Archive for the Artists Category


Yuri Manga/Anime: Rose of Versailles

January 27th, 2004

Things I’m Not Going To Write About
Part 1

This week, I’m going to give voice to my opinions about alot of anime and manga series that are so well-known and/or so popular, that it’s hardly worth it for me to even mention them…only they are pretty cool and you might *not* have heard of them before, so here they are.

These are really short review/opinions about the yuri content and overall worthiness of these series – feel free to agree or disagree on the Yuricon Mailing List. After this, we’ll go back to our regularly scheduled reviews of stuff you’ve never heard about. ;-)

All ratings are done on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest.

Berusayu no Bara (Rose of Versailles) –

This is *still* one of the great classics of shoujoai manga. Rose of Versailles tells the gorgeous, but ultimately tragic, story of Lady Oscar Francois De Jarjeyes, a woman of the French nobility who was raised as a man. She becomes the Captain of the Guard at Versailles serving Maria Antionette. The story covers the rise and fall of Antionette and the causes and repercussions of the French Revolution, using many well-known historical figures and occurrences. It’s a really human look at the Revolution and a rattlin’ good yarn to boot. (And a decent bit of historical research – almost all the characters with the exception of Oscar and her family, are real.)

Despite its age or, perhaps, because of it, RoV still stands out as a ground-breaking work in shoujo. The anime, sadly, has lost all but the barest vestiges of love between poor, but kind and beautiful Rosalie, and scion of the noble class, Oscar, but in the manga (released last year in a new Japanese edition for its 25th anniversary) there is more than enough Yuri for even me. Both anime and manga are so soap-opera and melodramatic that they are more enjoyable taken in small chunks.

In the manga, Rosalie and Oscar both acknowledge what they feel for each other in a very touching scene. In another time, if Oscar had been a man, if, if, if, they might have become lovers. But they don’t. Nonetheless, if you can get past the uniforms with bell-bottom pants, the art and drama of this soapy story is timeless.

The anime is digitally fansubbed, and frankly, I cannot imagine why it’s never been picked up by any distro company here. The manga has not been scanlated or released her and possibly never will be, so you’ll just have to learn Japanese to enjoy it. :-)

In my opinion, RoV also makes a great introduction to one of the great Japanese cultural icons – Takarazuka – as well. Imagine watching a woman who plays male roles, playing a woman who acts like a man, but falls in love with a man (also played by a women)…all with spiffariffic uniforms and over-the-top acting. It really just doesn’t get any more gender-bendy than this. And Aran Kei as Fersen is unbelievably hot…! LOL

Ratings: Yuri – 3 for the anime, 5 for the manga. Art – very 70s, give it a 8, since it set alot of standards for shoujo that came after it. Overall – 7





Yuri Manga: Indigo Blue

January 23rd, 2004

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Part 4

Once again, I present for your inspection a truly excellent piece of unknown yuri manga – Indigo Blue, by the young, out lesbian mangaka, Yamaji Ebine. This is not to be confused with Blue, by Nananan Kiriko, which was originally published in 1996. Indigo Blue is a more recent book by several years – and one can tell instantly that it’s not bound by early shoujoai conventions and assumptions.

As I remarked in my earlier review of Free Soul, Yamaji-sensei’s work is very clean and minimalist, with rich textures being provided by solid characterization and a background of jazz music, rather than the typical shoujo manga use of screentones. Indigo Blue is an exploration of human sexuality, and is also a step closer to the mature solidity of Free Soul from her earlier works, one more of which I will review later on.

Indigo Blue tells the story of Retsu, a young novelist. She is currently dating her editor, Ryuuji, and seems very happy with him, although she knows she is not in love with him. A friend of hers introduces her to Tamaki, a bohemian young woman who is aware of Retsu’s work, but seems to be uninterested in Retsu as a person. Nonetheless, Retsu can’t get Tamaki out of her head. After various attempts at meeting once again, Retsu finally manages to meet up with her, only to be told that Tamaki is uninterested in pursuing a relationship – even a friendship – because she is a lesbian and Retsu is not. Tamaki simply has no time for women who are straight who fall in love with lesbians….

Retsu is horribly confused by this – she can’t get this woman out of her mind, but she doesn’t think she is attracted to her. Only when Tamaki kisses her suddenly and walks away, does Retsu realize that yes, in fact, she is very attracted to her .

Ultimately they become lovers, but still, Retsu can’t find it in herself to break up with Ryuuji, who is clearly in love with her, even asking her to marry him. The complicated life and network of lies that Retsu has to maintain is eventually and accidentally destroyed by a well-meaning friend, with far-ranging consequences.

In a move that signals her rejection of older shoujoai conventions, Yamaji-sensei has not only a happy ending, but one that will satisfy yuri fans everywhere, i.e., the girl gets the girl. But in more than one sense, the ending is really not important – Indigo Blue is more about the journey than the destination. The story could have very well ended the other way and I think I would have been just as satisfied, since it was Retsu’s growth that was the issue…not the gender of her lover. Okay, maybe not *as* satisfied. ^_^

To be fair, this is not a perfect story. As a protagonist, Retsu herself is really the story’s biggest weakness. Her self-examination at times becomes a little tiresome, especially when compared to Free Soul’s Keito or Love My Life’s Ichiko. Her constant questioning about sexuality in general and sexual preference in particular almost takes on a nagging tone by halfway through the book. The other major weakness is Ryuuji’s ultra-mature response to learning that he has been deceived. It might be the most desirable response, but it didn’t seem quite realistic…on the other hand, it made for a pleasant lack of screaming and throwing things-type drama.

Once again, I highly recommend this book, along with all of Yamaji Ebine’s other work, as an example of an excellent modern Yuri story.

Ratings:
Art – 9
Characters – 7
Character Design – 8
Story – 8

Overall – 8





Yuri Manga: Free Soul

January 21st, 2004

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Part 2

I want to tell you today about something new.Very new. Very, very new. And because it’s a josei manga currently running in josei monthly magazine Feel Young Comics, I have never seen mention of it anywhere – but you *should* know about it.

Free Soul, by out lesbian mangaka Yamaji Ebine is, perhaps, the first mainstream lesbian manga running in a monthly comic magazine, with openly gay characters and fairly explicit lesbian sex. This is as yuri as shoujo yuri gets, by which I mean, its 100% yuri. No punches pulled, no holds barred. No encoding, no symbols, no subtext. This is a story about a lesbian, by a lesbian, with lesbian sex. You see why you need to know about it? :-)

Free Soul is the story of Keito, an  aspiring mangaka. At some point in her life, she met a woman called Angie – an African-American lesbian singer – who radically altered her life. In homage to Angie, Keito has been searching for people who knew her, to learn more about this woman who affected her so strongly. As she meets these people, she relates them and their stories to what she knows of Angie, collecting all these stories into a manga. As the story progresses, so does Keito’s manga.

In a sense, Free Soul is a meta-story, the story about the creation of a story.

As she researches Angie’s life, and interacts with the people who knew her, Keito finds herself attracted to more than a few of the women she meets. But it is Nikki, a mysterious and evasive, but incredibly sensual, woman who captures Keito’s heart. Nikki is the “free soul” of the title. She can’t be pinned down and, for all the time they spend together, Keito knows almost nothing about Nikki’s life or nature. Nikki’s open sexuality and desire for Keito make this one very hot manga series, but Keito’s reactions are very down-to-earth and realistic. I give this the very highest recommendation I can give to yuri fans – you *need* to get this manga. Not only will your purchase make a point (hey, publisher – this rocks!) but you’ll be supporting one of the few out lesbian mangaka in the business.

Yamaji Ebine’s characters are very real, their stories believable, their reactions make sense. Very few conventions of shoujo manga apply here, even her art style is pared-down and minimalist. You’ll never find bubbles in the background, but you will be given a strong background music track – Yamaji-sensei’s writing is bound to western jazz and lesbian/bi singers and artists. Musical artists and their albums appear
over and over in her writing, giving it a smooth, mellow sound (especially if you know the music.)

Free Soul is on-going, but the author favors pleasant – if occasionally ambiguous – endings, so it is unlikely to end tragically, another quality that sets her work apart from earlier yuri entries. Yamaji Ebine is a name you’ll see here quite often, so keep your eyes open for her work!

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9

Overall – 9 out of 10.