Long day today – short review. One of the more charming gray areas of Japanese copyright law is the existence of parody doujinshi anthologies. These are found in the same stores where manga and anime are sold. They usually have an anthology section, sometimes two, one for gag comics and the other for “adult.”

When I was in Japan last year, I picked up a pile of Maria-sama ga Miteru anthologies, some of which I have already reviewed. Feel free to read my reviews of Soeur Sengen and Gokigenyou anytime. At the time, I also picked up the second book in a series called Maria’s Wink. This past trip I found Maria’s Wink, Volume 1.

Maria’s Wink is primarily a gag anthology, but there’s plenty of Yuri love-love for readers, mostly of the major pairings. Lots of Sei-ism, of course. Two circles included in this collection are Bebe, who did the Creole series, and Raku-Gun, one of my current favorite circles.

I enjoy doujinshi anthologies. They are a fun, easy way to get a bead on the kind of stories that you, as a fan of a series, like. You get such a wide variety of circles, art, story, feel and tone, that you’re likely to find *something* that appeals to you. I always recommend these books as a great way to dip a toe into the vast and intimidating world of doujinshi. Once you have a few circles you know you like, you can start looking for their work, and slowly, slowly find yourself drowning in thousands of doujinshi which threaten to overrun your house.

…Maybe that’s just me.

In any case, if you like Maria-sama ga Miteru, and you want to read doujinshi that is *not* full of gouting bodily fluids, Maria’s Wink is a good place to start.

Ratings:

Art – Averaging at about 6
Characters – 8
Story – 7
Yuri – 6
Service – 2

Overall – 7