Archive for the Artists Category


Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 8 (おとなになっても)

September 11th, 2023

On a pale green background, a lone woman with reddish hair cut to her chin, is leaning forward as if on laying her head a desk, looking directly at us.Akari and Ayano have moved in together. This fact fills this book with all sorts of tensions, both positive and negative. Sure, they have been through ” a lot,” but so little of it is about them, together, as a couple. Will thins relationship, which has been mere embers since it was lit, get a chance to burst into life?

We…don’t know. Yet.

Ayano is planning on moving school, as rumors of infidelity plague her. The kids in her class are apologetic about it, not really understanding what the parents have against it, as, frankly, neither do I. Busybosdies gonna busybody, I guess. As difficult a situation as it is, it appears that Ayano’s students nd peers seem to be on her side. Nonetheless, she is leaving at graduation to start at a new school. In a fitful climax for the classroom drama, Nitta returns to school just in time to graduate. She finally has it out with her former friend, but whether they will be able to patch things up, we may not actually learn.

Akari encounters the salon manager’s wife who really seems less concerned that he’s having an affair (with Eri, Akari reminds herself) than with him being a dolt. And Wataru is navigating having the woman he is interested in, openly ask him out, now that she too is divorced.

This continues to be such a low-key adult life Yuri that one can hardly think of it as barrelling down on the conclusion of the series…and yet, that is where we are. Volume 9 was released in June and Volume 10 will conclude the series. It’s been an interesting read and I definitely wonder where everyone will end up.

The final chapters were about having bathroom accidents in second-grade and you know what? I didn’t need that. Thanks Shimura-sensei for having a weird insistance on add that to your Yuri stories. Sigh.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 0
LGBTQ+ – Let’s give this a 7, as Akarai and Ayano start negotiating boundaries and intimacy.

Overall – 8

 





The Moon on a Rainy Night, Volume 1

September 4th, 2023

Two girls sharing an umbrella look back over their shoulders at us, as rain pours down around them. They both wear a dark school uniform skirt with white stripes at the hem. One, with collar length red-brown hair, wears a beige sweater, over which you can see her "sailor" style collar. The other, with long black hair, wear a red sweat jacket with thick white stripe down the arms. Both carry book bags.I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am that you get to read The Moon on a Rainy Night, Volume 1! This masterwork by Kuzushiro hits English language shelves tomorrow and I implore you to get it if you haven’t already.

Amayo no Tsuki (雨夜の月) has been one of my favorite series since it launched last year – Volume 5 was reviewed here just last week, in fact. I’ve been a fan of Kuzushiro-sensei’s work for ages and was able to bring Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru (姫のためなら死ねる) out in English in partnership with JManga.  So this is technically not the first time Kuzushiro-sensei’s work had been published in English, but it is the first time in print and so well-positioned for success.

The Moon on a Rainy Night follows the lives of Saki, a typical student in high school, and her classmate Kanon, who is hard-of-hearing. Kanon has isolated herself from her classmates after a painful misunderstanding in middle school so, when Saki is asked to be her friend, Kanon asks her to just not.

Saki and Kanon are thrown together by random circumstances, but their friendship radically changes both their lives in ways that they could not have possibly predicted.

Disability manga is not entirely uncommon. For instance, we’ve been talking about Kabi Nagata‘s mental and physical health since 2016. But there is a reasonable pushback from disability advocates on “inspirational” portrayals of disabled and chronically ill folks gaining unreasonable success “despite” their limitations. No one needs that shit. What we get in Moon on a Rainy Night is the coming together of two people who help one another to become their best selves. Saki reaches out to understand Kanon – she begins to learns sign language to make it easier to communicate and brings Kanon into situations in which she can thrive, instead of hiding from stress. Kanon learns to become part of the larger community – without compromising her own needs. It is a fantastic tale of what “accommodation” ought to look like in a perfect world. Saki and one of the teachers  makes space for Kanon to participate in student life in ways that allow her to feel included on her own terms.

This doesn’t mean life is perfect for Saki or Kanon, which means that there is room for them both to grow – together and separately. As I said in my review of this volume in Japanese, “I’m glad it neither fetishizes nor romanticizes deafness. Instead, it is a bit of an explainer manga, which gives Kanon a chance to speak for herself and to correct Saki’s mistakes and misunderstandings.”

Kuzushiro’s art has really matured over the last few years. There’s amazing reaction shots and this will continue to develop as the story goes on. The storytelling is a little rough in the very beginning, but soon finds it’s own pacing. It’ll pick up speed as the story progresses.

Kodansha has done a fine job of bringing this volume over to us. Kevin Steinbach’s translation feels as natural as it can be, given that in this volume, the characters are still being developed by the creator. Above everything, it feels like young people talking, which I very much appreciate. Jamil Stewart’s lettering is solid, with the Kodansha house style of doing matching captions to the Japanese. The English reads smoothly, great job on editor Andres Oliver.  And the cover design by Phil Balsman captures the feel and colors of the Japanese edition.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7 This will go up as the narrative matures
Characters – 9
Service – Let’s say 1 on principle but not really
Yuri – Also mostly on principle right now, but that, too, will change

Overall – 8

I am so, so glad this manga is here! It is at the top of my list for possible best of the year.  The Moon on a Rainy Night is a Yuri series that can and should be read by everyone.





Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 5 (雨夜の月)

August 31st, 2023

In my fevered anticipation for The Moon on a Rainy Night, Volume 1 coming from Kodansha next week, I was thrilled to have the newest volume of the series in Japanese, Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 5 (雨夜の月) to read this week. This volume is full of wondrous scenes, amazing transformations and an uncomfortable lesson.

At the end of Volume 4, we left Kanon determined – for the first time in many years – to be an active participant in her class’s culture festival activities. Why she’s closed herself off has become more and more apparent as we get to know her and understand her circumstances.  But Saki, unwilling to accept those circumstances as the end to the story, has been instrumental in assisting Kanon to break down the walls she’s built. This is a key point because while Saki is convinced that the walls should come down, she is not doing any of that herself. She’s allowing Kanon to find ways to do it herself; Saki is there when Kanon needs support, holding the doors open, but never does Saki force Kanon to do anything. This is not an inspiration porn story, about “achievement despite the odds” – this is a story about finding ways to support one’s friends with an open heart and mind.

And, so… Kanon and Saki accompany their enthusiastic otaku classmate ‘Nabe to pick out maid costumes for the class cafe. ^_^ Kanon’s mother  takes on a new student – their teacher’s daughter, which gives Kanon’s mother and the teacher a chance to have an adult heart-to-heart about hardships of being a parent.

Artistically, I really enjoy Kuzushiro’s way of expressing people’s energy through expression and body language. ‘Nabe-chan and Haruka-chan are high-energy people and we can tell from the art, the text, the way they move and speak. It’s pretty great.

And then…we learn what happened to Tomita, the girl who apparently could not stand Kanon or Saki and who, with her friends, have been whispering about them in class. (I called them bullies in earlier reviews and I stand by that. Bullying can be passive as well as active. Anyone undermining someone else’s peaceful existence is, IMHO,  a bully. Whispering and staring is a form of othering meant to make the other person feel unwelcome.) Tomita had volunteered to conduct the choir then appeared to bail on Saki, leaving her to handle the whole thing herself. It turns out that there are a number of factors in her dislike of Kanon….and some complicating factors to her life now. As with Kanon’s middle-school issues, sometimes there are things you just cannot fix yourself, even if you were aware of them.  Life, Saki and Kanon are finding out, is more complicated that we’re aware of.

As the story winds down, Kanon gets a glimpse into the secret Saki has been hiding from her….and it throws them both for a loop.

Kanon, having been alone for so long, now finds herself surrounded by people with whom she would like to interact. But now, having broken down those walls…Kanon and Saki will have to address what they are to one another. Whatever the outcome – I can’t wait!

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – 2 Maid costumes and animal ears
Yuri – 4

Overall – 9

This was a great volume of a great series, running full stop with high energy. I am so, so happy that you’ll get to read it!





Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!, Volume 12 (私の百合はお仕事です!)

August 8th, 2023

Two girls in green, old-fashioned Japanese school uniforms embrace. A girl with blond hair and glasses tenderly holds a girl with blue hair, who holds on tentatively.Quite recently, we had a wonderful review on Okazu by Christian LeBlanc on Yuri is My Job!, Volume 11. That review motivated me to reach right into the middle of my to-read pile and pull out the Japanese edition of the next volume, Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!, Volume 12 (私の百合はお仕事です!). Volume 11 leaves us in a tense spot, and I knew from reading chapters in Comic Yuri Hime, that Volume 12 was gonna be explosive. Re-reading it all together was…phew. I want to say Content Warning, but explaining why is a spoiler, so please check at the bottom of this post.*

At the end of Volume 11, we are left with Kanoko in a very tight spot – “in a pinch” as they say in the manga/anime world rather more often than we do in English. She has, for better or for worse, been invited to Youko’s hotel room. Of course that leaves us, the readership over 30 or so, screaming our lungs out at the page. \(‘O’)/

What follows is two delusions colliding, like a truck into a overpass pile. Kanoko, obsessed with Hime, unwilling to see past her, is a unmovable object wholly unprepared for Youko’s delusion. Youko, used to using her body and using other women, doesn’t take Kanoko’s personality into account at all…in fact she barely sees her as she slams her use of sex into Kanoko at 100kpm. The whole situation is messy and appalling, and hurtful, even if no one gets hurt. Kanoko takes a couple of emotional hits. That they were deserved does not take away from the fact that it didn’t have to be – should not have been – like this. Youko is wholly loathsome throughout.

So, the finale, when it comes, is a less of a balm to raw emotions (that will come later) than another vehicle slamming into that same accident under the overpass.**

Finally, Sumika and Kanoko actually talk.

And here, at last, is where I disagree with my esteemed colleague Christian. I completely see his interpretation of Miman’s story calling out “S” culture, but I believe that this whole story has been validating it. Yes, what ‘S’ has become – a pastiche, a trope – can be harmful when people who don’t understand their own feelings find solace in a fantasy that has been handed to them that they don’t really understand. (This is exactly what happened to Sumika and Nene.) But at it’s core, being sisters, being bosom friends, having someone to just talk to, is a powerful thing for girls in a world that invalidates and mocks girls’ feelings and interests.

Although I am looking into an uncertain future, it is my belief that Kanoko and Sumika will actually become a very strong Schwester pairing. And in making that prediction, I think I see the end game of this whole series. Hime, Mitsuki, Sumika and Kanoko will have all been thrown into this ridiculous set-up, with personalities that do not mix or match…but out of all of this, they will become fine sisterly pairs that perfectly match the setting and feel of Liebe Academy and confirm the timelessness of the iconic pair of “sisters” in Yuri manga. Where Mayu, Matou‘s message was “We can leave all this behind now,” this manga might well be saying ‘There will always be a place for you in our book.”

Or, I’m wrong and we’ll see what happens! ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7 As a study in horrified faces, this is a great reference
Story – 9 Explosive and powerful, also horrifying
Characters – 8 Phew
Service – Yes. Youko’s large breasts. Yes
Yuri – 0 Whether there any Yuri in this volume is very much open to debate. I say no.

Overall – 9

* Spoilery Content Warning for sexual assault…although that doesn’t happen, it is very much a thing and must be dealt with by those of us who must deal with it. The story does address it.

** It’s a closed fist.





Yuri is My Job!, Volume 11, Guest Review by Christian LeBlanc

July 26th, 2023

Two girls in old-fashioned Japanese school uniforms in a shady garden. On a bench sits a blonde wearing glasses, one arm up on the back of the bench, turned to talk to a silver-haired girl standing behind her. They smile at each other in an easy and friendly way.To fully appreciate the wretched hive of scum and villainy Miman puts on display in  Yuri is My Job!, Volume 11, I strongly recommend going back and re-reading volume 9 and volume 10, which begin this arc. If earlier volumes could be said to be a parody of Class S, then these volumes are a scathing attack on the concept.

Miman is putting on a masterclass of layers and blurred lines in this volume, and so, with my literary degree in one hand, a copy of Erica’s By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga in the other, and a Blu-ray of Maria Watches Over Us playing in the background, I want to go a little bit in depth on what’s going on in these volumes.

This necessitates spoilers, of course, so let me briefly describe what happens in this book: 

Sumika (the gyaru) and Kanoko (the walking anxiety attack) are going out, but Sumika is ok with the two of them taking their time, not wanting to push Kanoko into anything she’s not ready for (I’d say Sumika is good at reading non-verbal communication, but Kanoko’s body language only knows the phrases ‘flinch’ and ‘look like someone just shot her dog’ whenever Sumika gets too close). 

Nene (the cook) and Sumika used to be schwestern at Café Liebe, but grew apart after a falling out which we are shown in full detail, along with the two of them confronting their past in a particularly raw, honest chapter. 

Meanwhile, we see to what extent former employee Yoko (who LARPs Class S outside of café hours playing, as she accurately says in Volume 10, the role of “Instigator”) is involved in all of the above. 

All the while, rehearsals continue for the play that the characters of Liebe will be performing. That’s right: the characters in Yuri is My Job! are playing the roles of Liebe Academy students at the café, and those characters in turn are rehearsing for a play that they’ll perform for café patrons. The play itself is adapted from A Maiden’s Heart, which is what the Liebe Academy characters are based on, so I believe that performing the play will actually summon a giant Yuri ouroboros (Yuriboros for short) that will alchemically transform the world of Yuri is My Job! into our reality.

Actual queerness is touched on, we get to see Sumika’s fluffy and bubbly side as she’s excited to be Kanoko’s girlfriend, we get a lot of drama and even some resolution, and as an added bonus for some of you, Hime is only in this for 16 pages including splash illustrations and Afterwords. There is something extremely not right about Sumika’s and Kanoko’s relationship, however, and I imagine this will come to a head in the next volume. 

Ratings:

Art – 9Story – 9 Diana Taylor (translation) deserves a commendation for handling all the nuances of the multi-layered conversations and exchanges.Characters – 9Service – 4 A tiny bit of nudity with much implied, nothing shownYuri – 10

Overall – 9

Still here? Ok, grab your einnerung nachtisch with buchwelt, dig in, and remember, we’ll be spoiling plot points the way Yoko spoils joy. Let’s dish!

 

To put it simply, this whole story arc is about the negative repercussions that happen when you apply Class S tropes to real-life relationships. 

We learn in Volume 10 that Yoko was already familiar with A Maiden’s Heart, the in-universe novel series on which Café Liebe is based. “I’ve always wanted to live in those sorts of settings,” she says, even choosing to base her character off of Therese, “who uses her wiles to rile other people up. Should be fun, right?”

True to her word, she soon starts dating Nene, “even if it’s just for fun.” Yoko never takes it very seriously, and in the spirit of Class S, ends things as soon as she ‘graduates’ from the pretend school (ie, quits Liebe after her “main employer found out that she was moonlighting”), leaving Nene feeling betrayed, and Nene’s relationship with Sumika quite damaged. (Yoko suggested going out with Nene in the first place to make Sumika jealous so she would realize her true feelings for Nene, but everything backfired spectacularly because that’s not how any of this works).  

Nene and Sumika do eventually patch things up, but it’s significant that Nene is a cook at this point, no longer playing among the Class S sisterly roles of schwestern. Also significant is how this discussion takes place at the café with no customers or anyone else around; Sumika and Nene are both in plainclothes, not performing, outside of the ‘false’ world of Liebe.

As for the influence of Class S on Sumika and Kanoko’s relationship: 

As Sumika slowly realizes that she’s caught feelings for Kanoko, she remains largely in denial about what her affections mean, telling herself “I do love Kanoko-chan . . . but that’s a sisterly love. I just want to protect my little sister.” She’s partially in denial because she’s always thought of herself as straight, and partially because she’s always viewed any kind of romance as a destructive force: “that stupid thing called romance that’s the real villain.” Sumika even describes the concept of schwestern to new hire Haruko as “if you took the romance out of a romantic relationship.” She’s confusing Class S concepts with real life; fittingly, she’s depicted practicing for the play-within-a-play while alone, taking that Class S lifestyle home with her. (Hime and Yano, for their part, are only ever shown rehearsing in-character and during work hours, suggesting they’ve learned to compartmentalize these concepts).

Sumika also rehearses the play with Kanoko at her place, which again reflects how Class S informs the way each of them views their relationship. Sumika is ok with dating Kanoko even knowing that Hime will always be Kanoko’s number one (which horrifies Nene when she finds out), similar to how Kanoko is ok with always being with Hime, even knowing that Hime will never have romantic feelings for her (which horrifies Sumika in turn). Both of these are ‘false,’ or at least ‘unmutual’ relationships based on the type of unrequited yearning that Class S would glamourize, but are, in reality, quite unhealthy and unfulfilling.

For her part, Kanoko only views her relationship with Sumika as yet another performance, just like her job at Liebe; she only went out with her at the suggestion of Yoko, who practically feeds her a script of what to do: go out with Sumika so she can have someone to talk to about Hime again (Sumika had cut her off at one point, you see). Kanoko even goes so far as to ask Nene how you’re supposed to behave in a relationship, but as Nene says, “no matter how ‘romantic’ an act seems . . . if your intent doesn’t align with theirs, then it’s not ‘romantic.’” Nene’s assurance that everything will work out as long as she and her girlfriend both love each other isn’t what Kanoko wants to hear, since she doesn’t actually love Sumika and is only looking for ways to help sell her performance. 

In summary, the underlying message seems to be that Class S stories are well and good for entertainment, but the “S” may as well stand for “Septic” when applied to real life, especially when someone wants more than a Platonic love. The way this message is conveyed is entertaining, complex, and well thought out – Miman is employing a play-within-a-play-within-a-manga on a metatextual level that would make Hamlet’s head spin! I am very much looking forward to Volume 12 coming out in December to see if any of my theories about what happens next hold any water (including the summoning of the Yuriboros).