Archive for the Artists Category


Sister Red, Volume 1

June 14th, 2005

Another first today for Okazu! But a rather bizarre one, I admit. Today I am reviewing Sister Red a manga with absolutely *no* yuri at all whatsoever, except in the most peripheral sense.

Once again, I’d like to offer my gratitude to Touko_no_doriru-san, who gave me both volumes of this manga in Tokyo. Subsequently I have learned that Comics One has translated it into English. Sister Red, Volume 1 is available through Amazon.com.

If it ain’t yuri, then why am I reviewing it? Because it’s the second series by manga artist Hayashiya Shizuru, creator of yuri series Strawberry Shake and artist for the mostly-yuri doujinshi circle, Jesus Drug. It is therefore of interest to me, and perhaps to other fans of her art.

To put it simply, Sister Red is a vampire story, although the word “vampire” is never used.

We are introduced to our heroine Mahito, during a typical school day. Mahito lives with her father and her cousin, Erika who is very like a sister to her. Erika is a little spacey, and has a tendency to be weak physically and emotionally. Mahito loves Erika and is always there to protect her, but is also, deep inside, a little resentful that Erika doesn’t fight back more for herself.

One night, on the way home from school, Mahito decides to take a shortcut home and is promtply hit by a car. As she bleeds into the street, the men in the car see her dying and run off without calling for help. Mahito sees a mysterious woman in a black trenchcoat who says inexplicable stuff about her heart. She closes her eyes – only to find herself at home in bed, with a doctor in attendance. Unfortunately it wasn’t a dream, as she learns when the mysterious woman, Alice, appears again and explains that she has given Mahito part of the heart of Scarlet in order to keep Mahito alive. Because, in fact, Mahito did die because of the accident. Now Mahito is one of the walking undead, and is developing mighty weird powers.

The plot of Sister Red is actually rather complicated – Alice is being tracked by her half brother Yuri who wants the heart back so he can become truly immortal. But who Scarlet is and why Alice has her heart is still a mystery to Mahito at present. In the meantime, she is forced to deal with other Night creatures – some of whom masquerade as human and prey upon real humans. Mahito starts to embrace her powers when another night creature seduces and kills her kouhai, an innocent and sweet girl. (This is the only even vaguely yuri-ish bit in the story, btw, since the creature was masquerading as a girl – and implies that she had her way with the kouhai before killing her.)

It’s a dark story, moody, and really, really violent. Lots of blood and beheaded bodies and mangled body parts and the like, once again showing that Hayashiya-sensei is not afraid of a little gore and random acts of extreme violence. Some of the action scenes are exceptionally well executed – especially in the second fight with Yuri’s first lackey, whose name escapes me at the moment. And I’m not just saying that because she’s an eye-patch wearing kick-ass chick. lol

The only downside is that the character development is a bit rushed, because it’s a short series.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 6
Yuri – 0.5

Overall – 7

All in all, a dark, creepy, gory, yet fun to read, vampire story from Hayashiya Shizuru





Madlax, Volume 1

June 6th, 2005

I’m not sure if Madlax is better than I remembered it to be, but it is definitely damn good. In this series, I think Bee Train might well have hit their peak – animation, story, music, etc, all work together to make a really enjoyable whole.

I reviewed the early part of the series about a year ago in June 2004, so I won’t repeat the basic plot stuff since, obviously, that has not changed. ;-)

So let’s talk packaging. Like Noir, the packaging is minimal. No posters, no pencil boards, just a disk and some liner notes. The notes are interesting, but not Azumanga Daioh-level stellar. 4 episodes on the disk. I know it’s standard, but you know my rant – it shouldn’t be. 6 episodes on a disk *should* be standard, or why have we switched at all from VHS?

The music has a definitely similarity to that of Noir, without being a complete copycat. I did notice, this time around, that “The Book” (or individual pages from The Book) has a plinky, irrirtating theme, much as The Watch did. The book also comes with a pretentious quasi-militaristic, vaguely Teutonic male choir, which means that even if you’re only half paying attention, you’ll look up when it comes on-screen. :-)

I’m always fascinated by the phenomenon of watching an anime I enjoyed with that 20/20 hindsight that comes from knowing what will happen. It frees one to notice many more details – in this case I was able to appreciate just how really flaky Margaret is. lol

For the yuri fan, there is instant rapport between Elenore and Vanessa, who seem to be sharing some kind of obvious secret as they trade snarky comments. And Rimelda gives off gaydar vibes like crazy…but maybe that’s just me.

The whole war thing actually makes more sense this time around – I think we get alot of Madlax’s point of view in the beginning just to establish that pretty much everyone knows this war is meaningless – except for the guys fighting it. Hey, *that* sounds familiar…. I also like Madlax’s sensuality in the middle of everything. The first time watching it seemed frivolous – this time it feels somehow necessary.

The biggest downside to this series hasn’t really yet been established: Bee Train has a nasty tendency to severely overuse repeated footage, like some kind of animated nervous tic. In the case of Volume 1, we have yet to really see the repeated scenes, but we will, we will…established by Episode 4, they just keep coming back again and again and again, until we want to scream. Or maybe that’s just me.

Other than that – the violence is appropriate, people bleed (an issue I had with Noir) from their wounds and the only serious handwave is Madlax’s mad assasinatin’ skillz. Which is *the* handwave, really, so we’ll let it go. She can fight in a cocktail dress if she wants, so there.

Ratings:

Art – 8 (I think BT really hits a high here. It’s the best they’ve done so far.)
Characters – 8 (Intriguing rather than interesting)
Story – 7
Yuri – 4 with a hint of more to come
Music – 9

Overall – a strong 8. If you liked Noir, you’ll probably like Madlax. Get it at the Yuricon Shop and support yuri!





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. -_-;