Archive for the Nakatani Nio Category


Yuri Light Novel – Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka, Volume 1 (English)

February 23rd, 2020

“…even though I was a kid, I didn’t want to feel like I was lagging behind. ”

When we meet her, in Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka Volume 1, Sayaka is a very intelligent and privileged child, experiencing her own life at a remove. She does things because not doing them seems like more of an obstacle than doing them. She wants to continually push herself to be better than those around her. Not to feel that she is more than them, but just to be the best at that thing. She’s used to praise and strives to get more of it. To be the best, she’s sacrificed experiences she didn’t know she was missing. Normal things like playing with friends and reading novels are not things that have much value to young Sayaka.

In the first part of the novel, Sayaka encounters a girl of her age in swimming class who clearly finds her fascinating. Sayaka, being very intelligent, comes very close to understanding why, but she she avoids facing the issue head on. When the girl tries to become someone Sayaka might like, Sayaka has to face the fact that the girl is a better swimmer than her. And when the girl and she share an intimate moment, Sayaka runs away. Something inside her has opened and she is afraid to face that, too.

The second half of the novel flips the story. When a sempai confesses to Sayaka, it’s her turn to try and become someone her Sempai will like, which requires her to do things she might not otherwise care about.

“A part of myself I hadn’t known about had been laid bare, exposed to the wind.“

We watch as Sayaka convinces herself that she is in love with her sempai – knowing, from our perspective that the older girl’s affection isn’t more than a passing fancy. When she is spurned, Sayaka becomes, for the first time, angry at having been used. Sayaka decides that she won’t be used again, but when she changes school, she learns another important lesson – that the universe thinks vows like that are hilarious. And once again, Sayaka is not the best in her class.

The work for this book by Seven Seas is seamless, with credits for everyone who put their time into the production. The translation by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda nicely preserved Sayaka’s measured form of expression. It was easy to hear this in her voice.

Speaking of which! Thanks to Seven Seas, I had a review copy of this book and I found that Microsoft Exchange has a read-out-loud feature with several voice options…including, oddly, two different choices of “Japanese” woman’s voice. You are probably familiar with the kinds of odd intonation and syllabic mis-emphasis that one encounters in machine reading. In this case it actually increased the uncanny valley of the whole thing. Imagine a Japanese Sayaka reading this English-language translation of her journal, if you will, out loud, with all missed emphasis and missed pronunciations that come with reading a language one is not wholly fluent in and you’d not be far off what the e-book sounds like read by Microsoft “Ayumi.” So that was a little surreal. ^_^

As a tone piece that beautifully captures the inner voice of a young woman with a tendency to think deeply about things without providing herself the context, this book is excellent. The voice with which Sayaka is presented is exactly the voice we hear from her in Bloom Into You. As the story of a young lesbian, it rings true, and lacks most of the kinds of service I feared we’d be subjected to.

Ratings:  the same as the Japanese edition

Art – 10, by Nakatani-sensei
Story – In and of itself, not riveting, but since Sayaka is the reason I follow the series…8
Character – 10
Service – 3 bathing suits and changing rooms
Yuri – Well, now…this is hard. I’m calling it a 5 because it’s so complicated

Overall – 9

The only weakness in the book was within Sayaka herself. I wish she had been encouraged to read more fiction….she might have found everyone’s behavior far more comprehensible if she had. ^_^

Thank you very much Seven Seas for the review copy of this book and for everyone’s hard work. Additionally, thanks to Hitoma Iruma, who did a very decent job of portraying Sayaka as we understand her.

I will be getting the third volume of this novel series in Japanese as soon as it comes out – I’m really looking forward to meeting college-age Sayaka!





Yuri Light Novel: Bloom Into You Regarding Saeki Sayaka, Volume 1 (English)

December 22nd, 2019

When you watched the Bloom Into You anime, you saw it. Maybe you understood it. Probably if you were queer, you had lived it.

You saw the way Sayaka held her coffee cup, the way her fingers tightened around it before she asked what was clearly one of the most difficult questions of her entire life to date, “Are you and Hakozaki-sensei dating?” You saw it and maybe if you’re queer, you knew what it felt like on a visceral level. The first time you said the thing. You probably knew the tightness in your muscles when you first saw someone looking at you and understood that they were looking at you that same way that you were looking at them. That you had something in common. The thing.

This is why it was so important to me that Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka, Volume 1 captures Sayaka’s inner voice so well. Not because I identified with her (although we are all her, in some way,) but because of this.

As I read the first of what I hope will be three novels, this was the moment when I knew I why her voice was so important:

As my senses sharpened, the path ahead grew brighter and clearer. My defenseless heart was exposed to the picturesque sunlight. And as I observed my current self neutrally as if from the outside, I finally realized something.

I was angry.

Right now, I was incensed. But why? I plumbed the depths of my heart for the answer.

Sayaka has spent the first 14 years as a spectator in her own life. This is the moment when she ceases to observe and begins to participate.

In this volume, we learn about Saeki Sayaka from two key moments in her life. The first part of the novel follows 11 year old Sayaka’s encounters with a girl her own age who, we can see from our distance, is in love with – or more probably correctly, desires – her. Sayaka has a bit of a sense of it, but it’s not until she experiences desire that it make sense to her. The second half of the book follows her when she is approached by someone who claims to love her, who she comes to love and who, ultimately, hurts her. And when she begins to understand herself, finally.

Saeki Sayaka and I differ in one very concrete way. I read a lot of fiction as a child. This is not an aside, or an irrelevant comment. Sayaka guesses at and correctly identifies her emotions as she experiences them. Had she read fiction, she would not have needed to guess. ^_^ But we know, because we are told it, that she doesn’t care for fiction. It is a testament to the author’s grasp of Sayaka’s voice, that we can be inside her head as she objectively discusses the range of emotions she’s experiencing. It was so wholly consistent with what we knew of her, I had to be impressed. As I’ve said in previous reviews, I consider Iruma’s writing inconsistent and wasn’t sure that the Sayaka we knew would be reflected here. When I reviewed the Japanese edition, I was happy to note that it was.

I’m even more pleased to report that the translation, by Jan Cash and Vincent Castaneda, with adaptation by Jenny McKeon, and editing by Nibedita Sen and Jenn Grunigen, preserved that voice in the English edition. (I’m also chuffed as heck to see my friend Julie Davis as Managing Editor on this volume! For one thing that means that Seven Seas has gotten to the point of size, volume and sophistication as a publishing company to be hiring managing editors which is a very good thing.) I trust this team to do the best possible job with a character I actually want taken care of. ^_^

Their hard work means I don’t have to spend my energy making the novel work and can instead spend my energy resenting Yuzuki-sempai and enjoying Sayaka watching herself swear to never fall in love again, then almost immediately fall in love with Nanami Touko. ^_^

Which is how it should be.

Ratings (same as the Japanese volume):

Art – 10 well, since the creator of the original did the illustrations, that stands to reason
Story – 8 In and of itself, not riveting, but it nails the character’s voice.
Character – 10
Service – 3 bathing suits and changing rooms
Yuri – Well, now…this is hard. I’m calling it a 5 because it’s so complicated

Overall – 9

For the interior life of a young lesbian, told in a way that is completely consistent with the character as we know her, Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka, Volume 1 is a very good book.

Thanks to Seven Seas for the advanced review copy!





Yuri Anime: Bloom Into You Premium Box Set, Disk 2 (English)

December 16th, 2019

Bloom Into You Premium Box Set ends as it began, with shockingly good visuals and voice acting that elevates the story beyond the original manga.

Disk 2 might appear anti-climactic for those of us watching for Sayaka, but it is in these final episodes that the seeds of the rest of the story are sown. We are there to witness, you might say, the moment when Yuu’s promise turns into a lie. She might not know it yet, but we can see the moment she falls in love.

The DVD “extras” are basic. Clean beginning and endings for your Anime Music Videos (seriously, that’s why those are there, it’s a relic from “back in the day”) and promo material for other Sentai properties are the only content extras.

BUT, in order to do a complete review, (and to do a test run for the family get-together next week,) I made Rei’s cheesecake recipe. I wasn’t sure we had a springform pan and ultimately, we ended up throwing the one we had out, because it was degrading and made the cake taste weird. It might well have come with this house for all we know. ^_^;

The recipe was straightforward enough. It calls for cake flour, which gave the cake a lighter profile than the thicker cheesecakes I’m used to, which I actually liked. It wasn’t very sweet, which I also liked and the lemon functioned the same way sour cream does on Hungarian cheesecake, to cut the sweetness…and give it flavor.

Even packed down, the crust was really loose and crumbly. We’ll have to compact it a lot more next time, since we did not use cookies, we used graham crumb and it was super crumbly and dry. (Although, overnight in the fridge firmed it up considerably.)

The instructions say to leave the cake in the oven until completely cool, but this really overcooked it. Next time, we’ll take it out at half an hour. It’s going to crack no matter what. You could use a bain-marie to keep it moist but does *anyone* really care if the cheesecake cracks? Seriously. Eat the damn cake.

The flavor was very good. As I said, it had a slightly cakier texture, which meant it wasn’t as cloying or rich. It’s a really pretty good recipe as cheesecakes go. I gave half to cake to neighbors with a cautionary “It’s a 6.5/7 on a scale of 10.”  I don’t bake, so for my first cheesecake ever, it was pretty successful. I’ll try again next week with some small changes. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 1
Yuri – 3

Overall – 9

Bloom Into You Premium Blu-Ray Box Set, is a feast for any Yuri fan. With dessert.





Yuri Manga: Yagate Kimi ni Naru, Volume 8 (やがて君になる)

December 12th, 2019

Since I cracked open the fantastic Bloom Into You Premium Box Set earlier this week, and plan on finishing it up tomorrow (except for the cheesecake, which will have to wait a few weeks) I figured I had better just bite the bullet and wrap it all up in one go. So here we are with Yagate Kimi ni Naru, Volume 8 (やがて君になる) in our hands, ready to say farewell to this series in Japanese.

Volume 7 (which will be available in English in April 2020) left us on the cusp of a major change for Yuu and Touko. A major change that had been telegraphed for many volumes, so surely no one will be surprised. After this massive change in their relationship, the narrative shifts entirely from a story about young people struggling with who they might be to one about learning to be comfortable with who they are. To do this, some of you will have to let go of who you thought they were. This bring us to the creation of a relationship in which both Yuu and Touko had to figure out what they wanted for themselves.

Time marches on and the story skips two years into the future to end in what is an extended final chapter. Yuu visits her school once again, this time to watch her successors in the Student Council perform their play. And to catch up with everyone for a brief moment. Sayaka, Yuu and Touko have one last moment together in which the punchline of the yet-to-be-released third Sayaka novel is spoiled…and I’m perfectly okay with it. ^_^ It’s not like that was any less obvious than the end of this series. In a Yuri story, it doesn’t matter how many obstacles exist, we kind of have to realize that we’re headed to an inevitable conclusion.

The conclusion to this story may have been inevitable and, if we’re honest, a bit predictable, but it is nonetheless a nice ending and one that gives fans of the series plenty of room into which they can write their own desires. What conversations did Yuu and Touko have about identity and gender and sexuality and sex in those two years? We’ll never know, so feel free to tell the story you need to tell to make it work for you.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters  – 10
Service – There is a sex scene. Whether you consider that service or not is entirely up to you.
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

In the end, I am once again staring at the title, wondering if we’ve all been played for fools. Maybe  every single character had someone they thought they had to become in order for things to work. Or, maybe Yuu was never the protagonist and we’ve been watching her in a supporting role all along to Touko’s journey to become, then surpass, then let go of her, sister. Or maybe the title had no specific connection at all and we were left, like the characters themselves, to struggle to find meaning.

We already know there will be a few “curtain call” projects for this series. Artbook, stage play reprise, the third Sayaka novel, and a series of LINE stamps have been planned. The first novel, Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka is available for pre-order from Seven Seas, so we’ll be  talking about this series still for some time to come. But, in the meantime, we’ll tip our hat in thanks to Nakatani-sensei and wait to see if there’s something next.





Yuri Anime: Bloom Into You Premium Box Set, Disk 1 (English)

December 10th, 2019

Welp, I’m convinced. For once in my entire life, I feel completely justified in buying a premium box set Blu-Ray edition of anything. Sentai Filmworks’ Bloom Into You Premium Box Set was totally worth the money I paid for it.

Bloom Into You is based on the manga of the same name by Nakatani Nio, which is available in English from Seven Seas. The story follows first-year highschooler Koito Yuu as she becomes involved in Student Council activities and involved in an intense, and sometimes confusing, relationship with the Student Council President, Nanami Touko.

Yuu becomes interested in Touko initially over a perceived shared inability/unwillingness/lack of desire in regards to romance, but almost immediately Touko confesses that she has fallen in love with Yuu. How Yuu feels about Touko is the main part of the story, but by no means is it the only thing going on.  Council Vice President Sayaka has her own feelings about Touko to deal with.

You may remember I spoke to the fine folks at Sentai Filmworks at AnimeNYC 2019. We had a terrific conversation and while I was there, I bought this for myself as a present. When Bloom Into You anime streamed on HIDIVE last winter, I subscribed just to be able to watch it. And generally, I found it to be worth it, with a few small exceptions. Those exceptions became relevant once again…as they have, very unusually, been addressed.

It was inexplicable to me that the animation for the scene in which Touko confesses to Yuu be so seriously lacking. This moment, which comes early on, is one of two key scenes of the entire first disk. For it to have been so flat and lifeless was intolerable. Imagine my surprise then, when that scene was done beautifully for this disk. I was beginning to think I had imagined it, but an episode or two later, when Yuu reminisces about the moment, the flashback was not corrected and it was, as I had remembered, cheaply done. It was gratifying to see both the scene fixed and that my memory in this regard was not wrong. ^_^

The higher definition visuals also mean the backgrounds look breathtakingly detailed and if the character animation had not been improved it would have made them look just that much worse. There are still scenes that distinctly look like the B-Team did the art, sometimes, merely an angle or a part of a scene, and it can be a little bit disconcerting. But overall the art is much improved. So that all gets a big thumbs up from me.

The second change of note was the eyes. We spend a *lot* of time in hyper close-up in anime these days, which is really just a waste, since eyes are rarely animated that well. In this anime in particular I remember bitching about the eyes being so oddly drawn. That too has been corrected for the Blu-ray. We still spend way too much time staring at eyeballs, but at least they look better.

Disk 1 contains episodes 1-9 of this 13 episode series, in dub and sub. I have not yet watched the dub, but plan on doing so for Disk 2. Disk 1 contains the episode where Miyako tags Sayaka, she confides in the older woman and we get insight into the VP of the Student Council. I wanted to watch that in original, before I gave the American VA a chance. ^_^

But what really makes this set stand out are the physical extras.

To begin with, the box the set comes in is nice enough, although I have always felt that on their own collector’s boxes are not worth a jacked up price. What sets this set apart is that it has a pleasant assortment of physical extras. The physical extras include a booklet of storyboards for the OP and ED, an attractive booklet of key animation scenes, character references, interviews with staff and cast. It’s a book I actually want to read. Extras include some double-sided art cards, the script for the Student Council Play and Yuu’s older sister’s cheesecake recipe, which I will be making this year for my wife’s family Christmas get-together, in the interest of a complete review. I’ll let you know how it goes. ^_^ Both the recipe and the DVD come in an inner box with series art.

Ratings:

Art – 9 Visibly better when its better!
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 3 especially towards the end as Touko is more aggressive physically
Yuri – 9

Overall – 9

A really nice variety of physical extras, sub and dub of an anime series that improves upon the manga in a number of ways and a better visual experience over the streaming version, all of which justify putting this set on your wish list!