Archive for the Artists Category


Yuri Manga: Aoi Hana, Volume 7 (青い花)

August 29th, 2012

There is a girl, she is in love with another girl. The other girl loves her back. They love each other. The end.

It’s that simple, right? The story ends with “Happily Ever After” and we move on to the next story, and never think about the characters after that moment.

This is the essence of “Story A” – the girl and the girl ride off into the sunset and nothing bad ever happens to them.

However.

Humans are not like that, Love is not like that. Friendship is not like that. Life is not like that.

If you have ever fallen in love with someone you know what I’m saying. ^_^; “Love hurts” isn’t a joke, it’s a reality.

In Aoi Hana, Volume 7, love hurts. Even as these girls we’ve come to care about move into their final year of high school, right on the edge of being adults, they are facing some issues they have to deal with. These issues are things that, one way or the other, will bring them that much closer to maturity. Sex is part of this, but it’s just part. Communication is a larger, much more intangible and difficult to grasp, part.

Kyouko needs to find her way with her fiance’, Kou. Their relationship is complicated by their betrothal, their actual feelings for one another and, most impenetrably, Kyouko’s mother.

Mogi’s relationship with Shinobu takes a shocking turn. Will they be split apart by their own lack of confidence or will they find their way?

At the very beginning of the volume, Haru mentions that her sister and teacher have “gotten married” – although it was not a legally binding ceremony, it was meaningful for them…and she lets us know how her parents coped (or didn’t.) Same-sex marriage in manga. I want to hug Shimura-sensei and Morishima-sensei and any other mangaka who surfaces this issue in a manga.

Most important for us, there’s Akira and Fumi. Fumi is in love with Akira, but she is convinced that Akira does not feel the same way about her. Akira can see Fumi is in love with her – and she does not want to stand in the way of Fumi’s happiness, but she has no idea at all what would make *herself* happy.

Fumi thought she got what she wanted, but Akira’s lack of honesty is subtle poison. Fumi’s not as happy as Akira thought she should be after having given herself entirely to her dearest friend. Although physically they’ve been as close as possible, emotionally, they are more distant than ever before.

Many fans have wanted this relationship since the beginning. This volume is very likely to make those fans profoundly unhappy. I have never numbered myself among those who wanted Fumi and Akira as a couple. This relationship is a perfect example of what happens when you get what you want, but not what you need. IMHO, the best of all possible results is that they end the relationship quickly, with no regrets and as few tears as possible, then patch together what remains of their friendship before that too dissolves. This was not the path that leads to a happy ending, they need to return to the fork in the road and choose another.

Against a backdrop of writing, creating and performing the Three Musketeers for the drama competition, this series eschews conventions of manga for realism. Thank heavens.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 10

There is a girl, she loves another girl. That girl is not sure she loves her back. The end?





Hayate x Blade Manga, Volume 16 (はやてｘブレード)

August 13th, 2012

A new school term has begun and things are changing at Tenchi Gakuen as Hayate x Blade, Volume 16 (はやてｘブレード) opens.

Superficially, the uniforms are different, and the rules of the Hoshitori are going to change. New students have arrived and new pair of shinyuu are arrayed for combat. Even the Student Council is different, as members who were seen as unmovable have fallen from the S-rank. Ayana and Jun have moved up into the high school at Tenchi, and Hayate and Momoka and their friends are now no longer first-years. Everyone is on pins and needles waiting for that first Hoshitori bell, signalling the new era.

In the middle of the chaos, we turn towards Momoka. Hayate’s stalwart friend and supporter, whose trials and travails in finding and keeping a partner, some of the very first arcs we were able to enjoy in English, is once again center stage. In a cast as big as this manga now has, it’s refreshing and nostalgic to remember where we started. Hayate relies on Momoka, as does Isuzu, her adoring and adorable partner. But who can Momoka rely on? Ultimately, her desire to be reliable undermines her confidence every time, and once again, she has to face the toughest enemy she has…herself.

She has seen Hayate, someone who is appreciably smaller and stupider than herself, rise through the ranks. Hayate and Ayana are poised on the brink of Special A-rank, with only Yukari and Maki in their way.

Let me digress for a moment here – in any other series, the battle with Maki and Yukari would have been epic. Yukari and Ayana, former shinyuu, with years of hard feelings and miscommunication between them…youch. But, you know…that’s all unimportant now. Ayana purged her demons when she fought Ensuu and Meiko. And Yukari purged hers *before* she and Maki did the same. They have nothing between them now – nothing except the desire to face one another and see who wins. This fight, when it comes, will be several steps beyond epic. Maki vs Ayana, Yukari vs Hayate. Think about it. It’s going to be nuts.

But back on planet Earth with the rest of the mortals, there’s Momoka, staring at Hayate who works too hard, plays too hard, eats too freaking much, sleeps like the dead and starts all over again at the beginning. Every day. Momoka knows she’s outclassed by Hayate, but can’t figure out why. And that pisses her off. She can see Hayate only has the settings 0 and 10. Why can’t she get to her 10? The only way she’s ever going to know is when she stands toe-to-toe with Hayate. And Isuzu, ever by her side, agrees to take on this suicidal task.

Ayana and Hayate vs Isuzu and Momoka. In a straight up, full-out, no tricks, no goofball moves, honest to goodness Hoshitori battle.

What’s lies beyond epic? This.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Yuri – 1
Service – 1

Overall – 10

What a fucking fabulous series this is.





Yuri Manga: Black Yagi to Gekiyaku Madeline (ブラックヤギーと劇薬まどれーぬ)

June 28th, 2012

Osawa Yayoi’s Black Yagi to Gekiyaku Madeline (ブラックヤギーと劇薬まどれーぬ) is very much a mixed bag of goodies and what you like may be completely different than what I like.

The title story is a weird little tale of two net idols, one who specializes in being cute and one who wears a black goat’s head and does an occult show…and what happens when the two meet, combine shows and fall in love. There’s just no way for this to not be an oddball story when it includes a Baphomet.

The epilogue shows us that it takes more than love for some of us to put away the goat head we hide behind.

“Sotsugyou Kinshi” was a new spin in an old car, with a story of taking love beyond the high school years, while “Sakashima Cinderella” explores what has to happen before people’s emotions meet on equal terms.

I very much disliked “Mayonaka Gravity” when it ran in Comic Yuri Hime. It is a tale of a rather unhealthy approach to a relationship and while it has a happy ending, I think there’s some stuff that will have to happen before that relationship becomes a good one. Codependency really isn’t romantic.

I very much liked “Yugure Orange, Sakuhana ha” which was a nice twist on Story A, when a girl convinces herself that she’s interested in the school lesbian, only to end up becoming friends with her and learning that she has someone. It was much more realistic than expected, as was “Mayonaka Gravity,” but left me feeling rather happier.

Your mileage may vary on this collection, but it has more to recommend it than not and the high-dose weirdness of the title story will be good for you. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Stories – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 2
Overall – 8

It’s been a nice crop of Ichijinsha manga this season!





Yuri Manga: GUNJO, Volume 3 (羣青下)

June 20th, 2012

The third and final volume of GUNJO (羣青 下) is no easier to read than the previous two volumes. In fact, there are several moments that still manage to shock and appall, even with all we’ve been through.

“What would you kill for?” The brunette, Megane-san, asks the blonde’s, Sensei’s, sister-in-law, and she in turn asks her husband. It is a question that is buried deep in the heart of this volume.

Things we thought we knew, turn out to be not true, and the depth of the despair of Megane-san’s life only becomes truly apparent when she’s all but shed her last layer of emotional armor. Still, it is in moments where kindness manages to be felt for a mere moment, that brutality is the most harsh, and in the middle of the most intense violence when gentleness can be felt most clearly.

One of the questions asked back when I reviewed the first or second volume was – how much time has passed? I can answer that now – it’s been about a week, going on two.

As I read this story, probably about halfway through what would become the second volume, I conceived a wish – a hope. It was an insane hope, because there was nothing at all in the story that lead me to think it could ever come true. I desired, most of all, to see the two characters – the beaten, abused, unloved woman, and the woman who killed for her – smile. It was a ridiculous wish that could never happen.

The final half of this final book is the literary equivalent of lancing an infected wound to get the infection out. There’s really no other way to describe it. Page after page of confession, admission, digression, discussion finally brings the two characters through the last of their despair to the inevitable end of their story.

GUNJO is over and I have nothing left to say about it. It’s been wonderful, it’s been painful, it’s been sublime.

In the end, there’s only one question left for you to ask – Did they ever smile? You’ll have to read it and find out.

Ratings:

Overall – 10

Once again, I want to thank Nakamura Ching-sensei for creating this extraordinary story. 

Without question, GUNJO is the best manga I have ever read, and it encroaches deeply on the “best book I have ever read” list.





Magic Knight Rayearth Manga, Volume 2 (English)

June 18th, 2012

Unlike the second season of the anime, Volume 2 of the Magic Knight Rayearth manga does not have a Yuri subplot. For which I am eminently thankful. In fact, the lack of Nova and her annoying mother went a considerable distance to cleaning up the exceedingly messy plot. What’s left, then, is a far more straightforward, much less morality-play like story.

Umi, Fuu and Hikaru, having returned to Earth after fighting Zagato, are…unhappy. They want to go back to Cefiro. Fuu particularly, has reason to go, as Ferio is there. And one day, when they meet up at Tokyo Tower, they find themselves transported back, but not to any place they recognize as Cefiro!

It turns out that now that Emeraude is gone, Cefiro is collapsing. Clef and the others are gathered in a castle floating above the planet surface. The Magic Knights return to find what’s left of Cefiro under attack from three nearby planets – Autozam, Fahren and Cezita.

Joined by old allies, the Magic Knights have to find a way to protect Cefiro. This is complicated by the fact that their enemies all turn out to be decent people who are just trying to help their own worlds – and the knowledge that the Pillar system of Cefiro is innately, dangerously flawed.

The story is mostly taken up with relationship building, rather than fighting, and the conclusion, while predictable, was far more satisfactory than the scattered, messy ending of the anime.

A great deal of the story follows our enemies and, instead of giving us reason to hate them, we learn to like them. Eagle and Lantis are presented very much as a couple, but when Hikaru comes en scene, she could reasonably be paired with either of them – or both – in a way that makes sense. Moreover, their dynamic is subtle enough that a child could read this without any concern.  Growing Ascot up into a tall, handsome young man for Umi was a nice touch and even Ferio gets a power up. All in all, a satisfying ending.

Which is odd, when you consider that the end is a modified form of colonialism. Having destroyed the Pillar system, the Magic Knights replace it with a completely alien system. This would all be very uncomfortable if the worthies of Cefiro were not already ready to see the back end of the Pillar system. So, its okay then, phew.

Ratings:

Art – Less wonderful than Card Captor Sakura, but still very CLAMP-ian
Story – Less messy than the anime
Characters – Less annoying than most, until Mokona’s true identity is revealed
Yuri – Less than none
Service – Less than usual

Overall – I’m less enthusiastic about this series than CCS, but more than I expected.

Many, many thanks to Okazu Superhero Amanda M. for sponsoring today’s review!