Archive for the Artists Category


Yuri Manga: Cocytus Perfect Edition (コキュートス 完全版)

December 13th, 2016

Back in 2014, Kodama Naoko, in pre-NTR  days had two short series that had run in Comic Yuri Hime magazine, collected under the title Cocytus. (Cocytus is one of the five rivers that runs into Hades. Cocytus is the river of lamentation. Isn’t that a cheerful title? The other rivers are Styx, Lethe, Acheron and Phelegethon, because I know you know I care about such things. ^_^)

Now her work has been republished in a final format as Cocytus Perfect Edition (コキュートス 完全版). The two series follow couples so close to being identical that I had to keep reminding myself that it was two separate series.

In the first, a cheerful schoolgirl finds herself intrigued by, protective of, and eventually interested in a melancholic classmate.

The second and title series follows, again, two classmates, who are close and getting closer. Ultimately, they decide to remain together without a sexual relationship. We see them in the short original epilogue as adults who have established a life as a couple for themselves.

There’s nothing really bad about Cocytus, certainly nothing that lends itself to lamentation. The characters are pleasantly bland, with small moments of humanity that, should they have been developed, might really have led to a great story. But they weren’t.

I’m not particularly fond of Kodama’s tendency to draw her Nadesico-type character with deadish eyes, but that’s a fairly small quibble.

Ratings:

Art – YMMV, but for me it’s 6, tops
Story – Same
Characters – 5 They never really develop beyond quick flashes of “oh”
Yuri – 4 By default, rather than by intention
Service – The title story has some rather pointless nudity

Overall – 6

If you either like Kodama’s work generally, or would like to look back a bit at an earlier series, Cocytus is a nice enough read, if not particularly compelling.





Yuri Manga: Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, Volume 5 (あの娘にキスと白百合を 5)

November 29th, 2016

aksyw5-e1476563876160Canno’s popular series, Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, has made it to 5 volumes on the all-Yuri school formula.  It’s basically a Yuri trope du jour series, in a fantasy school, where adults are a vague concept and while boys are not unheard of, they are unseen. 

In Volume 5, we first run into Itou Sawa who is positive that Nishikawa Itsuki hates her. HATES. Big glare-y eyes from across the room-type hates. But, of course, that is not at all what is going on. Itsuki is struggling with a memory that Sawa doesn’t share…but should.

The middle of the book turns to look hard at the primary couple of the series. Rumors are flying that the day after exams, both Kurozawa Yurine and Shiramine Ayaka were seen together at the seashore. It’s a school scandal, but we learn the truth that Ayaka, rejected again by her family for not being number one in scores, runs off to have a good cry. Yurine helps her ground herself, and gives Ayaka a focus for her energy. Ultimately, they return to  school and face down the rumors.

Finally, we take the time for Sawa and Itsuki to confront their shared history and potential present. I’m not going to say it’s a stupid past, but under no circumstances am I to be held to any promise I made before 30, much less 5 years old. 

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Yuri – 8
Service – 1 on principle

Overall – 7

No, seriously. Any promises made in in kindergarten are no longer valid.





Yuri Manga：Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, Volume 2（推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ）

November 13th, 2016

budoshin2 In Volume 1 of Hirao Auri’s new series, we met the idol group Charm Jam, and the otaku who “idolize” them. In Volume 2 of Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu,（推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ) we are given a sobering glimpse of the rigors of that fandom.

The popularity rankings have arrived and we find that they are driven not by applause or mail-in cards but purely by sales. Each idol sells goods and CDs at a table, post-show, which we kind of all knew, but never really grasped. Idols whose fans buy the most are accorded higher rank. 

(As an aside, I was not sure I could loathe the Japanese idol industry more than I did, but upon learning this, I found room to hate it more than ever.) 

Having emptied her account, Eri is able to catapult Maina into the front row. 

We digress into a story about Reo, the most popular of the group, and the group’s history, and some of the relationships between the girls themselves. It’s not hard to see something more than just fellowship between Sorane and Yumeri.

Eri does not realize it, but she wields a lot of power as a superfan. The other fans look to her for colors, sales leads, and other indications. She only has eyes for Maina, so much so that she cannot see that Maina herself wants desperately to reach pass the important wall that exists between fan and idol. Neither have any idea how to make that connection, since both play by the rules.

The end of the book forces us to see a situation in which the strict rules of contact and communication actually hurt, rather than protect.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8, dammit
Character – 8
Service – 1
Yuri – 4 I’m running out digits to cross, with the need to strangle the author.

Overall – 8

Despite myself, (very, very much despite myself) I find that I actually want to read this series. I’m not always comfortable reading it, but I am learning a lot and finding all sorts of new ways to strangle Hirao-sensei in my head with every page.





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)

November 4th, 2016

51a2nxeuzdl-_sx351_bo1204203200_Nagata Kabi’s 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) was just licensed by Seven Seas as My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, so I bumped it up on the to-read pile, because I wanted to have my own impression of the work before reading it through the filter of a translator.

Nagata’s work was popular on the Japanese art platform Pixiv before it was picked up by East Press, a publisher that has given us a number of LGBTQ comic essays in the past few years. The story is an  autobiographical account of her struggle with depression, anorexia and anxiety far more than it is an account of her life as a lesbian.

The story begins as she is about to have sex with a woman, then immediately rewinds to ten years early as Nagata graduates high school. We watch as depression strips her of everything society holds up as the ideal of a human life. It’s a hard read, especially if you’ve been depressed, and know how heavy the burden is.

Nagata’s art isn’t super sophisticated, but it’s not bad. It isn’t a pretty manga – not that it has to be or that I expected it to be. The pink, white and black color scheme, and her art style combined to make it a more jarring experience, which I believe was the intent. The color scheme and art make it hard to avoid the prickly emotions of the story.

She ends up with a life and a career, but the loneliness is still there, although lessened. One closes the books with a prayer that she has some good people in her life now, who will fill some of those emotional and physical needs.

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 understand that this makes me atypical, but why should today be any different? ^_^) Nonetheless, I can easily imagine a lot of people will feel validated by this book and the knowledge that they are not alone in their travails.

I’ll be very interested to see what you all have to say about the English-language version of this when it is released next year!

Ratings:

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

Overall – 7





Yuri Manga: Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu. Volume 1 (兄の嫁と暮らしています。)

October 31st, 2016

51-ohr1mxyl-_sx348_bo1204203200_Shino is a normal high school senior. Her parents died when she was young, so she moved in with her older brother and his wife. Then her older brother died, leaving her living alone with her young, beautiful and extremely sweet sister-in-law, Nozomi.

Did you ever have that moment, when reading a manga, when you’re about two chapters in and you think, “Why on *earth* am I reading this?” Yes, that was me about two chapters in to Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu. (兄の嫁と暮らしています。). Then, while staring at the cover, it suddenly dawned on me that this trope-tastic story was by Kuzushiro-sensei. I shrugged, decided to trust her and kept reading.

Shino and Nozomi are both perfectly nice characters and I wouldn’t really mind, particularly, if they did get together, but the trope of falling for the sibling-in-law is soooooooo tropey, I kind of cringe at that. I mean, this was a chestnut back in the early 90s, when stories like “Jukkai Me no Jukkai” were what passed for Yuri.

Shino starts to head down the slippery slope of attraction first. Nozomi is an elementary school teacher, she’s cute and cheerful and she and Shino are actually pretty good friends. Nozomi’s enthusiastic and easy to get along with. Shino starts noticing Nozomi more. Her expressions, her reactions…Shino’s edging closer and closer to “like” and is aware of it. She worries about their relationship. Are they…friends? Relatives? When Nozomi introduces her as a sister, Shino is both happy and sad.

Nozomi may appear clueless, but she’s not. She’s not seeing Shino’s interest in her, but is definitely aware that she’s aware of Shino. This distresses her, as she feels she should be the adult in the household, responsible and solid. 

The pot comes to a gentle boil when Shino decides to buckle down and really study for exams. Nozomi happily offers to help. As the books ends, they are both locked in a battle inside their heads over what they feel and what to do about it. I’m not even sure, yet, if this is a “Yuri” manga. I’ll just have to wait and see.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Cuter and less messy than her usual
Story – 7 Cuter and less messy than her usual
Characters – I’m tempted to repeat myself again, but no. They are just kind of…normal
Service – 2 In the form of “look how attractive she is just now”
Yuri – 2 Just barely edging in

Overall – 7

I’m willing to give this story the benefit of the doubt and hope fervently that Kuzushiro-sensei pulls out a new iteration of this tired old trope that blows me away. If anyone can, I think she’s the one.