Archive for the Shimura Takako Category


Hourou Musuko/ Wandering Son Anime (English)

June 22nd, 2011

Many of you have, over the last few years, written in to tell me about Shimura Takako’s series Hourou Musuko, Wandering Son, to ask me when I would review it, to remind me to add it to the News Reports.

As many of you have noticed, I have not reviewed it as of yet. The reason for this is relatively simple – while Hourou Musuko is undoubtedly a masterpiece, it’s not really Yuri.

But, it *is* a masterpiece and a masterpiece dealing with gender transitioning, which is something that manga and anime typically play for laughs at best, rather than handling it with any seriousness or sensitivity. So, I guess it’s time to review this series, already. ^_^

My problem now is – I don’t know what to really say about it, other than it is one of the very finest, most beautiful anime series I have ever watched.

Hourou Musuko is not the first time Shimura has dealt with gender in a story. Her Boku ha Onna no Ko was the first time I ever encountered her work. I was not overwhelmed by any of the stories in that collection – certainly nothing in it impressed me the way Aoi Hana did. But Hourou Musuko is something amazing, even compared to that.

Somewhere after Boku ha Onna no Ko ( the cover of which has a cameo as a poster in the Hourou Musuko anime,) Shimura reached deep into herself and found a real story – a touching story – a painful and beautiful story – about two young people grappling with the fact that they are born into the wrong bodies. Hourou Musuko is emotionally gripping in a way that very, very few anime ever can hope to be. Shu-chan, the mtf heroine and Yoshino, the ftm hero, are people I would gladly spend more time with.

Art, music, voice acting was all sublime. I can say nothing but “wow” about it.

In this short anime, there were two scenes that really stood out to me – the scene where Yoshino gives Shu-chan her name and said that she’d take his, which was so touching I honestly couldn’t speak for an hour afterwards. And the scene during the school festival, when the kids all go into another class’s horror house, just to be able to gain catharsis by screaming.

As for Yuri. Well, the anime begins with the 33rd chapter of the story, as Shu-chan begins middle school, so I believe we skipped one potential Yuri relationship. I will, when the manga touches upon it, mention it. In the anime, however, I’d like to talk about Yoshino and Saori. They don’t really have a relationship, but by the end of the anime, there is some very tentative movement in that direction, IMHO. Of course, as Yoshino is a boy, temporarily in a girl’s body, this would not be a lesbian relationship, even if it were to exist. As Saori had some feelings for Shin-chan, who also feels he has been given the wrong body, it seems to me that any relationship that developed between Saori and Yoshino could legitimately be labeled Queer. Shu-chan has a relationship with a girl that, as Niki points out in the comments, isn’t being perceived as lesbian yet, but is clearly another Queer relationship.

Because this series is a masterpiece, it did terribly in the TV ratings for that slot. This cannot really be a surprise, precisely because everything really is on a standard curve of deviation. That means that the good will be appreciated by less people than the average – and the stunningly excellent will only ever be appreciated by a few. Nonetheless, this anime was stunningly excellent and, as I contemplate reading the manga, for the first time, I find myself frightened by it a bit. It might just be too good. I have always managed my expectations of manga and anime, and don’t want to see my ability to find balance compromised. On the other hand, I don’t want to be disappointed, either. So, I find myself in the position of convincing myself to not expect too much, but also not to let Shimura’s fully blossomed genius ruin anything else for me.

By the time I finish the manga, I fear that all that will be left for me to read and enjoy will be Aoi Hana and GUNJO.

Anyway…if you haven’t watch the anime yet, do. It’s a masterpiece.

And then buy the manga, which is being put out by Fantagraphics. Don’t forget to buy an extra copy for your library – they *need* this book.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 9

This, more than any series I have ever reviewed here is a LGBTQ masterwork. In the future that I want to  inhabit, it will be considered a classic.





Canaan Radio CD and Aoi Hana Sweet Blue Radio CD

May 29th, 2010

I’m still making my way through the last of the items I bought while in Tokyo. Not surprisingly, the Light Novels take the longest. And since I’m now working from home, I no longer have a commute during which to listen to my Drama CDs. (I know, I know, poor me….) Today I happened to be driving down the office, so I had a chance to listen to the Aoi Hana: Sweet Blue Radio CD. It has very little Yuri. I had listened to the first Canaan DJCD a while back, but as it also has only the vaguest hint of Yuri, I decided to not review it.

Well, while it’s true that both of them have very little Yuri, they both have something much more important in common – the content is primarily the voice actors and actresses screwing around and cracking themselves up. I figure that’s worth mentioning.

To start with, the Canaan Drama Cd was backwards. That is, although Maria and YunYun are on the cover, the content actually features Tanaka Rie (Liang Qi) and Ohkawa Toru (Cummings.) The two of them really don’t need us during this CD, because they are perfectly capable of amusing themselves without us. There were times during the conversations where they had themselves laughing so hard I couldn’t for the life of me understand a word.

They also both slip in and out of their roles freely so, when Ohkawa-san makes a bad joke, Qiang Li suddenly threatens him with punishment. I recall (it was a few months ago that I listened to it) that there were at least a few scenarios in which Tanaka-san, as Qiang Li, moaned with desire over Alphard. That was pretty much what Yuri there was.

Likewise, in Sweet Blue Radio, Gibu Yuuko (nicknamed “Gibuling”) and Takabe Ai (“Rabuling”) really didn’t need us so much. :-) The bulk of the radio CD was the two of them doing their best impressions of other kinds of voice jobs – AM and FM radio announcers, the person in a department store that calls for lost people, the women on all those ubiquitous food shows who ooh and ah over mundane items like the sandwich she gushes over. Of these scenarios, the one in which Takabe-san does her impression of an AM radio DJ actually made Gibu-san snort out loud. That was worth hearing.

Also amusing was the next to last track in which Okudaira Akira was a special guest and when she “leaves” the studio and “forgets’ her handkerchief, Gibu-san “runs after her” and “misses” guest Manjoume Fumi when she comes to visit the studio. It was idiotic, but they were having fun with it.

In this CD, there is a ‘memory’ of Fumi telling Akira that she likes her and Akira responding that she didn’t mind, no…she was happy about it. That’s about it. But it was a sweet moment.

Both CDs are more silly than special. If you love the series and/or the voice actors and actresses, its worth it for the giggling, the puns, the utter goofiness when people who get along screw around in front of the mic.

Ratings:

Canaan DJCD – 7

Sweet Blue Radio CD – 8





Yuri Manga: Aoi Hana, Volume 5

April 22nd, 2010

You know the 5 Stages of Death? Well, Coming Out also has certain stages. 1) First, you have to admit to yourself you are /fillintheblank/. 2) Then you admit it to someone close to you. Just one person, because your sure it’s going to turn them against you. 3) Then you admit it to someone else – sometimes a perfect stranger, because that’s safer than family or friends. 4) The biggest hurdle is vocalizing it to your family. If that stage is not horrible (and for many people it is,) you start becoming more comfortable with the whole thing, until the final stage 5) Acceptance. For that to happen you have to accept yourself. It’s a bonus if the people around you accept you too, but it’s most important that you accept yourself.

In Aoi Hana Volume 5, Fumi has made it past the third stage. And really, she’s not sure how she got there. But it’s okay, because she’s well on her way to accepting herself. And she’s also already incredibly strong, although she doesn’t yet realize it.

It’s once again time for the Drama Club to put on their play and emotions are running very high. Despite themselves, last year’s first-years are turning into rather mature second-years that are admired by the new students. Kyouko stuns people with her performance in Mishima Yukio’s Rokumeikan. (The link is to the collection of plays in which Rokumeikan is included.) Even Akira, who comes down with sudden nerves, finds herself caught up in the moment and shines on stage.

Haruka learns that Fumi, too, is a lover of women, and we follow a flashback when she learned of her sister and Hinako’s relationship. When Fumi meets Haruka’s sister, she is keenly aware – and a little jealous – of their comfort level with each other.

Even Mogi’s clandestine relationship with Akira’s brother is noted.

Everyone is growing up.

I only wish I had “met” Fumi when I was young. I could have used a media representation like her.

With vacation planned and old flames coming back into the story, Volume 6 promises to be full of fireworks – can’t wait!

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 5
Service – 1

Overall – 9

Does *anyone* like Chizu? The more we see of her, the less I like her.





Aoi Hana Official Book

January 26th, 2010

If you’ve fallen for Fumi and her friends; if you’re a collector; if you’re a completist – you want the Aoi Hana Official Tokubon. If you love the series for the art, are interested in the points of view of the writers, the artists, or the voice actresses – you should get this book.

Photos of Kamakura lined up against their animated counterparts and staff picks for their favorite moments of animation give you a warm fuzzy feeling. The interview with Ikuhara Kunihiko about the opening sequence provided was more information than I expected. He’s either gotten way better at expressing himself in words or they guessed. lol

For me, the very best thing were the discussions between mangaka Shimura Takako and Ono Natsume (Ristorante Paradiso) and Umino Chika (Honey and Clover) and Matsunae Akemi (Junjou Crazy Fruits).

And for dessert, there’s a short manga about Pon-chan, which was very cute.

However, if you are looking for any discussion of the Yuri, aside from a few platitudes, you won’t be finding any of that here. In fact, the only one of the cast even asked about the onna-doushi storyline is Horie Yui, the voice of Kyoko. Presumably because she’s the most established and has the least to lose if she says something scandalous.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Content – 9
Yuri – 2

Overall – 9





Yuri Manga: Aoi Hana, Volume 4

January 7th, 2010

Aoi Hana (青い花) is, IMHO, a story about strength. Fumi may be gentle and quiet and a crybaby, but she is doing her best to be herself. It takes a lot of strength to do that at any age, but especially, especially in high school.

In Volume 4, the second year has begun for Fumi and Ah-chan and already the question of the school play is in the topic of conversation at both schools. When the play title was unveiled I have to admit, I did a double-take because, sure, Mishima Yukio is a classic Japanese writer, but I didn’t really think anything he wrote would be suitable for a high school play. Rokumeikan is a story of a clash of cultures, genders and expectations, so it’s actually a pretty great choice.

The Fujigaya Drama Club gains a new member, a loud, slightly scatterbrained first-year, Haruka, whose older sister is the friend of a teacher who is rumored to have a female lover. Ah-chan dies a few deaths as the gossip-mongers in her class go on about how it all grosses them out. Ah-chan’s seatmate, a tall girl who reminds her a lot of Fumi, saves her from having to swallow more bile. Ryouko and Ah-chan become friendly – Ryouko is even drawn into the Drama Club when her recitation of Rokumeikan for the Library Club is overheard.

Fumi too, is drawn back to into the Drama Club’s play, but her voice is too soft and her shyness too great, so she backs out – but not before she meets Ryouko, or Haruka.

Haruka lets slip to Fumi that she thinks her sister likes women. Fumi ponders the meaning of this and later that night confesses to Ah-chan that she had a physical relationship with Chizu – and that she wishes she had that same relationship with Ah-chan.

You see what I mean? Where Sasamekikoto is a series about Sumika’s inability to say anything, her weakness in the face of her feelings, Aoi Hana has Fumi facing up to her feelings and admitting them out loud. At any age, that takes a lot of strength.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 9
Story – 8
Yuri – 5
Service – 1

Overall – 8

This series is definitely on my license wish list for 2010. I’m looking at you, Vertical.