Author Archive


Yuri Manga: Onna no ko Awase (女の子合わせ)

September 10th, 2013

This summer saw two manga collections  by Morishima Akiko-sensei released at once. The first one I reviewed,  Hajimeta, Kanojou to. was a look back at the beginnings of couples that had been established in later stories. This collection, Onna no ko Awase (女の子合わせ) are one-shots she drew for Comic Yuri Hime and the Yuri Hime Wildrose and Girls Love anthologies.

The first half of the book is stand-alones, and because many of them are anthology stories, they are more sex-focused than her serial works. The first story can be summed up with  “we’re in love, what do we do now?” A graduating senior and her underclassman lover spend a morning reliving their good times in school. Two girls in a private Catholic girls school indulge in questionable taste as they enjoy a bit of non-consensual BDSM in the chapel in front of Mary. A college student teaches her tutor how to have fun on a vacation.

The second half of the book is a mini-series about “Nega”, a girl with negative vibes, who desires a fellow clubmember whom she sees as a perfect angel that she wants to dirty. Nega has a lot of issues to get past and her image is just one of them. For her part, the object of Nega’s desire, Tsukimiya, is totally on board. They learn to trust themselves and each other. Kei, a idol of the school who helps Nega rework her image,  and Nana, Nega’s friend, have a parallel relationship that goes from friends with benefits to something more. No surprise, I liked this series best, since we took time to get to know the characters, rather than just rushing them to bed.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Stories – Variable – 4-8
Characters – Same
Yuri – 9
Service – 8

Overall – 7

I definitely prefer Morishima-sensei’s series. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Strange Babies (ストレンジベイビーズ)

September 8th, 2013

In Ohsawa Yayoi’s Black Yagi to Gekiyaku Madeline, we met Yagi-san, a “typical” unpopular girl with a surprising secret – she has a popular occult net show, in which she stars wearing a goat’s head. Yagi meets another net idol, super-cute Madeline and the two of them team up to do combined shows. They strike up a friendship that definitely has potential to become more.

In the sequel, Strange Babies, (ストレンジベイビーズ) Yagi and Mado-chan’s burgeoning relationship is stomped flat by Kokoto, a fan of “Yagi-sama.” Kokoto inserts herself in between Yagi and Mado-chan in order to capture Yagi’s affections. Yagi, having never had any friends, now finds herself surrounded by a harem. She’s blissfully happy…only, something is nagging at her. She’s not sure that Kokoto really sees her as a person, and she misses the time she used to spend alone with Mado-chan.

It all comes to a climax, when Kokoto invites herself to a recording session of Yagi-sama’s show. Madeline, completely cut off from Yagi, leaves. Yagi learns the source of Kokoto’s admiration – which is a nice story, but, it becomes obvious to her at last that Kokoto has no feelings for the girl behind the mask. Leaving Kokoto, Yagi runs to Mado-chan’s home and they reunite, tearfully admitting their feelings for each other.

We don’t even have to feel too bad for Kokoto, as her best friend and sidekick, Arisu, is well-placed to pick up the pieces.

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As overwrought and crazy as the premise appears, this wasn’t a bad story at all. Making Kokoto sympathetic was critical, or she would have been too annoying and hateful to have been an effective plot complication. Giving Arisu feelings for Koko-chan was more or less just padding her fall in our heads, so we don’t have to feel guilty that Yagi’s rejection will send her back into depression. The hardest thing about the story is Yagi’s cluelessness. It is, however, not hard to imagine that she is unable to see Mado-chan’s feelings for her, having lived so alone her whole life.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Character – 7
Yuri – 8
Service – 1

Overall – 8

Strange Babies was a really weird series, but it worked. And it had a Baphomet, so it gets extra points. ^_^





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – September 7, 2013

September 7th, 2013

YNN_MariKSo much fantastic news this week!

Yuri Event

It’s 98% certain at this point, so I’m going to go ahead an announce it – I will be doing a lecture at Kanagawa University on October 8th. The lecture should be open to the public, so if you are (or plan to be) in or near enough to Yokohama that day, I’d love to see you there! I don’t have details, yet. But I hope to have them soon.

Relevant to our interests, I am planning a pilgrimage to Yoshiya Nobuko’s house while in Japan this time. I want to pay my respects to the woman whose work gave birth to the genre we love.

If you’re in the Tokyo area at the end of this month, don’t miss Yuri doujinshi event Girls Love Fest.

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Yuri Anime

Via YNN Correspondent Shannon L, ANN reports that a second season and a film have been announced for Psycho-Pass.

Last week, Tumblr flipped out over what some people presumed were new character designs for the Sailor Moon anime. They weren’t. It was doujinshi by makacoon – but really well designed and we can only hope the real thing is that good. So here’s what I want you to realize – This is the official Sailormoon Channel, always check there first. If it is not listed there, it is not real. And don’t listen to Tumblr – it’s always slightly hysterical and never has proper attribution. ^_^

A couple of people wrote in to let you know that Maria-sama ga Miteru anime is now showing on Hulu.com. I clicked the link to copy it and watched three episodes. Sucker. ^_^

The first teaser for the Bodacious Space Pirates movie is streaming.

NIS America is scheduling a “Premium” release for Yuru Yuri Season 2 anime .

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Other News

Alison Bechdel’s genius autobiographical comic, Fun Home, has been made into a musical. If  any Okazu readers manage to make a performance, please consider writing a report for us!

For Labor Day, a number of artists portrayed comic heroines as the iconic Rosie the Riveter.

This is real-world news, but if you are in a serious same-sex relationship in the US, the Treasury Dept. has announced that all same-sex couples married in a state that has legal same-sex marriage can file jointly for federal taxes.  The benefits will based on where you get married (i.e., one of the 13 states that has legal SSM, not civil unions or domestic partnerships) regardless if the state you live in recognizes that marriage or not. This ruling will also affect Medicare, Social Security and other Federal benefits.

The folks at Manga Reborn look to officially translate 10 never before in English titles with this Kickstarter. Of course I backed this project. ^_^

Here’s a glimpse at what the My Little Pony manga looks like.

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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!





End of Hayate x Blade

September 6th, 2013

hxbend“And so, we all became idiots.”

With this title, the final chapter of Hayate x Blade begins.

The Black group has been defeated. Hitsugi announces that she’s restructuring the entire school.

Sword bearers will chose one of two dorms – Tenkuu or Daichi- to live in. The Daichi dorm will be overseen by Hajime, leader of the Black group. The Tenkuu dorm will be overseen by Kurea.(You may remember that in Volume 5 Kurea and Midori challenged Hitsugi and Shizuku and lost.  13 volumes later, Hitsugi is still punishing Kurea.)

We also learn that Ayana and Hayate have been awarded, at last, A Rank. But, we also learn that top ranks will be demoted, purely for Hitsugi’s amusement, no doubt. Not last, certainly not least, Hitsugi announces her retirement as school Chair so she can spend her last year as a regular student.

In the final chapter, as the students decide if they will align themselves with the Black group dorm or the Tenchi dorm, Hayate runs off to Tanpopo Orphange to give Chiharu the school lease. Hayate has achieved her goal – Tanpopo will never be in danger again. She then runs around Tenchi giving out cat-mascots to all the major players who were without them. 18 volumes, 2 publishers and 8 years later,   the series comes to an end. Oh, wait, no it doesn’t. Next issue will be an epilogue…

…and then a new series! Hayate x Blade 2!

Best news I’ve had all year.

Dear Hayashiya-sensei,

Please never stop writing this series. It is my favoritest thing ever.

Thanks,

Erica

 





Yuri Manga: Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na Nanika, Volume 2 (私の世界を構成する塵のような何か)

September 5th, 2013

Volume 2 of Amano Shuninta’s Yuri soap opera Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na Nanika (私の世界を構成する塵のような何か) was…excellent.

Having established that Ruki and Sachi are interested in each other, we set them aside as main players and turn our sights towards what appeared to be the single stable couple among the two groups – Asuna and Fueko.

As the volume opens, we “meet” Asuna, as she learns about sex with women and about herself, and then jump to post-breakup, when Asuna and Fueko meet again. Although they cannot resolve what lays between them, they come to a place where they can part without regret. We then back up to get to know Fueko a little better. Finally, we see the both of them moving on. Last, wee see the root of their breakup.

The reordering of their story worked incredibly well. I had fooled myself into thinking they were a better couple than they were. This volume really brought home how wrong I was. Asuna was not nearly as sensitive as I (and the characters) had convinced myself that she was and Fueko was more selfish than I had realized. Breaking up was probably the most mature decision she’d made so far.

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Tucked into the background of this volume, we’re getting more detail about the other characters, as well. Ma-asa as Asuna’s tutor kind of blew my mind. The revelation about Meru’s past was sobering, upsetting and a little frustrating. But it made me see the cast as one complete unit, with friends that pull each other up, rather than just pairs to be watched and they couple and decouple. There is so much thought going into the storytelling here. It’s not a Story A, it’s about lives lived by characters that could be real. If you’re reading this series, pay attention to what you are looking at. Amano-sensei is a master craftsman.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 9
Service – 3 Mostly tasteful nudity

Overall – 9

I joked in my review of Volume 1 that this series was a Yuri The L Word. There is no doubt in my mind now that Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na Nanika would make a *fantastic* live-action drama series.