Archive for the Artists Category


Yuri Manga: Fujyourina Atashi-tachi ( 不条理なあたし達)

May 24th, 2017

One of the qualities of a maturing genre is inclusion of non-trope material. For Yuri, that means relationships involving adult women, especially women not in a school/college situation, and relationships that aren’t all rosy cheeks and “We’ll be together forever.”

In Fujyourina Atashi-tachi ( 不条理なあたし達) by Takemiya Jin, we get both these things at the same time. In the first short story, a woman has terrible taste in men and complains to her kouhai constantly until they kind of realize they might want to be together. In the second story, a woman is necessarily cruel to a coworker who likes her, because she likes her, which gives her a measure of power over the other woman.

The bulk of the book is a convoluted and, in many ways, dysfunctional relationship between Yamanaka and Taneda, colleagues in an office. Yamanaka is a selfish person, uninterested in other people. When she starts feeling a little attracted to Taneda, on the assumption that Taneda’s straight, she basically is barely civil. When Taneda invites her out to a local lesbian bar, their relationship becomes a lot more mean-spirited and fascinatingly (rather than destructively) manipulative. Yamanaka starts off thinking she’s manipulating Taneda but…she’s not right. Where Taneda appears at first to be the baby seal waiting to be clubbed, in the end she’s the one who manges to train Yamanaka into being a human.

It’s a story about two crappy people who end up with a happy ending that they actually deserve. It was such a decent story, I read it twice through.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Her ability to capture complex expressions is still her strong point
Characters – 8 Not one of these people who be invited over for lunch. They are all kind of assholes. ^_^
Story – 8 Complex, adult, bitter and deep
Lesbian – 10

Overall – 8

This is Takemiya-sensei at her best, drawing short, pithy stories of lesbian life. Even when you don’t like the characters, she pulls a good story out of them. And this, while no “happily-ever-after,” is a good story.





LGBTQ Manga: My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness (English)

May 19th, 2017

Nagata Kabi made a huge splash on online art community Pixiv with her heartfelt and honest autobiographical comic, in which she discussed her depression, the eating disorder she developed as a result and the long path to recovery and hope. East Press picked up Nagata-san’s narrative from it’s online home and printed it in book form. When I reviewed Sabishi-sugi Rezu Fuzoku ni Ikimashita Report (さびしすぎてレズ風俗に行きましたレポ) in 2016, I was convinced there was no chance we’d ever see it in English. I am so pleased to be completely wrong about that. ^_^

There are several amazing things about this book right on the surface. The publisher in English is Seven Seas, which has shown a genuine desire to be a Yuri powerhouse in the western manga market, but which – up until now – has favored moe schoolgirls over lesbians. I don’t blame them, I’m not criticizing…if anything I’m thankful that this is so out of their wheelhouse. Unlike something steeped in genre tropes like Hana & Hina Afterschool, I think Kabi Nagata’s My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness has a significant chance of reaching a non-manga-reading audience with a story that will very likely be meaningful for them. This is no Sweet Blue Flowers, this is a fairly brutal tale of a real life in crisis.

The most notable thing about this story is not that the artist is a lesbian. It’s that the Pixiv response to this woman’s honesty about her detachment from herself ,shows that a lot of people (not just in Japan) find themselves completely alienated from their own needs at an even earlier age these days than previously. The “mid-life” crisis has become just a “life crisis.” Pixiv readers resonated with this idea of the life one assumed one was supposed to have, the self-flagellation of not being able to even so much as fake that, and the breakdown when it all becomes too much. I sometimes think about the desperate loneliness of men and women in earlier centuries, unable to access – or even perhaps conceive –  of a life more emotionally fulfilling than the one they occupied.

The complete honesty of this story is moving. It hurts watching Nagata-san struggle…even when I know that she would come out the other end of this long tunnel.  

In my review of the Japanese volume I said “I think the story will resonate for a lot of people, although I am not one of them. I’m accustomed to my own bouts of depression and burn-out, but do not find solace in other people’s tales of their own experience.” I stand by this, but want to amend that the language barrier did affect me after all, because in English I was more deeply touched by the words. For that, I need to give my sincere thanks to translator Jocelyne Allen and adaptor Lianne Sentar (for whom I also owe thanks for the review copy!) Technically, this book looks awesome, maintaining the original three color interior of the original. And for that, I thank Lissa Patillo and all the fine folks at Seven Seas. You did an especially good job, with an especially challenging and especially worthy manga.

Which brings me to the final notable point about this book. It will officially hit shelves on June 6 and is already the #1 top selling manga in the Yaoi, Gay & Lesbian manga category! (And, almost in the top 5000 for books in general, wow.) When I checked yesterday Yuri manga filled 6 of the top 10 slots in that category, along with Hana & Hina Afterschool , Bloom Into You, and the Kase-san series (especially Kase-san and Bento, Volume 2 of the series), it’s something I never expected to see, and it warmed the cockles of this Yuri-lover’s heart.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 8
Character – 8
Service – 2
Yuri – 7

Overall – 8

Please buy this book, so we get more Yuri about lesbians. Please buy this book so we get more comic essays by lesbians. Buying this book lets Seven Seas know that you want lesbians in your Yuri. ^_^ And tell everyone you know about it. This book is, along with My Brother’s Husband, a game-changer.

And, while you’re at it, let Amazon know that the category title ought to be Yaoi, Yuri, Gay & Lesbian. I’ve written them to ask for it to be changed. If you write them, too, maybe they’ll change it!

 





Revolutionary Girl Utena Manga, Volume 1 (English)

May 10th, 2017

A few years ago, we had the 15th anniversary re-release of the Revolutionary Girl Utena anime from Nozomi/RightStuff, and this year we have the Revolutionary Girl Utena Manga Complete Deluxe Box Set from Viz Media! And what a deluxe set it is.

This two-volume set of all 6 volumes of the manga (5 for the TV series, one for the movie) drawn by Saito Chiho, in collaboration with Be-Papas, comes in a black box that provides a similar kind of gravitas that the anime packaging provided, with beautiful rose-themed design work in both black glossy on black matte and in color. 

Volume 1 has the pink color theme of the first of the anime arcs, a nice nod to an established color scheme.

Each volume comes with color page inserts from the magazine run and covers of the manga. The collection also includes a poster of Anthy and Utena, suitable for any Yuri fan and guaranteed to have you singing Rinbu Revolution as soon as you see it.

Unlike most manga series that come out at the same time as an anime, the Revolutionary Girl Utena manga is not a literal rendering of the anime at all, but a separate tale, using the same characters and elements that existed in the anime. The rose sigil, the dueling ground, Akio’s car, the planetarium projector all exist here, as they did in the anime. But they do not necessarily mean (or not mean) the same things. Where the anime went for visual effect, the manga relies on shoujo manga tropes of emotional relationships, complications and manipulation.

Compared to the anime, the manga is short, tight, and deeply complicated. When we meet her, Tenjou Utena is very apparently a very young, immature girl with a dream of a Prince that has extremely tenuous roots in reality. It becomes quickly apparent that everything around Utena has extremely tenuous roots in reality. And, when Utena arrives at Ohtori Academy, this does not change.

Where, in the anime, we spend a lot of time with the Student Council, here in the manga they swiftly take a second seat to Ohtori Akio. In the anime, Akio is insidious and horrible, here he is overtly manipulative and power hungry. His honesty about his desires for power and his use of Utena to that end doesn’t make him any less loathsome. What is significantly different is the character of Touga who appeared to be manipulated almost until the very end of the anime here defects to Utena’s side and acts in part as a Greek Chorus, explaining the whims of the gods, and part as a Virgil to Utena’s Dante.

Speaking of shoujo tropes, the relationships portrayed in the manga are almost all toxic. Non-consensual kisses and slapping are common. There is a lot of slapping in these 3 volumes. A lot. Even when it doesn’t really serve any function, or move the story forward. By the time Saionji hauls off on Anthy the last time, in the bonus curry explosion chapter, you can be forgiven for thinking Anthy wouldn’t mind seeing them all dead.

Ratings:

Art- 8 Good, solid, sensual, beautiful but compared to her current outstanding work in Torikaebaya it’s almost simplistic.
Story – 7 Uncomfortable making, weird, and still, strangely hopeful.
Characters – 7 Not as fully developed as in the anime. Everyone seems slightly more delusional.
Service – 5 Creepy non-con seductions and slapping so…mostly violence against women’s autonomy
Yuri- 1 Only if you’re reading anything into Anthy and Utena’s relationship which, as of yet, has not developed beyond lies.

Overall – 8 for content , 9 for presentation

It’s equally as uncomfortable as the anime, although in different ways. I like that Akio is more overtly horrible, but am sad that it’s at the loss of fully developed Student Council.

When I read this series the first time back in 1998 or so, when I remember that it was very difficult for me to read the word “hyou” (leopard) for the longest time. Yes, I know there is a leopard on the page. I wanted to find a official translation…and couldn’t. It moved me to buy my first Japanese dictionary. ^_^





Rose of Versailles Manga, Volume 13 (ベルサイユのばら)

May 4th, 2017

Rose of Versailles, Volume 13 (ベルサイユのばら) is both a touching story and a really ridiculous, overblown melodramatic piece of nonsense. ^_^

In the first half, Oscar’s feelings towards Fersen become complicated by a melodramatic overblown psychological examination of her fears and desired around being raised as a man, complete with fantasy self dooming her to misery. This part of the book was a missed opportunity to really have Oscar delve into gender politics, but no, it’s all about one-sided love for a man she hardly knows.

The second half of the book was far more interesting, focusing on a watch that was beloved by Marie Antoinette, the circumstances around which it came into her possession and the tale of how General de Jarjayes recovers it for her, to give her comfort in her final hours in prison. It also tells the story of the watchmaker and France at the same time. The bits in prison with Marie were the best parts, showing her, not as a clueless Kardashian-like creature, but as a woman who loved what she knew of France as much as anyone. That her experience of France was vastly different to common people’s is plain. And we get to see Marie standing before the guillotine with a thought for France to prosper, which were in fact not her last words at all. (She is purported to have apologized to the executioner for stepping on his foot.)

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 2
Yuri – 0 This is a very straight book.

Overall – 8

Frustrating and touching, melodramatic and epic, Volume 13 is perfect example of the breed. Although, in retrospect, I cannot imagine General de Jarjayes would have survived the guillotine for long enough to be around when Marie was killed. Really, we can only imagine Bernard and Rosalie (who makes an appearance as Marie’s attendant in prison) to be the sole survivors of the story.





Torikaebaya Manga, Volume 11 (とりかえ・ばや)

May 1st, 2017

I just finished Torikaebaya, Volume 11. I’m also reading the new deluxe Revolutionary Girl Utena manga from Viz, Both are by the same artist, Saito Chiho, and I was thinking how very much Koyasu Takehito (Touga’s voice) would be *brilliant* as the Emperor if they ever did an anime. (They won’t. Nothing happens for long stretches). So I sort of happily sat there imagining Hisakawa Aya as Yuzuru-Shinou and Mitsuishi Kotono as Umetsubo and on and on and suddenly it all came crashing down in my head when I realized that the person who should be – deserved to be – Suiren and Sarasoujuu, Kawakami Tomoko…is dead. And that ended that little fantasy. :-(

In Volume 11, some very important things happen and some Very Important Things happen. After spending a lot of time following Sarasoujuu as Suiren, we turn towards Suiren, acting as Sarasoujuu. He has gone off to track down the curse on the Emperor created by the evil priest Ginkaku and although he and his men have been attacked, they recover the curse.

Back in the capital, Toguu-sama completes a beautifully rendered ritual to Amaterasu.

A letter and proof of the curse arrives and she runs off to find Suiren…and find him she does. She comes upon a beautiful young man in a hut and immediately, she recognizes that this is her Suiren, although she has mostly known Suiren as her lady in waiting. Calling Suiren’s name, she rushes to him. They spent a night blissfully together and I got to grin my head off. Yay for Toguu-sama and Suiren.

In the meantime, Sarasoujuu as Suiren, in conversation with the Emperor, accidentally quotes a waka that she had, some years previously, composed as a young lord. Suddenly, the tumblers fall into place and the Emperor can see what has always always been in front of his eyes – the young lord he kept so close and the woman he loves are the same person. He can see that much, but does not (and cannot) understand that this switch is not a switch, but a switch back to her birth sex. He’s Byronically confused through the rest of the volume. (Which is about when I thought Koyasu Takehito would be brilliant as his voice.)

Toguu-sama returns to the capital and is told that she is no longer the heir. Ichinomiya-hime, as she will now be called, couldn’t care less because she has her Suiren. She tells the Emperor that she has always admired Sarajoujuu. I love her. She’s absolutely my favorite character, hands down. (Today in Erica’s imaginary alt-Torikaebaya, Ichinomiya-hime becomes Empress with Suiren as consort. Screw this story’s established literary canon. I want what I want.)

It all looks like things might be turning for the better but Ginkaku has one last evil-eyebrowed trick to play. Before his removal from the palace, he sends a letter to Umetsubo-sama, one of the court women who is Ginkaku’s equivalent of evil doings in the women’s quarter. Umetsubo hates Suiren and has had a feeling all along that Sara and Suiren had switched places. Ginkaku’s letter confirms this. And now she thinks she’s armed to bring the hated Suiren and Ichinomiya-hime down. 

It also means we can see, with complete clarity, what the climax of this series will be, as she forces a sex reveal to “prove” that Suiren and Sara have switched places. But, of course, no one realizes that the initial switch was in childhood and they are currently passing as their own birth genders. Umetsubo is doomed to fail. I hope she’s terminally mortified.

So, with an end in sight, but not necessarily close, I guess the happy end we’re gunning for is Suiren as Sarasoujuu with Ichinomiya-hime and Sara as Suiren with the Emperor, Yuzuru as heir to take the pressure off all four. And hopefully Ginkaku and Umetsubo condemned to a horrible death or something.

That’s my story and I’m sticking with it for now, but I welcome an even better alternative if you have one!

Ratings:

Art – 10 This volume was exquisite
Story – 9 Yay! Suiren and Ichinomiya-hime!
Characters – 9
Service – 2

Overall – 10, but it’s still killing me. ^_^