Archive for the Artists Category


I’m in Love with the Villainess: She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner, Volume 1

February 3rd, 2023

Two girls in fantasy school uniforms, with red jackets and frilly white blouses are surrounded by pink flowers and flower petals. From below a girl with dark brown hair looks up at and holds a hand out to a haughty blonde with long hair in huge banana curls and a red bow who stands with her arms crossed and a dissatisfied expression. The title "I'm In Love With The Villainess: She's So Cheeky For A Commoner" is set off by a heart shape border on the left side and rendered in gold and silver letters. Black letters on the right hand corner read "Written by inori" "Illustrated By hanagata" and Novel 1. In 2020, I first read and reviewed what we now think of as I’m in Love With the Villainess, Volume 1 of the Light Novel series. In that review I speak of things like world-building and character voice because those two qualities are critical for me to enjoy a series. One of the most enjoyable things about the initial light novel series is Rae’s voice, which is at odds with her apparent goofy personality. As we have learned, there are several very good reasons for that.

Naturally, my top priority for I’m in Love with the Villainess: She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner, Volume 1 (out now as a digital edition and in print at the end of the month) is that Claire’s voice is likewise preserved from the original, which I reviewed last spring. In that review I discussed the character aspect of this novel. Having fully developed the main characters in the five novels of the original series, inori-sensei here gives time to supporting cast including developing Pepi and Loretta, Claire’s henchicks. Both of them – and Claire’s heretofore-unseen roommate – are fleshed out and made whole in ways that I guarantee will be even more remarkable as the series continues.

We’ve all read “opposite perspective” stories. My first was probably Grendel by John Gardener (which sent me down a deep rabbit hole of villain perspectives when I was very young. ^_^) Here, since “the villainess” is our protagonist, everything is already topsy-turvy, and the novel just runs with that, throwing us off constantly from our previous expectations.

I have one small complaint about the entirety of the book which, again, has to do with voice. There is a line I love from Dorothy L. Sayer’s Murder Must Advertise, in which Miss Meteyard says, “Some people can be funny without being vulgar, and some can be both funny and vulgar. I should recommend you to be either the one or the other.” I use this line quite often and also believe it is true for being rude. Some people can be rude without being vulgar. It is my opinion that Claire François, daughter of the Minister of Finance of the Kingdom, would not be vulgar when she is being rude. So, when she used the phrase, “bat for the other team” I object. This is a vulgar phrase even now. Where might Claire have heard it? How would she have understood it? Do they even have a bat and ball game in Bauer? It has been pointed out to me that the phase is a holdover from that first volume translation, with which we had several issues. There were so many ways to indicate that she was being rude without her being vulgar that this was just an unfortunate choice.

As an aside, I am kindly begging all manga translators and their editors to never use or allow this phrase to be used unless the person speaking is an uncouth lout who is expected by the people around them to be gross.

After that little hiccup, I found that Claire’s voice was otherwise well handled. She was haughty, a tad naive, good-hearted and, ultimately, cute. It was much easier for me to understand why Rae fell so hard for Claire after meeting Claire directly. For all of this, I credit translator Kevin Ishikawa. The Claire we meet here is lovable. As are her henchchicks, the aforementioned Pepi and Loretta, even if their enthusiasm is misplaced, and her roommate, Catherine Achard. Believe me when I tell you, that Catherine is going to be someone you care deeply about.

Ratings:

Art – 7 hanagata’s art is  much more confident now
Story – 10 Outstanding writing
Characters – 10 Extraordinary character work
Service – 3? 4? A bit, sometimes
Yuri/LGBTQ+ – Super complicated question! Rae’s feeling are not returned, but the queer content is still totally there.

Overall – 10

Every single moment with this novel added to what we know, why and how it would affect the larger story. There will be more of that as the series continues. This is no mere “opposite perspective” but a whole new view of what is a complex and interesting story right to the very end. 

The digital edition of Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina! Volume 2 (平民のくせに生意気な！) is available on Amazon Kindle in Japanese and JP Kindle. Volume 2 of She’s So Cheeky For A Commoner does not yet have a release date. I’ll be sure to let you know when it does.  In the meantime, I know you’re side-eyeing this spin-off. Just go read it, it’s worth it. ^_^





The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This, Volume 2

January 16th, 2023

Snowy, bare white scene, with a few trees and a building in the background. Two woman stand. One wears a mid-thigh length green hooded winter coat, she looks at the other woman, who wear a pink hoodie, brown shorts with black leggings underneath, and is reaching down towards us presumably to grab some snow. Black and red letters read, "The Two Of Them Are pretty Much Like This", In black a large 2 is in the bottom right corner, and in the bottom left, in black, "story and art by Takashi Ikeda."In Volume 1, we met Ellie a scriptwriter and her lover Wako, and aspiring voice actress. In The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This, Volume 2, Wako’s career gets a big bump with a role in an upcoming anime. What will that mean for Ellie? Well, it won’t mean that Wako’s paying the rent just yet. ^_^

In this volume we meet an editor friend of Ellie’s, the kind-of-hapless Ataru. and Wako’s fellow voice actors. There are moments of intimacy, and hard work, and mistakes and embarrassing moments with neighbors. Just every day life things. This is a low drama, low comedy, and low low-key slice-of-life comedy. that’s a fun read, without asking much of us. As I said in my review of this volume in Japanese,  the only problem I had with it was the “birthday gag” in the final chapter, a gag that I strongly dislike. You know the one – “Oh, no, everyone has forgotten my birthday.” UGH.

Ellie and Wako are in love, they are adorable together and we (well, maybe not Ataru) are rooting for them all the way.  I didn’t know how much I needed another Yuri manga from Ikeda Takashi until I read this the first time., but yeah, I really did. His art is outstanding, the tone is goofy without being exhausting for a beautifully balanced story. 

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 9
Story – 8 1 point off for the surprise party
Service – 5 Nudity and acknowledgement of sex, but not more. It’s more just like, knowing an adult couple as friends.
Lesbian – 10 and then sure, Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

As I said the first time, “Fun, relatable and way better than I anticipated, but that one point off for that goddamned awful surprise birthday party plot.” I very much enjoy the recurring Wako-as-an-idol gag. ^_^

Volume 3 will be hitting shelves in English in June!

 





Watashi No Yuri Ha Oshigoto Desu!, Volume 11 (私の百合はお仕事です)

January 12th, 2023

Two girls, with gold and silver hair, wearing old-fashioned green Japanese school uniforms, sit in a garden. The blonde wears glasses, leaning back on the bench, looking over her shoulder at the other girl, who leans on the bench back. White letters read, "Watashi No Yuri Ha Oshigoto Desu!, Volume 11" ( in Japanese 私の百合はお仕事です, presented by miman."A whole bunch of volumes ago, when Liebe cafe was having it’s Blume competition, Sumika pulled Hime and Kanako aside and told then a story. It was a sad story, about how a conniving cast member stole her little sister away. Sumika blamed love. She dislikes romantic loev because it tears people apart. As Blume, all she wants for the cafe is that everything remains the same as it is right now. Even at the time, Nene pointed out that Sumika’s version of that story wasn’t complete.

Here in Watashi No Yuri Ha Oshigoto Desu!, Volume 11 (私の百合はお仕事です) we learn the rest of that story.

But first, we must spend time with an increasingly unstable Kanako. It’s not because she’s isolated. Hime and Sumika attempt to reach her. But she’s convinced herself that the problem is not her.  She may be partly correct, but that still leaves a lot of the problem being her.

We kow understand Nene a little better, we think. But it turns out that Nene may not have understood herself back then…and no one understood Youko. She’s not playing a manipulative character, she is manipulative because it is fun. Consider this a warning. She plays this game hard and doesn’t seem to care about casualties.

We finally get all the pieces of that above story, when Nene and Sumika finally talk it all out. This was an outstanding scene. There’s a lot of movement on the page, a lot of references to Nene’s and Sumika’s time as schwestern and some fantastic body language and expressions.

But that still leaves Kanako hanging out there, vulnerable and manipulable. And Youko is right there to pick her up.

Next volume is gonna be a thing, let me tell you. I’m reading the current chapters doing a lot of screaming at the page. ^_^

But here’s the amazing thing…this manga is getting better. It started so funny and cute and now it’s deep and darker and I feel like the goofy characters are turning into people. Miman’s art is getting better and better – how about that cover? Here we are, an unthinkable 11 volumes into this series that was a goofy comedy and we’re getting better mood and narrative than ever before.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – 2 There is  bit of body staring, especially in the decolletage. It’s not appalling, but it is there.
Yuri – 10  It doesn’t get Yurier, surely
LGBTQ -10

Overall – 9

This series has been a real surprise in every way, not least because this “S” Yuri concept cafe story is actually quite queer after all. ^_^

Volume 12 is not yet out but get those vocals chords ready. It’s a screamer. ^_^





Yuri is My Job, Volume 10

January 9th, 2023

Pictured: 5 girls in an old-fashioned dark green Japanese school uniform pose in front of a large sunny window. In the front row, are three girls, one sitting to the side with pinkish hair and a bow tied in a "rabbit ear style on top of her head, a blonde in the middle, and leaning on her, a dark-haired girl, with her hair pulled up primly. In the back row are two older-looking girls. One with long-brown hair, and one with blonde hair and glasses. A white fancy bracket encloses the words in white: Yuri is My Job! In the top left corner in black, there is a 10 and the author's name: mimanI’m currently in the middle of reading Volume 11 of Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu! so what a great time to take my pent-up feelings out on Yuri Is My Job, Volume 10! ^_^ /Insert scream here/

This series, which began with a parody of ‘S’ tropes as seen through the lens of a popular light novel series, and has always always been a rom-com, unless it wasn’t, suddenly…isn’t. Not really. For one thing, it’s gotten rather queer, almost despite itself (I jest. Miman is a capable author and knows what they are doing…) and the insertion of Yoko into the story has made it feel rather grown-up and darker than it had previously been. Have a bit of pity for Kodansha, a company that licensed a goofy comedy and now has a pretty heavy story on their hands.

There’s an important little thing that happens in this arc. Originally, Sumika gave her version of what happened in the cafe to Kanako and Hime. Now we’ve encountered Yoko, and Nene has given us her version. There’s one more version to go. Wait for it. It’s important.

We now officially have an unwinnable situation. Nene is fucking done with everyone and who can blame her? Sumika is in denial, Kanako is delusional, Yoko is toxic relationships on the hoof and Hime and Mizuki are pretty much relegated to supporting cast. I wasn’t sold on Hime previously, but here she steps up and is a genuinely good friend to Kanako. Too bad it’s too late. Kanako is not okay. I wish I could feel bad for her.

The climax of this arc hasn’t yet happened and I really have no idea what will happen, but I know what I want to see. I want Sumika and Nene to team up and take Yoko down. Will I get that? Tune back in and we’ll see!

Ratings:

Art – 10
Story – 10
Characters – 10 Nene is now my favorite character. Sumika, you’re killin’ me.
Service – 5 Large breasts
Yuri – 9 Looking for love in all the wrong places.

Overall – 9

I summed this volume up in my review of the Japanese volume 10 as “Yikes.” But what amazingly scripted and drawn “yikes” it is.

I must mention Diana Taylor for a great translation job here – everyone has their own voice. You can practically hear Yoko ooze. Jennifer Skarupa does a fine job matching the S/fx to the Japanese’ everyone on the Kodansha team is giving us an excellent reading experience! Cannot wait to see what they do with the two-page color spread that just ran in Comic Yuri Hime. (It was a lot of Yoko’s breasts.)

Volume 11 is out now in Japanese (and on my list of things I will review shortly!), but you’ll have to wait until June to see Yuri Is My Job!, Volume 11 in English.





Hello, Melancholic!, Volume 3

January 3rd, 2023

Beginnings are easy. You have an idea. There’s this character and stuff happens and it affects them and they react. Why are they there, what happens, how it affects them, can all be built up over time. But beginnings, they’re easy. The hard part is what happens after you’ve explained why they are there, and why that thing that happened affected them that way. Then, you have to buckle down and show what happened after that.

In Volume 1, we met Minato, an introverted and unusually tall first-year in high school whose love of music had been ruined, when she was traumatized by bandmates in her previous school. She is recruited by Hibiki, a second-year, to join an impromptu band club. It was a beginning that hit me hard. Re-learning to enjoy music, struggling to fit in, typical school stuff. We’ve all been some part of “there.”

In Volume 2, Minato and the rest of the band gel, and they give an amazing live performance. Minato takes her first steps out of her shell and in a moment of having had too much fun, admits she likes Hibiki.

Now we are at Volume 3 of Hello, Melancholic! by Ohsawa Yayoi and all the beginning stuff has been laid out. What can possibly happen? Well..a lot.

Hibiki will be graduating. Minato’s basically in denial about that. She concerned that Hibiki (and the rest of the band) will reject her. And in the middle of this, Hibiki, ignoring everything that is laying between them, pushes Minato to take the chance of a lifetime. It doesn’t go well when they try and talk it out the first time. Minato is concerned that every joy she has is too fragile to survive the moment.

I loved this series when I reviewed it in Japanese and my fondness for it carries over into the final volume of the English language edition. Girls finding love in band…well, I’ve been there, so yeah. ^_^ Ohsawa Yayoi’s art continues to improve, her characters’ expressions of shock and pain and joy are just fantastic.

The translation by Margaret Ngo and adaptation by MaryKate Jasper was terrific. You could *hear* their voices as Hibiki and Minato have it all out. Extra props to Seven Seas for bumping up almost all the lettering to full retouch. It looks fantastic. I know it’s harder and takes longer, but thank you Mo Harrison for the effort.  Once again a top effort from the team at Seven Seas and an outstanding reading experience. Now can we get 2DK, GPen Meshamashitokei, I wonder?

Beginnings are easy, but picking the first manga I review of the year is hard.  Hello, Melancholic! wraps up something that feels like it began a long time ago, and now we’re all ready to move on into what’s ahead. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9 More conflict in this volume is a good thing, as Minato becomes less passive
Characters – 9
Service – 1
Yuri – 9

Overall – 9

 

I’d give this adorable 3-volume series to anyone who wanted a feel-good schoolgirl Yuri story.