Archive for the Artists Category


Yuri Manga: Sasamekikoto, Volume 3 (ささめきこと)

October 13th, 2008

Today we turn our attentions once again to the trials and tribulations of Murasame Sumika, aka Sumi, and her hopeless love for her best friend forever, Ushio.

Volume 3 of Sasamekikoto (ささめきこと) begins with the advent of the school sports festival. Someone appears to be targeting Sumika in an attempt to sabotage her class’s chance at victory. As Sumi lines up for the final race, a shoo-in for her, she runs off to save a “kidnapped” Ushio. Sumi and Ushio – now in penguin costume – are happily reunited.

The school erupts in wonder at the arrival of Lotte, a cute little German girl who transfers into the school in order to experience Japanese life. Resisting Ushio’s attempts at dressing her like a doll, Lotte idolizes Sumi’s strength. In order to train Lotte in karate, Sumi picks up her own training for the first time since she met Ushio. We learn that she quit it because Ushio likes cute girls. Now back in the dojo, Sumi remember just how much she loves karate.

In trying to become strong like Sumi, Lotte over exerts herself and collapses. Ushio blames Sumi for not allowing for Lotte’s size and condition. Sumi responds that Lotte *wanted* to train hard, and likes Sumi’s size and strength – that yes, she is NOT cute. Sumi goes running out into the rain and promptly falls ill. (Once again causing me to speculate on Japan’s bacteria-endowed rains….)

Ushio comes to Sumi’s house and nurses her back to health, but pays the price and gets the cold herself. We spend a little while in Ushio’s backstory, learning how she and Sumi became friends when she transfered in, as a result of the rest of the girls in the class ostracizing her when she admitted to liking girls.

Sumi comes to visit Ushio – seeing Ushio upon the veranda, Sumi’s expression says volumes about her feelings, but Ushio runs away. Sumi bangs on the door and demands to see Ushio who, after extracting a promise that they will always be friends (despite the fact that, at this point, neither of them want to be just friends anymore) falls sobbing into Sumi’s arms.

What will happen in the exciting volume 4 of this manga? I don’t know! But I’m very much looking forward to reading more of this really quite excellent tale of best friends in love.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 8

My favorite moment was watching Sumi watching Yabase Takemi fighting. The tension in her body, that desire to be out there, to test her strength against another champion…awesome. Like Lotte, I enjoy watching Sumi being not cute at all.





Yuri Manga: Gunjou, Chapters 8 and 9

September 5th, 2008

Erica is on vacation and is likely having way more fun than you are right this moment. Except for the bits when’s she’s feeling a bit socialist and irritated by the excess of early 20th-century landowners and captains of industry. Tacky bastards. In any case, expect delays…with…stuff…and stuff, until she gets home and caught up on sleep and reintegrated into life.

Squee! Two whole chapters of what is unconditionally my favorite manga of the year.

In Chapter 6 and Chapter 7, the blonde (called “Sensei” by the Japanese fandom, on account of her being a vet,) and the brunette (likewise referred to as “megane” for her glasses) have spent a tempestuous evening, full of heightened emotions, dark despair, sexual tension, passion and fury. We left them in the tub, as the blonde lets the brunette see the tearful face she makes – as she tries to kill her.

In Chapters 8 and 9, we take a step back to see the moments before the beginning. When BL and BN have met again for the first time in many years, and how their akashic ties slowly, surely and irrevocably become intertwined in a way that affects not only their own fates, but those around them.

We know what happened to BN’s husband – after all, his murder is the beginning of everything in this story. But, what happened to BL’s life when she picked up one day and walked out of it? We know that she has an ex-lover. What we learn here is that she and her lover had been together for almost ten years and that her lover had gone so far as to call her parents and invited them to visit, because she wanted them to meet the person she wanted to spend her life with. They do arrive, but never get to meet that woman….

We see the results of the violence, the cascade of emotions that catapult them eventually into a life on the lam. We see the friends, the coworkers, the normality that BL walks away from. In counterpoint to this, we see the misery, the drudgery, the physical and emotional agony, and the utter hopelessness that BN faces every day.

In fact, we gain such a clear picture of how we got here, that the only question that remains has *got* to be – where are we going?

In her blog, Nakamura-sensei has discussed the sadness with which she contemplates the end of this series. It makes me lonely to think of a life without Gunjou, so I can understand her feelings – and their aren’t even my characters! ^_^;

Here’s my thoughts on the end of this series. I think that the *best* we could hope for is that they die together. But that’s not the way this series has gone at all. So, my real guess is that when the police catch up to them – and they will – the blonde will confess to the murder and to having kidnapped and beaten the brunette, turning her into a helpless and sympathetic victim. The blonde will take the rap and by doing so, will free the brunette for the first time in her life of being beholden to anybody at all.

It’s not what I *want* to happen, of course. ^_^ That’s what I *think* will happen.

In the meantime, I wait with bated breath for my next monthly fix of the most amazing manga I’ve read in ages.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 10





Lesbian Novel: Sempai to Watashi

July 16th, 2008

Mori Natsuko-sensei is a well-known and well respected author in Japan. She got her start in speculative fiction/horror, and built up quite a following. She happens to be a lesbian and also writes lesbian and gay stories, many of which are extremely explicit and often, in my meager experience with her work, to have at least mild bondage.

Mori-sensei currently writes the “Yuri doujou” advice column for Yuri Hime magazine, in which she fields the same three questions over and over ad nauseum, but does it with the kind of humor and flair I would never be able to muster about someone else’s tedious relationship problems. Mori-sensei also happened to be a guest at Yuricon 2005 in Tokyo, where I found her to be a sophisticated and cultured woman.

Previously, I reviwed her book, Himeyuri-tachi no Houkago, which was a hilarious collection of exceptionally filthy short stories, almost all of which were so bonkers that my shrieks of laughter disturbed many an Acela passenger that weekend.

So of course when I learned about Sempai to Watashi I ordered it right away. ^_^

The story is pretty much identical to the setup in Hitohira and just as realistic. At T. Women’s University, there is an erotic novel writer’s club. There is also a competing club, which for argument’s sake I’ll call the erotic novel appreciation society, because I never bothered translating the long names for each club. The ENWC has five members and puts out a beautifully printed, perfect-bound anthology called the “Monthly Gomorrah.” The ENAS, which consists of two members, our protagonist Mitsue and her sempai Amari, puts out a copy book called the “Monthly Amazon.”

Both publications focus on lesbian sex, but where the members of the ENWC are self-admitted lesbians and to gain ideas for their monthly stories engage in free sex together, Amari-sempai is adamant about *not* being a lesbian herself, but rather being interested in erotica only for masturbation. Mitsue is head over heels in love and lust with Amari-sempai, so pretends to agree with her so she can remain by Amari’s side. However, after Mitsue is approached by Hanayo, the leader of the ENWC, she finds herself drawn into an ever deepening and widening circle of BDSM lesbian sex. Some of these chapters are not for the faint of heart. No lesbians were harmed by the making of these chapters, unless you like your lesbian sex to be sweet and cute and not involve tape over the mouth and the creative use of vegetables, in which case you’ll really want to avoid this book like the plague. LOL

(At some point I couldn’t help but wonder why it is that in my recent anime/manga/novel perusals, I keep coming up against so many things with the same style of ball gag? I have no opinion either way about BDSM., although I do believe strongly that it can be a lot more beautiful in text than it ever is in real life.)

In any case, after being the bottom to Hanayo’s top, and the bottom to evil loli Ruri and Jinko’s top, and the top to Hanayo’s bottom (a very nice bottom I gather, from the book,) and a voyeur as Hanayo is pleasured by her Vice President and adoring lover Eri and any number of other combinations, Mitsue defects to the ENWC, partially because sex is better than no sex and partially because Ruri blackmails her into doing so.

Of course, when the tables are turned and Ruri, who had during the course of the book kidnapped Hanayo and was keepng her as a pet (please don’t make me explain that…) is finally defeated by Eri, and both Hanayo and Mitsue are set free.

Mitsue immediately runs back to Amari, gives her the newest chapter of her erotic series “The Secret Adventures of Princess Karen” and is stunned to be told to get out by Amari-sempai. Predictably, the reason Amari wants Mitsue to go is that her new story is really hot and Amari is getting horny. Mitsue applies a *teeny* bit of physical coercion and bondage and convinces Amari that she is, in fact, a lesbian, and that lesbian sex is way better than masturbating alone.

And they all live happily ever after…except for Ruri, who is now the punching bag for everyone in the ENWC.

The End.

It wasn’t as funny as Hime Yuri-tachi and some of the extended BDSM scenes got a little tiresome (“You want this don’t you?” Nod. “Say it.” “I want that.” “Want what? Say it.” etc, etc…) but overall it was just a big, creatively executed pile of porn, in which a few scenes were really standout and occasionally quite sexy.

You know what I always say about this kind of thing – why else would you study a foreign language except to read porn on the train, while no one around you can tell. :-)

Ratings:

Art – 4
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 10000000000000
Service – 10000000000000 (Yuri fanboys would hate it. It is neither cute, nor sweet, nor loli, nor that “Story A” type Yuri that they all love so much.)

Overall – 7

I wonder what the reaction to me reading it on a Japanese train would be…. ;-)





Drama CD: Hayate x Blade, Volume 3

July 11th, 2008

At last, we have another chance to wallow in the company of the competely dysfunctional students of Tenchi Academy, in Hayate x Blade Drama CD, Volume 3.

And wallow we do, as amusing dysfunctions are paraded past our bemused ears, in this collection of 6 unrelated, original stories that showcase a remarkably large cast.

In the first track, Ayana’s room is filled to breaking point when pretty much every character ever mentioned in the manga shows up and crowds in….including all 80 of Akira’s fan club, the A-team.

We follow Mizuchi and Sou on a shopping trip to town, so Mizuchi can shed her old lady image – an objective that seems to be working until someone calls them mother and child.

Jun visits Yuho for the usual touching moments, then – wait for it – the Amachi conglomerate’s helicopter comes to pick her up. Yes! Tenchi Gakuen *also* has a private helicopter! Isn’t that wonderful? Now I have three helicopters in my Yuri army air division! LOL In return for the visit, Yuho sends Jun inedible cookies to give to everyone. Listening to Ayana trying to bite into the cookies was funny enough to make me laugh out loud.

Momoko has a weakness and in track 4 we learn what it is – she really, really, really, hates bamboo shoots. Kiji hypnotizes her into pretending that they are shiitake mushrooms, which she loves, but of course there are unintended consequences. And Kiji and Moka are renewed in their mutal hatred…and the awesome otokoyaku slash affair that doujinshi artists love so much gets new fodder.

The last track spends time with the remaining white-uniformed council members as they end up torturing Kureha, because they can. ^_^

For the cast credits, the theme picked by Tatewaki is ditched in favor for the theme chosen by the fans – who would you pick for your shinyuu? It will comes as no surprise that many of the actresses picked the character that is their character’s shinyuu, but notably, several other actresses pick Akira – not just Sae’s seiyuu, Itou Shizuka (Rei, from Marimite, Nadie from El Cazador.)

Despite this, there is little Yuri in this volume, which is really okay, because all the couples are well-established in our heads now and it almost seems silly to beat the concept to death. Kiji and Momoka’s hate/love thing was clearly fanservice of Yuri proportions.

This drama CD was significantly longer than most of the others I have – closer to an hour, than the usual 45 minutes. And it was all original stories, which was extra nice. You know how I love having more time to spend with the characters. And for physical extras, the insert booklet has an original short manga by Hayashiya-sensei, special for this Drama CD.

The *only* downside to the whole thing is something that you simply can’t really get past – the cast is now so HUGE, that there’s not enough time to spend with everyone, and although pretty much every character makes an appearance, that’s about all they do – make an appearance. The vignettes worked well to counteract this, because they each followed 2-8 characters (except the first, which quite literally shoved everyone in) so we got to spend at least that much time with those characters, semi-exclusively. ^_^

Ratings:

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

Overall – 9

A great addition to what is the most unique and interesting manga series, (while of course actually being completely generic and derivative ^_^) currently running.

Oh, and I would definitely pick Ayana as my shinyuu – she’s competent, nasty *and* violent. She’s practically perfect. ^_^How about you?





Yuri Manga: Sasamekikoto, Volume 2 (ささめきこと)

June 23rd, 2008

Yuri, as I have mentioned, is not the same thing as lesbian. There’s some overlap, of course, but Yuri as a genre has an awful lot of not-really-lesbian-at-all tropes, with which we’re all familiar.

Sasamekikoto, Volume 2 (ささめきこと)  does something quite interesting with some of our more familiar rehashed conventions – in a sort of meta-Yuri manga, we get several layers of Yuri convention running on top of one another, each at a different angle to the others.

Sumika, a girl in love with her best friend Ushio – who loves cute girls, but not Sumi – has been blackmailed to join a club that consists of women who love women (and their friend Kyori who is just a member to make the requisite number.)

But first! A “funny” chapter about Sumi on a date with the guy, Masaki, who likes her, who has a side career cross-dressing as internet idol and model Akemi-chan, and whose little sister is extremely creepy.

After that, the story settles down a bit into something that looks like this:
Classmates ask Sumi whether Tomoe and Miyako are lesbian, but Sumi avoids answering. The two come back and tell the classmates that they shouldn’t be asking other people about their identity. The classmates get all riled, calling them “rezu” and “hentai” when quiet Aoi-san stands up and tells them all to be quiet – that one, the classroom is for studying, not this, and two, real love between women looks like these novels that she obsesses about. lol The novel covers look *awfully* familiar. (And, btw, the novels are penned by Ushio’s brother, something that both Ushio and Sumi don’t want Aoi-san learning. lol)

When Aoi-san runs out after having been emotionally brutalized, Sumi goes after her to see of she’s okay. Aoi-san instantly forms a crush on Sumi and assumes that she too is a fan of the novels. Ushio walks in on them at a touchy moment, which sends her into tears, not so much because Sumi might like the other girl – she’s more worried that Sumi isn’t a fan of those damn novels!

Tomoe, as club president of the jyoshibu, decides that the club should go on a club overnight. However, a misunderstanding forces Sumi into helping Aoi-san with her doujinshi for “Yuri Fest,” a summer doujinshi event. So instead of going with Ushio to the beach, Sumika finds herself helping her new friend making a doujinshi and selling it at this Yuri otaku event. Sumi’s day is made when Ushio ditches her summer vacation, and comes to the event to visit her.

Then, everyone goes to the pool, tickets courtesy of Aoi-san’s thankful parents. Kyori, in a moment of epic genius, separates Aoi-san, Miyako and herself into the “kids” team – basing this on relative size – and leaves Tomoe, Ushio and Sumika to be together. Tomoe gets the drift immediately and goes off on her own, so Sumi and Ushio finally get some alone time. Aoi-san spends the entire time trying to escape to be together with Sumi, but finally sees what we have seen since the beginning, that Sumika and Ushio are in love with one another. And sad as she is, she backs off. On the train, Tomoe talks about how beautiful their love is – especially because they can’t see each other’s feelings. She calls it “delicious.”

The final chapter follows Sumi and Ushio just missing one another at a local festival but, when they finally do connect, the relief and joy on their respective faces speak volumes.

So the trick here is that were have a 1) girl who loves another girl 2) who loves her, 3) but they don’t recognize it yet, and who is the 4) object of a crush of a girl 5) who likes Yuri light novels, and they are in a 5) club for girls who love girls, and hang with a 6) lesbian couple. You see what they did there – the creator layered several “Yuri” tropes on top of one another for a reasonably effective comedy.

And it is quite funny. My favorite moments are when Sumi and Ushio fall into a visually wacky private language that’s basically not describable, but is lol funny.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 7
Service – 4

Overall – 8

I wasn’t sure if the whole “best friend who loves her best friend from a distance thing” was going to work for me, but in Sasamekikoto, it absolutely does work.