Archive for the Canno Category


Yuri Manga: Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Volume 7 (English), Guest Review by Christian LeBlanc

November 28th, 2018

Hello and welcome to Guest Review Wednesday on Okazu! Yay! Today we welcome Christian LeBlanc of 3Dcomics.weebly.com to our loving embrace. Or, was that deadly clutches…I can never remember. ^_^ In any case please give Christian your full attention…as we head out together on today’s review.

By Volume 7 of Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl by Canno, (translation by Leighann Harvey, letters by Alexis Eckerman) we’ve firmly settled into the template for a K&WL book: several chapters will showcase the new characters shown on the cover, and the remainder will focus on a ‘legacy couple’ (more than likely Ayaka Shiramine and Yurine Kurosawa, as is the case in this volume).

Our newest cast members are piano-playing junior-high student Haine Aoi (who has recently joined the gardening club so she can get closer to Yurine), and her supportive aunt Aika Yukimura, a senior at Seiran. (scratchy noise of a record skipping) Yes, I did say aunt, so let’s address this elephant in the room right away before it knocks over something valuable.

Canno portrays many different types of relationships in her work. Countless micro-stories fill the “Kiss Theater” bonus pages at the end of each chapter. Her story in Éclair: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart follows a 28-year-old rogue and the 16-year-old girl who pursues her, and she’s even explored monster girls in a MONSTAR doujinshi (along with circle mates Nega and Kawauchi).

Non-romantic friendships are also valid story fodder, as we’ve seen in Volume 4 with Kaoru, Kohagi and Momiji. Here, then, Canno continues exploring different relationships between women by focusing on an aunt and niece, close in age, who were brought up as siblings. Canno even makes it explicit in one scene that they will never be paired romantically, when one character momentarily considers the possibility and is put off by it. I think Canno felt this was necessary given the expectations of romance set up by the cover (and genre) (and by contemporary stories such as Citrus, coughcough), but it still feels a little strange that they consider it at all. The alternative, I guess, is to not show this scene, and leave the reader with a seed of doubt: “but . . . are we supposed to think of them as a couple?” Better to just nip that question in the bud.

This all being said, Haine and her aunt Aika end up being a delightful pair to read about.  Their affection for each other is sincere and touching, rendered even more so by Leighann Harvey’s thoughtful and expressive translation. They both suffer anxiety over the idea that siblings are supposed to drift apart to some degree in adulthood, but Aika receives advice from a returning character on this. There’s also some tension between the two early on concerning piano skills (something they once bonded over nearly drives them apart!) and Haine needing her space and independence (I know she’s just at that age, but oh boy does she act like a brat!), so in all, we still get our ‘romantic conflict’ for our cover stars to work through.

As for our returning players, we see some major growth in effortless-genius Yurine and her relationship with hard-working honors-student Ayaka. We’ve already seen hints throughout the series that Yurine’s advantages over her classmates have caused her some alienation. This comes to a head when Haine triggers a depressive episode in Yurine by telling her she has an empty life for failing to find a passion for anything. Ayaka gamely tries to help her recover, still grateful for Yurine’s help back in Volume 5 when Ayaka was at her lowest.

Contrasted with this, however, is Ayaka’s negative reaction when Yurine later suggests throwing the exams to let Ayaka take back first place. Ayaka has always been comically tsundere before, but there’s nothing funny about her reaction this time – her words are cold and mean, with no underlying hint of “but I really like you!” at all. It feels especially shocking given how much Ayaka was earnestly trying to help Yurine in this book, and speaks volumes about her unresolved hang-ups concerning perfection.

This is also the first volume to end on a cliff-hanger, incidentally: as their relationship evolves, Yurine feels something different after one of her many kisses she’s forced on Ayaka, and it freaks her out – the next volume is about her sorting through what these new feelings mean, so stay tuned! Volume 8 is currently scheduled to be published by Yen Press on March 19, 2019.

Art – 7 Significant improvements: hair is given a lot more definition and shading, and there are more efforts to visually distinguish Yurine from Ayaka (their height difference feels more pronounced, for example). However, I have to knock two points off the English edition for being printed with significantly thicker blacks than the Japanese version, which destroys a great deal of subtlety in the tones and shading; scenes set in the dark particularly suffer from this. Additionally, Yen Press routinely trims off a fair bit of bleed art, and it was frustrating to see Ayaka’s and Yurine’s test results get cut off as well.
Story – 9 Again, Leighann Harvey has done a wonderful job translating this.
Characters – 9
Yuri – 5
Service – 3 My wife may or may not have uttered “Holy Bazongas!” when she happened to glance over my shoulder at the bath scene, and if you have a thing for Santa dresses, Canno’s got you covered with the introduction to the closing chapter.

Overall – 9

I really enjoyed this volume. There are many returning characters, giving the book a welcome ensemble feel for the first time, reinforced by four bonus chapters at the end. The two main stories connect quite seamlessly, and the Christmas backdrop leads to some very pretty scenery (the cover, with its snow-flecked poinsettia, pinecone and holly border sitting above a starry-looking field of snowflakes, is my favorite of the series for this reason). It’s also refreshing to see Yurine struggling for once – she’s come a long way from her one-dimensionally super-human portrayal in Volume 1.

Erica here: Thank you so much for your insight, Christian. If I wasn’t already reading this series, your enthusiasm and affection for it would surely convince me to pick it up! Thank you again for a wonderful review. ^_^





Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, Volume 8 (あの娘にキスと白百合を)

July 5th, 2018

In Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, Volume 8 (あの娘にキスと白百合を), it’s student council election time and arumour is floating around that Shiramine will be running. The thought doesn’t make Kurosawa as happy as she thinks she ought to be. 

But the true rivals for the position are Tatsumi and Torayama who, although roommates, really don’t much like one another. Forced to live with her rival due to family circumstances, Torayama is determined to beat Tatsumi., only she doesn’t. Annoyingly Tatsumi offers her the VP position, and they seem to have a truce. When at last Torayama is released by her mother to move into the dorm, she comes to the conclusion that she’s been very, very wrong about her rival. 

In the meantime, Shiramine has been told by her mother to move out of the dorm and come back home. Kurosawa supports her unconditionally, and the two move even closer than before. They are both getting very close to being people who could be in a relationship with each other and it be good for them. 

It’s been 8 volumes and 4 years and finally, I am able to see Shiramine and Kurosawa as a couple without having to squint too hard. I am now looking forward to their story progressing a bit.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7 
Yuri – 5
Service – 1 on principle only

Overall – 7

As a complete aside, have I mentioned that I really like the creative hairstyles Canno-sensei comes up with for this series? I do. It’s not that easy making a manga about girls in the same uniform that simple to differentiate. She does a really nice job with their hair. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Volume 6 (English) Guest Review by Christian Le Blanc

July 4th, 2018

Hello and Welcome to Guest Review Wednesday, where we welcome back returning Guest Reviewer Christian LeBlanc! It took me a little too long to ask him to do this, especially as he is undoubtedly this series greatest advocate in North America. So, please welcome him, thank him and let us know your thoughts on this manga in the comments. In the meantime, the floor is yours, Christian!

Before going too far into this review, let me first declare my subjectivity, so you can keep this in mind while reading: I am a huge fan of Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl. I get commissions of Chiharu and Izumi when I attend conventions. I proudly wore the 2018 Yuriten K&WL t-shirt while tabling at a con, as well as when I went to my local comic shop the morning this volume was released. I often listen to the drama CDs, even though I only understand about 5 to 10% of what is said. I have a playlist in my head of songs that I think “work” for certain characters. I celebrated when I saw my favourite couple ‘aged up’ for the Yuriten 2018 main illustration, because this confirmed they were still together years later. I loved a single chapter of Volume 5 *so hard* that Erica asked me to write this guest review for Volume 6. So when I say “Everyone should run out and buy three copies of this book!”, you should probably temper that advice and just buy the one copy instead.

So! Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Volume 6, introduces us to Amane Asakura and Nina Yuunagi, who are in an open relationship – except Nina doesn’t really want it to be, but is scared she’ll lose Amane if she says anything about it. This is complicated by the arrival of Ryou Hiruma, who develops a crush on Amane (Amane has been helping her out with notes and chores while Ryou’s hand heals…and the crush is mutual). This is complicated even *more* when Nina and Ryou develop feelings for each other – poor Nina gets so twisted up with guilt and insecurity that she has a bit of a breakdown at Ryou’s place, where the gang all ends up meeting and hashing things out.

To put it in even simpler terms: since Nina wants to be in a monogamous relationship with Amane, she feels jealous when Amane and Ryou start getting close, and ashamed when she, also, starts to develop feelings for Ryou.

I was hoping this review would help me ‘get’ their relationship and enjoy them more, but the opposite happened. As interested as I was in reading a story about polyamory, the more I re-read this section, the more I’m convinced that this is a very unhealthy depiction of one. Nina would be a sympathetic character, except she shoves Ryou into some wet garbage, has murderous thoughts towards her right after, and forces a kiss on her later when she starts to develop a (one-sided, at this point) crush on her. Amane would be sympathetic, except when Ryou tells her about the pain Nina is in, Amane takes it personally and gets mad at Nina for not being honest with her. And for her part, Ryou doesn’t tell Amane she wants to get closer until after Nina tells her to back off, allowing ‘spite’ to be a motivator in her relationship with Amane.

Our trio achieves perfect equilibrium by story’s end, and maybe they’ll all be happy together from here on out after they’ve had their touching heart-to-heart, but I can’t help thinking that as soon as Amane falls for someone outside their circle, their happiness will vanish into thin air faster than a fart in a hurricane.

In contrast, returning heavyweights Chiharu Kusakabe’s and Izumi Akizuki’s relationship is much stronger and healthier, and much more fun to read. Izumi wrestles with the concept of polyamory after receiving a flower from Amane (this happens early in the book, before Ryou even appears), but ends up charming the hell out of Chiharu when she gets caught returning the flower (in any other series, seeing your girlfriend handing a flower to someone else would result in chapters and chapters of drawn-out misunderstandings; Canno’s abundance of new characters forces her to abandon these clichés in order to keep things moving, which I find really fresh and appealing). For her part, Chiharu gets a surprise visit from her former crush Hoshino-senpai, forcing her to deal with the last of her lingering feelings towards her, which culminates in a beautiful scene between her and Izumi. We also get a mini-chapter with these two at the end, as well as a very quick check-in with the other couples from the series. There’s even a 4 koma that shows how Ryou hurt her hand, revealing herself to have been the reason Chiharu had to attend an emergency disciplinary committee meeting and be late for her date with Izumi (Canno puts a *lot* of thought into her linking elements).

If you didn’t like Chiharu and Izumi from Volume 2, I don’t know that this volume will turn you around on them. If, however, you’re on the right side of history and swoon over the cute interplay between Izumi’s boundless affection and Chiharu’s cool, sarcastic exterior that hides a painfully shy but deeply loving interior, then you’ll love this book. I think it’s fantastic whenever we get to see a couple being a couple – so many romance stories are about characters falling in love; we don’t get nearly enough stories like this about people just *being* in love.

There’s a really sweet moment where Chiharu tells Izumi the reasons why she’s late for their date – Izumi is stung, but she falls forward into Chiharu’s shoulder for comfort, instead of turning away in anger. That one small detail is incredibly touching to me, as is Izumi’s trust in Chiharu when she realizes, hey, she didn’t do anything wrong (it just took her by surprise).

There’s one even smaller detail which I think is even more important, and possibly more affecting. At one point, Izumi thinks to herself: “Like in a tv show, you have just this one special person…and they tell you you’re special too…maybe this thing with me and Senpai is the same old story. Someone somewhere decided on the ‘mold.'” To Izumi, her relationship with Chiharu is the most natural, normal thing in the world, because of course it is, and I love seeing anybody feel that way. I don’t know if Canno intended it to be such a powerful beat (Izumi’s only thinking it because she’s mulling over Amane’s proposal of polyamory, which Izumi had never thought of before), but it’s right up there as one of my favourite moments in comics, and I think it’s perfect that this was published in time for Pride Month.

Ratings:

Art – 10 (Very fittingly, the only rough spot is when Amane, Nina and Ryou have a group hug)
Story – 10 (I averaged 6/10 for Amane’s, Nina’s and Ryou’s section, and 14/10 for Chiharu’s and Izumi’s section. You know, to be fair and impartial.)
Characters – 10 (see above)
Service – 3 (There’s a topless scene, played with zero salaciousness, which I think is neat; no, I rate this a 3 just for the expressions on the faces of Chiharu and Izumi when they kiss)
Yuri – 10. “How on earth did they let you in high school?” Chiharu asks Izumi; because she tested so highly in Yuri, obviously, which is the most important pre-requisite for attendance at Seiran. Now that I think of it, even the cats outside the school are probably in a Yuri relationship: “You’re so cuddly. Cuuuuute! Maybe you’re sisters?” Oh, Nina. You’re so naive.
Overall – 11, and you should buy three copies.

Erica here: As it happens, I love this volume. In a series that for me is cut, rather than meaningful, this volume stands out as a really excellent and important volume. I liked it in Japanese and generally consider it to be my favorite volume to date.





Yuri Manga: Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, Volume 7 (あの娘にキスと白百合を)

January 18th, 2018

In Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, Volume 7 (あの娘にキスと白百合を), Yurine gets a new underclassman in gardening club. As a near-last act, her sempai show up and say, “Here, this kid wants in.” Haine is thrilled to be part of the club and to be near the famous Kurozawa Yurine, but. As it turns out in our story du volume, Haine is famous in her own right and she’s frankly unimpressed by her impressively talented sempai. She takes Yurine to task for not caring about anything she does and calls her life “empty.” 

Yurine, for the first time in this entire series, is deeply hurt. The idea that she’s living a meaningless life sends her, in tears, to Ayaka. But this crisis is good for her, when she comes to realize that she actually does enjoy acting and her rivalry with Ayaka. She’s not empty after all.

Final exams are on the line. Ayaka bets Yurine that she’ll beat her this time for sure. Yurine, confident that she is unbeatable as always, jokingly says that if Ayaka loses, she wants a kiss. The grades are posted. and….I won’t spoil the ending.  ^_^ You’ll be able to read it for yourself soon enough, as the English-language releases are coming out fast. 

This volume is not the first time we’ve taken a look at Kurozawa’s life, but it’s the first time the series has gone to any length to make her sympathetic in any meaningful way. Equally, this volume takes a moment to show us a Shiramine who has softened a little. As they move closer to one another, for the first time in all 7 volumes, I feel like I can root for them as a couple.

The final chapter takes a look at Itsuki and Sawa, and Towako and Yurina show up to tell us that they’ve both gotten into the school’s college, so they’ll be sticking around. I can see that this series, having taking such pains to create a bunch of couples, aren’t going to just let them go simply.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7 
Yuri – 5
Service – 1 on principle only

Overall – 7

For the look at Kurozawa’s weaknesses, this is a good volume. And a much-needed one.





Yuri Manga: Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Volume 4 (English)

January 11th, 2018

Mizuki is facing a crisis. It’s her senior year and her last chance to make the nationals in track. But her longtime friend and her inspiration, Moe, can see that it’s not so simple as just ramping up training.

Moe insists that Mizuki stop using her as a muse and find it in herself to run because she wants to. In Volume 4 of Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Mizuki loses the battle, but wins the war when finds her love of running again, and she and Moe get to admit their true feelings for each other.

This is, to date, one of my favorite volumes of Canno’s series. The set-up feels more honest and less “plot complication”-y than most of the scenarios in the series so far. I also quite like Moe because she’s says what she’s thinking, a quality not often see in Yuri romances. Additionally, the series has sort of settled in for a longer haul now, and we can turn our eyes almost completely away from main couple Kurozawa and Shiramine without fearing that the entire series will disappear in a puff. So, while Yurine and Ayaka do make an appearance, it’s almost a walk on, until the amusingly snarky final chapter, which was all obligatory Valentine’s Day stories ever, all at once.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 7 Cute, sweet, etc
Yuri – 8
Service – 1 on principle only

Overall – 8

The English-language Volume 5 has a release date of late February, and I’m working on Volume 7 in Japanese right now. At this rate of release you’re all gonna all catch up with the Japanese series by next summer!