Archive for the Artists Category


The Rose of Versailles, Volume 3

May 21st, 2021

As I sat down to write today’s review, it dawned on me that I had never covered Volume 3 of The Rose of Versailles. So today, we will nod towards it, as we stride past headed for the last volume to deal with the Revolution and it’s aftermath.

In Volume 3 of The Rose of Versailles, Oscar’s choices come piling down upon her head. In a complete reversal of everything she had been asked to do with her life, her father barters her hand in marriage to her rival since she was young, Captain de Girodelle. Unsurprisingly, this puts Oscar into a very uncomfortable place. Of course she does not want to be married off without her consent, and also she believed that acting as a son, her father would not just treat her as collateral. To find that she had accomplished so much, only to have it be treated as irrelevant is, obviously, enraging. To young feminists of the 1970s this would reflect the exact situation they were – and, let’s be real, still are –  facing in the workplace.

Oscar has a new uniform made for herself, and at last attends the balls of Paris, to seduce women and show herself supremely uninterested in Girodelle or marriage. Meanwhile, Andre’s eyesight is deteriorating and Oscar begins to think of him more as a man, rather than a servant. Andre tries to force himself on her, but they withdraw from one another. Pushed to her limits, Oscar dedicates her life to war, and leaves to visit the Queen one last time.

The story, then, becomes a kind of slow avalanche of horrible decisions made in the worst way for the worst reasons. The Dauphin dies and Marie holes up in the Petit Trianon, refusing to deal with the people of France at all. The commons try to meet and are locked out of the building, the army starts to split at the seams and Oscar sides with the common people. She learns the truth about her Gardes members, how family and friends are being killed or starved and she becomes enraged, demanding answers of people who don’t care. Alain and the Gardes help Andre cover his failing sight, but they all know that death is waiting, Andre ends the book wishing that Oscar and he might be lovers, even knowing that his wish cannot come true.

There are a lot of tears. We’re given more space here to sympathize with Marie Antoinette than we have before, but it’s still hard to see her as  a victim of anything except her own selfishness. Oscar will stress for many pages about her gender and sex. Had she been a man, Rosalie would have ended the conversation, but she is not and she is neither transgender nor a lesbian. She’s embraced her fate to live a man’s life as a woman, but in the end her father never respected that, even though it was his wish that she do so.

Ratings:

Art –  Sublime and Oscar in bell-bottoms.
Story –  Grim, but magnificent
Character – Everyone has a moment when it is impossible to like them.
Yuri – One almost feels bad for any woman Oscar pretends to seduces to show up Girodelle
Service – Shirtless Andre, attempted rape, Oscar in new uniform

Overall  – Hard to read, but absolutely compelling

If I were going to sum up this volume with one emotion, I’d say “anger.” It’s not a righteous anger, not yet, but the signs are all there.  In a sense it’s good that the end is on the way in the next volume. After the last few years of anger and inequality and the same kinds of violence and deadly economics as we see in this story, reading this volume feels too much like reading the news sometimes. Something has to break, and we all hope like hell that it’s not us.

Kudos to UDON for another glorious volume of this epic story. It was my very sincere pleasure to be part of that team.

Volume 4 and Volume 5 are now available for you to read and experience!





My Alcoholic Escape from Reality by Nagata Kabi

May 14th, 2021

Right now the first Virtual Toronto Comic Arts Festival is underway on Youtube and this week we had the pleasure of watching Deb Aoki doing a pre-recorded interview with Nagata Kabi, the creator of comic essay My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, and its sequels. This interview will be available online until May 21, so definitely watch it while its available – its not often we North Americans get a chance to see our favorite manga artists.

This month also saw the release of Nagata-sensei’s newest work in English, My Alcoholic Escape From Reality, detailing her bout with alcohol-induced pancreatitis. As with her previous works, this book covers a number of personal details, physical and emotional. She made it very clear in the interview that she has regrets about the way she talked about her family in previous books and she addresses that in the book, as well.

In my review of this book in Japanese, I said, “We’ve watched Nagata-sensei struggle with food, with alcohol, with depression, and now with her pancreas. It’s all very heavy going, but as a reader I don’t feel like I have the luxury of wallowing since, for any bleak feelings I might have, I have to believe that it’s harder for her. To some extent, the only thing we can do is be distant, abstract cheerleaders on the sidelines of the parts of her life she chooses to share with us. We have to know were not getting the whole story – and we have to be okay with that. So we mentally pull for her and send good thoughts.”

And, indeed, we do mentally pull for her and send her good thoughts and she could see that in the interview chat, if she was interested. Especially now that we’ve put a face to the name, I imagine fans will care about her even more. Which makes this book harder to read, not easier, honestly! But there are two things I want to note – one, the second half of the book is less about her struggle with her physical body and more about the creative struggle…which I interpret as a very positive thing. The creative struggle, while no less real, is also much more abstract and requires the ability to think about something other than the pain in one’s abdomen. I’m sure we can all identify with how difficult it is to work when we don’t feel good. It’s a testament to her strength of will that she could work in such circumstances.

The second thing I noted in my review of the Japanese volume was that she’s back with East Press for this book. They aren’t the biggest publisher she’s worked with, but I’m kind of happy that she’s with them again. They are a very pro LGBTQ content company. Her newest book series is with Futabasha, another company that has been really positive for queer manga creators and content, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing what they do together!

Following this all up, Seven Seas announced the license of her next book, Meisou Senshi・Nagata Kabi(迷走戦士・永田カビ) as My Wandering Warrior Existence. You can read this online in Japanese on Web Action. This has a projected release date in English of March 2022. But wait, Nagata-sensei is working on *another* series now, Meisou Senshi・Nagata Kabi Gourmet De GO!  (迷走戦士・永田カビ グルメでGO！) the first chapter is also available on Web Action in Japanese. This is the story she alludes to in this volume – a food manga. I am really looking forward to this, as it’s an audacious and amazing concept having a food manga written by a woman with eating disorder and a contentious relationship with food. It should be fascinating.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Her style has really grown and visibly become more confident
Story – 8, by which I mean it can be gut-wrenching
Character – 9 ^_^;
Service – ? There’s some details in there.
LGBTQ – N/A, but wait. The next book is about her gender and sexuality

Overall – 8

Watch her TCAF interview and then take a look at this book translated ably by Jocelyn Allen. I also want to nod in the direction of the lettering and retouch folks, Karis Page and Gwen Silver, since Nagata’s pretty heavy on the in-art sound effects here. Thanks to the entire Seven Seas Team for their work on this book, and to TCAF staff, Jocelyne Allen for her delightful translation and interpretation and Deb Aoki for another great interview.





Touma-kun (冬馬くん)

May 10th, 2021

Last week I talked about an objectively problematic book from Galette Works, by an artist I quite like, The Rain and the Other Side of You. This week, we’re going to look at  book that is objectively also problematic, but subjectively, I really like it anyway. Today we’re talking about Amano Shuninta’s Touma-kun (冬馬くん), also from Galette Works, a collection of her series from Galette magazine.

“Everybody’s boyfriend” Touma-kun is a girl in a girl’s school who thinks all the girls are very pretty and wants everyone to be even prettier. Touma’s not good at studies, but she is a genius with hair and makeup and loves nothing better than to make the girls around her even prettier. Each chapter of the story follows one of the girls or women of the school as this uncarved block, Touma-kun, reaches into their hearts and brings out their inner beauty, then loves that beauty with her heart soul both physically and psychically.

In one chapter, we see Touma do the hair and definitely seduce one of the teachers…when the teacher is called into the principal’s office, the principal nails it in one that she’s been to see Touma-kun….which, along with the fact that Touma-kun tells one of the students that the principal made the salon space for her makes the principal kind of suspect.

Why is this problematic? Well, one could say that Touma-kun seduces the girls as she does their hair and makeup. Touma’s not manipulative in the sense  of using the power she wields over the girls around her. She’s happy to make them prettier, however she can and she gives of herself freely, as well. She won’t be tied down, no matter how many girls want her for themselves…and a few of them do. Touma’s a student and the teacher’s first reaction, upon waking up naked next to her is to scream “What am I doing?” Again, we even suspect that the principal has also sat in that chair. So there’s all of that as well. But intent goes a long way here. Touma’s likeable and not at all creepy, maybe even a little overly simple.

After graduation, Touma’s schoolmates get together hoping that they get one more moment with everyone’s boyfriend, but Touma never shows. Obviously, Touma is not moving on to university, but we do see she’s gotten a job as a hair and makeup stylist, and continues to make the women she works with prettier by whatever means she can.

So…depending on your definitions, maybe problematic, maybe not. From my perspective, while I can see potential problem areas, I found Touma so sincere and honest a person, that it was impossible for me to resent her actions. Your mileage may well vary. ^_^

I adore Amano Shuninta’s art always, and the loose lines of faces and hair in this volume absolutely are in the gold for me.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 2 implied, mostly
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

Amano Shuninta’s Touma-kun (冬馬くん) is a beautifully designed and executed story, by a talented Yuri artist.

In my head, Touma-kun is voiced by Paku Romi, specifically using her voice from the Hatsu/Koi Shimai drama CDs where she played Hiiragi Touko. ^_^





Bloom Into You Artbook, Astrolabe (アストロラーベ), Guest Review by tikkitavi

May 5th, 2021

Hello and welcome to another wonderful Guest Review Wednesday! Today we have a new Guest Reviewer today! tikkitavi is one of the friendly gang you’ll meet on the Okazu Discord, and he kindly offered to walk us through Nakatani Nio’s Yagate Kimi Ni Naru artbook. Please welcome tikkitavi and give him a warm welcome. The floor is yours, tikkitavi!

I like to say that I’ve been interested in Yuri since the days of Xena:Warrior Princess, but it took Bloom into You to spark my current regard for Yuri. I love the series on several levels, so when I discovered that Nakatani-sensei had an artbook named Astrolabe (アストロラーベ) available, naturally I had to add it to my collection.

In terms of content, this is a pretty complete snapshot of Bloom into You color and monochrome illustrations before 2020. The artbook was published in early 2020; given production lead times, it’s not surprising that it lacks images from later works such as the third Saeki Sayaka novel. I felt the lack most in that there isn’t a single image of Yuu, Touko, or Sayaka after high school in the artbook.

 

However, it includes promotional artwork, art for goods, SNS stickers, earlier Yuriten images, and the like, in addition to the expected book and video packaging art. (The SNS stickers and web art are particularly cute.) Most of the art features Touko and Yuu, plus a smattering involving Sayaka; for those interested in other characters, they appear quite rarely.

Beyond Bloom into You, it includes a couple of collaboration pieces that add characters from other series. There are also a handful of illustrations created by Nakatani-sensei for works such as a novel by Iruma-sensei (writer of the Saeki Sayaka novels) and art for the Ѐclair series.

There are only two pieces original to the artbook; the cover, and an extra end spread. A five-page chapter detailing the production of the cover art is a nice bonus, especially for artists and those interested in the steps involved in creating digital art. A photo of Nakatani-sensei’s work area augments this. Beyond this, Nakatani-sensei wrote captions for all the major works and a short afterword. I admit, I would have liked to see more new content, perhaps a short manga or the like.

 

Fans of the series, who understand the character’s relationships, will see the Yuri on almost every page; the weighted looks and intimate moments are a joy. Nakatani-sensei’s muted palette and clean imagery works well here. For those seeking anything more salacious than holding hands, they will need to look elsewhere.

Physically, the volume is typical for Japanese anime and manga artbooks. 128 pages, softcover, perfect bound, printed on a smooth heavy weight paper; a plastic slipcase pushes it slightly above average for the type. One could still wish for hardbound with a lay-flat binding, though that would be pretty uncommon (and expensive); but it would have helped with the two-page spreads quite a bit.

Ratings:

Production – 8
Content – 8
Yuri – 9
Service – 1 (a couple images of Yuu and Touko in swimsuits)

Overall – 8

Generally, I felt this was a quite nice but not exceptional artbook, a satisfactory addition to the library of anyone who appreciates
Nakatani-sensei’s work.

 

Erica here: Thank you very much! It’s good to know what the contents include! Artbooks are always a great mystery unless we get a chance to see inside. We appreciate you giving us this guided tour. ^_^ Astrolabe is available in print on Amazon JP, CD Japan, and as a e-book, on JP Kindle or Bookwalker!





Rain and the Other Side of You

May 3rd, 2021

Back in 2019  the folks at Galette Works gave us the problematic Ame to Kimi no Mukou (雨と君の向こう) written by Sakuraka Yukino with art by Momono Moto. I kind of wished they hadn’t. ^_^;

How surprised then, was I to find that Lilyka had picked it up and translated this volume it as Rain and the Other Side of You. When Lilyka ran it’s recent Sakura season sale, I figured that was as good a time to pick it up as any and so here we are looking at a problematic manga for a second time. It hasn’t aged well at all.

Mudarame Aki is a dead-eyed middle-schooler whose aggressive sexual behavior toward her teacher ought to have been the occasion for a house call from Youth Services, Teacher Kanou Yuka is presented as a woman who has no plan for her life, has been unsuccessful with men. When Mudarame-san throws herself at Yuka, she finds herself incapable of resisting.

In my review of the volume in Japanese, I wrote:

Aki[‘s] dead eyes and romantic overtures to her teacher scream “sexually abused” to this reader.

Yuka and Aki’s relationship is not a healthy one, not from the very beginning. Aki is manipulative and uses things like Yuka’s virginity as a weapon against her, which is just gross. Yuka tries going out with a guy and just finds herself going back to seek Aki’s company. When she and we see that our guess that Aki has been abused is correct, it still doesn’t make anything that’s happened okay.

If anything, it was worse on re-read, because it was in English and I couldn’t pretend I misunderstood Yuka’s justifications for not running for a phone and calling Youth Services.

What is good is Momono’s art, which captures Aki’s existential misery so well that it makes it thoroughly impossible to feel anything but pity for her and contempt for the adult who is not strong enough to help her. This is belied by an epilogue in which we see them some years later, looking happily domestic, but the mental gynmastics of this are too much to contemplate.

Okay, let’s set the dumpster fire of the story aside. Momono’s art is one of two reasons I read this book in the first place. She absolutely favors mopey, sad, traumatized characters as we may recall from her books Liberty, Volume 1 (リバティ), and Kimi Koi Limit. But the other reason is also the reason that this book being picked up by Lilyka is a good thing – this was the first of the books from Galette WORKS, the folks behind quarterly crowd-funded Yurimagazine, Galette (ガレット). If Lilyka can get some of those, I will be very pleased for us.

If you do pick this book up, let me warn you that the lettering is a little unsophisticated and the editing a bit shoddy. I’ve written to them to ask that the typos be fixed so if you do pick it up and they haven’t, let them know you think this is important, as well.

Ratings (same as the JP volume):

Art – 8
Story – 3
Characters – 5 No one would get a lunch invitation. Well, maybe the guy who goes out with Yuka, he seemed okay.
Yuri – 8
Service – The whole concept of an adult being attracted to a sexually abused child is a level of creepy I am unwilling to accept as anything other than criminal.

Overall – 5

It was not to my taste at all, where Liberty totally is. I hope you’ll all get to see that one day!