Back in June, I reviewed Free Soul, by Yamaji Ebine.

Last week, I received the collected edition of this series and let me just say that it is a definite must-have, all the way around.

The story hasn’t changed since June, but my reading of it has, so please forgive me as I go over it once more. The first time around, I began reading it in Feel Young magazine at the sixth chapter, and so was unaware of several issues. Most importantly, Angie, the black, skinhead, lesbian, jazz singer (very like Me’shell NdegeOcello) whose story fills the book, is not real, but a construct of the heroine’s imagination. Keito is a mangaka who spends much of the book writing and drawing Angie, speaking to her – and learning from her – as she deals with her own real-life problems.

Keito’s story begins shortly after she has run away from home at the age of 22. Her mother, a bitter woman, was extremely unhappy to learn that her daughter is a lesbian, so she has left. Keito meets Rui, an unconventional 80-something author, and is taken in by her. Keito does go back to talk to her mother, but her mother is never fully reconciled to her daughter’s “lifestyle.” Keito’s father, divorced from her mother some time earlier, seems a pale and shadowy man – he appears primarily to be told by Keito that it is not his fault that she is gay.

Keito, despite her less than happy family life, is a pretty cool kid. She gets a job at a jazz music record store and fits in quite happily among the primarily black male clientele.

At the record store Keito meets Niki, a bisexual trumpet player for a funk band. She loses her heart, but Niki explains that she’s not at *all* interested in having a relationship – but is perfectly willing to have sex. Keito’s pain as she fails to win Niki is touching, but not traumatic, and her quiet triumph as she regains Niki is enjoyable, but not ecstatic. As always, Yamaji Ebine’s work slides by comfortably, with a realistic and mature atmosphere – without hysterics or melodrama.

Yamaji Ebine’s art is stellar – everyone who sees it is moved by the simplicity, starkness and fine line work. I have, to this day, never seen anything else like it. As is also usual with a Yamaji story, the background music is jazz and blues.

What can I even say about the “Yuri quotient”? It’s a 100% Yuri story – written by a lesbian mangaka for an audience of adult women, about a young lesbian who falls in love with another woman. Period. With a sub-story about a lesbian jazz singer and her philosophies on life and love.

Ratings:

Art – 10
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 10

Overall – a very strong 9.

If you aren’t reading Yamaji Ebine’s work…you are seriously missing out on the best yuri being published in Japanese right now. Run, don’t walk, to Amazon Japan and buy Yamaji Ebine’s work. You won’t regret it.

The Perfect Yuri Manga

Although I’ve already reviewed some titles by this author, I’ve been saving this particular title for a special occasion.

Love My Life – Yamaji Ebine

Why do I call this the “perfect Yuri manga?” because it is written by an out lesbian, about a young lesbian, for an audience of women. By my standards, that makes it about as 100% yuri as possible.

Love My Life is the story of Ichiko, a college student who lives with her father, a translator. Ichiko’s mother passed away when she was very young, but she and her father have always been very close.

The story starts as she tells her father what every father fears to hear – that she has a lover. Her father’s reaction is cool, and when she follows the information up with the fact that her lover is another woman, after an initial moment of surprise, Dad is fine. In fact, he has something *he* wants to share with Ichiko, and he’s glad to be able to at last tell her that he’s gay…and so was her mother. They met, became friends, and although they weren’t interested in each other as lovers, did conceive Ichiko together. And, although they raised Ichiko as husband and wife, they took outside lovers for themselves. But mostly they loved each other and her very much.

As the story progresses, Ichiko introduces her father to her lover, Eri, and meets her father’s younger lover. She talks over her confusion about the revelation that her mother and father were gay with Eri, but it’s not until she meets her mother’s former lover that she pretty much decides it doesn’t make any real difference.

This story has no high drama – the concerns of Ichiko and her friends are small, personal and intimate. There’s a relaxed pace about this book that makes the reader feel happy and comfortable in Ichiko’s world, with no real need for melodrama or angst. Which doesn’t mean nothing happens.

We’re drawn in as Ichiko deals with her parents’ secret, a small crisis with and separation from Eri, and a gay friend. Take’s, search for a boyfriend. There’s no suicide attempts here, but there is a sense of personal involvement in a life that feels much more *real* than most manga.

Like other Yamaji Ebine manga, Love My Life relies on minimalist art, a background of jazz music and good literature, and characters that live in a real world, rather than a staged one. And while there are some intimate scenes between Eri and Ichiko, the story is hardly drawn simply to frame lesbian sex. It’s just part of Ichiko’s life…just as it is part of anyone’s life, in reality.

Ultimately though, the strongest point of Love My Life is reflected in the title – Ichiko, and by extension we, the readers, do indeed love her life. Every time I read this manga, I finish it with a smile on my face – in fact, thinking about the ending as I type now, I’m smiling. It’s just that nice.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Part 4

Once again, I present for your inspection a truly excellent piece of unknown yuri manga – Indigo Blue, by the young, out lesbian mangaka, Yamaji Ebine. This is not to be confused with Blue, by Nananan Kiriko, which was originally published in 1996. Indigo Blue is a more recent book by several years – and one can tell instantly that it’s not bound by early shoujoai conventions and assumptions.

As I remarked in my earlier review of Free Soul, Yamaji-sensei’s work is very clean and minimalist, with rich textures being provided by solid characterization and a background of jazz music, rather than the typical shoujo manga use of screentones. Indigo Blue is an exploration of human sexuality, and is also a step closer to the mature solidity of Free Soul from her earlier works, one more of which I will review later on.

Indigo Blue tells the story of Retsu, a young novelist. She is currently dating her editor, Ryuuji, and seems very happy with him, although she knows she is not in love with him. A friend of hers introduces her to Tamaki, a bohemian young woman who is aware of Retsu’s work, but seems to be uninterested in Retsu as a person. Nonetheless, Retsu can’t get Tamaki out of her head. After various attempts at meeting once again, Retsu finally manages to meet up with her, only to be told that Tamaki is uninterested in pursuing a relationship – even a friendship – because she is a lesbian and Retsu is not. Tamaki simply has no time for women who are straight who fall in love with lesbians….

Retsu is horribly confused by this – she can’t get this woman out of her mind, but she doesn’t think she is attracted to her. Only when Tamaki kisses her suddenly and walks away, does Retsu realize that yes, in fact, she is very attracted to her .

Ultimately they become lovers, but still, Retsu can’t find it in herself to break up with Ryuuji, who is clearly in love with her, even asking her to marry him. The complicated life and network of lies that Retsu has to maintain is eventually and accidentally destroyed by a well-meaning friend, with far-ranging consequences.

In a move that signals her rejection of older shoujoai conventions, Yamaji-sensei has not only a happy ending, but one that will satisfy yuri fans everywhere, i.e., the girl gets the girl. But in more than one sense, the ending is really not important – Indigo Blue is more about the journey than the destination. The story could have very well ended the other way and I think I would have been just as satisfied, since it was Retsu’s growth that was the issue…not the gender of her lover. Okay, maybe not *as* satisfied. ^_^

To be fair, this is not a perfect story. As a protagonist, Retsu herself is really the story’s biggest weakness. Her self-examination at times becomes a little tiresome, especially when compared to Free Soul’s Keito or Love My Life’s Ichiko. Her constant questioning about sexuality in general and sexual preference in particular almost takes on a nagging tone by halfway through the book. The other major weakness is Ryuuji’s ultra-mature response to learning that he has been deceived. It might be the most desirable response, but it didn’t seem quite realistic…on the other hand, it made for a pleasant lack of screaming and throwing things-type drama.

Once again, I highly recommend this book, along with all of Yamaji Ebine’s other work, as an example of an excellent modern Yuri story.

Ratings:
Art – 9
Characters – 7
Character Design – 8
Story – 8

Overall – 8