Archive for the Artists Category


Yuri Manga: Boku ha Onna no Ko Manga

May 25th, 2005

I’ve been reviewing so many things I like that I thought it was time to be a downer again. ^_^

This manga, Boku ha Onna no Ko, i.e., I am a Girl (where the “I” is a boy’s form) is…okay. I have seen this many, many, many times on “Yuri Manga” lists in Japanese. I’ve never really been tempted to buy it, but on my last night in Tokyo I was going crazy and throwing money around Comic Tora no Ana like I was a millionaire. So I got it.

Boku is a collection of short stories by Shimura Takako, that are all very “eh.” The first story – the title story, “Boku ha Onna no Ko,” seems to be about a boy who fell into a several-months long sleep and, upon waking, finds that she is now a girl. Even as a Kafka-esque piece, this story seemed forced to me. We get most of the Greek Chorus commentary from an older brother with a girl’s name – can’t remember it at the moment. Nothing happens, except we get to see her naked and confirm that yes, she is a girl, and um, the kids in school all want to know what it feels like. Tomorrow she will go out and buy dressses. The end.

The middle stories made absolutely *no* impression on me and I cannot recall any of them.

The final story had the most personality. In “Sweet 16 – Hina,” a young, very boyish girl named Hina falls in love with her (I think) music teacher, a woman. The teacher, in a very emotional scene, both acknolwedges and regretfully rejects Hina’s feelings, but it wasn’t nasty in any way – the teacher is in love with a man and is suffering a bit for her own love. The story is mostly a coming of age type thing, very mild and a little bittersweet. But nothing really happens.

I was not whelmed by this book, either over- or under-. It is gone from my collection now and after I upload this review, I will simply forget it.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Stories – 5
Characters – 5
Yuri – 6

Overall – a bland, uninteresting 5. There’s worse, but there’s better, too.





Yuri Anime: Noir, DVD Volume 1

May 16th, 2005

A blast from the past! But, you see, I never originally reviewed Noir. Isn’t that odd? I did talk about it a little in my initial overview of Bee Train series for my review of Madlax, but I have never talked about this series in detail. It gives me a good excuse to rewatch the series. ^_^

Let’s start with the bad.

There is so much repeated footage in the early episodes that it’s a wonder anyone gets past episode four. After watching the first volume again, I hated that damn watch and its musical theme all over again, something that time and distance had dulled.

The animation is surprisingly weak in places, especially in regards to the characters’ faces, which is all the more obvious when laid against really detailed and cool backgrounds.

Lastly, there is the small issue of entry and exit wounds…they do not exist. Guns make *holes*. People do not bleed by osmosis. We are watching an anime about assasins. We should REALLY have wounds. And while it’s a small issue, it just hits absurd proportions later on in the series, when Kirika and Mirielle are gunning down dozens at a time. Blood yes, but only behind bodies and with no wounds. Come ON, Bee Train, get some balls!

I will admit that they partially addressed the issue in Madlax.

That’s about it for the bad, now for the good.

Oh my god is the music orgasmic! I bought all three soundtracks to this anime, something never before heard of. With the exception of the watch’s theme, (and only because it’s just overused,) every track in this show rocks. Canta Per Me and Salva Nos are indescribably sexy as background music to the various “running around with guns and shooting people” scenes.

It’s about women who use guns. Like Gunsmith Cats, no matter how absurd the storyline, we’ll put up with it, because, well, it’s got sexy woman with gun and we like. ^_^

The various settings are fun. I think Bee Train do a really nice job of moving the story around the world – in this first volume we start in Japan, move to Paris and briefly slaughter some people in a tropical climate. I really like the mobility of the story. Especially as it will take them, eventually, to the woods of New Jersey.

The occult coolness. Could anything be cooler than two female assassins traveling around the world, killing with dispassionate skill? Yes! They could be investigating a Medieval occult conspiracy! Da Vinci Code step aside – Soldats has you beat flat.

Oh, and erm…gee they seem kinda Yuri don’t they? ^_^

Okay, in Volume 1, there is already a definite vibe between our two lovely leads. And there does seem to only be one bed doesn’t there? And gee, Mirielle seems a sensual, passionate sort, and she’s only a few years older than Kirika…

And anyway, geez, who *else* could they sleep with? It’s not like they’d be meeting lots of nice people to hang out with, or be able to buy sex, since it would be too risky. Bottom line is, it’s obvious, right off. And Bee Train tells us that if we want to see it there, it is, so I say it is. There, that’s settled. ^_^

Ratings:
Art – 7
Characters – 8
Story – 9
Yuri – 6

Overall – 8

Not for the cute, fluffy crowd, but a definite Yuri fan fave.





Ultra Sword Manga

May 5th, 2005

Right off, special thanks to Touko_no_doriru-san who gave me this manga on my last day in Tokyo. Sir, I have not forgotten your kindness and I am getting together a pile of things to send you as soon as I can!

Also, special thanks to Youko, who warned me away from this manga because it had some icky stuff in it, right after I had read and enjoyed it! lol Thanks for watching out for my poor, battered, soul, sweetie. :-)

This manga was drawn by my current fave Hayashiya Shizuru, author and artist of Strawberry Shake Sweet from Yuri Shimai/Hime and Hayate Cross Blade, among many other titles.

Before you get all excited, let me be honest – while there is Yuri in this manga, it’s all service. And the story is comprised of much violence and rape. If these things bother you, then you will want to avoid this manga. If they do not – read on!

Four girls – tough Rui, gay Yuki, horny Aoi and creepy otaku Tsubasa, are given swords and told that they must protect the victim who is the sacred bride from a demon infestation that will attempt to obtain her for their leader. Confused, but determined, they set off to find this victim.

Enter Mizuki, a girl who is being severly molested on the train. Tsubasa saves her, but shows no social skills in doing so. Later that day, Mizuki is attacked again, by a guy in the park and Tsubasa saves her once more – this time accompanied by the rest of the gang. They identify Mizuki as their victim and swear to protect her from the multiple rapists, molesters and demonic seducers that she will have to face in future chapters.

They are only marginally successful. ^_^;

That is, the sexual violence continues, not only against Mizuki, but pretty much involving every female character in the book – including the four themselves. But as that is the plot, and the manga is REALLY honest about it, I can hardly fault it.

The first seducer is a really sexy hermaphrodite gym teacher, and later Rui’s obsessed kouhai appears and rapes her (having been possessed by the demon-y side) and finally Tsubasa gets possessed and goes all demony. That’s about it for Yuri, except Yuki’s genuine expressions of desire for Mizuki which are beaten down VERY forcefully by Rui.

If you prefer sweet lesbian love, really, take a pass on this manga.

If violence and rape don’t bother you or, like me, in context you can deal, then go ahead and brave this super-strange eromanga adventure.!

Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – /coughcough/
Characters – 6
Service – 10
Yuri – 6

Overall – Honestly, *maybe* a 6, but I liked it anyway!

Really – I think it’s just Hayashiya-sensei’s art. It made the horrible, constant sexual violence seem kind of…fun. -_-;





Yuri Anime: Hayate Cross Blade, Volume 2

March 18th, 2005

Could Hayate Cross Blade get any better? I can’t imagine how. Unless Hayate grows up suddenly and she and Ayana kiss passionately…but even without that, this manga still rocks. (And you know, thinking about it…I’m not sure they really work as a couple…)

At the end of Volume 1, we leave Ayana and Hayate, our newly paired shinyuu having just fought off 18 other teams to move up an entire rank in one huge, embarrasingly amusing randori. Hayate is speaking to her friend, fellow first year Momoka, one of the very few unpaired swordswomen in school, about just why she remains without soeur…woops, I mean shinyuu. ;-)

Momoka tells Hayate that she has a person with whom she wants be paired – her old sempai from her kendo dojo, Riona. Rio-‘nee is a year older and entered the school first. When Momoka entered, she relates in a heart-rending tale, she found Riona paired with an abusive older classman. At that *very* instant, the two appear and we see Riona’s partner haul off and belt her across the face! Shock! Momoka challenges the upperclassman to a duel, to rescue her beloved Rio-‘nee. Hayate is moved to tears…

In the meantime, since Hayate is helping Momoka train, Ayana is left in peaceful bliss to fend off her randy roommate Jun. Jun is our resident openly desirous best friend type, who makes no bones about wanting to jump this particular sempai, but Ayana isn’t interested. (Of course, she’s still pining away a little for Yukari, her former shinyuu. You can tell by her reactions everytime she runs into Yukari.)

Does Momoka win the challenge? What do you think…of course she does! But the outcome is nothing like Momoka expects, as Riona opts to stay with her current partner, since she’s really not as abusive as she seems and in fact, being slapped upside the head every once in a while refreshes her. Erm, yeah. (And man, Momoka was so kewl and princely as she fights for the woman she loves…sigh…stupid Riona.)

Which is where the fun *really* begins, because the only other unpaired girl in the school (not every student is a fighter, but if you are, you can’t fight without a partner) has been haunting Momoka trying to get her to team up. I use the word “haunting” quite literally. Inugami Isuzu is the CREEPIEST girl ever. The art for her is brilliantly funny, drawing on alot of current horror movies and standard traditional horror tropes that you will recognize immediately. She’s got an evil black aura around her head and even the way she moves and talks are creepy. To top it all off, Isuzu is clearly a witch. I adore Isuzu…she’s so skin-twitchingly awful. ^_^

After resigning herself to losing Riona, Momoka makes Isuzu’s physical appearance a little more friendly looking, which actually on serves to make her *more* creepy. Hayate dubs Isuzu “Wanko” (puppy girl, a play on her family name.) At last, Momoka and her new shinyuu can join the battle.

I cannot *wait* for Volume 3.

I mean, chicks with weapons, tons of yuri fun, almost no fanservice….no, really, I can’t think of any! Can you believe it? Hayate Cross Blade is a strong favorite so far for best manga of 2005. It’ll be damned hard to beat, anyway….





Yuri Manga: Hayate Cross Blade, Volume 1

March 14th, 2005

From Hayashiya Shizuru, the author of Strawberry Shake, Yuri Shimai‘s Yuri love comedy, comes Hayate Cross Blade, a delightful mixture of whimsy, action and lots of lovely Yuri.

(07/28/07: If you have come to this review after reading that Seven Seas has licensed the manga, please feel free to click Hayate x Blade for all my reviews of this series!)

*Special thanks to Touko_no_doriru-san, who told me about this terrific series! Thank you so much for the heads up!*

I probably shouldn’t even be writing this review yet, as I haven’t had a proper read-through of this manga – but it really is so wonderful, I wanted to rave a little. I promise to read it more thoroughly before I review Volume 2. ^_^

To put it simply, Hayate (the redhead on the left of the above cover) is a heroine of the uber-genki, out-of-control sort. (Readers familiar with Strawberry Shake can easily liken her to Julia.) Hayate’s sister was supposed to have attended a special elite school, but is unable to attend, so Hayate decides to masquerade as her. Of course, this ruse is quickly uncovered, but she is allowed to stay…on a few conditions.

The school is the sort that, had it ever truly existed, I would have moved heaven and earth to attend. ^_^ The girls all carry swords and rank at the school is attained by joining the “Star Taking” Hoshitori which basically means sword-fighting with the other girls to move up in rank. There appears to be compensation for high ranks – with a large prize at the very top.

Hayate lives with a young woman Chiharu, who runs an orphanage and who continually insists, quite forcefully at times, that she will marry Hayate. Hayate doesn’t seem to think there’s anything wrong with this – she acts very father-like to the orphans. As it turns out, Hayate and her sister were raised there.

When she attends school, she immediately she runs into several problems. She falls foul of intemperate upperclassmen, of course. And the house she lives in is trashed by a greedy real estate agent. Along with the special circumstances of her being allowed to stay at the school, she now *needs* money and rank, so she joins the Hoshitori to attain both. In order to participate in the Way of the Sword, one needs a partner, so Hayate picks the most aloof, least attainable and easily the most skilled girl at school…a girl who was once the highest ranked ever who, for reasons that have many rumors attached to them, but no hard facts, has stopped being an active fighter.

Through sheer insanity, Hayate convinces this girl, Mudoh Ayana, to be her partner – but the Council makes one condition. Since Hayate is a beginner, they must both start from the very bottom of the ranks.

We learn very quickly that Hayate has some genuine innate hand-to-hand skills, even though her sword technique is rough, and that Ayana’s past history includes a deeply painful break-up with her former partner, now the highest ranked sword fighter in the middle school.

As you can imagine, this manga is filled with all *sorts* of hints about the relationships between the various partners, and there is overt akogare on Hayate’s part for her new uber-cool partner (which makes for a cute rivalry with Chiharu.)

Basically, you got the whole soeur thing going, with the addition of swords and fighting. This is very good thing, IMHO.  ^_^ In this case, the relationship is referred to as “shinyuu” which can be translated as both, “close friends” and “sisters-in-arms”.

The art is, again, familiar to anyone who has read Strawberry Shake, and the characters are all instantly likable. I definitely give this series a whopping big thumbs up.

Ratings

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 7
Overall – 8

A solid entry to the Yuri lists, and one that I will follow with great enjoyment!