Archive for the Artists Category


Yuri Manga: 2DK, G Pen, Mezamashidokei, Volume 3 (2DK、Gペン、目覚まし時計。)

January 16th, 2017

Ohsawa Yayoi’s adult-life 2DK, G Pen, Mezamashidokei, Volume 3 (2DK、Gペン、目覚まし時計。) is a bit of an interesting conundrum. Volume 1 was more slice-of-life than Yuri in which we met career woman Nanami and her roommate Kaede, a struggling manga artist In Volume 2, we see a little bit more of their lives, but still, we’re focusing on the life part of their lives, rather than any kind of relationship. This isn’t a complaint – it’s praise. 

The one thing that tires me out the most about Yuri manga is the rapidity with which relationships are seen to be formed. Not so in this manga, where we have spent 2 full volumes fleshing out the lives of  the protagonists. 

Volume 3 continues this trend, with a half volume dedicated not to Kaede’s manga debut, or Nanami’s trials in the office, but with Kaede’s friendly rival in manga, Koyuki, who hits a massive wall with her artistic output and in her personal life. It is ultimately Kaede who helps her snap out of it.

We then again turn towards Nanami and, finally, we see some recognition that maybe, just maybe, she’s looking at Kaede differently than she was previously. Nanami  is finding herself comfortable for the first time in the role she’s take on in Kaede’s life and her own and for the first time, doesn’t look awkward or like she’s wondering what she’s doing with her life. It’s a good look on her.

Volume 4 is going to be full of drama and revelation, but for now, this character development was meant to be exactly what it is; not driving the romance, just building the characters. At then end of Volume 3, we’re ready for the story to begin. ^_^

The epilogue gives Koyuki a little insight to the kind of care and attention Nanami lavishes on Kaede and she’s torn between being embarrassed and jealous. 

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 2.5
Service – 4 Koyuki has exceptionally large breasts.

Overall – 8

Volume 4 for the only truly josei Yuri manga running in Comic Yuri Hime? Why, yes, thank you! And it’s gonna get pretty darn interesting, when an old acquaintance becomes a catalyst.





Yuri Manga: Yuri Kuma Arashi, Volume 3 (ユリ熊嵐)

January 2nd, 2017

Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the Yuri Kuma Arashi manga tell a slightly different story than the anime.  The main premise remains the same – human girl Tsubaki Kureha meets and falls in love with bear girl Yurishiro Ginko, who has some connection to her past and her late mother. 

In the anime the fairytale about the bear princess and human princess ends up overlapping with reality and Ginko and Kureha end up happily-ever-after, but much of the detail gets lost in the obsession with a “promise kiss,” an overabundance of lilies and a lot of plotline mad libs.

In Yuri Kuma Arashi, Volume 3 (ユリ熊嵐), the story is brought to a conclusion that, in one way, makes a lot more sense, but in order to get there, needs a few key magical handwaves.

In Volume 2, we learned that Yurika, Kale and Leila, Kureha’s mother, were all close. In Volume 3, we learn the truth, that all three were lovers. Kale was betrothed to Yurika’s brother, but fell in love with Yurika instead. Independently they both fell in love Leila. The three lived a lovely, romantic twilight world of joy until Leila broke their bonds and left. It almost killed Kale. When Leila returned she was pregnant so Kale (who had been betrothed to Yurika’s brother, remember) also became pregnant. Their children were fated to be together because they said so.

But, tragedy struck. When Ginko and Kureha were small, Leila was late returning to the house one day Ginko, not knowing who she was, shot her. The real question is how does a small bear shoot a rifle, but just, don’t…

Between Kale, Yurika and Ginko, the full story comes out and Kureha forgives Ginko, as she was only a little bear and couldn’t possibly be held responsible for her actions. In the meantime, Ginko, suffering from a guilt-induced fever is staying at Sumika’s house with Kureha and Lulu. Lulu is finding herself really falling in like with Sumika, but is still worried that she’s a “kumajyo,” a witch  who uses magic against the bears. The three bear-boy judges  finally get their screentime and judge Sumika, who is their sister, for being a kumajyo. She’s found innocent, and Lulu decides that she could do worse. 

Kureha forgives Ginko. To be able to stay together, Kureha becomes a bear, as well.

Yurika and Kale reunite, and all would be perfect if ONLY Leila were still alive. 

…

…

As Ginko and Kureha play one day, Kureha finds a picture of woman who looks exactly like her mother in an Estonian bear preserve! As magic fills the end of the book, Yurika and Kale head off to find their lost love, Lulu and Sumika head into a new relationship, Lulu runs into her late brother, suddenly resurrected, Ginko and  Kureha kiss as they board the Yurikuma Arashi “flight to the unknown.”

The End.

I’m not sure that it made any more sense than the anime, but it sure didn’t make any less. And what sex and romance we encountered was far less service-y than the anime. The main difference is in Yurika. In the anime, she was very much the Evil Psycho Lesbian Bear. In the manga, she was the stabilizing force for Leila and Kale. I liked Yurika best in both versions of the story.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 9
Service – 5

Overall – 8

Leila means “light” in Estonian…as one might expect.





Top Yuri Manga of 2016

December 29th, 2016

I started these lists because I’m very bad at recommendations, and while that has not changed, I do think it’s worth taking the time out every year to note the stories that surprised and pleased me over the course of year. If you have also enjoyed any of these in scanlation, please buy the original, even if you cannot read it. 2017 will present an extraordinary opportunity for you to get many of these in English, so there’s really no excuse! I know that Okazu readers are very likely to contribute to the Yuri ecosystem and for that, I thank you all. And, with that….Welcome to the Okazu Top Yuri Manga List for 2016! 

 

10. Mahou Josei Chimaka

There’s a number of reasons I wanted to put this graphic novel on the list. The first and most important reason was that it was good! I really enjoyed the storytelling and the characters. I love stories that take a look at after the story ends, and this story was that AND a fun magical woman story AND had a WoC lead AND was just generally cute as the proverbial button.  And it was from Sparkler Monthly, which is the one fully truly original English language women-focused comic and prose magazine. I cannot begin to tell you how important I think this magazine is.  Yes I can…I think it’s immensely important.  For all these reasons, Mahou Jose Chimaka makes my best-of list for the year. ^_^

 

9. 2DK, G Pen Mezamashitokei

I love this story. I want so badly to take Nanami out and have a good long talk with her. Sure I want her and Kaede happy together, but honestly, I don’t really care about Kaede, I want Nanami to be happy. 

I love Ohsawa Yayoi’s art, which has really leveled up. I love that it’s a story about adult women that has adult things like face soap and nice clothing and marketing promotions at work. 

Volume 2 made me think that I couldn’t wait to read Volume 3. And that’s why it’s on the list. ^_^

 

8. Hana to Hina ha Houkago

Morinaga Milk has had a rough couple of series. Trying so desperately to apply a “Yuri” formula to characters she should have felt free to just tell the right story for, is no fun. But it feels like she’s hit her stride again in Hana to Hina ha Houkago, with a cute, cherub-faced innocent and ever-so-slightly-more-worldly girl who loves girly things. It’s a formula she’s used before, but it’s working here. I’m enjoying this series and hope she’ll be allowed to, and want to do, something beyond another coming out drama.

Coming in 2017, we’ll all be able to enjoy this story in English with Hana and Hina After School. Volume 1 and Volume 2 are already up for pre-order!

 

7. Last Waltz

Katakura Ako’s art is a trainwreck and so was the story, but this highschool Jane Bond just really appealed to me.  Shinobu took everything annoying about the “nonverbal anti-hero” wrapped it up in a school uniform, her ‘M’ was everything annoying about every ‘M’ ever….and slathered in Yuri for no reason. I loved it.  

This is not even the only title on this year’s list that had no redeeming qualities. ^_^

 

6. Seesaw Game/Renai Log/ My First Lady

Takemiya Jin continues to be an absolute machine at putting out good-to-excellent Yuri. And I continue to enjoy the heck out of it. 

Her art has come a long way, her touch in storytelling is so deft that I’m probably holding her to higher standards than I have ever held anyone else. It’s not fair, but she’s just that good. It’s always a good year for Yuri when her work has to be this far down the list. ^_^

 

5. Yagate Kimi ni Naru

This is a manga that is on the list as much for the splash it made, both here and in Japan, as it is for my reaction to it. The formula was typical…and not typical at the same time. The story is playing with the audience, making us dance to it’s tune, rather than rushing forward into the most obvious ending.

The art is clean, the characters have depth and you’ll be able to start the new year off with the first volume of this series in English, from Seven Seas as Bloom Into You, Volume 1.

 

4. Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo 

Another series on the list that is here as much for General Effect as it is for anything else.  While the world may not have needed another all-Yuri couple school, Canno has included some slightly-less typical stories and created characters that exceeded their initial boundaries. I’m also just really glad that Canno’s got a breakout hit. Every artist ought to have at least one series that catches the Zetigest.  

And, again, you can celebrate 2017 with the first volume of the English–language release of Cannos’ series, Kiss and White Lily for my Dearest Girl.

 

Which brings us to my Top 3 manga for the year. The shuffling around on this list has been shell-game worthy, but these are the three that landed on the top. ^_^

 
3. Murcielago

I warned you that Last Waltz wasn’t the only manga on the list that had no redeeming qualities, so you should have, honestly, expected this one. ^_^

Murcielago is ugly, it’s violent, the sex is nasty, the characters are cracked. The plots are absurd strings of ways to kill and dismember people and the dialogue is absurd. When it hits low points, it gets really low. Lower than Weather Woman low.

High points include creative ways for horrible people to die, consensual lesbian sex and perfectly matched psychopaths fighting.

And! You too can read this “violence Yuri manga” in English in 2017 from Yen Press (I like to pretend I don’t know why) as Murciélago, Vol. 1. Isn’t that amazing and cool? I certainly think so!

With so many of these titles coming out in English next year, it’s a fair bet you’ll see some back on the list next year. ^_^

2. Comic Yuri Hime Renewal

I’m not going to lie here. I was on absolute pins and needles about the January 2017 issue of Comic Yuri Hime, especially after Ichijinsha was bought by Kodansha. I was worried for a lot of reasons. Comic Yuri Hime had just gone through a cover series of extreme moe-blob faced covers, and a cover “story” which had me stabbing my eyes out with boredom and disgust.

There were, still, artists I liked, but how long would they be allowed to remain…and most of all, would we get anything ever again that was even remotely original? I don’t hate school girls, I just wanted a frikkin’ story that isn’t the same exact thing over and over. 

While Comic Yuri Hime is not (and never can be, if it is to survive,) perfect, I was super pleased to see some genuinely original stories and new artists who didn’t need to retread the same old stories. Kind of out of relief, but also because I was so genuinely pleased at the direction the magazine is taking, the Comic Yuri Hime renewal is number 2 on the list!

No drumrolls, no cutesy leadups. This year my top Yuri Manga is….

 

1. Collectors, Volume 2

This manga has everything I’ve ever wanted in a manga. Adult women in a commited relationship, with lives and friends and family and snark and romance….

Shinobu collects books and Takako collects clothes and they love each other very much, even if they’ll never understand the other’s obsession. 

Nishi UKO’s art is slick and adult and beautiful and I physically relax everytime I look at it. Collectors is everything a Yuri manga could be if it was ever allowed to grow up.

 

My Top Yuri Manga for 2016 is, once again, Nishi UKO’s Collectors.

One more list to go…!





Hayate x Blade 2 (Nyan), Volume 4 Manga (はやて×ブレード2 4)

December 27th, 2016

Welcome to the last Okazu review of 2016. This year has been challenging and rewarding and amazing and dreadful. And, so, I had  good long think about which book I wanted to represent this year for me. It took only a moment to realize that the series that best represents this year for me is Hayate x Blade by Hayashiya Shizuru. ^_^

In Hayate x Blade 2 (Nyan), Volume 4 (はやて×ブレード2 4), the Ultimate Hoshitori is on.

We finally take on the burning question we’ve asked ourselves since practically the very first volume….who is better, Momoka and Isuzu or Otoha and Michi? The great otokoyaku battle begins…and ends. The ending was never really in doubt.

The students of the Black Group and the students of Tenchi Academy have now been integrated, but they are not abiding peacefully. Fubuki Hajime’s group is dedicated to bringing about the defeat of Amachi Hitsugi and her noble warriors. At last Hajime and Hitsugi come face to face. The ending was never in doubt.

You may think I was exaggerating about the number of main characters last volume, but I counted and there are literally 32 main characters in this volume. 32 main characters. And new ones added all the time.

Ratings:

Art – 10 
Story – 10 
Characters – 10 
Yuri – 0 Jun was very reserved this issue.
Service – 0  Less Jun, less service.

Overall – 10

Hitsugi’s only desire is to see smiles through the blood, laughter through the tears and to watch her schoolmates strive ever onward, past pain and defeat to fight, to defend, and to shine. 

And so they do.

And so will we. 

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Thank you for sticking with me this year, as we traveled the world together and spoke in all kind of venues and read and watched and listened to so many Yuri…things. Next up, let’s look at some of the best things of the year! Top Ten Lists ahoy!





The Great “Girl With Guns on the Run” Trilogy Rewatch

December 23rd, 2016

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I’ve finally done something I promised to do years ago. I rewatched Noir, Madlax and El Cazador de la Bruja back to back.

And it was good. ^_^  (From Sean G, a link to concise, amusing summaries of the main characters.)

I said as I began El Cazador de la Bruja, “If Noir is a knit narrative, then Madlax is crochet and El Cazador is macramé. Each successive iteration of the elements has more holes.” Upon reflection, though, I’m not sure I was right. 

Noir spends the most time building the story. More happens in the first episode of Madlax, than happens in the first 6 episodes of Noir.

It’s not that it’s killing time, but Noir is filling in all the details very slowly and carefully, with a lot of time spent in simply watching Kirika and Mirielle function as hitmen. Their relationship is built through this action, rather than through speaking. In fact, of the three series, this one has the most silences. 

The music here is a cue mostly only to that they are again in a shootout. It’s awesome music, though and worth re-hearing. And, by the time Kirika and Mirille’s full history is filled in, we kinda guessed already. ^_^ The climax of the series is satisfying and Soldats just ends up looking stupid and ham-handed.

In the end, I realized that I think of Noir, not as Kirika’s story, but as Mirielle’s.

Madlax starts with a completely different pace than Noir. There’s an obvious initial almost-schizoid split between episodes with Madlax and Margaret. Nonetheless long before Margaret goes to Garth-Sonika, we’ve figured out that there’s some connection between the two.

Where Noir takes place in identifiable places in our world, Madlax takes place in places that seem familiar, but are wholly fictitious. Nafrece might be France or England or Japan, but it’s not. This gives the story a lot of leeway to adding fictive elements, like a arms-dealing conspiracy driven by magic and the desire for more magic and allows for the entire climax to happen in a place that isn’t even of the world at all. 

Friday Monday is still a stupid bad guy with a ridiculous name.

Although Noir probably still wins for overall body count, there’s more deaths of people we cared about in Madlax than in Noir. In fact, I was pretty surprised to realize how dark Madlax was. Dark and dense. It was slow going, with so many storylines that had to converge. 

The music in Madlax is practically a character, it plays such a significant role.

El Cazador de la Bruja almost feels like a reaction to the intense darkness of Madlax and Noir. While there’s still a lot of shooting, the overall body count is much less. Nadie mostly shoots to disarm. And the general tone is much lighter and cheerier.

We’re back in the “real” world for this series, in an American Southwest-ish. There’s a President and a White House and Taco chains, but there’s also magic that works visibly.

This is the only story of the three with a deranged stalker who won’t take no for an answer.  Where Nadie and Ellis help each other to become more human, LA ends up being more and more a wounded animal who needs to be put out of his misery. To accomplish this, even some of the initially silliest plot elements end up fitting into the apparently hole-filled puzzle by the end. In fact, as I watched the final episodes tonight, I was surprised to find the climax much more tightly scripted than I remembered.

The music is purely window dressing, without much meaning as it was in the first two series. Rosenberg was a delightfully horrible bad guy whom we will not mourn.

While all three series end with a journey renewed,  El Cazador de le Bruja wins for the utter sappy wonderfulness of the ending, which could leave no doubt as to the fact that the main characters are incontrovertibly a couple. Squee.

Top characters of each series for me: Noir – Mirielle, Madlax – Rimelda , El Cazador de la Bruja – Jody “Blue Eyes” Hayward. So Hisakawa Aya beats Mitsuishi Kotono 2-to-1. ^_^ 

Still three of my favorite series, with some of the best music I’ve ever loved.

Ratings:

Noir – 10

Madlax – 9

El Cazador de la Bruja  – 10

This was a long time in coming, but it was loads of fun! I’ll do it again in another 10 years. ^_^