Archive for the Artists Category


Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou. Volume 4 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。)

March 15th, 2021

Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 4 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) is a wild ride of a novel that has more twists and turns than the newest roller coaster at your local amusement park. It was awesome.

At the end of Volume 3, we left Rae and Claire in the Nur Kindgom, having made a heck of an impression on the despotic rule of Nur, Queen Dorothea, in a battle against the Demon Rulers. They also made an impression on the Demons.  Both of these are understood to be ambiguous in nature and will surely come to a head. But first, we have some much more important stuff to deal with….

…including an Iron Chef-like cooking contest between the greatest chefs of Nur, and Rae and Claire’s 6-year old daughter Aleah. And a formal ball. Also a act of incredible magical skill handled by their other 6-year old daughter, Mei. Rae and Claire help foment rebellion, change the diet of the entire army, solve a murder mystery and three other mysteries, only one of which was in the least predictable. Then a kidnapping. And then, about 2/3 of the way through this book, the story slams down on us with a vengeance.

Inori carefully weaves their way through the various plotlines and pulls out exactly the right ending for the book. It could not have been handled better without making concessions to what we knew of everyone.

This felt like a long book, and we had a number of new characters, several of which are undoubtedly going to be key in Volume 5. It was no surprise that I like Hilde, the hyper-competent bureaucrat with a monocle, but almost despite myself, I also like Frida, the Princess’s “Merikan” friend.  This story still remains wholly queer and deeply rooted in social and political activism. This volume takes some time to get there, but when it does, it does.

Every single one of my questions from Volume 3 were answered, save one, and that clearly is going to be a plot in Volume 5. There are a lot of loose ends yet to be tied up. I’m constantly fighting with myself whether to read the chapters on inori’s Pixiv Fanbox or not but I have chosen to not do so, and hope you will respect that by not spoiling anything for me, as I have tried to not overly spoil this for others. Thank you. ^_^ I still have hope that two of the things left undone will be done by the end of the series and one other new thing also gets followed through with, but I admit that this last is simply because I really like Dorothea and want to see more of her.

The art was the best so far of the series. I’ll never adore moe-fication of characters like Dorothea, but I felt that everything in this book was way more finished and solid than in previous books and a few of these were extra lovely. (I did mention the formal ball, yes?) ^_^

Volume 3 is slated for a July release in English, which feels so far away, and Volume 5 is not yet listed in Japan, but I remind you that Volume 3 and Volume 4 are available in Japanese on US Kindle. They are so worth it.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 10
Service – Yes. Still perfectly okay.
Yuri – 10
Queer – 10

Overall – 10

Oh, the boot I kept waiting to drop in V3? It dropped in V4. And it wasn’t a main plot point, just one more crazy arc that lead somewhere else entirely and was even worse and better than I imagined.

If you’d like spoilers or have read it and want to shout with me about it, please join me on the Okazu Discord. ^_^





Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 3 (おとなになっても)

February 25th, 2021

Akari is ready to move on. She’s ready to reclaim her old career in the salon and stop running away from her life. She’s putting Ayano and her old ex behind her. She’s moving into a new place and ready to face a new day. Volume  1 and Volume 2 are old news.

So, in Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 3 (おとなになっても) when she walks outside for her first new morning and finds Ayano walking out of her own home at the same time, one can easily imagine some of the words that flit through Akari’s head. And when she gets off the train and finds she’s walking home with Ayano’s husband, she’s sure that a brand new level of hell has opened up just for her. Only, Ayano’s husband is, actually, kinda nice? And not in a creepy way, he just seems to be a decent sort. Even knowing this is the woman his wife is interested in, Wataru invites Akari to dinner. The story gets more complicated as Wataru’s NEET sister Eri now thinks something is up with Akari, but it appears she thinks it’s her brother having an affair.

Akari ends up being roped into a mini-marathon for the local town art festival. In doing so, she rediscovers her love of running. In fact, everything might be looking just great, if it weren’t for the fact that she just can’t seem to get away from Ayano, who she loves and Wataru who she’s come to like.

This was the first volume of this series that really focused our attention on Akari, as opposed to Ayano and like magic, I found myself way more engaged with the narrative. ^_^ I’m torn though, because I don’t want to care too much, either, because I don’t see this series having an ending I can live with. I just hope when the wreckage clears, Akari’s still standing.

Shimura-sensei’s artwork is confident and clean in this volume and to be very honest, this might be the best story I’ve read by her, narratively speaking. I don’t know what will happen and I am content to let it happen, which is exactly what I want from a drama about adults.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – Hrm….Ayano and Akari are still interested in each other.

Overall – 8

I’m putting my money down on this being a candidate for a live-action series.

Volume 4 is already out in Japanese and Volume 1 is available in English as Even Thought We’re Adults, (I reviewed that here on Okazu earlier this month) so share your thoughts in the comments if you’ve read it!





Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon, Volume 1

February 12th, 2021

Hinako understands what is “normal.” Her whole life she’s been told that for a woman, looking pretty, always smiling, wearing stylish clothes and makeup so that you can date a nice man and eventually marry and have a family is “normal.” And so, she does the normal things. But she knows she’s not “normal,” because she hates these things and hates herself for trying and failing to be what is expected of her. After yet another failed attempt at normality, Hinako meets a colleague, the apparently austere Satou Asahi, who is kind to her in a way Hinako has never experienced before. Slowly, Hinako begins to build a picture of what her own normal could be and it shakes her life up completely.

Yesterday I said that its rare to see a Yuri manga that really does the work – Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon, Volume 1, by Shio Usui does the work. There are no major handwaves here. Hinako doesn’t meet Asahi, get swept away and they live happily ever after. Instead, Asahi becomes a role model for Hinako to build a life for herself that makes her happy, something she had never before considered. Hinako still struggles with doing what is expected because it is expected, but Asahi is there showing her that it does not have to be accepted. Asahi believes in Hinako. As Asahi and Hinako grow closer, Hinako starts to believe in herself, as well.

This manga was tied for first (along with three other manga) on the Okazu Top Yuri Manga of 2020. There’s no secret as to why – I love everything about this manga. Usui-sensei’s art is exactly in my wheelhouse, the characters are terrific, the narrative is centered on self-acceptance and growth as a human. I’m so pleased that you too can read and enjoy this series now that it’s out in English from Seven Seas.
Jenny McKeon’s translation is terrific and has caused me to coin a new phrase – “light touch” translation, by which I mean the translation avoids heavy-handed literality in favor of feel and sense – i.e., how do we, as humans in 2021 say that in English, as opposed to how it was written in Japanese.  I very much liked the light touch here, where it felt completely right.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 6
Service – 0 Not so much as a bath scene. What a pleasure

Overall – 8

As usual, the entire Seven Seas team did a great job bringing you one of my favorite manga I am reading right now as it is serialized in Comic Yuri Hime magazine. Some exceptional moments coming your way in Volume 2 when that hits shelves in July, I assure you.

My thanks to Seven Seas for the review copy, which means I will have an extra copy to give away when it shows up later this month.

To enter, put a comment below, telling us about a favorite food that always lifts your spirits! Mine is cookies. I love cookies and they never fail to make me happy. ^_^ Make sure you add in an email you actually use!

An utterly delightful Yuri manga about adults, centered on self-acceptance and growth as a human. Win-win-win!





Uminekosou days, Volume 3 (海猫荘 days)

February 7th, 2021

In Volume 1, wet met Mayumi, a woman on the run from the ruins of her life. She decides to become a teacher in a small seaside town, where she meets Rin, the former punk landlady of the small guesthouse in which she is living. In Volume 2, Mayumi finds herself drawn into the lives of the residents of the guesthouse and starts to make a place for herself among them.

Here we are at Uminekosou days, Volume 3 (海猫荘 days), the final volume of Kodama Naoko’s series from Comic Yuri Hime…and at last, we can see the core of Mayumi’s problems. Her “best friend” Touko has arrived from Tokyo and it is instantly apparent to us that Touko’s has been poisoning the well of Mayumi’s life for years. Whatever Mayumi might possibly ever have, Touko destroys it.

And wow, does Touko give it her best shot here, too. But Mayumi finally understands herself and tells Touko that she doesn’t get to make the decisions. Touko goes back to Tokyo and Mayumi is finally 100% the person she could always have been, as she sets off to solve a sudden crisis. In a final epilogue, we see all the characters happy, healthy and free to be who they are and love and live their lives the way they want.

This was a series that was, at the end of Volume 2, primed for going into some pretty dark territory, but instead, it sort of picked itself up, shook itself off and with a grand wave of the magic wand gave everyone a happily-ever-after ending. I’m still not sure if that was a positive or negative thing for the story, but I’m a little relieved as a reader. Yes, happily-ever-afters all around is a handwave, but did I really want another volume of Mayumi having her heart gutted by an obviously jealous and manipulative “friend”? No, I did not. So happily-ever-after it is and thank you very much.

Kodama-sensei’s work is a kind of knife edge for me. She’s at her best when her characters are broken; wounded, vulnerable, manipulative. I don’t actually enjoy stories about that, but Kodama-sensei has a habit of pulling things out. So every one of her series has a kind of sword of Damocles feel, as I wait for it to either get too dark for me to cope, or to wrap up. She’s getting closer with each series, to one day creating something that sandblasts me, but I stick around for the whole thing. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 7
Service – 3 less than previous volumes
Yuri – 7

Overall – 8

Seeing Mayumi stand up to Touko was worth the price of admission.

 





Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu! Volume 7 ( 私の百合はお仕事です!)

February 5th, 2021

When we left Volume 6 of Miman’s “Yuri concept cafe” series,  Hime has rethought her desire to stay at the cafe, throwing the rest of the staff into complete chaos.

In Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu! Volume 7 ( 私の百合はお仕事です!), the staff makes Hime and Mitsuki sit down and talk everything out. It does not go as planned. Or, well, sort of yes it does. The outcome just isn’t what they wanted.

Mitsuki makes her case…and she’s really pretty bad at making that case, frankly. Years of pining quietly for the friend she remembered has unmade her ability to see Hime in front of her as a real person. But – in an amazing scene – when Mitsuki ends up talking to some of her classmates, she finds that they giver her very good advice, and she is able to speak honestly with one, who is kind and supportive to her. That one scene may well have repaired a lot of damage in that girl.

Kanako finally lances the wound her anger has become. She lashes out at Mitsuki and she’s only a little wrong. But she is also wrong and Sumika has to hold her back, before she does new damage. The bits Kanako gets right, and the conversation with her classmate, force Mitsuki to rethink things. Ultimately, though, Hime is the one with final say. In her desire to not hurt Mitsuki…she hurts her very much.

The ensemble here is perfect. Kanako’s anger, Hime’s reticence, Sumika’s overwhelming need for things to stay the same, and Mitsuki’s cruel honesty make a tense, yet never quite overwrought, volume. Seven volumes into this series, if you’re not already reading it, this review is not going to be the thing that draws you in, but for a series that started with a silly premise, a bunch of mostly-unlikable characters and a handful of unrealistic plot complications, Miman-sensei has been really deft at managing this narrative into something interesting.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 1
Yuri – 7

Overall – 8

Another messy af relationship, but somehow I feel like this story will pull together in the end.