Archive for the Artists Category


Yuri Manga: Fujiyuu Sekai (不自由セカイ)

December 9th, 2012

No no no no no no no.

That is the bulk of my reaction to Kodama Naoko’s Fujiyuu Sekai (不自由セカイ).

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Reo befriended Meiko back in high school when Meiko was not treated well by her classmates. Popular and attractive, Reo drew Meiko into society. Meiko joined the tennis club in order to be closer to Reo and, as a result, hurt her ankle during practice. One day not long after, Reo offered to walk Meiko home, but she refused because she was getting better. Reo went off and unknown to her, Meiko was attacked and raped.

Now, years later, Meiko is still making Reo pay for it.

Meiko refers to Reo as her slave, emotionally manipulates Reo and forces the other woman to run when she calls, keeping her from completing her coursework or having a life.

Into this tightly wound relationship comes one of Reo’s classmates, Hayase, who Meiko sees as a rival. Reo and Hayase get enough time together for Reo to draw some courage and tell Meiko that she will no longer be at her beck and call. When Reo tries to get in touch with Meiko, she finds that she no longer can.

Up to this point I was okay with the story, then it just went horribly wrong. Instead of Reo moving on, realizing that Hayase was awesome and the two of them getting together, Reo goes running back to Meiko…who tells her she was not answering the phone, because she was trying to be independent. The two of them kiss and live …what? Happily ever after? I doubt it.

Ladies – particularly if you’re younger and have not yet found someone you think might be “the one” – under no circumstances should you follow the lesson of this manga. Do not choose a broken, controlling lover over the empowering one. This is the wrong lesson. You deserve better than that. Don’t be Reo.

Ratings:

Art – 8 (I had high hopes)
Story – Could have been an 8, instead 5
Characters – Hayase – 8, everyone else 5
Yuri – 7
Service – 4

Overall – 5

It really could have been good, but it wasn’t.





Yuri Manga: Renai Joshi File (レンアイ・女子ファイル)

November 20th, 2012

For once, I was in Japan when Yuri Hime Comics were hitting manga store shelves! Woot! To make my small victory even better, the first half of Renai Joshi File (レンアイ・女子ファイル) is quite possibly the best thing Morishima Akiko-sensei has done to date.

In that title story, two women who have been together for 10 years find themselves befriending a high school girl and providing her advice and sympathetic ears as she works through her own first relationship.

The second story follows Saki’s ex from Renai Joshikka (Volume 1 and Volume 2 reviewed here.) Kimi, having lost Saki through neglect, is now second-guessing herself. She hires a private detective who turns out to be very good for her. ^_^

This final section, covers the meeting, subsequent friendship and possibly more between two girls who both want to quit school.

The last two stories fit together well if you approach them as object lessons on not letting life stop you from living. But it’s the first that just made me smile throughout. Young women in love meeting role models with an established relationship? Yes, please!

As usual with Morishima’s work, she peppers her moe art with really sensible advice and perspective about life.  Really great stuff.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Character – 8 overall, but Hiiro and Miyako are 10 and Kimi is a mope.
Yuri – 10
Service – 7

Overall – 9

Great stuff, by a great creator and for once, I got it when it came out. That’s darn near a perfect score for an otaku. ^_^





Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus Manga, Volume 4 (English)

November 1st, 2012

Sakura has faced many trials in the course of Card Captor Sakura and here in Volume 4, she is going to face even more difficult trials, we are told…repeatedly. It’s true that Sakura will face down the original master of the cards, and have to transmute all the cards into “Sakura Cards” but the true trial seem to be deciding who she’s going to be in love with.

Yukito’s out – as we’re told several times, by several people, that Yuki and Toya are an item – for the few innocents who didn’t pick that up. More importantly, everyone else is paired up neatly in officially sanctioned inter-generational relationships and Sakura manages to figure out that she’s in love with one of the two people who have confessed their love to her. ^_^;;

Poor Tomoyo. Remember, y’all wouldn’t have had Tamayo in Strawberry Panic, without Tomoyo’s cheerful smile that hides a broken heart, as she drinks herself into oblivion in an all-white apartment in which her movies of Sakura play endlessly. (That’s how I’ve always imagined it, anyway. But I’m a jaded cynic. ^_^)

Aside from Eriol’s dire warnings of terrible trials, the actual trials Sakura faces are pretty gentle as befits this incredibly pretty, soft, fluffy magical girl manga in which everyone is destined to live happily ever after…

…except Tomoyo.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 2
Story – A little messy, especially around the Clow Reed bits – 7
Service – 5 for all the inter-generational relationships and  for Yuki and Toya and all the squealing

Overall – 9

I really love this series. It has loads of likable characters, pretty art and leaves me feeling good. Win all around.

…except for Tomoyo. ^_^;;

Many,  many thanks to Okazu Superhero Andreass L. for sponsoring today’s review and leaving me feeling good!





Yuri Manga: Koi no Kaori (恋のカオリ)

October 26th, 2012

Koi no Kaori  is a short story collection of Yuri romances by Takemiya Jin from Comic Yuri Hime; all but the first tied together with the common thread of “scent.”

In “Tsuushin Omachishite Orimasu” Mayumi learns that her confidant on a Lesbian BBS and her rival at school are one and the same. Luckily for her, “Kuro-san” turns out to be a kind upperclassman…and a good friend, which becomes even more important when Mayumi realizes that she’s fallen for the girl in “Ki ni Nacchatte Gomen Nasai.”

In “Sweet Temptation,” the scent of vanilla may be sweet, but the smile on Chika’s face says she knows that her words of confession, like her scent, will fill Risa’s mind with extraordinary thoughts. In “Sweet Desire” – she turns out to be right about that. ^_^

“Love Aroma” is an experiment in aromatherapy and feelings for a teacher new to the school.

In “love * preparation,” Riko manages, eventually, to communicate to her next door neighbor, that she really means it when she say she likes her.

And finally, “Love Aroma 2” continues the double lesson of aromatherapy and love. I’m a big fan of ylang ylang myself. ^_^

This book exactly hits Takemiya-sensei’s sweet spot – stories just long enough to get to like and care about the characters, but not long enough to overblow the drama. I love when she draws “zOMG, what did I just do!?!” expressions. ^_^ And I still love that Takemiya-sensei is one of the few Yuri manga artists out there with characters who are actually lesbians.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 10
Service – 2

Overall – 8

For a perfect manga sampler of Yuri sweets, you couldn’t do better than Koi no Kaori.





Yuri Manga: Salomelic (さろめりっく)

October 23rd, 2012

Like most transfer students, Salome is trailed by rumor, innuendo and scandal. In conjunction with her dark, gothic image and her lonely expression, this makes her a target. In  Salomelic, from Hirari Comics, Salome is indeed a melancholic character.

The rumors say that Salome is a witch, that she uses magic to cheat on her grades and that *something* – what exactly, no one is sure – caused her to move from her former school. As with most lives, the reality is a bit tamer…Salome moves around a lot because her mother is a fortune-teller who leaves town after her love affairs fall apart. Oh, but Salome is a witch.

Salome is befriended by the allegorically named Hikari, who brings light into her dark life. As they grow closer, Hikari is rejected by her old friends, but it all gets patched up after a bit. Salome is happy using her magic making chocolates for Hikari and her friends, but nothing stays the same for long. Salome’s feelings for Hikari are not just “friendship” and she appears to be losing her magic…and to add insult to injury, her mother wants to move again!

Even typing all this out, it is a tad exhausting. Hakamada Mera has squeezed in all of her pet plot complications, making Salomelic into a bit of a rushed mess. But of course, in the end, everyone lives happily ever after – and kind of nicely, even after happily ever after. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Character – 7
Yuri – 6
Service – 1

Overall – 7

I’m never honestly sure if I’m being extra hard on Hakamada-sensei or if I really think she has something special in her that we just haven’t seen. I’m going to presume its the latter and hold out for a story by her written with some real conviction and passion. ^_^