Archive for the Artists Category


Yuri Network News – July 23, 2011

July 23rd, 2011

Yuri Manga

Morinaga Milk-sensei’s popular Yuri series Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo will be re-serialized in Comic High starting with the September 22 (October) issue. She had intimated that there *might* be a continuation forthcoming, so we can keep our fingers crossed.

Good news for Sailor Moon fans, our friend Bill Flanagan was officially announced at SDCC as the translator of Kodansha’s release of Sailor Moon . We can all breathe a sigh of relief that the translation is in good hands.

Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, Volume 5 (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり) wll be hitting shelves at the end of August.

Cassiopeia Dolce, Volume 3 (カシオペア・ドルチェ 3) became available this week, for all your doll-makers who bathe Yuri needs.

Don’t forget to get yourself a copy of September’s Comic Yuri Hime, with obligatory swimsuit cover.

Tsubomi, Volume 13 joins us in August. There was a HUGE cliffhanger in Volume 12, so for once I’m really motivated to get this!

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Snatches of Yuri

You know what we need more of? Questionable Yuri 4-panel gag comics from MangaTime Kirara. Luckily, there’s Marshmallow Typhoon (ましゅまろ×タイフーンッ).

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Other News

The Japanese Digital Manga Association has announced the August launch of Jmanga.com, an initiative by Japanese manga publishers to make manga available online to a worldwide audience.

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That’s a wrap for this week.

Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!





Yuri Manga: Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru (姫のためなら死ねる)

July 20th, 2011

When you think of Heian period literature, two names come instantly to mind, Murasaki Shikibu, creator of the Tale of Genji and Sei Shonagon, writer of the Pillow Book.

What may not come to mind is the image of Shonagon as a 27-year old NEET, blogger, Twitterer and…well, perv.

That is, it may not come to mind, until after you’ve finished reading Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru (姫のためなら死ねる). After that, you’re just about guaranteed to think of her that way. ^_^

This book is a series of exceptionally silly 4-koma gags set in the Chuugushiki, the residence of 13-year old Empress Teishi. A mutual friend, sick of Shonagon’s shut-in, slacking ways, suggests she apply for the position of Teishi-sama’s lady-in-waiting. Teishi is moved by Shonagon’s handwriting and Shonagon, in turn, falls head over heels for the Empress.

Nothing happens in this volume, really. Yuri is limited to heavily overplayed service, in which nearly every woman is nearly in some Yuri-ish position with nearly every other, but it’s all gags, no substance. Nonetheless, Shonagon is pervy about Teishi-sama, and Teishi-sama seems to return the feeling, in her own, immature way.

Of course Murasaki Shikibu is a character, as is her charge, the Second Empress Shoushi.

Honestly, I should probably have hated this book. It’s got all the annoying qualities of 4-koma gag comics. But, I didn’t. The story turns historical luminaries into jokes, and relates behaviors of the past to unlikely, but accurate analogies of the present with historically inaccurate, but nevertheless amusing, conviction. Shonagon as a blogger rings pretty true to me, anyway.

I’m reminded by my wife of a passage by Sei Shonagon, about the annoyance she felt when the snow slipped from the roofs of the buildings and covered the paths, making it difficult to walk. The Shonagon of this book is not that woman, but I think I might prefer this silly Shonagon to the real one. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 4, for the gags about Murasaki’s breasts and all the almost-Yuri

Overall – 8

Remember how I always say that no research is necessary to form an opinion of a manga? Well, in this case, I’m wrong. I actually had to do a fair bit of research. ^_^





Wandering Son Manga, Volume 1 (English)

July 17th, 2011

Wandering Son, Volume 1 is my vote for manga most likely to cause a quiet revolution without becoming a best seller.

As you know, if you pay attention to any manga news at all, Wandering Son  by Shimura Takako, is the story of two young people as they realize and deal with the fact that their gender does not match their bodies. In Volume One, we are introduced to the cast, and to the general situation in which Shuuichi and his classmate Yoshino start to deal with puberty and the disconnect they feel about their selves and the bodies in which those selves reside.

This past week I was pleased to be part of a discussion of this book at the Manga Out Loud podcast. I hope you’ll listen to it, as we discuss both the book and the anime in some detail.

The story itself is gentle…as I say in the podcast, almost tentative. This territory is difficult for many people to accept and the manga audience is not, for all that it enjoys stories of gender switching as comedy, as socially liberal as many might think. Shimura takes her time…and ours…to introduce the idea that a body may not be the right one to be in.

As a result, Volume 1 might feel a bit timid to those readers who are more used to Aoi Hana. Having just come off reading Volume 6 of Aoi Hana, I found myself a little surprised at the tentativeness of these first chapters…and then suddenly I realized that this manga is nearly ten years old. The strength Fumi shows was not born overnight and Shuuichi and Yoshino are younger than she is. After talking with the folks on the podcast, I realized what a profound revelation this series will be to people for whom this is an entirely alien discussion. And I’m utterly blown away by how deft and masterful Shimura has become in the last decade.

In conclusion, I’m going to cheat and quote Ed Sizemore from Twitter, when he said, “Wandering Son doesn’t just open up doors of perception for me, but makes me want to learn more about the real life experience of transgender people. To see world through their eyes so I can relate to them better.”

There will be no Wandering Son cosplayers, you won’t find Wandering Son figurines or headbands at conventions. But in these pages, Shimura can bring the thoughts and experiences of the transgender community to people who have never before thought about life from Shuuichi’s or Yoshino’s perspective. That is the revolution contained in the pages of Wandering Son.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 0

Overall – 8

I hope you will all consider buying a copy of the manga for your library (or request that it buy a copy, if it still has the budget to do so.) Let’s change the world, one manga at a time – starting with this one. I’ve already got a copy for my Libary. ^_^





Manga no Tsukurikata (まんがの作り方) Manga, Volume 5

July 14th, 2011

Before you even ask, yes, I’m just torturing myself by continuing to read this series. ^_^;;

In the first four volumes of Manga no Tsukurikata (まんがの作り方), we were introduced to Kawaguchi, a former mangaka who decides to take up the pen again, Morishita, a famous manga artist in her own right, and who is in love with Kawaguchi, and Takeda, who is a great admirer of Kawaguchi and of Sachi, Morishita’s professional penname.

In addition, we encounter Kawaguchi’s younger brother and her editor who seems to be seduced by the same glamour that Morishita is affected by. I call it a glamour because the Kawaguchi we’re seeing has…well…nothing going for her. She’s not too smart, not terribly creative, kind of lazy and yet, everyone loves her.

In response to importuning from her editor, Morishita decides to move to Tokyo and somewhat inexplicably Takeda decides to go with her. In the beginning of Volume 5 Kawaguchi visits them. In the early pages of the volume this panel appears:

For any number of reasons I think it a perfect analogy for the entire series.

In any case, Kawaguchi visits Morishita and Takeda, and we get to watch her reaffirm that she likes having Morishita around, but still doesn’t actually love her.

The rest of this volume is taken up with Takeda’s crisis of identity as she finally, painfully comes to terms with the fact that Morishita is her favorite manga artist, Sachi and while she adores Sachi and is thrilled to be able to help Sachi by doing housework and cooking for her, she really cannot stand Morishita.

And, erm…that’s about it for this Volume.

So, hey, more happened than in previous volumes, so I guess that’s good.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 3
Service – 1

Overall – 6

It always feels like this series is going to do something…and then…it never does.

This volume comes packaged with a short original doujinshi, “Ryuuna to Ichiko” in which a house fire brings a “cool” girl closer to the “nerdy” girl in class.





Yuri Manga: Kila Kila (キラキラ)

July 10th, 2011

Kila Kila (キラキラ) by Takemiya Jin, is a collection of one short serial, “Akogare no Itoshii Hito,” and a one-shot with the title name from Comic Yuri Hime.

The titular story is unrealistic and utterly adorable. Sayaka is obsessed with magazine idol Ria. She can just “sense” Ria’s aura she’s sure so, when one day a girl walks by and she senses Ria, she pursues the girl.

Sayaka’s 6th sense isn’t far off – the girl turns out to be Ria’s twin sister, Mari. Mari is not a model, but is an introverted, cynical girl with some understandable issues in regards to her famous sister.

Cynical as she is, Mari understands that Sayaka is befriending her to get closer to her sister and, as a result, when Ria learns of Sayaka’s existence, she expects to lose her new friend. What neither Mari, nor Sayaka expected was for Sayaka to find Mari’s own sparkle so alluring that she decides Mari is more important than Ria ever was.

The bulk of the book is taken up with a tale of a love triangle between sophisticated older sister Tsukiko, Nana who has a crush on her and her childhood friend Youko, Tsukiko’s blunt younger sister.

Youko and Nana argue over Tsukiko’s intentions and, even when Youko is proven correct about her playgirl older sister, she and Nana can’t repair the damage to their friendship, when Youko admits that she’s had feelings for Nana all along.

Years pass and Nana, with a new friend, Satomi, are out one day when she sees Youko….with what instantly appears to be a girlfriend. Nana is shocked, then appalled at her reaction of jealousy and suddenly, she realizes her feelings for Youko. She confronts Youko to learn if that is indeed her girfriend, and if Youko is happy. It is, Youko confirms, and she is. They part and Nana is left to realize that she might very well have thrown away something wonderful, but Satomi, in the most charmingly goofy way, picks up the pieces. The end comes with Nana realizing that she should not ignore Satomi’s feelings the way she ignored Youko’s  and they head off to live what we can hope will be happily ever after.

The final chapter revisits “Kila Kila” and allows Sayaka to reject Ria in front of Mari and to soundly kiss Mari so she knows these feelings are not one-sided.

As always, I enjoy Takemiya Jin’s work. I’m never going to try and convince you it’s beautiful and, if anything, I like it better when the characters are evil and scheming, rather than wide eyed and adorable. But still, it’s feel-good reading for me.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 9
Loser FanGirl –  6

Overall – 8

Takemiya-sensei’s work has a ring of verisimilitude when it comes to relationships between girls that series like A Channel or Yuru Yuri completely fail to capture. As a result, I can read something as utterly unrealistic as “Kila Kila” and still see the real-ness of the characters’ feelings where I watch a school girl life series like Yuri Yuri and see nothing at all I can relate to. ^_^