Archive for the Artists Category


Assorted Entanglements, Volume 3

April 10th, 2024

A woman in pink hair and headphones sits in front of a keyboard, in a gaming chair, while a woman with blue hair leans on the desk next to her.by Matt Marcus, Staff Writer

Previously in Assorted Entanglements Volume 2, sparks and virtual bullets flew as we met mangaka Heke-sensei and her editor Shinohara, who not-so-anonymously play an online First Person Shooter game together while harboring mutual crushes. Meanwhile, Shizuku and Shiori slowly float closer to each other, somehow.

For Assorted Entanglements Volume 3, Mikanuji-sensei must’ve thought “hmmm the last new couple was a little too wholesome. It’s time to spin the Wheel! Of! Problematic! ‘Ships!” A giant prize wheel rolls in and is vigorously spun. Plasticky ratcheting sounds burst out then slowly decelerate as the selection arrow slowly passes over OL x JK, then Sister x Sister (Adopted), and finally Sister x Sister (Not Adopted) before landing on: Teacher x Student. A sizzle reel plays for the winning couple. For some reason they are riding jet skis at a Sandals Resort.

That’s probably not how it happened (I’m sure there was an editor involved somewhere). However, it is less dire than you may be thinking. For now.

Our new pair of star-crossed acquaintances is the stoic gym teacher Kujou and one of her students, 3rd year Sugimoto. Every day after school, Kujou stands outside the door of a lesbian bar, too afraid to enter. Inevitably, she chickens out and instead frequents the maid café next door where Sugimoto works. Sugimoto, who is a bit of a misanthropic loner despite her good looks, decides seemingly on a whim that she is going to help Kujou on her quest to enter the bar and finally find herself a girlfriend.

It becomes clear pretty quickly that Sugimoto is on her way to catching feelings for Kujou; blessedly, her gym teacher doesn’t even register her as an option, despite noticing that her student is pushing the boundaries of a proper teacher/student relationship. (I hate that I find this refreshing.) Regardless, the comedic dynamic between these two works. Sugimoto’s acerbic tongue is a fun foil to Kujou’s sad puppy vibes. I’m just mildly concerned about where the story is going to take them.

Aside from these two, there are still three other “couples” to check in on. Not too much has changed between Minami and Iori, however the same can’t be said for their “jilted” hangers-on. In fact, Shizuku’s hard-assery has softened considerably towards Shiori, much to the latter’s chagrin. You can see the little dance they are doing, inching towards each other then repelling apart mostly because Shiori likes to throw Shizuku’s feelings back in her face to goad her into anger for a laugh. Despite that, progress is being made. For some reason, I’m rooting for them.

Meanwhile, Heke-sensei and Shinohara begin spending more and more time with each other, often pretending to be lovers for “material” to inspire Heke-sensei’s storyboarding. Each time Heke-sensei tries to close the gap, Shinohara’s bluntness and desire to hide her crush ends up unintentionally sending the wrong signals to her coworker/secret gaming buddy. They are the goofiest and most wholesome pairing in this series, so it’s always a nice reprieve when they show up.

I mentioned the art’s Same Face Syndrome in my review of Volume 2, but somehow the issue has now spread to entire characters. You can’t have your characters say a line like “you should be able to recognize your students” and then give multiple characters 99% the same face and haircut.

These are three different characters. Two of them are 12 years apart in age. No, I can’t tell them apart either.

Also, every now and then there’s some weird body proportions. There’s one panel in particular where Shinohara’s right arm appears to have grown 30% too big for her body.

The thing that continues to hold my interest is the humor (again, shoutout to Eleanor Ruth Summers for the excellent localization). Unfortunately, there are still moments of “yikes” that keep me from truly singing its praises. It’s like eating that PB&J sandwich you packed with you to the beach: no matter how careful you are, you will get a bite or two of sand that feels like it’ll crack your teeth. In one notable case, Minami is acting passive-aggressively and Iori has no idea why, and it turns out that she is grumpy because the night before, Iori, who was blackout drunk, did something out of pocket in bed. It’s supposed to be a reversal joke, but there’s enough “ick” to it that it is hard to handwave, let alone laugh at it. The series continues to be one that has enough rough spots to make it difficult to recommend.

But despite my complaints…I am still reading it. This is perhaps the funniest volume so far, and there’s plenty of joy to be had in cropping out panels as reaction images or meme fodder. You just have to be OK taking your Yuri with a grain of sand.

Art – 6 Seems like the art has regressed a touch, and the sameness of the character designs is not helping
Story – 7 A handful of questionable choices hurt it, but the humor stays sharp
Characters – 7 This really is a manga for people who like Women/Girls Who Suck
Service – 4 Iori and Minami’s sex life is still present, and it is a little uncomfy in a couple places
Yuri – 9 / LGBTQ – 9 You did hear me say lesbian bar, ya?

Overall – 7 I’d tell it to run a few extra laps

Volume 4 is currently available in English from Yen Press, with Volume 5 arriving in June. A twisted Yuri comedy with some punch.

Matt Marcus is a serial enthusiast whose range of appreciations include guitars, watches, and a particular genre of Japanese popular media named after a flower. Outside of writing for Okazu, he cohosts various projects on the Pitch Drop Podcast Network, where he frequently bloviates about video games, anime, and manga. He also hosts a blog Oh My God, They Were Bandmates analyzing How Do We Relationship in greater depth.





HabuCore F

April 4th, 2024

On the right, a stern-faced woman with short dark hair and glasses, wearing a suit. On the left a red-haired woman in a scarf and red jacket over yellow tee shirt, smiling. Today’s post is less of a review than a story of how a chance encounter changed my life. ^_^

In the early 2000s, a reader of Okazu, touko_no_doriru_san was kind enough to gift me the very first issue of a series that would take up a lot of space in my brain for the next almost 20 years. Hayate x Blade (はやて×ブレード) was a gonzo battle/school manga series by someone whose art I  already loved as the doujinshi circle JESUS DRUG, Hayashiya Shizuru.

The original story was as follows: Kurogane Hayate, an energetic doofus enters Tenchi Academy (under, it turns out, false pretenses) in order to compete for money to wipe out the debt at the orphanage that took care of her and her twin sister, Nagi. To win, Hayate must find a partner to combat other teams with. Hayate ends up partnering with Mudo Ayana, a girl whose breakup with her last partner has traumatized her and made her swear off fighting. 

This all sounds very heavy – and, honestly, it is! There is a ton of deep, dark stuff here, but also so much more crazy, goofy nonsense and high-powered swordfighting action and quite a lot of violence. Gouting blood is a thing, but so are banana peel gags and the chairwoman of the school fighting to a song made famous by a real-world roller-blading boy band. The action was good, but what made this series shine was the characters. There are too many amazing characters to name – by 2015, there were 40 main characters in this series. Honestly, I was going to list out just a few, but in the end, I really can’t. ^_^

The series went through a lot of changes. A publisher shift in Japan meant that we only got the first 6 volumes in English. The series initially ended in 2013, with Hayate clearing the orphanage’s debt. In 2014, it began anew as Hayate x Blade 2 (Nyan), in which the school chairwoman Amachi Hitsugi creates an even nuttier battle royale, pitching all the students at the school, including an outsider group determined to take the school down completely, against one another. Students were split into “Heaven” and “Earth” teams and given dangerous and weirdly bizarre scenarios in order to fight one another. There was never any doubt who would win.

There were also 9(!) Drama CDs which live in my head rent-free, as masterworks of writing and voice-acting.

In 2018, we said good-bye to Hayate x Blade. As I said at the time, statistically speaking, one volume should have been less good than the others, but none of them were anything other than fantastic. The story ended, I was very happy with where and how it ended, which was on a gag that made me snort my drink out my nose. A perfect ending for this series.

But, selfishly, I want more. ^_^ I love epilogues in manga. I especially adore 10-years-later epilogues, to see what became of these people. I wanted that for this series.

Well last year, I got it. As part of the Habu Core, (Hayate x Buraydo Collection), Hayashiya-sensei put together a doujinshi of commission art of the HxB characters (squee) and a series of 10 years later sketches of all 40 (plus 1) of the main characters, plus some high-school-era comics for those pairs. And once again, it ends on a gag so utterly out of the pale, but completely in character for Amachi Hitsugi, that I choked on my drink. 

Habu Core F is the perfect epilogue to the perfect manga series.

I’ll never forget this series. At least in part because when Hayashiya-sensei was dissolving her backlog of manuscript pages, I purchased some of the panels for myself and plan on having them framed and added to my art gallery in my office this year.  ^_^

Once again, we say good bye to Hayate x Blade. I’m glad that Sid and Nancy seem pretty happy with their choices. ^_^

 





I’m in Love with the Villainess Audiobook, Volume 4

March 3rd, 2024

We left Rae and Claire in the Nur empire at the end of Volume 3, and in I’m in Love with the Villainess Audiobook, Volume 4 we get into the weeds of so many plots that I’m still reeling from the tone shifts.

Rae and Claire may be “exchange students” but they have revolution on their minds and spend the beginning of the book thinking how they can train Princess Philene up to be the revolutionary leader they need.

But first, we have a cooking contest! And a formal ball. And a murder mystery, and a mysterious magical item, and a kidnapping. And helping out many different people in their various personal issues.

And, of course, that revolution.

There are so many plates being spun that the foreshadowing is barely noticeable, except when it’s a bat to the back of the head.

This is a story that, despite the light-hearted opening, becomes quite serious by the end. Nonetheless, there are many funny scenes* here, as well as a number of sincere discussions of queer existence. When all of that is set aside, the story digs in and becomes both politically and magically, dark.

Once again, narrator Courtney Shaw does a fantastic job at voices. Pronunciation is still an issue, however. Pronouncing Lene “Lean” is a matter of interpretation. But sakura? How is sakura being pronounced “sa-KOO-ra” in 2024? Please.  Oh well. I blame the director. This kind of thing is easy to check. I had some qualms about accents, but I’ll get over listening to a German cook with a Italian accent and a lisp. It was kind of funny after a while.

This 9 and half hour book is a lot of entertainment for the money and while it sets up the final volume of the series, doesn’t really prepare you for it when it arrives

Once again, I think this audiobook allows for a different appreciation of the story for those of use who have read or watched it, and offers accessibility to folks who use audiobooks as an assistive tool. I’m 100% for that and glad to see more Yuri available in this format with Yen’s The Executioner and Her Way of Life added to the roster this winter.

Ratings (for the adaptation only):

Overall – 10

*I even laughed out loud at a breast size scene, possibly for the first time ever.

Volume 5, the final volume, is available this month from Seven Seas Siren.





Pulse, Volumes 3 & 4

February 28th, 2024

Two women with long, flowing hair, one dark purple, one blonde, embrace surrounded by flower, as sunlight shines down upon them.by Eleanor Walker, Staff Writer

Today I’ll be talking about Pulse, Volume 3 and Volume 4, by Ratana Satis. I reviewed volumes 1-2 a while ago, so let’s see how the story has progressed. 

Content warning: Volume 3 contains scenes of violence and homophobic slurs. 

Lynn has now moved herself into Mel’s apartment, and domestic bliss/lots of sex ensues. Mel’s feelings for Lynn both in a physical and a romantic way are growing, but the dark cloud of Lynn’s heart condition continues to loom over the relationship. The porn to plot ratio is more skewed towards the porn side than it was in the first two volumes and most of the story in these volumes actually takes place away from the hospital, with Mel getting tangled up in an old police officer friend’s investigation of a violent thug who targets women.

Two women, one with long brown hair in a brown jacket and gloves, and a blonde in a tawny coat and gloves, share a red scarf and smile at each other as they embraceThis arc didn’t really last long and I felt it was all a bit conveniently wrapped up, but a fresh Big Bad in the form of a new hospital director does appear at the end of volume 4. From what happens when she appears and the flashbacks in the chapters when she’s introduced, things are going to get very interesting for Mel indeed. I’m looking forward to the story getting back to the hospital and seeing what will actually happen to Lynn because of her condition. 

Ratings:

Art: 8. It’s still attractive and some of the chibi facial expressions are a delight. The erotic scenes are also very well crafted.

Story: 6. Despite this review covering 2 volumes, I don’t feel like a lot actually happened in the story. As with the last review, don’t think too hard about how implausible the situation is. Why is practically every female staff member at this hospital a lesbian? 

Characters: 8.5. Still by far and away the best part of the series. Mel and Lynn are incredibly cute together and the side characters are well written too. 

Service (level of salaciousness): 10. This series is rated ‘Mature’ and shrink wrapped for a reason. The erotic scenes are even more plentiful in these volumes and there is very little left to the imagination. 

Yuri: 9. It’s lovely to watch them growing closer and the walls around Mel’s heart gradually coming down. 

Overall: 7.5

 

Still an enjoyable series, just the story felt a bit weaker in these two volumes than the first two.

Volume 5 is already out, Volume 6 has just come out in English, with Volume 7 the final volume, due to hit this summer. 

Eleanor can be found lurking around the internet @st_owly.





Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 6 (雨夜の月)

February 20th, 2024

Two girls wearing Japanese yukata for a summer festival, look at each other with intensity as fireworks explode above them.Do you remember Morinaga Milk’s series Girl Friends? It was an incredibly popular and influential Yuri manga in the early 2010s, so more than a decade ago. The story followed an introverted girl, Mari, who becomes friendly with an extroverted girl, Akiko. Akiko is Mari’s first real girl friend. And, then, they start to fall in love with one another.  I bring this up because a number of Yuri series begin in a similar emotional space – someone has not previously had a close friend and then their feelings begin to change. Saki and Kanon have both had a close friend before. They both know how friendship feels. They both know how it feels to feel betrayed, or lost when that friendship cracks.

In Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 6 (雨夜の月) a whole lot of things happen that remind us that this story is absolutely not handwaving *anything.* This is a remarkably profound story that is not at all taking shortcuts, even when we might expect it to.

First, in the wake of telling Kanon how she feels,  Saki has decided that it’s time to speak to Akira, the hair stylist whose “friend’s” story of first love with another girl seemed awfully personal. It’s an important conversation for Saki, because she starts to accept her feelings for Kanon. She has no clue where she is going with them yet, but she she’s starting to understand that this is who she is. Secondly, Kanon is also wondering what to do with her emotions. She’s got no name for this maelstrom she’s feeling ask Saki asks her a favor under the bright lights of a fireworks display.

Whether or not they become a couple is entirely irrelevant to me. Watching them work through complicated feelings about other people and with other people to talk to, is very much the crux of the matter. But, this volume isn’t leaning back on just this one piece of the story, either. Saki meets up with Ayano and once again offers comfort and a way to move forward for the other girl and Tomita comes back to school, openly admitting her disability, and apologizing to her ignored friends in a touching scene.

Yeas ago, I was reading a comic that cleared the low bar of the Bechdel-Wallace Test but inspired me to create the Friedman Addendum to the Bechdel-Wallace Test, which includes these three criteria:

Does female character have agency?
Does she have society?
Does she have personality?

In Amayo no Tsuki, Saki has society. Her friendship has helped Kanon to build the same for herself… and that is what makes this volume so amazing. If these two fall in love, it won’t be because they are sheltered in a world of two, blocked from the rest of society. It will be because they want to face that world together.  In the meantime, Kanon is not only finding her own ways to make friends and be part of her class’ activities, she’s also finding her own individual voice as a writer.

The final story follow Kanon’s sister Rinne and how she learns to be braver about openly displaying empathy for others with help from her sister’s experience.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Service –  Saki and Kanon in yukata is also a form of service ^_^
Yuri – 5

Overall – 10

This was a fabulous volume of a series that is already carved out a permanent place in my heart.  I recently did an interview with a media platform in which I was asked where I saw the future of Yuri. The answer is – this. This intersectionality with disability, gender, race, mental health – these crossroads where we explore with it is to be a human with a body and mind that is not always under our control or are othered by people who are not us. This is where I see Yuri going right now and I really like it.

This series is available in English, as The Moon On A Rainy Night from Kodansha,  Volumes 1-3 are out and I have, of course, reviewed them here on Okazu. ^_^