Archive for the Morinaga Milk Category


Yuri Manga: Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo, Volume 1 (くちびるためいきさくらいろ)

September 3rd, 2012

Back in 2006, Ichijinsha put out a collection of stories drawn by Morinaga Milk-sensei for their new Yuri Hime magazine. Time has moved on, she has changed publishers, and thankfully, she has retained the ownership of her work. The end result is that a brand new-two volume collection of her popular Yuri manga series Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo (くちびるためいきさくらいろ) is now available from Futabasha. This is a very good thing.

The first volume introduces us to Nana and Hitomi, close friends who have been together in school since childhood, but who now – for no reason Nana can understand – are going to separate high schools. Hitomi has a reason, of course, but she couldn’t tell Nana outright for fear of…well, everything. You see, Hitomi is in love with Nana – that way – and Nana has already rejected her advances. Fearing getting hurt more, or hurting Nana, Hitomi has gone to another school. In the first chapter, they hash out their issues and Nana decides that she doesn’t want to be “just” friends, either.

The rest of the book interperses other one-shot stories that take place in the same school, with Nana and Hitomi’s deepening relationship. It ends with them thinking about their future together.

This was one of the first stories we – that is, the Yuri-reading audience – encountered that had more depth to it than just a kiss, or holding hands, or even sex. This was one of the first Yuri Hime stories that approached the concept of a same-sex relationship as a relationship, as opposed to a crush, or an immature love, “playing at” love, etc. As a result it was wildly popular with fans.

Re-reading this volume, I’m reminded how unique it was. Not even a decade ago, and the final chapter of this book was ground-breaking for a Yuri story (as opposed to a story drawn by lesbians for a lesbian audience in a lesbian magazine.) Hitomi thinks of the sacrifices she’ll have to make for her and Nana to stay together…and decides that, whatever it takes, it’ll be worth it. It edges very close to the issues that were predominant at the time, that to be “together” two women must eschew family and friends. This is just the assumption that was made then (and probably is still made by many.)

For this glimpse back to where we really started when Yuri was taking its first hesitant steps as a genre, this book is an absolute must-read. I think of how far we’ve come, with stories like Fu~Fu, Renai Joshikka, and Watashi no Sekhai o Kousei Suru Gomi no Youna Nanika,  and the as-yet uncollected “Collectors,” and am a little amazed at the progress. If Nana and Hitomi were to fall in love today, things would be vastly different than they were a mere 6 years ago. There would be media for them to see themselves represented in a positive light, stories of people like them living happily, even after the “happily ever after.”

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 10
Service – 5

Overall – 9

More than anything, I’m glad Morinaga-sensei has found somewhere that she’s happy and where she can continue making Yuri manga for us to enjoy. ^_^





Interview with Yuri Manga Artist Morinaga Milk

June 17th, 2012

I am so very delighted today to offer you an interview I’ve wanted to do for a really long time.

Many of you have heard of Morinaga Milk, and quite a lot of you have enjoyed her work over the years. From her doujinshi work until 2003 when she sprang onto the pro Yuri scene with Yuri Shimai magazine; from her collection Kuchibiru Tameike Sakurairo (which has now been re-released by Hobunsha in a two-volume set, with some additional material: Volume 1 and Volume 2), through her mega-hit GIRLFRIENDS (which is available in English from  from Seven Seas), Morinaga-sensei has been a staple of the Yuri scene.

It is my great pleasure to offer you this interview with Morinaga Milk-sensei today!

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Q1: Will you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
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Born in Tokyo, live in Tokyo.
Gender is female.
I love to draw Yuri manga.

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Q2: How did you become a mangaka? Was it a childhood dream?
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It was a childhood dream to become a manga artist.

When I was about 20 years old, my submission was chosen for a an award, so I made my debut illustrating a Light Novel.
When I was 21, I was scouted by an editor who had read my doujinshi, so I became a manga artist.

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Q3: Which artists are your role models?
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When I was a child, I read Hagiiwa Mutusmi‘s shoujo manga, and started to draw manga.

If I couldn’t be a writer, I wanted to create anime, like Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, which I saw.
I wanted to be able to write stories of women in love.

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Q4: If you were not a mangaka, what kind of work would you be doing?
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I wanted to work in a bookstore or a manga cafe.

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Q5: What were your motivations for creating Yuri Manga?
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I don’t know if this can be called a motivation but,  when I saw the female characters in my beloved Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, it seemed natural that they were Yuri couples. Since then, I’ve been been drawing only Yuri manga.

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Q6.1: Please tell us a little bit about your process.
How long does a chapter take to draw?
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Each chapter takes about one week to write the dialogue and one week to draw, for a total of about two weeks.

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Q6.2: How many assistants work with you?
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I have two assistants.

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Q7: What has been the reaction in Japan to GIRL FRIENDS? What do you think about GIRL FRIENDS being translated into English?
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I don’t think it’s very popular in Japan. I don’t see it for sale in bookstores near me.
Only maniac Yuri fans seem to be reading it.

I was very happy when I learned that it would be translated into English. But since I don’t read English, I don’t know if the translation will capture the right nuance at all.

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Q8: You’re recent work has been very realistic in tone. Can you tell us what  you’re thinking when you draw? What message are you trying to convey?
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Falling in love is painful, and there are many things to worry about, or that will make you cry but, falling in love is not pointless, despite all that. That is what I am trying to convey, I think.

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Q10: What question do you have for overseas fans?
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I like High School girls, so I draw manga set in schools. Do overseas fans feel that its strange to read manga set in Japanese schools?

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Q11: What message do you have for overseas fans?
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Thank you so very much for reading my manic manga.

When I think that there are people overseas, where I cannot go, reading my manga, it feels very mysterious and happy.

It would be wonderful to one day meet my overseas readers, I think.

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Thank you very much for your time, Morinaga-sensei! Your overseas maniac fans are thrilled to be able to read your work in English. ^_^

***

小松さんによる日本語の翻訳: http://willowick.seesaa.net/article/276194964.html





Seven Seas announces a GIRL FRIENDS Omnibus

November 22nd, 2011

To continue the licensing frenzy of Morinaga Milk’s GIRL FRIENDS, Seven Seas has just announced that they will be releasing GIRL FRIENDS in Omnibus form.

The first volume is slated to ship in October 2012.





Yuri Manga: Himitsu no Recipe (ひみつのレシピ)

November 10th, 2011

Underclassman Wakatsuki is reasonably sure she’s gay, but not entirely, so she convinces her sempai, the president of the cooking club, to y’know, kiss her, just to see.

And so, Morinaga Milk’s Himitsu no Recipe, (ひみつのレシピ）begins with a very cheap, servicey opening, and then desperately tries to make a story out of it.

Now that she’s convinced she likes girls, Wakatsuki is also convinced that she likes Buchou. A lot. A lot a lot. And, um, she really wants Buchou to like her back. So Wakatsuki joins the Cooking Club and plots to be closer to the club president, who is almost completely oblivious of her not-all-that-mixed signals.

For her part, Buchou really wants the Cooking Club to be successful and she’s putting her heart and soul into recruitment and training, pretty oblivious of Wakatsuki’s ulterior motives.

Unfortunately for readers, the heart aching sincerity of GIRL FRIENDS is pretty much completely absent in this series. The first chapter very much reads like a one-shot. The overall feel was that the first chapter was a tryout to see if Morinaga-sensei and the Tsubomi editors got along and when they did, they just told her to continue with these two characters.

It’s hard to be sympathetic to Wakatsuki, who would be completely sympathetic if she had her crush, treasured it, fantasized about it, and told herself the whole story in her head, as we do with crushes. But it’s impossible to really like her the 5th or 6th time Buchou has pushed her off and said, “No.” Because sexual harassment isn’t funny or cute or, really, entertaining, no matter how moe the art is.

The big summer training camp is coming up and Wakatsuki has her battle underwear ready to go. I’m almost hoping that Buchou fends her off, gives her what for and throws her out of the club. From my perspective, Wakatasuki needs to be trained properly.

I’m sorry this manga isn’t better, but it had such a bare bones opening and really hasn’t developed any muscles since.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 4
Characters – 5
Yuri – 6
Service – 6

Overall – 6

If you were a big fan of GIRL FRIENDS, I think you might be better off skipping this. If you just love Morinaga Milk’s work on principle, then definitely get it. It has her signature art style, but I know she can write better stories than this.

Sorry all the recent reviews have been grumpyish, but we’re getting down to the bottom of the pile of things I bought in September. And I’m saving the best for last. ^_^





Yuri Drama CD: GIRL FRIENDS (ドラマCD GIRL FRIENDS-ガールフレンズ)

September 29th, 2011

Because manga is primarily a visual media, I’m always fascinated by the transition of a manga story to Drama CD. Where something like Maria-sama ga Miteru is primarily communicated in words, a story like GIRL FRIENDS is first and foremost visual. And this manga, as good as it is, would  probably make a relatively dull anime, as most of the “action” exists only in interior monologue.

The GIRL FRIENDS Drama CD (ドラマCD GIRL FRIENDS-ガールフレンズ)does a decent job of balancing story framework and character development and, as a result, becomes something slightly different than the manga itself.

The manga starts off, (if you recall from my review of Volume 1,) as a catalog of fashionable girl interests. Hair, nails, clothes, etc., are the primary focus, and Mariko’s interest in Akiko grows from that. Because we’re listening to the conversations on the Drama CD, rather than watching the girls shop, the chapters feel very much like a tutorial. Bearing in mind that the manga ran in Comic High, which is generally targeted to men who want that glimpse behind the gauze curtain of “girls’ life,” this works amazingly well.

Let’s take a step back to the story itself to understand why. Mariko is a quiet, introverted girl. She is studious, has no real friends and generally lives a life of the mind. You know the type – reads during homeroom, lunch and any study periods. She is us. When Akiko breaks past her shell, Mariko finds herself dragged into a world she knows *nothing* about. This is a world in which girls talk about hair, clothes, fashion models, makeup colors and the like, endlessly and with actual interest. Mariko isn’t interested, per se, in the new fall colors for makeup, but her new friends’ interest interests her.

These sections of the Drama CD are the absolute best tutorial on what average girls like that I’ve ever heard. Because there are no visuals, and the spoken words have to provide the actions as well as the words, the dialogue very much sounds as if Mari is receiving training on “How to Be a Girl, 101.” Mariko even considers this, towards the end, as she’s rapidly slipping into “more than friend” feelings for Akiko. She recognizes that she never really had any girl friends before and never really had been socialized, so, she may be overreacting to just having a friend….

As in the anime, it’s the night of the group date that changes everything, irrevocably. After falling apart watching Akko with the guys, Mariko and Akko end up at Akiko’s place. After Akko drinks too much and falls asleep, Mari kisses her, then spends the rest of the week excoriating herself for it. Even after Akko laughs it off, Mari-chan realizes that her feelings aren’t just friendship.

The Drama CD comes to an end, as Mariko admits to herself that this is, quite probably, love. So, this CD covers chapters 1-10 of the manga.

There’s still a fair dollop of silly service in this story. Perhaps in some circles it is common for girls to kiss one another and feel each other up, but I can tell you that that never happened with any group of friends I had growing up. And we were on all sorts of sports teams, camp, school gym, which meant dressing and undressing in front of one another. No groping, peeking, breast size comparison….none of that ever went on anywhere I was. So, I’m still marking all that in the fanservice column as something things boys would like to think girls do.

The CD technicals were quite good. Everyone did a very decent job of voicing their characters. It was all very natural. I found Mari’s interior monologues (which were absolutely necessary to the story) a little cringe-making at times, but that was also necessary to the story. There is one short extra comic insert in the CD case, no cast talk track, though.

Noticably, this was a really long Drama CD. I had to drive quite a distance yesterday and listened to this CD for most of the trip there. Easily an hour, probably more. That was a pleasant surprise, as Drama CDs more commonly tend to be in the 30-45 minute range.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

I wasn’t sure how well this story would translate to Drama CD (I think some series are more suited than others, obviously) but overall found this to be a more than acceptable adaptation of what I considered to be a very good manga about first love.