Archive for the Artists Category


Yuri Manga: Aoi Hana, Volume 8 (青い花)

October 29th, 2013

And here we are, at the final volume of Aoi Hana (青い花). Wow, have we come a long way.

High school graduation approaches, but before it arrives, the girls of Fujigaya head to London for a class trip. Unbeknownst to Fumi, Akira and Kyouko catch up with Sugimoto-sempai who now lives there with Kawasaki-sempai.

Then graduation comes, and Fumi and Akira are forced to have the conversation that has been building between them for some time. Is there, in fact, a “them” to discuss?

In the meantime, Yamashina-sensei finds that a confidence shared off the record has become general knowledge. The students learn that her lover is female after all.  And in the end, nothing changes. But, it seems likely that she’ll feel less inclined to be honest with the next student who asks. And you just know the rumors will continue.

Graduation passes, and so does time. Everyone is drawn together once again, this time by a happy occasion – Kyoko’s and Kou’s wedding. Time moves on, as Ya-san notes, for all of us.

Yamashina and her lover, Haruka’s sister,  consider holding a wedding ceremony themselves, a scene that made me inexpressibly happy. ^_^

Without spoilers, I will assure you that you the ending does not bring closure. It has the one thing I had hoped for – ambiguity.

Ratings:

Story – 10
Characters – 10
Art – 10
Lesbian Life – 10
Service – 3

Overall – 10

The story began on a day that led to many other days, full of joy, sadness, loneliness, friendship and love. Aoi Hana ends on a day that will lead to more of the same.

Happily Ever After is, as we well know, a process, not a destination. And for Fumi and Akira life is, as well.

This is the third manga series I like that has come to an end in 2013 and for the third time, I find myself left feeling happy, rather than sad. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Himitsu no Recipe, Volume 2 (ひみつのレシピ)

October 15th, 2013

In Volume 1 of Morinaga Milk’s Himitsu no Recipe (ひみつのレシピ), we met Wakatsuki and the President of the Cooking Club, on whom she has a raging crush. The feelings appear to be almost entirely one-sided, however and, as we head into Volume 2, Wakatsuki’s delusion about the two of them is clearly headed for a fall.

The problem is two-fold. One, the previous president of the club has taken to returning from time to time and it is quite obvious that the current president has deep admiration for her sempai. Wakatsuki sees the older woman as a rival.

More importantly, Wakatsuki is not a member of the cooking club because she enjoys cooking or wants to learn to do it. In fact, she’s a hot mess in the kitchen  and manages to sabotage nearly every meal with stereotypical “bad cook” tropes such as replacing sugar with salt. Sigh.

There are other only moderately funny scenes on top of this, culminating in the cooking club reluctantly eating crickets for a meal.

But Valentine’s Day saves the story, as Buchou offers to help Wakatsuki make chocolate and they exchange feelings and sweets. As the book closes, Wakatsuki tells the club in the most transparent way that her lover’s identity is a secret. I imagine no one was fooled.

As I said in my review of the first volume, this is not Morinaga-sensei’s strongest work. It’s not terrible, but there’s no self-awareness, no honesty, no real connection between the two. And as I worked on my lecture for Kanagawa U., I realized that that’s what I’m looking for in my Yuri – honesty.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 4
Characters – 5
Yuri – 6
Service – 5

Overall – 5

It won’t kill you to read this, but I’m glad Seven Seas went with Gakuen Polizi for their next Morinaga title instead.





Hayate x Blade Manga, Volume 18 (はやてｘブレード)

October 1st, 2013

In an industry filled with series prematurely ending, or fading out after hanging around just slightly too long, or long-lived series sputtering to an end a decade after the readers have moved on, it’s not often we’re around to see a well-told story come to a well-told end. It’s even rarer to face the end of a beloved series without tears and accompanying whimpers of self-pitying whining. ^_^ Here we are at Hayate x Blade, Volume 18. The End.

The Black Group has declared their purpose – they will bring Tenchi Gakuen to its knees by snatching all of the students. Unfortunately for them, those same students have developed tough muscles and thick brains in their time at Tenchi and have no intention of going down without a fight.

And while the Black Group fighters meet their matches all around the school, Hayate faces Maki, while Ayana faces her inner demons and fights Yukari. It’s not as emotionally crushing as it might have been, since Yukari has set the past aside and encourages Ayana to let go of hers. Eventually they are able to battle each other with everything they have.

Hayate and Ayana…lose their matches.

Hitsugi brings the Black Group encroachment to an end, by unmasking the leader of the enemy – Hajime is actually her cousin. And Hitsugi comes to a conclusion.

Her time as Chair of Tenchi has been fun, she tells the gathered students, but she wants to return to a more normal life. To that end, she is stepping down as Chair of the school and President of the Student Council. Furthermore, she’s splitting the student body into 2 dorms  – one headed by Hajime, the other by Kurea (whose punishment will never end, seemingly.) Sword-bearing students will still be able to fight, but the rules (and I’m guessing, the uniforms) will change. In two months, students will need to decide which dorm they will align themselves with. I’ve been guessing which pairs will go where since I read this the first time. ^_^

All the while this is going on, Hayate is visiting Tanpopo Garden, to present Chiharu with the school’s deed and to announce that she and Ayana have been awarded A rank.

The series comes to an end officially as Shizuku rings the gong, announcing the next round of Hoshitori.

The epilogue consists of Hayate (and Ayana) handing out Shigeru Family cat mascots to willing and unwilling (and confused, poor Kei,) recipients, as the students consider which dorm they will join.The volume ends with Hitsugi and Shizuku considering their mascots, while everyone else heads out to practice, as they all wait to use their swords in the Hoshitori once again.

I would write something really touching and emotional right about now, however I have already read the prologue of the new series and it begins with a visual gag that is spit-take inducing – it is this gag that is used as the promo for the prologue and now I’m laughing again.

So long Hayate x Blade! It’s been fun.

Welcome Hayate x Blade 2!  We look forward to meeting you.

Rating:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Characters – 9
Yuri – 0
Service – 0

Overall –  10

Thank you, Hayashiya-sensei, for being one of the best storytellers in manga. ^_^





Rira to Shion by Yamaji Ebine

September 23rd, 2013

I have this really weird, tenuous relationship with FEEL YOUNG (フィールヤング) magazine . I’m not subscribing to it, but apart from an off issue or three, I’ve been reading it regularly for years, probably around a decade. First, it brought back Hana no Asuka-gumi, then it kept running Yamaji Ebine’s work. On and off, it had Yuri/lesbian stories, on and off it had something else I wanted to be reading. Now that Ohana Holoholo is winding down, I wondered if it was going to find a way to keep me coming back. Well…yup. The September issue had another one-shot by Yamaji Ebine that I like a gazillion times more than most of her recent stuff.

In a on-going series of “Lyrical” manga, Yamaji Ebine’s contribution is kind of sadly sweet. “Rira to Shion: Story of the contrastive girls” [sic] tells the story of Shion, a young woman who wants to be a photographer and Rira, a girl she meets by accident when Rira comes into Shion’s aunt’s doll shop.

Shion, it turns out, has not quite embraced adult life. She was betrayed by an adult when she was young – a man who used her photographs without her permission or credit. She’s been hovering on the edge of life, not graduating, not moving on, working with her aunt.

Rira also has not moved into adult life. After being traumatized by the sight of her older brother and girlfriend having sex, Rira is clinging to childhood. She only feels like her “true self” when she dresses like a doll among her dolls.

Shion and Rira recognize something similar in each other. And, as Shion puts it plainly, Rira becomes her Muse, bringing her photography to a whole new level. Motivated by Rira, Shion applies for graduation – but only if Rira is credited properly for her role.

The two women step forward into a new, adult life ready to support each other’s true selves.

Overall, this was a really feel-good story. There’s nothing Yuri or lesbian about it, but watching the two help each other to grow and embrace their own lives,  was just really nice.

I’ll hope that this is a swing back for Yamaji-sensei away from exploring they way people hide from the world and towards how they grow in it.

And I guess I’ll still be picking up Feel Young a little while longer. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru, Volume 3 (姫のためなら死ねる)

September 22nd, 2013

51K9VwUbD2L._SL500_AA300_Before I begin today’s review, I would like to take a moment to thank every one of you who purchased and read ALC translations on JManga. It was such a pleasure to be able to bring you all fun Yuri manga in a digital environment. Of all the books we worked on, the hands-down most difficult was Kuzushiro’s Kimi no Tamenara Shineru (姫のためなら死ねる). Erin S. did amazing work translating it, and both of us ended up doing quite a bit of research for it. It was a challenge and a pleasure. Thanks to Erin  and thank you all for your support. I’m sorry we’re not going to have the opportunity to bring you Volume 3, but I’m pleased to be able to review it, at least. ^_^

As established in Volume 1 (reviewed here in 2011) and Volume 2 of this series, famous Heian period diarist Sei Shonagon is a slacker, blogger and…crazy.  If we take a moment to think about life in the Heian Imperial Court without any idealism , we can guess that it would have pretty much been life at any dorm anywhere – politics, backstabbing, crushes, affairs and pranks. This is exactly what we see in this manga.

Speaking of pranks, we are introduced to Ichijou Tennou,  the Emperor to whom Teishi and Shoushi are Consort. In reality, Ichijou’s reign is emblematic of the Heian period at its finest, with an Emperor who loved and encouraged art and literature. In this comic, he is 12 years old and as tsundere as possible.

The rest of the volume plays out as usual. Shonagon swings back and forth between ecstasy and misery as she is the focus of Teishi’s attention. When Teishi’s mother suggests her daughter use her wiles to control the distance between her and her lady in waiting, we almost get to see Shonagon proclaim the title oath all the way through, until she is interrupted.

Yuri is, as it always is in a gag series, is a mixed bag of misunderstanding, silly set-ups and other things that make people pant and get red in the face, like illness and sports. Which brings me to Kemari, which is the hackeysack-like, non-competitive sport played as early in Japan as 644 CE.  One of the funniest set of gags in the manga is Shonagon, who has no idea how to play, teaching Teishi, who also has no idea what she’s doing.

As a goofball look at Heian court life, Kimi no Tamenara Shineru remains a highly amusing manga that is totally worth the effort it takes to read.  ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 4 (And a weird 4, too. Having a cold is really not that sexy.)

Overall – 8

I admit, I hope that life in the Heian Kyo looked more like this, than Tale of Genji.