Archive for the Artists Category


Yuri Manga: Yagate Kimi ni Naru (やがて君になる )

January 6th, 2016

YKNN-275x390Nakatani Nio’s Yagate Kimi ni Naru (やがて君になる ) is a sweet little Yuri romance that I both enjoyed a lot and also have several real problems with.

Yuu begins high school with a major burden. A guy she went to middle school with has confessed his feelings and has been waiting patiently for her answer. Yuu really has just no idea at all whether she “likes” this guy. He’s nice, but her feelings for him are…nothing. She doesn’t find herself getting the kind of heart-pounding that the girls around her talk about.

Touko is a popular honor student and member of the Student Council who is well-known for rejecting all suitors. Thinking that she’s found someone like her, Yuu offers to help Touko in her duties for the Council.

But not too long after, Touko leans over and kisses Yuu, admitting that she’s fallen in like. Yuu feels conflicted – she likes Touko, and admires her, but she feels betrayed, as well. But after this, Yuu finds it in herself to give the guy who confessed an answer – she says a gentle sorry, and his response is a gentle thanks.

Yuu’s like and admiration win out over her confusion and she is by Touko’s side as the older girl runs for Student Council President in the coming year.

Touko and Yuu have a talk, in which Yuu explains her position and Touko hers, and they agree to continue as they are and see what happens. Which brings us to the end of the first volume.

Before I offer criticism, let me begin with praise. All the characters feel real. The school has boys in it and they are not disappeared and only one has been drawn faceless, a shortcut I find rather grotesque. This is a world with males and females and they aren’t all the same. There are admirable and decent guys, as well as admirable and decent girls. This, above all things, is a refreshing change in what has increasingly become a cloistered Yuri world.

The art is clean and typical for a shoujo manga – which this not. It is from Dengeki Comics and I think that’s notable. Yuri is not uncommon from Dengeki, but more often than not is of the highly service-y kind. So it is super encouraging to see them putting out a nice, rather than vaguely icky, Yuri series.

All this having been said, I need to bring up two important issues I have with this manga. The first is that it is presented as a romance. The story is apparently that we’ll side with Touko as her sincere feelings for Yuu are eventually returned. This is a problem. I’ve very active on Quora, a Q&A site on which one of the most common questions asked goes something like this: “How come this girl said no to me, when my like is so sincere?” I’m not making this up. The presumption many young men have is that their sincere feelings are a kind of contract, which must be returned by the object of their affection. If not, she is of course a bitch (or worse).

The thing that is obvious to many not-young women is that no guy is owed anything just because he has an idea in his head of what he’d like.  This is a very serious problem globally, apparently. These guys feel that their sincerity means they deserve the girl. And, to some extent, that is how this scenario is presented. Touko’s feeling are honest and sincere, so of course Yuu will come around to falling for her. But why? If Yuu doesn’t feel it, why do we assume she must eventually do so? This bugs me a lot. In real life, on Quora and in media.

Which leads me to the, I think, obvious conclusion abut Yuu. What if she’s asexual? If so, she’s never going to have those feelings for Touko or anyone. She might come to love Touko and continue to admire and like her, but never have sexual interest in her. So, then I can’t help but see Touko’s coming on (to be crude) to Yuu as another burden, rather than a blessing.

Both these things nag at me while I read this manga. And I worry that Yuu’s agency will be stripped from her as the narrative continues.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 6
Service – 1

Overall – 8, with the above reservations

The upshot is, that while this manga has some good qualities and it definitely is making a splash in Yuri circles, I think the story also has some problems, which I hope Volume 2 address satisfactorily, rather than just throwing Yuu into the Yuri factory.





Hayate x Blade 2 (Nyan), Volume 3 Manga (はやて×ブレード2 3)

December 16th, 2015

HxB23-275x394Since 2004, I have been raving about this series and since about 2007 or so, I have taken to commenting that, statistically speaking, we are overdue for a less awesome volume. So far, statistics have been on our side, as Hayate x Blade 2 (Nyan), Volume 3 (はやて×ブレード2 3) is just as ridiculous and magnificent as every other volume of this series to date.

Histugi’s Summer Festival is in full swing, and her unique ideas for an obstacle course are…unique. Regular students take up the sword to defeat Heaven fighters, all interestingly restrained, while their Earth partners make their way through the sports clubs as obstacles to find the buzzers that release the restraints.

In the middle of the chaos Hayate and Nagi face off. But this, we can see, is not the final chapter in this tale. Nagi is the stronger…but she shouldn’t be.  What is really eating at Nagi and why Hayate can no longer stand toe to toe with her twin remains to be explored. And we have to wonder if it’s tied into the reason that their adoptive mother Nagare takes off after their adoptive father, Taiyou, with a knife when she sees him. ^_^

School is back in session and we all know what that means! The Hoshitori is about to commence. New rules, new matchups and more sword-fighting madness is on the horizon. I can’t wait!

The extra chapter was so funny that my wife commented that even not being able to read the Japanese, she laughed at it. You remember back at the winter semester break, Otoha found herself joining a Native American tribe on a buffalo hunt, and meeting a doppelganger for Hitsugi? No? How on earth could you forget that? I mean, it was a buffalo hunt. Anyway, the doppelganger’s name was Sanba, she told Kiji to call her “Sunny.” In the extra chapter here in Volume 3, Sunny and Hitsugi meet and, as you might expect, something amazing happens. In this case, they take off like a rocket ship and fly away together, returning three days later after having raided Tokyo Disneyland, Otome Road and Skytree.

Ratings:

Art – 10 There are more then 40 main characters and I can tell them apart.
Story – 10 Sublime, especially when Hitsugi and Shizuku are going to be shot out of barrels.
Characters – 10 Did I mention that Hitsugi and Shizuku are going to be shot out of barrels?
Yuri – 1 for Jun on principle
Service – 1 for Jun on principle

Overall – 10

Always, always, always Hayate x Blade is a ridiculously silly, ridiculously violent, and ridiculously satisfying read.

 





Yuri Manga: Cider to Nakimushi (サイダーと泣き虫)

November 17th, 2015

CtNm-275x401Canno burst onto the Yuri scene in 2014 with her delightful school series Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo. It gained enough popularity that, when Yuri Hime Comics started buying up the back lists of Yuri creators, putting together their previously un-published or doujinshi works, it seemed a natural fit. The resulting collection is Canno’s Cider to Nakimushi (サイダーと泣き虫).

The two main series in the book are completely unalike, which is both good and disconcerting. The first mini-series follows Mifuyu and Natsuko, childhood friends whose relationship has become complicated over time. The series draws in several of their acquaintances, as well, as they all try to parse various relationships (and non-relationships) between them. Mifuyu is the crybaby of the title, her tear-stained face is a common site through the series.

We then turn to a much sillier 4-panel comic strip series about an occult club at school. It is, as most strips are, “heh” funny, not laugh out loud funny.

The collection wraps up with a couple of one-shots and a return to the first series for a gag comic.

If you like Canno’s work, you’ll like this book. If you are not a fan, you’ll find it less compelling, but it’s still a solid, if not necessarily inspiring, Yuri collection.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 4
Service – 1 on principle

Overall – 7

Not a must-have, but it’s a pleasant bedtime read.





Yuri Manga: Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru, Volume 5 (姫のためなら死ねる)

October 21st, 2015

KnTnS5In Volume 5 of Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru (姫のためなら死ねる) Sei Shonagon of The Pillow Book fame has hit a slump. Not just a slump, but a debilitating, crushing and potentially career-damaging slump. And near-constant harassment from the onmyouji “Abe no Hito” isn’t helping.

Not only is Shonagon suffering because of this slump, but Teishi-sama is starting to think that Shonagon doesn’t care for her any more, as her requests to read new entries in the diary are met with vague promises, and excuses. Shonagon, it turns out, is fearful of showing her mistress the uncensored delight she has in the Princess. Too embarrassed and too scared to let anyone know what she’s feeling, she is unable to write anything at all.

Koshikibu and Benkan are alternately worried about and annoyed by Shonagon, but it’s Murasaki who shakes her out of her slump and encourages her to pen openly adoring verses about Teishi-sama. Teishi-sama is likewise embarrassed at the near-worship of Shonagon’s Diary, but they reconcile at last.

As the book comes to a close, Murasaki Shikibu is confronted the disorder known as “reading fanfic about your characters.” And, as it usually is in the real world, it’s not a good thing.

The gags are, if anything, becoming denser. There’s a lot of research that goes into this book and it shows. It’s also getting harder to follow for this reader, as my knowledge of the Heian-kyo is superficial to say the least. ^_^; But what is funny is funny and even when there are hints of somber things to come, it’s all jokes all the way down.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 2
Service – 4

Overall – 7

Luckily for me, in between the otaku humor, there’s more “Shonagon is gaga over Teishi-sama again.”





Yuri Drama CD: Iono The Fanatics, Ah, Michisuji ni Hikari ari 「ああ道筋に光あり」

October 1st, 2015

IsDCD2Just as Volume 1 of Iono The Fanatics Special Edition was packaged with a Drama CD, so was Volume 2, this time titled Iono The Fanatics, Ah, Michisuji ni Hikari ari 「ああ道筋に光あり」

The cast is the same as in the first CD, with three additional voices:

クラウソラス ：内山夕実 さん
Klausoraus : Uchiyama Yumi (Davi in Dokidoki! Precure)

ヤマ・ノヴェラ・ヴァランティアノズ : 高森奈津美
Yama Noveira Varantianos : Takamori Natsumi (Subaru from Houkago no Pleiades)

ここの・ミト・アルシュライン : 小倉唯
Kokono Mito Arceline : Ogura Yui (Sumika from Yuri Kuma Arashi)

The first 8 tracks are all very short, each establishing a fact, more than telling a story. Iono-sama returns home at last and Eto is suddenly face to face with the fact that her lover is truly a Queen…and she is overwhelmed.

We see Klausoraus as part of Iono-sama’s Special Police, under Argent’s command.

Argent and Yama are established as a couple, and I’m gonna say that I was surprised at how cute they were together. ^_^

Iono-sama, now home and settled in, asks Eto to have a child with her. Eto doesn’t take much time to say yes. This is followed by an introduction to Kokono-hime-sama, the star of the new manga chapters in Comic Yuri Hime. Another quick jump forward in time to the set up of the new manga chapters, as Kokono-hime asks to go to school in Japan and some of the staff volunteers to join her as protection.

Ratings:

Characters – 8
Story – 5
Yuri – 5
Service – 0

Overall – 5

While it was all very cute and breathless, it seemed like a long commercial for the new series, rather than a story on it’s own. You couldn’t hand this to anyone who was not already a Iono-sama fan and expect them to make heads or tails of it, the way you could with any of the Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan Drama CDs.