Archive for the Artists Category


Yuri Manga: Iono-sama Fanatics (English)

May 25th, 2007

Today’s review was brought to you by Infinity Studios, the publisher of the English-language adaptation of Iono-sama Fanatics.

I reviewed this book originally on November 11, 2005. For a discussion of the plot and characters, please read my original review. For today’s review I am going to focus solely on the adaptation to English.

Unusually for me, I’d like to start with some of the good things. I am exceptionally pleased with the general level of reproduction (although my review copy was a PDF and not an actual book, so I can’t tell you how it will look on paper.) Color pages have been retained, which pleases me no end. The notes for the story are mostly very decent. I particularly liked the glosses on the notes about the characters and the roles from Mito Koumon upon which they they were loosely based. That worked for me and I felt that the translators were doing a decent job of keeping us readers included in the in-jokes within the book.

On the other hand…other than the “-sama” for “Iono-sama” they left out honorifics (and we all know how I feel about that.) If you could leave in one honorific, I am at a loss as to why you wouldn’t just leave in the others? The names of the characters are transliterated, which works fine for me (except that Aruje will inevitably be pronounced ah-rooj instead of ar-gee, but oh well…) and I admited a certain amount of uncertainty about some of the names myself when I reviewed it originally. But…Frechet (name transliteration taken from the 2007 Fujieda Miyabi Calendar I got at Comike, so the author’s own choice) is transliterated to “Fletch.” That’s just…I dunno…yucky. Frechet-san just seems tons cooler than Ms. Fletch, doesn’t it?

2015 Update: I was wrong here, but so was Infinity, IMHO. Flèche is her name, and while “Fletch” is the English translation…we don’t usually translate names. Argent was not “Silver.” And we’re past that Victorian “Princess Jade Perfume” bullshittery.

In general, the translation is decent, but the one or two times it isn’t, it’s horribly, disturbingly jarring. The first time it is not the translator’s fault.

There is a scene, late in the book, when Frechet (yes, I am going to continue to use the author’s version of the name) and Arata are making googly eyes at one another – obviously enough that everyone else can see it. Iono-sama jarringly asks if they are on the “L Word” together. I took a look back at the original Japanese and honestly, that particular passage would have been a bear to translate without being, well, crude. The points I take away for mentioning a current (and copyrighted…what’s the chances that they got permission?) TV show I give back because the actual sentence…ugh.

The second horribly egregious translation will not go unnoticed, however. Inexplicably, in the author’s note comic in the back of the book, where the word “moe” was used, it was left untranslated, but the word “Yuri” was translated – as “girl on girl.” Thank you, Infinity, for rendering the genre I live and love into a porn term. I wrote them and let them know that it offended.

It’s always nice to *politely* let companies know that the word “Yuri” can remain untranslated as well as “moe” can or, if they insist on translating it, to please use something less connotative of a porn movie, perhaps something like “lesbian stories” or “girls in love”.

Begin digression/

And while we’re on the topic, let ADV Films know that it annoys you when THEY did that very same thing in Best Student Council, Volume 1. You can reach them here: http://www.advfilms.com/FILMScontact.asp

I encourage you all to explain – politely, please – that Yuri fandom is well established enough that there’s no need to be so crude.

I have already contacted both companies, of course, and asked folks on the Yuricon Mailing List to do so as well. ADV sent me an apology for having offended and said that they’d send my message along to the translators.

In both cases I have no doubt that they did not *mean* to offend, but seriously – Yuri fans are the main audience for Iono-sama. It was, as Fujieda says in his comic, originally created as a Yuri story. (Not surprising, as he does quite a lot of Yuri – click his name in the category sidebar to see some of the others. A fact that, apparently, most other reviewers somehow missed.) I just feel that the companies would never have translated “Yaoi” as “gayboy sex” or “gay porn” and realistically, “girl on girl” is a porn term, not a reasonable way to describe Yuri.

\End digression.

One last bad thing about the translated Iono-sama is that there was a rather large typo on one of the character bios. Not a book killer, but I was kind of surprised it got past the editors, since it was really obvious. And yes, I emailed them about that, as well.

So. What do I think of the English adaptation of Iono-sama? I think it’s a nice attempt, but it falls flat in some key places. I would still recommend the book to Yuri fans, because the characters and story shine through the roughness of the adaptation on their sheer force of wonderfulness. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 10
Sevirce – 2 (it is, indeed, moe))
English Adaptation – 6 (without the Yuri issue, it would have definitely been higher.)

Overall – 9

Dear English manga companies – Yuri fans really don’t like being condescended to. Please treat us with respect. This may mean that you have to police the FanBoyness of your own staff. “Yuri” means lesbian images and narratives – not just girl on girl action (which if it were a porn anime, would be completely understandable!) We’re not prudes, we’re just certain that Yuri is more than hot lesbo sex. Thanks, Erica

For a Yuri manga that treats Yuri fans with respect, try one of our 100% Yuri manga from ALC Publishing! All honorifics intact and no insults to your intelligence! Yuri Monogatari 4, 5 and 6 – on sale now!





Yuri Manga: Hayate x Blade, Volume 6

April 23rd, 2007

What do you get when you cross independent, strong female characters who tend towards violence and are more than a little cracked, a school festival, maid costumes, a kidnapped kindergartner, 80 eyeglass-wearing fangirls and a whole lot of sword fighting? Why, you get Hayate x Blade, Volume 6.

We left off in Volume 5 at the start of Tenchi Gakuen’s school festival. And right away, something is wrong. One of the kids visiting from Hayate’s orphanage has gone missing – Miki, the very same one we saw in trouble in the very first chapter. Hayate’s frantic rush to find Miki gets completely sidetracked when a ransom note informs her that the child is not lost – she was kidnapped! (Every scene we see from this point on of Miki, involves her stuffing her face with candy and demanding to be spoiled or she’ll make a scene. We’re never worried about her.) The ransom note demands Hayate show up on the north field, where she is confronted by the Mikado Akira Fan Club, who call themselves the A-team. To “protect” their beloved Akira-sama, they demand that Hayate leave the school, or they will be forced to hurt Miki.

But Hayate is not alone for long – first Ayana, then the Kiji-Michi and Momoka-Isuzu teams come running up (complete with Momo-chan and Kiji arguing about which one of them gets to stand in a high spot and declaim “wait right there!”)

The six are soon joined by two more, as Suzuki, haunting Ayana’s steps as always, joins the group with her partner Sou. And, all of a sudden, the 80 bespectacled fans of Student Council member Mikado Akira suddenly realize that they are horribly outnumbered by the 8 that face them.

It is one of the school rules that fighting cannot take place except when the bell rings – otherwise disgruntled kentousei would be fighting constantly. So, Hitsugi and Shizuku go running over to the north field to make sure that the fight is not held illegally. Hitsugi, being Hitsugi, decides that, rather than stopping the fight which would be dull, she’ll rearrange things a bit to her liking. The A-Team are given wooden practice swords to fight with – and Hayate and her friends, who are mostly in maid costumes (except for Hayate who is dressed as a chick and Momoka who is dressed as a cartoon wolf) get ladles as their weapons. Hitsugi tells them that if even *one* of them gets their star taken, the entire team loses. Or they have to defeat all 80 of the A-team. Before the bout is over, Hitsugi makes sure that Jun gets a bit of the spotlight, by pointing out that the battle is being projected over the whole school. Jun, who had been content to watch up to that point, jumps into the fray.

It’s no contest.

When Akira herself shows up to take on the last of her fan club, they merely collapse in exhaustion. But not before Akira pulls off her studly Student Council long overcoat to reveal…a maid costume. She’s pretty pissed at the point loss on cool.

Following this melee, the second day of the festival begins quietly. Hayate, Jun and Ayana have a frank, but no less violent than usual, conversation about Ayana’s feelings for her ex partner, Yukari. And over on Yukari’s side, she’s wondering why her current partner, Maki, chose her in the first place. Maki’s own thoughts on the subject are rather sweet – she wants Yukari to look at her the way she used to at Ayana. And we see happier moments from before Yukari and Ayana broke up.

Maki and Yukari face an incredibly difficult match. The gong will sound today, and in the enclosure for A-rank fighters, they will be taking on the formidable “Special A’ ranked pair – En Suu and Mei. This is a particularly poignant bout for Yukari – it was this pair that she and Ayana were fighting when she was wounded and scarred.

Back at Ayana’s class’s cafe, Ayana is asked to leave when her reminiscences about that past battle gives off an evil aura that is scaring away the customers. Ayana thinks that she and En Suu share a darkness within them – and that darkness scares her. When she hears the bell, Ayana, then Hayate and the others go running off the to “A” enclosure, but are stopped at the gate by Sae, Akira’s partner.

Inside the enclosure, the battle is fierce. Techniques are fast, and advanced. Maki is hurt in her right arm, while Yukari is pinned to the ground by a ruthless Mei. After a moment, Yukari and Maki both find something important in themselves – and in their relationship – and stand up to fight again.

Who will win…?

You’ll have to tune in next volume! (Uunless you read the monthly chapters, like I do, because I can’t go that long without an episode of this manga. )

Action, love, friendship, violence, deep emotion, incredibly dumb physical gags. Hayate x Blade is the *best* manga on the market and it’s criminal that it’s not an anime yet.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 5 (Ayana x Yukari for the win here)
Service – 4
Overall – 9

No, really, I don’t think it gets better than this.





Lesbian Novel: Himeyuri-tachi no Houkago

April 20th, 2007

This is me reading Himeyuri-tachi no Houkago:

^_^

o_o

o_O

O_O

I had absolutely no expectations of this book when I got it. Never read a single review, never even read the description. I bought it entirely based on the fact that Mori Natsuko is a famous lesbian author and I liked the title. ^_^ I was totally, completely unprepared for the kind of stories the book contains. It turned out to be a collection of “erotic fiction.” In other words, Himeyuri-tachi no Houkago was unremittingly filthy. It was also brilliant. This is *exactly* the kind of thing that makes spending all those hours learning to read Japanese worthwhile. ^_^

All the stories are short tales of emotional S&M and light B&D sometimes in a school setting, other times not. The way each story is constructed lets the reader know that the author is completely aware of how silly each premise is (and they get REALLY silly at times) and that she just doesn’t care, thanks. This is the kind of cheesy titillation that Strawberry Panic attempted, but came nowhere near the level of intelligence and artistry (and wtf-ness) that Mori-sensei attains here.

The first story was mostly a tale of emotional sadism in high school, but that was followed quickly by revenge against a school counselor who calls two girls’ relationship a “pseudo” love. Extra kudos to the protagonist, Miu, who pegs the teacher’s comment as a beard for her own gay leanings.

There’s the story that takes place in the future, when masturbation is an Olympic sport (I’m laughing as I type that, because the story is just…indescribably funny) and the hysterical story about the day when the aliens show up and demand to see a lesbian threesome in order to save the world. ^_^

My favorite story was the penultimate one in which an old-school sukeban gang girl type shows up at a rich girl’s school to challenge “the chief” – only to be tied up and tamed by the Student Council. Oh my god…so brilliant. I read this traveling home on the train – I hope my fellow passengers weren’t too freaked out by my fits of shrieking laughter. The last story is an homage to Mori’s horror roots, with a creepy sisters-by-marriage story with an unpleasantly ambiguous end.

And despite the absurd premises, this book was pretty hot. So bonus points for Mori, because that takes actual skill.

Ratings:

Story – 8 on average, with moments of 12
Characters – 8 on average
Yuri – 127
Service – 10

This book was so “stimulating” that I’ve already come up with two stories in homage to the sheer evil genius here. ^_^ I *must* read more by her…





Yuri Anime: Noir, Volume 5

April 17th, 2007

Wow, there’s nothing like taking a step back a few years to really appreciate both what went before and what we have now. I recently sat and rewatched the volume with the most awesome episodes of Sailor Moon (106-109, in case you care) and on the train on the way to a professional conference, I rewatched Noir Volume 5 for the first time in many moons.

Volume 5 of Noir is not high art. It makes the art of Madlax look stunning by comparison, but story-wise, it’s pretty much the lynchpin moment, the moment at which the entire story alters.

It begins with one more foray into Mirielle’s past where she learns the horrible truth about herself – that she is a child of the organization who now hunts her. Turning away from her own past, she now decides to focus on Kirika’s. Kirika, in the meantime, when faced with a choice of knowledge about herself, Noir and Soldats, or saving Mirielle’s life doesn’t hesitate to chose her friend over herself. I say “friend” here, because it seems that that alone is enough of a revelation for both of them, that they might, perhaps, be becoming friends.

When Mirielle reminds Kirika of the promise that they made – that when they both understand who Kirika is and what, exactly Soldats wants, she will kill the younger woman, there is a edginess to it – we can see that that promise is now a lie, even if they can not.

Just as they start to deal with this change in their relationship, it all comes to a crashing halt. Chloe, who has been stalking Kirika from the beginning, shows Mirielle, in an impressive and incontrovertible display of skill, that she and Kirika are the True Noir. Her explanation of what Noir is, and why Noir is, only serves to highlight the gulf between Mirielle and her partner. When Kirika begins to respond to words that Chloe utters, it becomes obvious that Mirielle has lost the battle, if not the war.

This is a very “having loved and lost” kind of volume. We watch Mirielle gain knowledge of her past, but lose some of her understanding of what her childhood meant to her. She gains Kirika as a friend, but loses her as a partner. And she gains understanding of Soldats and Noir, but loses herself in the process.

I found the Noir/Soldats manuscript lines just as silly this time as the last, but somehow – and really, I don’t know how – it all sort of seemed to make perfect sense. Above all, the sense of loss that Mirielle was experiencing at the very end was very poignant and very powerful. And because El Cazador de la Bruja has already begun, I found myself hoping that I care half this much about Nadie and Ellis by the end, as I do about Kirika and Mirielle.

What makes the story here so interesting, is watching Chloe take everything that Mirielle has fought so hard to gain. What makes the rest of the series so interesting is watching Mirielle fight even harder to get it back.

Ratings:

Art – 4
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 2

Overall – 7

I still think Chloe’s character design looks weird and out of place, but I guess that kind of works…





Spring 2007 Anime Season: El Cazador

April 11th, 2007

It’s going to be very anime-heavy in the upcoming days, as the new 2007 Spring season has begun, and there are several series worthy of attention from the Yuri fan. And, thanks to the continued generosity of my readers, I have an even larger pile of anime to watch now. There’s also a greatly belated end-of-season review I really must do sometime soon. So, manga, live-action and Drama CD fans, I’ll try to get at least one thing in a week for you. But anime is where we’re at for the foreseeable future.

So, here we are just barely into the spring anime season. Which of the several series of interest do we with start with? Well, as the large bulk of attention is being paid to Nanoha StrikerS, let’s buck the trend and start with El Cazador instead.

El Cazador is the third of the “chicks with guns” trilogy by Machimo Koichi and Bee Train – the trilogy that began with Noir and continued with Madlax. (And, I’m of the belief that the latter will be hard to beat, given Bee Train’s preference for ambiguously yuri relationships.)

This series has all the “6 degrees of yuri” signposts: the aforementioned director and production company, Fiction Junction Yuuka and savage genius for EP and OP artists, Ai Shimizu (Mikoto in Mai HiMe/Otome, Hatsumi and Fuji-hime in Yamibou among others) and Itou Shizuka (Rei in Maria-sama ga Miteru, among others) voicing the lead roles. Also joining the cast are Hisakawa Aya (who was Chloe in Noir and Rimelda in Madlax making this a hat trick for her) and Toyoguchi Megumi (Sei in Maria-sama ga Miteru). So, cast, crew and music all scream “Yuri.” The big question now has to be – what about the plot?

We don’t yet know, of course. ^_^ Bee Train stories usually take a good 8 episodes to get going. I’m always willing to give any series about that to gain, keep or lose my attention. And we’re only two episodes in at this point. But I expect it to be in the same realm of ambiguously Yuri relationships as the first two entries in the trilogy – that is to say, I’ll bet there’ll be enough Yuri somewhere in here to make us happy. (I sincerely hope we don’t revert to the Avenger model, which was not at *all* the kind of thing I’m looking for.

Let me be lazy for a second and abstract some of my initial response to El Cazador from the Yuricon Mailing List :

El Cazador has so many of the elements we have come to expect from Bee Train that it almost seems a parody of itself. ^_^ The credits have all the same elements as the Noir and Madlax sequences did. It felt a bit like watching a James Bond flick when Cubby Broccoli was doing all the opening sequences. There was a…uniformity…even though they are all different. Same here.

The setting is different from both Madlax and Noir – this time the American southwest or perhaps a Mexico-ish place. The characters look different but again, they are similar – tough, competent, but slightly flaky gunwoman; cute, flaky younger woman with no memory of the past. Repeated murder in the past footage (without plinky musical theme, though…). Weird object with no meaning as of yet, and grand conspiracy in the background. This time, instead of Soldats or Enfant, we have Project Leviathan.

Last, but hardly least, the end credits give us annoying guy in a mask. Oh, and NOW we know where Friday Monday’s little brother got to. He’s the bad guy in this one. ^_^

I was a tad disappointed by the animation for the first episode. The people all look thin and featureless. But it does set off the highly detailed backgrounds of sand and office doors nicely…

Ratings:

Art – 5
Story – I’m deferring this until the story gets going
Characters – 7 (By episode two I kind of like both Nadi and Ellis…)
Yuri – 0 as of yet, unless you count the fact that Hisakawa Aya’s character is clearly an Evil Psychotic Librarian type.
Service – 3 (Crotch shots, maid costumes, I’m sure there’ll be bathing scenes.)

Overall – 7

Nadi’s the goofy, tough gal with a heart of gold type, Ellis is flaky with a distinctly sexual thing going on with her mysterious power. So, there is definite potential and a good track record backing it up. But only time will tell whether Bee Train comes through for us on El Cazador, or not.