete state. 

Let the record show that I did *once* get an eagle. I’ve never yet managed it again. 

The music is also just generic elevator music, the developers definitely missed a trick by not even having “Venus Line” as the menu music. The translation is also patchy at best, with lots of spelling errors and awkwardly constructed sentences. A Chinese translation is also available in the settings menu but I can’t comment on that.  

Example of the type of spelling/grammar mistake the dialogue is littered with. 

 

Ratings:

Art/music – 5/10. Thoroughly inoffensive and forgettable

Yuri/service – 0/10. Both non-existent. 

Story – 0/10. What story?

Characters – 1/10. Who are these people and why do they keep challenging me to play golf with them?

Gameplay – 3/10. A couple of little tweaks would make it so much less frustrating. I eventually developed a strategy which involved as little putting as possible and eventually finished the game, but it took *many* hours. 

Overall 3/10. It’s just a golf sim which happens to be loosely inspired by Birdie Wing. Don’t bother with it, even if you like golf sims, because it’s not even that great at that. And for the love of all that is holy please get a native speaker to proofread the translated dialogue before you release something. 





Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 8 (おとなになっても)

September 11th, 2023

On a pale green background, a lone woman with reddish hair cut to her chin, is leaning forward as if on laying her head a desk, looking directly at us.Akari and Ayano have moved in together. This fact fills this book with all sorts of tensions, both positive and negative. Sure, they have been through ” a lot,” but so little of it is about them, together, as a couple. Will thins relationship, which has been mere embers since it was lit, get a chance to burst into life?

We…don’t know. Yet.

Ayano is planning on moving school, as rumors of infidelity plague her. The kids in her class are apologetic about it, not really understanding what the parents have against it, as, frankly, neither do I. Busybosdies gonna busybody, I guess. As difficult a situation as it is, it appears that Ayano’s students nd peers seem to be on her side. Nonetheless, she is leaving at graduation to start at a new school. In a fitful climax for the classroom drama, Nitta returns to school just in time to graduate. She finally has it out with her former friend, but whether they will be able to patch things up, we may not actually learn.

Akari encounters the salon manager’s wife who really seems less concerned that he’s having an affair (with Eri, Akari reminds herself) than with him being a dolt. And Wataru is navigating having the woman he is interested in, openly ask him out, now that she too is divorced.

This continues to be such a low-key adult life Yuri that one can hardly think of it as barrelling down on the conclusion of the series…and yet, that is where we are. Volume 9 was released in June and Volume 10 will conclude the series. It’s been an interesting read and I definitely wonder where everyone will end up.

The final chapters were about having bathroom accidents in second-grade and you know what? I didn’t need that. Thanks Shimura-sensei for having a weird insistance on add that to your Yuri stories. Sigh.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 0
LGBTQ+ – Let’s give this a 7, as Akarai and Ayano start negotiating boundaries and intimacy.

Overall – 8

 





Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou -Revolution-, Volume 3 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。-Revolution-)

September 10th, 2023

Two girls in fanciful school uniforms with red jackets, frilly white blouses and black skirts smile, arms linked.This week inori.-sensei announced a brand new fantasy series and it seemed like a fitting place to squeeze in one more review of the series that was her breakout hit. So today I am reviewing the third  – and so far, final – print volume of Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou -Revolution-, Volume 3 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。-Revolution-).  Quick recap: WataOshi was originally serialized as a web novel, then picked up for digital release from GL Bunko. Then the novels were licensed here in English by Seven Seas as I’m In Love With The Villainess and other countries, and then licensed as a print series in Japan. This is the print volume of the third volume of the light novel in Japanese, from Ichijinsha. 

This third novel covers the entirety of the Revolution arc, as Rae seeks to remake the plotline of the otome game “Revolution ” and save Claire’s life…and how she fails. Rae and Claire uncover the evil forces behind the de-stabilization of the Bauer Kingdom and pull the forces for equality together to save it.

The final third of the book is post-revolution, as Rae and Claire become accustomed to their new lives as commoners and as partners. We meet their adopted daughters Aleah and Mei. One of the most poignant stories in the final third of the book is how those two children come in to their lives. Other shorts catch us up on former-Cardinal Lily’s travels as she seeks to expiate her crimes, even though she was literally not in her right mind when she committed them. And we see the power of the ritual known as “a wedding ceremony.” Despite Bauer’s new government’s refusal to acknowledge same-sex partnerships, Rae and Claire declare their love for one another in front of friends and family. 

There is no question that Hanagata’s art has improved since the first few illustrations. The art in this volume has more motion and depth and is far more relevant to the scene than earlier static portraits, which is visible when one does comparisons between newer and older images in this volume.

The manga for this series is ongoing, and the anime is premiering at the end of this month with a special ticketed event in Ikebukuro, so we’re not saying goodbye just yet. However, I see no hint that a Volume 4 is coming out in print, so we may be saying farewell and thank you – at least for the moment –  to this original novel series that has brought us so many hours of joy.

Art – 7
Story – 9
Characters – 10
Yuri – 10
LGBTQ –10
Service –  Let’s still say 2

Overall – 9

I still  hope for an epilogue some day in which Claire and Rae are allowed to legalize their marriage as my wife and I were able. It was a pretty damn powerful moment to have a certificate that just read “marriage” without any conditions. One day we can hope that there will be marriage for all in Japan.





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – September 9, 2023

September 9th, 2023

In black block letters, YNN Yuri Network News. On the left, in black silhouette, a woman with a broad brim hat and dress stands, a woman in a tight outfit sits against the Y. Yuri Anime

Via YNN Correspondent Patricia B, you should take a moment to watch the Hoshikuzu Telepath trailer. This anime about friendship and going to space has an October premiere date!

The special [Watashi no oshi wa akuyaku reijō. ] Rei to Kurea ni ichimon’ittō 〜 i sekai de kiite mita 〜 (【私の推しは悪役令嬢。】レイとクレアに一問一答 〜異世界で聞いてみた〜) Rae & Claire Q&A sessions for the upcoming I’m In Love With The Villainess anime  continue – they are up to 6 on Youtube now. ^_^ Check out Sephalia’s Twitter feed for links to translations.

Retrocrush announced that, as of September 15, The Rose of Versailles anime will be streaming  – free, legally – on their service.

ANN’s Alex Mateo notes that Retrocrush will also be streaming Magic Knight Rayearth, among other series.

HIDIVE announced that it will stream The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess this autumn. If you’d like to review it for Okazu, contact us!

 

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Not really Yuri, but HIDIVE also notes that RE:cycle of the PENGUINDRUM, Part 1 and Part 2 are streaming on their site. I’m torn about watching this, as I really thought the TV series was perfect. If you’d like to review it for Okazu, drop me a line!

 

Yuri Light Novels

Big news in the Yuri light novel world this week – inori.-sensei, creator of I’m In Love With The Villainess, announced a new book,  Yuusha ni Naritai Shoujo <Boku> to, Yuusha ni narubeku Kanojo <Kimi> ( 勇者になりたい少女＜ボク＞と、勇者になるべき彼女＜キミ＞」) which I would translate as something like “Me, the girl who wants to be a hero and you, she who ought to be a hero.” If I were titling it in English maybe something like “Boku to Kimi: The girl who wants to be a hero, and the woman who should be a hero.”  It’s an intriguing title. Sensei is publishing it with Dengeki Bunko, so a new publisher, as well.

Luckily the Seven Seas September Survey is live, so you can ask them to get that right away. ^_^

 

Yuri Articles

We have a ton of great reading this month, beginning with Friend of Yuri Frank Hecker’s, Notes toward a unified theory of yuri, in which he attempts to find threads of commonality and thematics in Yuri.

Via YNN Correspondent Matt Marcus, recent participant in the Trans Percpectives on Yuri panel for Yuricon 2023, Alexis Sara expands her thoughts in Lilies In Transition: The state of trans representation in yuri on Anime Feminist.

And, again for Anime Feminist, Gab Hernandez take a look at My Fave Is Problematic: Stop!! Hibari-Kun!, in which this series  – which is full of stereotypes and also amazingly ahead of it’s time – is addressed with fairness and honesty.

 

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Yuri Manga

Via YNN Correspondent Matt Marcus, Arai Sumiko’s Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko ga Janakatta, (気になっている人が男じゃなかった) has a pop-up shop at the Ikebukuro Parco in Tokyo on September 15-24. Also via Matt, the goods are supposed to be going online when the event is over.

The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This, Volume 4 will be hitting shelves in November. It’s a great end to this series.

Kono Koi Wo Hoshi Ni Wa Negawanai, Volume 1 (この恋を星には願わない) tells the tale of three school friends and a relationship that could not have happened….

Over at ANN, Nicholas Dupree takes a look at I Don’t Know Which Is Love, Volume 1, which makes a nice companion to Luce’s review here on Okazu.

 

Yuri Doujinshi

Yuri/GL Phillipines is very proud to announce “their first-ever Pinoy-made doujin anthology: YURILISTIC – Yuri Doujin Circle Vol 1 presents Vows: Among the Lilies!” This will be available at Cosplay Mania ’23 in Manila. They have some samples on their Twitter thread.

 

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Kohaku no Kijo (琥珀の貴女)

September 7th, 2023

A woman with short dark hair leans over a woman with long reddish-brown hair in bed. Today, I am conflicted. ^_^

Kohaku no Kijo (琥珀の貴女) is a short story collection by Higashikawa Mizo and, like most short story collections, it has some tropes of short story writing that places it directly in the middle of my aversion to short story collections. ^_^; On the other hand, the art and some of the writing was pretty solid.

The first story relies on what has become a standard Yuri trope – a woman falls for the sex worker she hires.  This is complicated by the fact that the woman really knows nothing of the sex worker’s life, and is missing a great deal of information. An unlikely twist occurs, but they find a way to help one another. The next story is wrapped around a manipulative relationship and for this one, the handwave is that it has lasted for a unreasonably long time.

The next story was the one where I put the book down and thought – do I want to keep reading this? Which has lead to today’s conflict. The answer to “do I want to keep reading this” turned out to be “yes,” but then it shifted to – is there something here worth writing about? In this third story the twist is again rather tragic and the narrative equivalent of a truck slamming into you – blunt and designed to damage. Not to put too fine a point on it – not every short story needs a twist.

So why am I reviewing this book? Because despite the fact that all the stories, including the heavily emotional final story, are rooted in tragedy and conflict being avoided/denied until it is too late, there is a complexity to the characters. They aren’t just victims of their imaginations, or lack of initiative, or self-preservation. They are actively looking to see the good in other people….even when other people are the problem.

Ratings:

Art – A solid 7, with moments of 8
Story – 5
Characters   –  6 Very cloudy skies clearing up
Service – 1 a little bit for effect
Yuri – 8

Overall – 7

The theme, while not enough to make me “like” this collection, made me want, in the end, to review it. It’s been a tough year for me, I’m not really in the mood for tragic twists and unpleasant partnerships that linger….but I am reminded that even in dark places, some people are decent. It was a good reminder.