Author Archive


Attack on Titan Manga, Volume 10 (English)

December 20th, 2013

I know. You’re looking up at the URL and checking the date just to make sure you clicked on Okazu, and not, say, A Case Suitable for Treatment. Nope, you’ve come to the right place. It just happens that, quite unusually, I am reviewing a manga  that is 1) available in English and 2) massively popular. This happens so rarely here that it is worth noting.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time discussing the plot of Attack on Titan, it’s structure, art, characters, strengths and weaknesses. I have done that in detail elsewhere. I intend to only discuss two things in today’s review.

As set up I will say that, if you have not yet read any of Attack on Titan, without spoilers, I can tell you there is excellent reason why it is so popular. It hits a pop culture critical Zeitgeist,  is suitable for older teens and adults who are the main audience for that kind of thing and it is not bad for what it is. Although I feel there are more flaws than, perhaps, many of the fans of the series do. This is a tale of the twilight of humanity, and not a gentle twilight, as we saw in Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. In Shingeki no Kyoujin, humanity’s flickering out quickly and under extremely brutal circumstances.

Today, instead, we discuss Volume 10 and 2 specific characters. Ymir, a member of the Survey Corps who is introduced to us as having a secret and Christa, a member of the Survey Corps who is revealed as having a secret. Realistically, by Volume 10, we should all be very comfortable with the idea that most, if not all, of the Survey Corps members carry a burden they believe is secret. Why else would they sign up for what must by any rational person be seen as certain, horrifying death?

In Volume 9, we encounter Ymir, unliked and unlikable and Christa, who appears adorable and honorable and who Ymir sees right through. And yet, they have a connection. It first appears to be only on Ymir’s side. She’s poking and prodding at Christa, apparently to unearth her sore point. When she uncovers it, she does something unexpected – Ymir opens her own self up to Christa. Now they share each other’s burden.

In Volume 10, their bond ramps up in intensity. I don’t know that I’d call this love, in any meaningful way,  but they need each other, that is obvious. By the end of the volume, they’ve made a pact to both live more honestly…a pact that becomes part of the main plot with Volume 11 (which I read on Crunchyroll’s manga platform.)

It’s not a “Yuri” storyline and I do not trust the creator to not kill both Ymir and Christa horribly, so don’t get your hopes up for a happy ending for them. ^_^ But it’s there, if you want it.

Also, there is a character who Japanese readers seem to have identified as gender non-specific. Hanji is referred to in the English translate as “Ms.,”but the author has stated that Hanji has no specific gender. (By author request, the ‘Ms.’ has been removed from later volumes)

Ratings:

Art –  I’m not a fan. I think the art at best is a 6
Story – I’ll leave this as an ambiguous 5 for the moment, pending my more detailed review.
Characters – Same as above
Yuri – 4-ish if you squint a bit in a dark room
Service – 8 all Guro. Because of the violence, I won’t watch the anime, specifically because of sound effects.

Overall – A qualified 8.

My fuller review – and more detail on Hanji – is up on Hooded Utilitarian.





Otomodachi Kara Hajimemashou Manga (お友達からはじめましょう)

December 18th, 2013

I’m sure at least some of you have noticed Otsu Hiyori’s absence from Comic Yuri Hime for some time. Well, she’s back, not in Comic Yuri Hime, but in another Ichijinsha magazine, Zero-Sum, with a series that is, according to the book obi “Girl Meets Girl” + “Boy Meets Boy.”

Otomodachi Kara Hajimemashou (お友達からはじめましょう) follows Akira, a young lady with severe issues around social interactions. She’s not a recluse, she’s just awkward and self-conscious about it.

On the first day of school she meets new classmates who integrate her into their conversation, but her eye is drawn by an outspoken girl across the classroom. Akira’s new friends invite her to karaoke, but upon arrival, she panics and runs. The next day, while hiding in the bathroom, Akira overhears her new “friends” talking about her, and the girl from across the room slapping them down verbally for doing so. Akira really wants to thank the outspoken girl, but just has no idea how to go about it. Luckily for her, outspoken Chizu-chan’s friend Ami groks the situation and brings them together. Prickly Chizu-chan, and cheerful Ami-chan are now her friends, but Aki-chan is still awkward. Luckily for her, neither Chizu nor Ami care. Akira finds herself asking her brother Haru if she should grow her hair out. Haru asks if she’s in like and Akira replies, “I don’t know..maybe.” Akira struggles with trying to invite Ami and Chizu out on Sunday, but Ami’s good at picking up on cues (probably from being friends with Chizu), they have random adventures together and as their half of the book ends, Aki and Ami are laughing, while a late Chizu carries their shopping bags a punishment for tardiness.

We then turn towards Haru, who had been a soccer star in his school, until he was hit by a car, ruining his soccer career potential and putting his life on hold. Now, finally, he’s back in school, two years behind. He meets a young guy in class (who we know is Ami’s boyfriend) who wants to start a cooking club. Joining them is an old friend of Haru’s Hayato. Hayato is the typical broody, non-verbal type who is always looking out for Haru. Haru, Kou (Ami’s BF) and Hayato decide to form a cooking club at school, but face opposition from the teacher who would be their advisor. Haru gets so pissed, he becomes determined to make something amazing and blow the teacher away.

Otsu-sensei’s storytelling has always relied on quirky characterization. Akira’s introversion will be instantly familiar to most otaku, while Haru is more extroverted, but not at that “beautiful people” level that is all too often set up to contrast with the introverted sibling. Instead, both Akira and Haru are likable, with their own personalities and complications. What little setup we get for each seems fraught with possibility. And, cleverly, with Ami and Kou in the middle of both potential pairings, we don’t need to feel bad about them – they’ve got each other and are ridiculously cute together. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7, with solid potential
Characters – 8
Yuri – 1, BL – 1
Service – 0

Overall – 8

I don’t know if this story is actually going to be “Girl Meets Girl” + “Boy Meets Boy”, but at this point it doesn’t matter, I’m willing to read more and find out. If it does, yay. ^_^ It seems a good bet for the Zero Sum audience, which, like so much of Ichijinsha’s audience, is open to niche stories.





My Little Pony ~ Friendship is Magic, Season 1, Disk 4 (English)

December 17th, 2013

mlpfim1And here I am, at the final disk of My Little Pony ~ Friendship is Magic, Season 1, where I watch episodes with commentary, laugh at in-jokes I don’t know, but can figure out and sit through a fabulous musical grand finale episode. But I can’t enjoy that episode, because the one before it is the most hackneyed, miserable plotline ever…the dreaded “surprise birthday party” plotline, which I loathe and despise. You know the one – “All my friends are avoiding me, so they don’t like me any more, oh wait I forgot it was my birthday and they were throwing a surprise party! Tee hee!” GRRRRRRR.

Yes, it makes perfect sense that they chose the “surprise birthday party” story for Pinkie Pie, but every time I read or watch that stoopid story, my teeth grit harder. The lesson of that dumb episode is not “you should trust your friends and not come up with paranoid fantasies.”

The true lesson of this story is this:  Surprise birthday parties are evil, terrible things, and people should not throw them.

My point was best summed up by Celestia when she, speaking of the Grand Galloping Gala, but more properly of all parties, ever, commented that it was always a terrible night. Yes, exactly.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

I have a longstanding agreement with friends and relatives that easiest way to get me to never speak to them again is to throw me a surprise party. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Yurimekuru Hibi (ゆりめくる日々)

December 16th, 2013

While in Japan in October, I was loading up on Yuri manga I probably would not have bothered buying if I had to pay shipping. Yurimekuru Hibi (ゆりめくる日々) was among these. I just picked it up without looking and threw it into my pile without really looking at it. When I got it home, the cover did not fill me with desire to read it, so it just drifted lower and lower in the “to review pile” until I finally had no choice but to pick it up. And then I noticed that it was a Champion Red book and my blood ran cold.

If you are a regular reader, you will be familiar with my dislike of Champion Red, the imprint that brought us such abominations as the Mai HiME manga (and Mai Otome, but I knew to not read it by that time)  and the inexpressibly vile El Cazador de le Bruja manga, among others. While Yuri is a not-uncommon fetish among CR comics, the most common fetish to be seen in this imprint is a pathological dislike of women.

So, with some dread, I opened the pages of Yurimekuru Hibi and found…a perfectly normal, slightly silly gag comic about two girls who like each other.

Saiyuri and Yoriko-sempai are in deep like, with very typical skinship (holding hands, sharing food, etc.). They go to school together, hang out after school together, go to the beach and flower-watching. The only standout quality of their relationship is that Yoriko-sempai is a nutball. Not in a bad way, in a Fuurai Shimai “living in an alternate reality” way. Yoriko is excessively rich, also excessively odd, with occasional lapses of sense, manners and sanity. Sayuri is left to clean up after her, but she’s glad to do so, because she really likes sempai.

Typically of a gag comic, the humor is gentle “heh” as opposed to guffaws. Yoriko gets stranger as the volume goes on, and by the end, this reader felt she had sufficiently plumbed the depths of Yoriko’s reality. But for a CR comic, it was light-hearted and had no trace of the kind of violence against women in which this imprint so often engages.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – There isn’t one. It’s a situation comedy in which the situation is “they like one another + Yoriko does goofy thing.”
Characters – 6
Yuri – 6
Service – 3 Downright low for a CR manga

Overall – 6

Yoriko and Sayuri really like one another.





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – December 14, 2013

December 14th, 2013

YNN_LissaYuri Anime

In case the Sailor Moon reboot coming this winter isn’t on your must-watch list, and Sakura Trick seems a little ootsey-cutesy, don’t worry, because there’s another anime coming up that might interest you, Akuma no Riddle. Set in a girl’s school where Haru is being targeted by assassins, one assassin falls for her target.

Remember a few weeks ago when a new Card Captor Sakura figurine was announced? Well, now it’s been announced that three Card Captor Sakura design sketchbooks will be available at this Winter Comiket.

The re-released DVDs of the original Sailor Moon anime have hit the shelves in Germany.

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Yuri Events

Winter Comiket is coming. December  29, 30, 31. A quick look at original Yuri circles I like tells me they’ll mostly be there on Day 2, the 30th. You can access the Comiket Catalog online, free, with registration. The site is in Japanese, of course. I note that the original Yuri section has been moved from the West Hall into the East Halls and now occupies a handful of blocks (rather than a row or two) in the F &G (“original shoujo”) sections of East Hall 1 on the 30th. And I note that Takemiya Jin-sensei is back as Junk Lab. ^_^ For anime parody Yuri (like Madoka and PreCure) you’ll be heading to East Hall 5 on the 29th. Having a few Circles to triangulate by really helps. If you can’t type in Japanese characters, search “UKOZ” and “Fantastic Yuri Rhythm” for original and parody orienteering, respectively.

Girls Love Fest will be returning to the Tokyo metropolitan area on March 3rd, 2014 in the company of a number of other series-focused, Yuri-focused, doujinshi shows.

YNN correspondent JHB. wants you to know that there is a Sailor Moon event on December 21 in Chile!

I managed to miss more than one amazing Yuri-interest event being held at the Asagaya Loft (Loft is a department store that has a number of locations around Tokyo.) The Asagaya Location held a Yurist event in October, and GUNJO creator Nakamura Ching-sensei earlier this month. I’ve got the schedule bookmarked now and see that Honey x Honey creator Takeuchi Sachiko will be appearing there this month the 21st.

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Other News

Bandai, in their infinite quest for yen, is re-releasing the 90s version of Sailor Moon’s lockets (Of which we have most, I believe, because otaku with actual houses to store things in are dangerous.)

Had to share this, from YNN Correspondent Lee K., Women’s In-jokes in Heian Japan: Makura no soshi – this links to the synopsis, where a full text link is available.

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That’s a wrap for this week! Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge. Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!