Archive for the Kodama Naoko Category


Days of Love at Seagull Villa, Volume 3

November 15th, 2021

Days of Love at Seagull Villa, Volume 3, teeters a the edge of crisis from almost the very first page for what might have been a really dark story but, ultimately, wasn’t. I’m still not sure if it was better for it, or not. ^_^

First, we learn that the real source of Mayumi’s self-doubt, is her “best friend,” who has spent a lifetime poisoning and manipulating Mayumi. Touko, who is clearly quite possessive of Mayumi, and also clearly willing to manipulate her and everyone around her, is already beginning the process of cutting Mayumi off from Rin at the beginning of this volume. When we understand that Touko has been doing this all her life, we’re pulling even harder for Mayumi to get away.

But that isn’t the only crisis. Rin’s being pressured to get married; after all, raising Hinata alone is hard. A storm is coming and it might bring darkness…

…Only, no, it doesn’t. ^_^

In the end, Mayumi stands up for herself, she and Rin tell each other their feelings and everyone lives happily ever after. And I find, as I read it, that it feels like a book that could have become another deeply disturbing series, but was cut off (early? perhaps, I can’t tell) and given a happy ending. For which I am very thankful.. The world is full of enough horrible, manipulative people who get away with terrible things, I’m not enthusiastic about that in my Yuri as well.

But also, does it make any sense that everyone in the story lives happily ever after – the terrible people, the clueless people, the good and kind people, and the protagonists? I still can’t tell.

I mean, sure I’m happy for the kids, I’m glad Rin and Mayumi make it work and are accepted and happy. We ended up with no worse than a sprained ankle, but I have the strangest feeling that we were supposed to have had – something – go worser. I’ll call us all lucky and move on. Touko’s manipulation is a mere shadow of the kind of emotional abuse Kodama-sensei portrays in some of her other work and maybe she just couldn’t bring herself to torture Mayumi. I’m okay with that.

Technically, the book is very well done, with clean translation done by Amber Tamosaitis and Mo Harrison’s nicely integrated lettering and retouch.  Once again a great job by Seven Seas. It’s a fast read and a surprisingly sweet ending from a master of Yuri dread. ^_^

Ratings

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 8
Service – Not so much this volume
Yuri – 9

Overall – 8

Thanks so much to Seven Seas for the review copy. A lucky someone will get to enjoy this in an upcoming Lucky Box!





Days of Love at Seagull Villa, Volume 1

March 29th, 2021

Mayumi has left her life in the big city behind. She knows she’s running away, but she’s committed to running as far as she can from the circumstances that have left her feeling empty. At the beginning of Days of Love at Seagull Villa, Volume 1, instead of of dealing, Mayumi has moved to a small seaside town to become a teacher. As she contemplates her future, she is accosted by a young woman who looks like a tough who thinks she is trying to do herself harm. One hilarious hijink later and Mayumi finds herself at the Seagull Villa, with a cast of characters and people with whose lives Mayumi will become involved.

When I read this series in Japanese, I felt very much that there was some kind of war going on between the artist and the story. Over and over it veers into the kind of dark territory so much of Kodama-sensei’s work is known for, and over and over it just sort of rests itself and tries again. It’s a very plucky story.

Mayumi comes across as a mope, but it quickly becomes apparent why and we do kind of root for her. But for my money, without landlady Rin’s jocularity, this story could and probably would have bogged down. That said, it doesn’t bog down and every turn for the worse, somehow pulls around into what will become an unlikely tale of alternate family and, (obviously, because this is a Yuri romance!) love. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7 It has moments.
Characters – 6
Service – Yes. It is a Kodama Naoko story, there is service
Yuri – 5

Overall – 7

Days of Love at Seagull Villa, Volume 1 by Naoko Kodama is available on Amazon and Global Bookwalker. Volume 2 is also available.





Uminekosou days, Volume 3 (海猫荘 days)

February 7th, 2021

In Volume 1, wet met Mayumi, a woman on the run from the ruins of her life. She decides to become a teacher in a small seaside town, where she meets Rin, the former punk landlady of the small guesthouse in which she is living. In Volume 2, Mayumi finds herself drawn into the lives of the residents of the guesthouse and starts to make a place for herself among them.

Here we are at Uminekosou days, Volume 3 (海猫荘 days), the final volume of Kodama Naoko’s series from Comic Yuri Hime…and at last, we can see the core of Mayumi’s problems. Her “best friend” Touko has arrived from Tokyo and it is instantly apparent to us that Touko’s has been poisoning the well of Mayumi’s life for years. Whatever Mayumi might possibly ever have, Touko destroys it.

And wow, does Touko give it her best shot here, too. But Mayumi finally understands herself and tells Touko that she doesn’t get to make the decisions. Touko goes back to Tokyo and Mayumi is finally 100% the person she could always have been, as she sets off to solve a sudden crisis. In a final epilogue, we see all the characters happy, healthy and free to be who they are and love and live their lives the way they want.

This was a series that was, at the end of Volume 2, primed for going into some pretty dark territory, but instead, it sort of picked itself up, shook itself off and with a grand wave of the magic wand gave everyone a happily-ever-after ending. I’m still not sure if that was a positive or negative thing for the story, but I’m a little relieved as a reader. Yes, happily-ever-afters all around is a handwave, but did I really want another volume of Mayumi having her heart gutted by an obviously jealous and manipulative “friend”? No, I did not. So happily-ever-after it is and thank you very much.

Kodama-sensei’s work is a kind of knife edge for me. She’s at her best when her characters are broken; wounded, vulnerable, manipulative. I don’t actually enjoy stories about that, but Kodama-sensei has a habit of pulling things out. So every one of her series has a kind of sword of Damocles feel, as I wait for it to either get too dark for me to cope, or to wrap up. She’s getting closer with each series, to one day creating something that sandblasts me, but I stick around for the whole thing. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 7
Service – 3 less than previous volumes
Yuri – 7

Overall – 8

Seeing Mayumi stand up to Touko was worth the price of admission.

 





Uminekosou days, Volume 2 (海猫荘 days)

July 14th, 2020

Mayumi’s job as a teacher in this small town has begun and she is settling in. Well, settling isn’t the right word at all. If anything, in  Uminekosou days Volume 2 (海猫荘 days), by I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up creator, Kodama Naoko, she’s become increasingly unsettled as she learns more about Ashima, the young woman who hangs around the Umineko boardinghouse.

The daughter of a prominent businessman with his lover, Ashima’s family situation is complicated….made more so by a romantic relationship with her half sister…and even more complicated by Ashima’s feelings about Rin the boardinghouse landlady. When she sees Rin and Mayumi bonding, Ashima is not at all happy for them or for herself. But while Mayumi is dealing with Ashima’s emotional turmoil, she’s ignoring her own.

And she is in turmoil. She’s developing feelings for Rin and starting to feel like one day she might belong somewhere, when her “friend” from home, shows up. Touko is the woman who stole Mayumi’s boyfriend and instantly we can see that she’s no friend to Mayumi. She’s one of those hideous toxic people who undermines the people around them and sure enough the first thing she does is sabotage something Mayumi was working on.

And the book ends with us hoping that Mayumi will be able to see what her “friend” is like before she gets hurt.

The final chapter of the series is waiting for me and, even if I don’t necessarily believe in Mayumi, I definitely believe in Rin. She’s introduced to us as a former yanki, but she’s always shown as a good person who interprets the word family as anyone under her roof, and has that family’s best interests in mind.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 6
Service – 5 Bathing Whee
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7

 I’m just hoping to see Mayumi be the one to kick Touko in the butt. ^_^

You’ll be able to read this series in English this autumn from Seven Seas as Days of Love at Seagull Villa..





Yuri Manga: I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up (English)

June 17th, 2019

Let’s start this week off with a manga that veered closeish to addressing LGBTQ life. That’s right, we’re talking Kodama Naoko’s I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up.

Machi’s parents are pressuring her to get married – because that is what should be done. And she’s just not interested. Her friend Hana needs a place to live while her apartment is renovated and she thinks she’s got a good idea – she and Machi will pretend to be a married couple. Surely that will get Machi’s parents off her back, one way or the other. Machi agrees, with significant reservations, while Hana gleefully starts playing house with the woman she clearly loves.

As I said in my review of the Japanese edition,(the title of which I read as I Fake Married my (Female) Friend Because of My Annoying Parents,)  “But if the idea of a fake same-sex marriage of convenience isn’t going to bother us, then the idea that the actual relationship between Hana and Machi is horribly unfair, is just fine. (-_-) ”  Hana is happy enough, but Machi, a character uncomfortable with herself her whole life, has no idea how to be a good friend to Hana, much less a good partner.

Machi’s character has a lot of developing to do, and we’re happy for her that she does it. Hana is there not just as a catalyst, although to call Machi’s development an “awakening” might be going a step too far. The end result is that Machi and Hana build a relationship that works for them and the Japanese readership learn (presuming they didn’t already know) about the Shibuya same-sex relationship certificates. As I say, this story veered cloeseish to addressing some real issues as Machi faces down derision and homophobia from her parents.

The last part of the book is a separate short about two girls on track team, their emotions around their own abilities…and each other. I think this story would have benefited from being longer and more nuanced, but “nuanced” is not Kodama-sensei’s strong point.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 9 for Hana
Service – 2 Some light romance/sexual discomfort
Yuri – 7
LGBTQ – 4 Mention of the real-world same-sex partnership certificates, but no discussion around it

Overall – 7

One could consider this a LGBTQ manga, but I’m still disposed to thinking of it as Yuri. I’m not sure why exactly – perhaps because it doesn’t feel like a sincere attempt to address those issues or that the issues were exposed only as a byproduct of a gag plot complication or maybe my discomfort with the artist’s take on relationships has colored my opinion. I cannot put my finger on it, and I’ve been thinking about it since I read this in Japanese the first time, last year.