Archive for the Fujieda Miyabi Category


Revisiting Old Friends and Celebrating Yuri Anniversaries in Doujinshi!

September 9th, 2020

Some of you may have followed the saga of my recent package from Japan, that sat in a warehouse in Kawasaki for 7 weeks because it was supposed to take 8 weeks, so they made it take 8 weeks and then took 4 days to actually ship. ^_^; Today I want to share the partial contents of that package, because it will give us a chance to catch up with old stories and celebrate some anniversaries. All of the doujinshi I’ll be speaking of were purchased online at Melonbooks, and shipped from there to Tenso, which shipped it to me.

I used to joke/complain that the decent artifacts from Yuri Shimai / Yuri Hime had the most complicated histories. (Although nothing beats Hatsukoi Shimai.) Well each of today’s doujinshi practically comes with it’s own guidebook. ^_^

 

In 2003, before Hayate x Blade, manga artist Hayashiya Shizuru started serializing a story, Strawberry Shake, in the new quarterly Yuri manga magazine, Yuri Shimai, a manga that really honed her “baka” style of physical comedy. The series was ported to the new Yuri Hime magazine in 2005, was renamed Strawberry Shake Sweet and eventually was printed as a two-volume collection, both of which were reviewed here on Okazu. Volume 1 in 2006, and Volume 2 in 2009.  A single omnibus volume re-renamed Strawberry Shake  was printed in 2015 by Shueisha, with a new extra chapter.

The story followed two goofy, clueless “talents” (that is, they model, or do TV shows, or commercials, or whatever) Tachibana Julia and Asakawa Ran, as they meet, fall in love and almost never manage to get it together. When we meet her initially, Julia has just made a splash on a TV drama, and Ran is a new talent who is scooped up for fashion modeling. They are surrounded by a group of wacky characters who are nearly all also lesbian. It’s a tale told with Hayashiya’s bloody, violent comedy and I know it isn’t for everyone, but she’s  been one of my favorite artists since. ^_^ In fact, she may be the first artist I followed specifically, now that I think about it.

She’s continued the series in doujinshi over the years in a – so-far – 4-issue series titled Berry Strawberry Shake. Volume 1 | Volume 2| Volume 3 | Volume 4. The running gag in these are the same running gags in the original. Ran is still a doofus and Julia is still a baka. They are in love, but not in sync. Their manager Saeki is still uptight. The super-lesbian hairdresser Kaoru is still teasing her old schoolmate Saeki and getting into fights with her girlfriend and the very very queer band, which is less visual kei than visual gay, Zlay, is still super gay. All these many years and surrounded by all that gay, and our protagonists still haven’t managed a night together!

Well, this year in, Berry Shake 4, only 17 years after meeting for the first time, Julia and Ran manage a night together. Mostly.  There are…technical difficulties. ^_^;   I’m so glad to be able to check in on Julia and Ran and see that, as goofy as they are, they are happy and successful and…I note that they both are wearing matching rings.

 

 

On a quiet, greenery lined street in a little town, at the end of the road is a tea shop, where you can get delicious tea and patisserie and bask in the company of cute Yuri couples, all enjoying conversation and the pleasant atmosphere. Welcome to the Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan; Seriho and her partner Sarasa are your gracious…and always adorable…hosts.

Fujieda Miyabi‘s series, Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan began its life in Yuri Hime magazine in 2006. No, wait, it actually started in 2005 in a one-shot done for the [es] ~ Eternal Sisters, Volume 2 anthology. The series began serialization in Yuri Hime beginning in 2006. It ran for some years and was eventually collected into 2 volumes: Volume 1 in 2009, and Volume 2 in 2012.

Fujieda-sensei took his series to Drama CDs. The series had 4 DCDs and a 5th which was a crossover with his other contemporaneous series,  Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majyo, Madrigal Halloween, which is still the absolute finest Drama CD I own and arguably, ever made. The cast from this series and locale also makes constant cameos in his other series, including Alice Quartet and even Iono-sama Fanatics. He loves his crossovers as much as he loves Drama CDs.

Sarasa is a high school girl who frequents the local tea shop because she is in love with Seriho, the woman who runs the place. Seriho is sweet and a bit of a bubble-head, but she and Sarasa make a good team. Over time, Sarasa takes on the event planning and marketing and the cafe’s regular clientele eventually boasts a famous Yuri novel series author, a witch, a miko, fashion designers and a god. ^_^ (I bet it tortured Fujieda that his series Twinkle Saber Nova was set in the future….) The series ends with Sarasa and Seriho buying matching rings before Sarasa heads off to school to be become a pâtisier.

When the series wrapped up in Yuri Hime magazine, Fujieda-sensei created his own Yuri anthology doujinshi, Lilyca, in which Sarasa and Seriho, continue to live happily and adorably. I have two of the Lilyca volumes in print and the final two in digital form. It was my great luck to happen upon a collected volume of these stories The Ame-iro Kouchakan Tanhenshuu (飴色紅茶館歓談短編集) on Melonbooks and nab a copy before it sold out. This volume was created for Girls Love Fest in 2018, according to his Pixiv account.

I fell for Fujieda’s gentle stories full of happy Yuri couples, and his clothing design. To be honest, this cover is probably the least good clothing I’ve ever seen him create. Where other artists drew stuff like this – highlighting breasts and crotches for no good fashion reason, Fujieda rarely did that.  He was probably the second Yuri artist I followed specifically.

Time has passed, but all of our favorite couples are doing well. Sarasa is clearly a talented pâtisier now, the shop is known for delicious pastries as well as tea. Also doing well are DCD characters Shuri and Sayu and novel author Manaka and her manager. Sadly we don’t get to see what became of Letty the witch and her miko partner, Tsumugi. But it’s still good to see Sarasa and Seiho happily “married.”

 

 

Speaking of “marriage.” In 2010 – 10 years ago, Yuri Hime magazine was split into two separate publications, Yuri Hime, ostensibly for women, and Yuri Hime S, targeted towards men. Each came out quarterly for a total of 8 issues a year. Almost inexplicably, the February issue of Yuri Hime S premiered a series called  Fu~Fu (ふ~ふ) by Minamoto Hisanari who was, I believe, one of Fujieda-sensei’s assistants, and a member of his Atelier Miyabi/Moonphase circle (which spawned a couple of Yuri artists, in fact.) I say “almost inexplicably,” because Fu~Fu was about Kina and Suu-chan, an adult couple who were moving in together and celebrating wedded bliss without the wedding.  It was great having a series where moe-style art didn’t equate to either infantilized or grossly oversexualized..or worse, both at the same time.

Fu~Fu was a romantic comedy, very much in the Moonphase house style, sweet with explanations of lesbian lives and why marriage equality ought to be a thing. Kina is sweet, bubbly and Suu-chan is serious and a hard worker. They meet other Yuri couples and, when Suu-chan gets them matching rings, their friends and neighbors demand a wedding ceremony. This was collected into a two-volume set. Volume 1 at the end of 2011 and Volume 2 in spring 2013.

Well, this year is Suu-chan and Kina’s 10th anniversary, you see…and Minamoto-sensei had planned a special doujinshi for it…and the pandemic hit and Comitia was cancelled. But he participated with the online Comitia and released ふ~ふ 10th anniversary, act. 1 as a print doujinshi and in digital format which you *can* buy if you are outside Japan.  Act 2 is supposed to be released with the next online Comitia this autumn.

This 10th anniversary doujinshi starts with our two happily nested lesbians watching a movie together. Then a chapter about how all the characters use their cell phones and finally how Kina and Suu-chan met in school. It’s all very “awww”-inspiring.

So here we are, more than a decade since these three Yuri pioneers laid down bricks so many have followed. I still greedily consume everything Hayashiya-sensei creates (including her newest doujinshi series that features Yanki girls, food and Yuri, Yankoi Shokudou, and is therefore the most perfect thing ever created.) I hope publishers will pick them all up again, if they hope for that, or hope they tell the publishers to fuck right off, if the digital economy makes that easier for them.

Happy 17th anniversary to Julia and Ran, Happy 14th to Sarasa and Seriho and a very happy 10th anniversary to Suu-chan and Kina! Our fictitious “friends” are all well, as married as they can be in contemporary Japan, and I’m happier than I expected to be to see them again. ^_^





Yuri Drama CD: Kyuusei End Contents Positive:Encount (九彩エンドコンテンツ)

April 25th, 2019

It’s been a good long while since I had a couple of hours to just sit and listen to a Drama CD. Honestly, it felt really good to stick a giant headset on and unconnect from reality. ^_^ One of the several CDs I had backed up on the to-listen pile was by Fujieda Miyabi, Kyuusei End Contents Positive:Encount (九彩エンドコンテンツ). This independently produced Drama CD is the prequel of his Kyuusei End Contents manga, which has appeared in Comic Cune magazine.

The CD begins with a track of Nagomi with her lover Tsurugi, demanding a little attention. The story then backtracks to how they met. Tsurugi is a clothing designer suffering from creator’s block and Nagomi is a young woman she meets on the street. Nagomi has nowhere to go, so Tsurugi takes her in. Nagomi is blown away by Tsurugi’s work and, it turns out, is a huge fan. Nagomi’s cheerful enthusiasm and her cute look inspires Tsurugi, who has found her muse at last. The block is broken and Tsurugi gets to work.

Nagomi and Tsurugi have an extended conversation about what to call one another now that they are a couple. They settle on Tsurugi-chan and Nago-chan. By itself, this is not breathtaking, but come back tomorrow and we’ll do it again for a completely different CD!

This CD is short and, compared to Fujieda-sensei’s Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majyo to series, thin on content. But as the Kyuusei End Contents manga was itself a series of super-short shorts, it fits in well with the style and isn’t much lighter and fluffier than Ame-iro-Kouchkan Kandan. More than anything, it was just nice to see something new from Fujieda-sensei!

Ratings:

Art – 8 Always cute and sweet
Story – 7 Fairly simple girl-meet-girl, girl-moves-in-with-girl
Characters – 7 We don’t spend long enough with them to get to know them well. I’d like to know more about Tsurugi
Service – 6 We start off with some suggestive conversation
Yuri – 7 Same as above

Overall – 7

I have no idea where I picked this up, though. Maybe at Comitia? Or was it at Comic Zin? I honestly don’t know, but it was one of his Winter Comiket 2018 original works.

 

 





Yuri Drama CD: Iono The Fanatics, Ah, Michisuji ni Hikari ari 「ああ道筋に光あり」

October 1st, 2015

IsDCD2Just as Volume 1 of Iono The Fanatics Special Edition was packaged with a Drama CD, so was Volume 2, this time titled Iono The Fanatics, Ah, Michisuji ni Hikari ari 「ああ道筋に光あり」

The cast is the same as in the first CD, with three additional voices:

クラウソラス ：内山夕実 さん
Klausoraus : Uchiyama Yumi (Davi in Dokidoki! Precure)

ヤマ・ノヴェラ・ヴァランティアノズ : 高森奈津美
Yama Noveira Varantianos : Takamori Natsumi (Subaru from Houkago no Pleiades)

ここの・ミト・アルシュライン : 小倉唯
Kokono Mito Arceline : Ogura Yui (Sumika from Yuri Kuma Arashi)

The first 8 tracks are all very short, each establishing a fact, more than telling a story. Iono-sama returns home at last and Eto is suddenly face to face with the fact that her lover is truly a Queen…and she is overwhelmed.

We see Klausoraus as part of Iono-sama’s Special Police, under Argent’s command.

Argent and Yama are established as a couple, and I’m gonna say that I was surprised at how cute they were together. ^_^

Iono-sama, now home and settled in, asks Eto to have a child with her. Eto doesn’t take much time to say yes. This is followed by an introduction to Kokono-hime-sama, the star of the new manga chapters in Comic Yuri Hime. Another quick jump forward in time to the set up of the new manga chapters, as Kokono-hime asks to go to school in Japan and some of the staff volunteers to join her as protection.

Ratings:

Characters – 8
Story – 5
Yuri – 5
Service – 0

Overall – 5

While it was all very cute and breathless, it seemed like a long commercial for the new series, rather than a story on it’s own. You couldn’t hand this to anyone who was not already a Iono-sama fan and expect them to make heads or tails of it, the way you could with any of the Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan Drama CDs.





Yuri Manga: Iono The Fanatics, Special Edition Volume 2 (新装版 いおの様ファナティクス 特装版 2)

September 21st, 2015

specialiono2-e1435708747225In Volume 1, we met Iono Mito Arceline, the charming Queen of a small western country, and her close attendants as she spends time in Japan looking for women with black hair to recruit as ladies-in-waiting. Iono-sama meets and woos a nice young woman by the name of Hachibe Eto to join her clan. Adventures, romance and comedy ensue.

In Iono The Fanatics, Special Edition Volume 2 (新装版 いおの様ファナティクス 特装版 2), the take begins with a quick visit to an old gag. Oue Ruiko (affectionately known as OL-chan) is once again made late by Iono-sama, but learns just who this weirdo is and, in a moment of honesty, explains why she cannot join Iono-sama – she wants a quiet, peaceful, average life. The Queen gives her her blessing and they part.

We return to the gathered staff and find that Argent is suffering a crisis after having lost to Klausoraus, forcing Iono-sama to fight the assassin herself. Iono-sama takes Arge out on a date and buys her some new clothes, allowing us a quick visit with characters from Fujieda-sensei’s independent Alice Quartet series.

Eto gets some insight on the workings of the Queendom, when she meets Aida’s lover Shinon and, in an extremely awkward moment, Shinon’s mother, the chief of all the sobame, Weisen Bellecoeur. It seems that the sobame back home, missing their Queen, have taken to forming factions and fighting. Iono-sama decides to go home. But, will Eto come with her? She asks this while seducing Eto, whose response is to give in, rather than to join in.

Then crisis erupts with the re-appearance of Klausoraus the assassin! Eto is kidnapped, forcing Iono-sama and the gang to rescue her, and the appearance of yet another besotted youngster, a Princess of the country next door to Iono-sama’s. Eto makes her decision as Iono-sama sweeps her off her feet, literally.

The epilogue of the book picks up 5 years later, when the gang returns to Japan. Old gags reappear and are just as silly, Flèche and Arata have a baby now, Argent and Princess Yama seem to be an item, and, as the book comes to an end, Iono-sama heads off to find more women. ^_^

It was both delightful and maddening to read this book. I find myself obsessed with the concept of the harem Queen. Is Iono-sama having 1000 ladies-in-waiting who are in love with her cute or irksome? Is her love worth fighting over? If this were a King would I be rolling my eyes?

I’m also (and I repeatedly state) obsessed with the names of the characters. Names are sort of Frenchish-ish, with some hint of German. So is Aida “Aida Bloomer,” or “Aida Bleumare”? I’m sort of leaning to the latter now, given the breakthrough I had with Weisen’s name.

And last, but in no way least, I’m surprisingly uncomfortable with Eto as uke. I mean, not as such, because it’s obvious the Queen is the aggressor, but because she’s so passive. Creepy, maguro-passive. A dead fish in bed. With a book so filled with competent, powerful woman, it seems weird that Iono-sama would be so charmed by a nothing like Eto. But, then maybe it’s because everyone else close to her is so strong, the Queen was looking for someone less forceful. But I can’t help but think that it’s not cool to see the “Japanese women are passive in bed” trope in a romance, not even (maybe not especially?) from a Japanese man. Overthinking things again, I know, but that’s what you pay me for. ^_^

Ultimately, this series aged a little better than Strawberry Shake, and was just as much fun to revisit. And I’m looking forward to new adventures and another new Drama CD (which at a glance appears to be at least a bit about Argent and Princess Yama. A good match, as Arge has no patience for Yama’s passive-aggressive ways. I will, of course, report back.)

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

As I said in my original review of the series in 2005: I recommend “Iono-sama Fanatics” highly for Yuri that makes you smile. For Yuri that is sexy without explicit sex, and funny and cute – this is an excellent example of the breed.

And so it is. ^_^





Drama CD: Iono The Fanatics Ah, Kokorone ni Hahago ari「ああ 心根に 母御あり」

August 25th, 2015

ItFCDAKnHAs I mentioned yesterday, the new Special Edition of Iono The Fanatics is bundled with an original Drama CD, entitled “Ah, Kokorone ni Hahago ari”「ああ 心根に 母御あり」. Written by Fujieda-sensei, this Drama CD does not have a plot, per se, but is a set of light-hearted vignettes following Iono-sama, the charasmatic Queen of a small unnamed Western country, her incredibly talented staff, including the same set of gags that makes us laugh in the manga…until it segues into something quite different.

Main Cast: (Character names are my interpretation/translation at the moment. Subject to change. Roles mentioned are always skewed in favor of the Yuriest I could find, even if it’s not what they are best known for.)

いおの・ミト・アルシュライン：茅野愛衣
Iono Mito Arceline: Kiyano Ai (Kanae Mitani in Tamayura)

鉢辺絵兎（絵兎・ミト・アルシュライン）：日高里菜
Hachibe Eto: Hidaka Rina (Last Order in A Certain Magical Index)

みおと（いおの母）：早見沙織
Mioto (Iono’s Mother): Hayami Saori (Chihiru in Morita-san ha Muchi)

アルジェント・エフェメール：加隈亜衣
Argent Ephemel: Kakuma Ai (Nina Klein from Aldonoah Zero)

キャス・ルーセンス：洲崎綾
Cass Lucence: Suzaki Aya (Mako Mankanshoku from Kill la Kill!)

アイダ・ブルーメール：西明日香
Aida Bleumare: Nishi Asaka (Rika Suzuki from The Devil is a Part-timer)

フレシェ・ヴァンセット：瀬戸麻沙美
Flèche Vancette: Seto Asami (Takatsuki Yoshino  from Hourou Musuko)

There were a number of inconsequentials going on, such as the agonizing gag with poor OL-san and a cute little number in which Eto introduces everyone to takoyaki and suggests that Argent and she think of each other as sisters.

There was a more dramatic track in which we meet Mioto-sama, Iono-sama’s mother and learn where the Queen gets her heartfelt affection for her sobame. Mioto-sama was clearly a good role model – as Queen she was beloved by all her subjects. This track gets very melodramatic; it includes Mioto-sama’s final words to Iono-sama and her death.

The longest track is the cast talk in which the actresses above, and the others I left unmentioned, discuss what would you want a sobame to do for you. Most of them seemed to want a personal secretary most. ^_^

The voice actresses do a nice job, but based on the character we see in the manga, I felt that Eto’s voice was a little breathy and girly. I expected a more grounded, even slightly morose, voice. But everyone else sounded pretty much as I’d expect them to. ^_^

Ratings:

Characters – 8
Story – 6
Yuri – 4
Service – 0

Overall – 6

Not, IMHO, the best CD from Fujieda-sensei. That award goes to
Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majyo to “Madrigal Halloween”, but as always a nice way to get a better sense of the characters through voice acting – and a way to spend a little extra time with them.

I hope this edition shatters Yuri Danshi sales records.