Archive for the Artists Category


Yuri Manga: Houseki no Youna Mono (宝石のようなもの）

June 9th, 2016

HnYMMMSince we’re doing stories that are kind of cringeworthy except when they are not, this seems like a really good time to review the latest collection by Momono Moto, Houseki no Youna Mono (宝石のようなもの). This is a collection of Momono-sensei’s doujinshi in a self-published, but very highly produced volume.

The collection is mostly one-shots, but it includes two doujinshi based on her own works, Kimi Koi Limit and Rainy Song, both of which have been reviewed here on Okazu. In “Kimi Koi Limit Plus” we see that Satomi and Sono are still together and that things basically look okay for them.

It becomes obvious by the end of this book that Momono-sensei likes her attraction salty-tears flavored and her favorite form of complexity for a character is melancholy. None of these stories were bad in any way, and most of the couples end up together, if that kind of thing works for you.

The art was variable since, as I mentioned these are one-shots drawn over time, but overall, you can’t really fault her for technique. Her art is slick and you can really tell the later work vs the former, as the art is visibly more layered and tighter.

I mentioned that this is a self-published volume, but I want to highlight the high-quality of the production. This is a professionally put together book, not at all out of place on shelves with Ichijinsha or Futabasha books.

This collection fills a need that I would personally like to see more of – professional artists collecting their original doujinshi. Like Amano Shuninta’s Philosophia, this gives us a chance to see the artists, free of editorial interference…and a glimpse into their hearts directly.

Ratings:

Art – 6-8
Story – Averaging at 7
Characters – 6 I can’t ever quite *like* most of her characters
Service – 5 There are some sex scenes and nudity
Yuri – 9

Overall – 7

Honestly, I intended to be a little unkind about this book when I started the review, but talked myself into liking it about halfway. ^_^

If you like Momono-sensei’s work, I recommend taking a look at Watashi no Muchina Watashi no Michi, Volume 1 and Volume 2 (which was reviewed here, although Volume 1 never was.)





Yuri Manga：Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, Volume 1（推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ）

May 16th, 2016

BudokanorbustSo used am I to feeling frustration born of absolute disinterest in hideously boring characters in previous Hirao Auri manga series, that reading Hirao Auri’s new manga, Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, Volume 1（推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ）instilled in me a wholly new feeling – frustration because I actually care about the characters! It’s a completely different feeling, I assure you. ^_^

Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu (which is a really evocative title that one could have a lot of fun translating: Budokan or Bust; Give Me Budokan or Give Me Death; Push on to the Budokan or Die Trying…) follows an obsessive fan of a minor pop idol group, a woman named Eripyo, and the specific idol she likes, Maina.

Cham-Jam (pronounced “Charm Jam”) is a street pop idol group that is just starting to get some traction. Each of the members has her own set of otaku, of course, and we get to see some of the many unwritten rules involved in being a idol’s fan in this manga. It reminded me of Yumi’s line about a “fan’s pride.” These fans are allowed a certain amount of controlled exposure to their objects of admiration and anything else crosses a line for the idols – and the fans.

Eripyo is friends with two other Cham-Jam otaku, Kumasa and Motoi. Each has their favorite, but it’s easy for us to see that Eripyo’s feeling when she yells that she loves Maina are more complex than just admiration. And poor Eripyo….the mangaka hates her. We can see that Maina has sincere regard for her Number 1 fan, but plot complications force them further and further away from one another.  I have to admit to a few imagined comic “strangling the writer” panels in my head, as poor Eripyo, so deserving of real intimacy with Maina, is beaten bloody with failure. Argh.

The loveliest – and I mean this sincerely – moment of the volume, comes as the members of Cham Jam are participating as models for a “girls festival” fashion show. The audience, mostly fashionable young women, are put off by the idea of a street idol group, and Eripyo and Kumasa are uncomfortable and awkward out of their element. Despite the different social mores of the girls festival, there are Kumasa and Eripyo in the front row when it’s the members of Cham Jam’s turn. Reo, Kumasa’s favorite, even goes so far as to make her signature move towards him as she turns back up the runway. Maina and Eripyo lock eyes, and it becomes immediately apparent that their feelings – nascent and confused – are the same. Maina notices that Eripyo has dressed up for her, so as not to come to this fashion show in her usual UPS-style outfit.

Sadly for readers, this moment is followed by an excruciating Rube Golderbergian plot, that includes mice eating through a string that holds a tanabata tree, which crashes through a window so that Eripyo’s messages to be tied on it  fall outside and are missed in the mayhem. (cf, imagined comic “strangling the writer” panels in my head.)

The upshot is that, while I still imagine comic violence against Hirao-sensei, this time it’s because I really like the characters and want to see them together. So…progress, I guess.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Much improved since early days At least Manga no Tsukurikata had some use, then.

Story – Still frustrating, but there is hope for a decent payoff, unlike Manga no Tsukurikata, which was merely an nihilist exercise in manga-reading.

Character – 8 I really like the otaku group. They aren’t all one thing, but we really get to see the side of this relationship we don’t tend to see if we’re not part of it. And the Cham Jam girls are nice, as well. You don’t feel yucky liking them.

Service – Not really, except for it being a pop idol group, but even the costumes aren’t creepy.

Yuri – 4 Hovering at “I think I feel something for you, but can’t put a finger on it,” to “I can’t look you in the eyes, but don’t know why” with potential

Overall – Gods help me, 8.

I want to know what is going to happen. (Hirao-sensei, they better bloody well get together, you. (insert comic “strangling the writer” panels here.)

Hello redditors: I’ve reviewed 5 of the 6 current volumes here and yes, this is pretty much how it goes.





New Cardcaptor Sakura Manga Series in June

April 26th, 2016

ANN has the scoop513FFeTeOrL on CLAMP’s classic magical girl series, Cardcaptor Sakura, which is getting a new manga series to celebrate it’s 20th anniversary!

Debuting in June, in Nakayoshi magazine the series will be a true sequel, picking up with Sakura in middle school. (hrm…2018 will be Sailor Moon‘s 25th anniversary. I wonder if we’ll get a new story for that, now that Crystal has been so successful.)

Here’s hoping for more of the wonderful bent characterization and gorgeous CLAMPian art that made the series delightful the first time around!

 

 





Yuri Manga: Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, Volume 4 (あの娘にキスと白百合を 4)

April 25th, 2016

AkKnSYw4There is both good and bad about the “Yuri school” approach. It’s nice to see multiple couples set in the same world, but it’s also really very tiresome when nearly every character is introduced merely to be paired up.

In Volume 1 of Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, (あの娘にキスと白百合を 4) we met Kurozawa and Shiramine, to opposite personalities who attract. And it was cute. In Volume 2, we watch a sempai-kohai couple with a protagonist who is a bit more fleshed out than the first volume. I thought I had read Volume 3, but appears I never reviewed it (and can’t remember it) so I may not have. Woops. ^_^

Here in Volume 4, we *mostly* spend time with childhood friends, track team manager Moe and her star runner Mizuki. Mizuki has an important meet to win, so Moe puts a curfew on their time together. Instead of helping Mizuki concentrate, it has the opposite effect. When Mizuki fails to qualify for the finals, the two take a good look at their feelings for one another and decide that they want to be together.

Their story is broken up with a sideline about a girl, Kaoru, who idolizes Kurozawa from the first volume. It’s a comedy of errors, but ends up with a shocking turn – the girls making new friends. It was a dorkily cute story and the extra added dimensions to the characters’ society made me smile.

While there’s  a little eye-trolling to be had in any series where it seems that half the girls are in love with the other half, at least this series isn’t in the habit of pairing everyone up. In the case of Kaoru’s arc, Yuri is a red herring.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 7 Cute, sweet, etc
Yuri – 8
Service – 1 on principle only

Overall – 8

It’s Yuri candy and not much more, but it’s cute Yuri candy. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Hana to Hina ha Houkago, Volume 1 (ハナとヒナは放課後)

April 4th, 2016

HanatoHinaHana to Hina ha Houkago, Morinaga Milk’s newest manga series, reads like a Cards for Humanity “Yuri Tropes” edition. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Hana works at a character goods store after school, despite the school’s explicit rules against part-time jobs. (Potential plot complication, duh) At work, she meets tall, beautiful Hinako who loves character goods and turns out to be younger than Hana and a transfer student into her school.

The tropes are strong in this series and the formula is a bit Odd Couple, as Hana turns out to like the character goods’ cuteness, but not really get the whole concept of character goods (or collecting them) and Hina loveloveloves character goods and knows everything about them. She’s also a fashion model, good at sports and smart, while Hana is sort of average at best. But it becomes obvious that Hina likes Hana, even if the penny has not yet dropped for Hana.

And yet, by the end of this first volume I kind of still like them both – despite Hina’s apparent perfection and Hana’s lack of clue.

The best thing about the series is the pacing, which is awkward, uneven and slow. ^_^ The first chapter or two, I felt like were sliding too quickly into an obvious romance that would be pretty much be Himitsu no Recipe all over again. But no. Instead of a headlong rush into a mis-match, Hina turns out to be a really likable character, and you finish this volume pulling for her and hoping Hana doesn’t take too long to get that clue she’s missing. Hana is never unsympathetic, either. You can see she’s  on the brink of cluing in, but she’s an average high school girl and not used to thinking outside very typical boxes.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Cute things and clothes drawn cutely, Milk-sensei’s specialty
Story – 7 with potential for higher
Characters – halfway through I’d have said 6, but by the end, 8
Service – 4 I mentioned the cuteness, right?
Yuri – 4, climbing, slowly, but inexorably

Overall – 7

You want them to come together – but you want it to be realistic and have depth of connection, not just ’cause this is a Yuri manga. Fingers crossed.