Archive for the Artists Category


Aikata System ~ Gakuen ga Eranda Unmei no Onna no ko~, Volume 1 (相方システム~学園が選んだ運命の女の子~)

May 15th, 2020

Hakamada Mera is a name that is well-known around here on Okazu. From her early days with Saigo no Seifuku, originally published by Hobunsha (and eventually Seven Seas as The Last Uniform, as part of their original Yuri imprint, Strawberry and eventually reprinted in a 2-volume edition) through  Kanojyo no Sekai (彼女の世界) with Tokuma Shoten and, more recently, her excellent story in Galette magazine,  Fuwafuwa・Futashika・Yumemitai, Volume 1 (ふわふわ・ふたしか・夢みたい). Here Hakamada-sensei is again, working with yet another publisher, Dogenzaka Shobo, and their new to me imprint Lilie Comics. I gotta give this woman props. She’s really persevered, drawing the the stories she wants the way she wants.

Aikata System ~ Gakuen ga Eranda Unmei no Onna no ko~, Volume 1 (相方システム~学園が選んだ運命の女の子~) is right in her sweet spot – a school life drama with some real life drama baked in.

Nao’s school draws some of the best students because of the famous ‘Aikata System’ – a test that pairs you with you your perfect partner. Nao’s partner is one of the stars of the school, Ibuki, which puts a lot of pressure on Nao. Ibuki’s fan club is not at all okay with some first-year taking their idol’s attention…and Ibuki is definitely giving Nao a lot of attention.It’s frankly overwhelming. When Ibuki asks Nao to do the Aikata ritual with her, it looks awfully like a wedding ceremony and kiss.

Nao’s classmate Kaero has the opposite problem. Abiko-sensei is beautiful, with a voice like an angel and a really shitty attitude. Worse, Kaero is falling in love with her…and can see that Abiko is in love with Ibuki. Nao and Kaero are there to provide support to each other, at least, but it’s pretty clear that Ibuki and Abiko have some history that will have to be dealt with before anyone can move on.

Hakamada-sensei’s art has really tightened up over the years and, while her storytelling will never be sweeping epic, her characters here are likable. Which is all we can really ask of a school life drama.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 6

Overall – 8

Volume 2 is out in Japan and I think I’ll be adding it to the next order. I kind of want to see what’s going to happen.





Bloom Into You, Volume 7

May 11th, 2020

If Bloom Into You were a movie, this would be the part of the movie where, instead of hastening towards the climax, as American movies do, the characters would spend the next half hour moping, then run halfway across town to finally see each other, but Bloom Into You isn’t a movie, so while Touko and Yuu do exactly as described above, there is a different person for us to follow while they mope.

In Bloom Into You, Volume 7, Sayaka confronts her final boss, the fear inside herself. Happily, she doesn’t do it alone, because Sayaka has an adult role model to speak to, happy day! Miyako takes Sayaka on a reconnaissance mission and for the first time, Sayaka gets to talk to someone like her, and see what life can become. Fortified by the knowledge that she is choosing to do what she wants to for herself, so she can grow from it, Sayaka finally confesses her feelings to Touko.

…And the movie resumes, with Yuu and Touko running across town to see each other and finally have their own moment.

I’ve never been terribly invested in Yuu and Touko as a couple, not because I don’t like them, or because they shouldn’t be together, but just because this story was always presented to us as a Yuri romance. Yuu and Touko were fait accompli from the beginning. But Sayaka was a delightful – and meaningful – addition to the story.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8 The Sayaka parts are a 9
Characters – 9 They’ve developed into people now
Service – 1 Really not this volume, but we’ll talk again in V8.
Yuri – 7
Lesbian – 9

Overall – 9

As always, the technical for this are fabulous, Jenny McKeon’s translation does something specific I don’t want to spoil, but that I really liked in the climactic moment between Touko and Sayaka. Adaption, editing and lettering are all top notch, which means you’ll never notice them, but kudos to Jenn Grunigen, Julie Davis and CK Russell and I’m thrilled to see a proofreader, Danielle King. Do take a look at the credits for this volume, because IMHO, this is best of breed. You as a reader get to how many people it takes to get this book to you. I think it’s important that you understand that every book is a village.

I would love a side story about Touko and Yuu learning that Riko-sensei was gay all along. In the meantime Volume 8 is up for pre-order, with an August release date and Volume 3 of Bloom Into You Regarding Saeki Sayaka will be headed our way in the autumn. I can’t wait for you to read it!





Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 2 (不揃いの連理)

April 14th, 2020

In Volume 1, we met Tanaka Iori, a careerwoman with a job that she does not love, and a former juvenile delinquent girlfriend, Minami, whom she does. Ultimately, we also meet Iori’s obsessive little sister, and Shizuku, who was Minami’s closest friend in juvie.

In Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 2 (不揃いの連理),  a continuation of the Pixiv comic by Mikan Uji, Minami and Iori, and the almost-relationship between Saori and Shizuku, are joined in shenanigans by a third couple. This couple consists of manga artist Heke and her editor, Shinohara, whom Heke has no idea is also her partner Lala in an online RPG game.

And shenanigans is what volume 2 brings us. This volume is less coherent narrative and more short gag scenarios, than volume 1. Some short flashbacks into Minami and Shizuku’s time in reform school are joined by Heke avoiding work and declaring her love for Lala, without putting two and two together when she’s with her editor. Iori’s complaints about work take a back seat to her relationship with Minami. No one gets a narrative arc; it’s all small, sometimes, goofy moments. And, in the odd moment, there is very sweet romance.

Mikan Uji-sensei’s art is solid, the vignettes are amusing, sometimes sweet, and I am really enjoying this series. I feel like we’re getting a glimpse of people we might not normally see, behaviors not normally looked at and very little fetishizing of any of it.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 3 Some light nudity, nothing salacious
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

This is a fun manga and I’m glad we’re getting more of it.





Yagate Kimi ni Naru Saeki Sayaka ni Tsuite, Volume 3 (やがて君になる 佐伯沙弥香について)

April 5th, 2020

Saeki Sayaka, very serious, prone to overthinking things, has met someone who will change her life. Edamoto Haru, first year in college has confessed to liking Sayaka, and now she needs to decide what to do about it.

In Yagate Kimi ni Naru Saeki Sayaka ni Tsuite, Volume 3 (やがて君になる 佐伯沙弥香について), we get to ride along as Sayaka overthinks the whole thing in the most lesbian ways possible. ^_^ Haru, who tends toward being bright and energetic, in exactly the way Sayaka isn’t, is honest about her feelings. And, thankfully for us, patient as Sayaka works her way through what exactly her response ought to be.

I’m not going to spoil any of this for you because, although we may or may not get a print version of Volume 2 in time for June, we are likely to get the digital version. Instead of spoiling this ending with a detailed synopsis, I’m just going to call out a few things that I really particularly enjoyed. You’ll get to read it when it comes out in English and you can squirm through every lesbian thing Sayaka does – or doesn’t – do. 

Haru quickly takes to telling Sayaka to call her ‘Haru,’as one might expect. On brand for her, Sayaka continues to call her ‘Edamoto-san’ well into their relationship. It’s kind of a joke, kind of being an asshat, and kind of endearing…and, as I say, very on brand for Sayaka. My favorite scene in the book might well be when Haru pushes the point and Sayaka calls her “Edamoto” without the honorific. ^_^;

I loved the moment when Sayaka, standing alone in her room just stops and says out loud, “I have a girlfriend.” Squee.

As we know from Volume 8 of the manga, Sayaka meets Yuu while with Haru, and she kind of expected Yuu to tell Touko. Yuu stands her ground and tells Sayaka that it’s her responsibility, not Yuu’s. The conversation that Sayaka really has to have with Touko does happen here. I was so relieved, honestly.

Iruma Hitoma did an exceptional job of writing for this series. For an author I’ve found to be inconsistent, every one of these three volumes absolutely hit the mark for Sayaka’s voice and personality. Of course the art was on point, as well, given that the character creator was doing the art, but something more than that was apparent here. For one thing, every scene that ought to have been illustrated was. That’s unique for light novels, which so often emphasize irrelevancies in the art. And, in every image, the two characters were shown exactly the way we know them to be. I’m not sure I can explain this correctly, but you’ll see when you read it. Sayaka’s composed, staid way of holding herself, Haru’s more mobile expressions and body language…and the final picture, the satisfaction on Sayaka’s face, all were perfect.

Ratings:

Art – 10
Story – 9 A solid relationship story from the perspective of a young lesbian
Character – 10
Service – 3 A couple of small things and a big thing
Yuri – 9 A solid relationship story from the perspective of a young lesbian

Overall – 9

A better end to the Bloom Into You / Yagate Kimi ni Naru series than I could have ever imagined back in 2016, when I reviewed the first volume of the manga. A very satisfactory ending for Sayaka. I wish her and Haru (and Yuu and Touko) well.

Oh! I forgot to mention….I grinned throughout this book. It was really just that spot on. ^_^





If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die

April 2nd, 2020

And so, If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, streaming on Funimation, has wrapped up and I thought I ought to share a few thoughts about it.

This story, of the life of an idol group fan; a fan of the least popular girl in a small, not well-known, provincial idol group was, in turns frustrating and hopeful. The anime had the advantage of being short, and extremely well-voiced. So folks who watch the anime were able to skip some of the more prolonged agony of the manga. I’m pleased for you. ^_^

I’ve written in my manga reviews about how miserable this series has made me feel about the exploitation of the idol industry on all sides. I always felt that the idols were exploited, but I never understood how exploited the fans were, as well. I find it hard to enjoy any real -life group, when I read about the sentimentality porn of “graduations” and the endless number of young women and men leaving for health reasons. There’s no other conclusion to draw but that the entire industry is a “family friendly”  form of human trafficking. And this series made me question it even further, when it uncovers the kind of obsessive indentured servitude fans are presupposed to engage in.

Surely I *cannot* be the only one in the world who thinks not being allowed to like (or let your fave know you like) more than one person or group is bat shit crazy? Fans, like whomever the fuck you want! Your oshi does not own you! You do not own them! This is not a life, it isn’t even a virtual life…it’s a job and fans are paying for the pleasure of working. That’s not healthy. The whole thing is a shared delusion and no one but their production companies win.

And, so, most of you will have watched this series with hearts in your eyes, hoping that Eri will finally be able to communicate with Maina, and that Maki and Yumeri will be happy together. I can’t tell you if they will, only that 6 volumes into this series, they haven’t yet… As the entire series is about lives in suspended animation, that seems fitting.

At least the anime left us with hope, with tears, with gambaru, and with teamwork. Because that’s what it is (supposed to be ) all about, right? We’ll keep trying hard and someday…!!!

And so we’ll keep following our faves and hoping that they make it to the Budokan. Rawr!

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – Shockingly positive 7
Character – Likeable 8
Yuri – 10 and 0 as only Hirao-sensei can manage it.
Service – Overall, 5 tiresome more than offensive

Overall – I still don’t know, really. If I watched the anime with no knowledge of the manga, 7, 8, maybe?

Ai Farouz deserves a fucking trophy for her portrayal of Eripyo. She was the reason I kept watching.