Archive for the Comic Essay Category


Koharu to Minato: Watashi No Partner Ha Onna No Ko, Volume 1 (ๅฐๆ˜ฅใจๆนŠ ใ‚ใŸใ—ใฎใƒ‘ใƒผใƒˆใƒŠใƒผใฏๅฅณใฎๅญ)

July 25th, 2024

Koharu to Minato: Watashi No Partner Ha Onna No Ko, Volume 1Two women smile at one another holding tapioca teas. One is taller with collar-length black hair that fades into lavender, wearing a fashionable black suit and accessories. The other is shorter, with long light brown hair, casually dressed in a green tee and jeans with her arm around the other woman's waist. (ๅฐๆ˜ฅใจๆนŠ ใ‚ใŸใ—ใฎใƒ‘ใƒผใƒˆใƒŠใƒผใฏๅฅณใฎๅญ) is a fictionalized autobiographical comic essay on the real-lives of the creative team, Daruma and Hiarron, which has been running in Comic Yuri Hime magazine. Originally in the end pages of the magazine, it has recently been moved into the body. Conveniently I found some time recently to finish up this first collected volume in the middle of a very busy week. 

The main point of this book is that Koharu and Minato are adorable together. 10 years apart in age, Koharu is a bit of a free spirit, naturally a bit butchier than Minato, while Minato tends to be a fashion plate. The two of them are good for one another and their relationship is wholesome as can be. (As I write this review, my wife and I have just shared a bowl of cereal for an afternoon snack and we’re feeling very wholesome ourselves, so, like, I get it. ^_^)

The story, as such, becomes more interesting when they tell they story of how they met online and ended up meeting, then dating long-distance and eventually moving in together. I will say that I find myself oddly interested in the minutiae of their lives together. ^_^

There is no major conflict here. Maybe they go out for boba tea, or they have a date to see a movie. They live together and are very in love. It’s the kind of manga you’ll want to read a small section at a time, so you’re not overwhelmed with the cuteness. The art here is loose and comfortable, a style that suits the narrative very well.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters  – It’s never not weird to score a person’s perspective on themselves. They both seem very nice. 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 10

Overall – 8

Although this is a fictionalized autobiographical look at their lives together – and they do discuss marriage at one point – there is little discussion of queer life in Japan (although that may be addressed in the next volume. For that reason, I am scoring this a a Yuri, not  LGBT comic.

This series began as a digital comic, but there’s a definite “meant for publication” feel to it. Despite that, it is currently in digital format only, so only available on Kindle in Japan, multiple JP digital manga sites and Bookwalker outside.

Volume 2 hit digital shelves in May, and if I need more comfort food Yuri, I’m sure to reach for the next volume as well.





Suizou Ga Kowaretara, Sukoshi Ikiyasuku Narimashita. (่†ต่‡“ใŒใ“ใ‚ใ‚ŒใŸใ‚‰ใ€ๅฐ‘ใ—็”Ÿใใ‚„ใ™ใใชใ‚Šใพใ—ใŸใ€‚)

June 4th, 2023

Presented in an orange and white palette, a woman sits on a bed crying, while a doctor listens. In her last book about her physical health, My Alcoholic Escape From Reality, Nagata Kabi-sensei explained the circumstances that landed her in the hospital with alcoholic pancreatitis.

We have followed Nagata-sensei through any number of trials. Like many of you, I find myself invested in her well-being. And that reader’s need to see her “get better” has become visible in the style of her comic essay work. The story is told from a crisis point, then we back into causes and effects, then she show us what she has done to move forward, leaving us feeling positive about the future. But Nagata-sensei’s life is vastly more complex than any one manga might cover. And it’s a sobering thought (no pun intended) to realize that Nagata-sensei is balancing a number of serious illnesses that are not likely to “get better.”

In Suizou Ga Kowaretara, Sukoshi Ikiyasuku Narimashita. (่†ต่‡“ใŒใ“ใ‚ใ‚ŒใŸใ‚‰ใ€ๅฐ‘ใ—็”Ÿใใ‚„ใ™ใใชใ‚Šใพใ—ใŸใ€‚) we learn that Nagata-sensei had developed an addition to alcohol. Her look at the emotional and developmental origins of this addiction are a also look into her current state of mental health. I’m fascinated by her use of those pages as a kind of journal of self-awareness. But this book has a much more leavened perspective than previous books, ending with a recognition that the things that make up Kabi Nagata aren’t going to disappear and magically make her a new person. It’s not so much sad or resigned as it is mature. “One more thing to reckon with in this life” she’s saying and those of use who have had similar lives are just nodding. “One more thing to deal with.”

In her previous book, Meisou Senshi – Kabi Nagata, I wondered how her parents took what was in that book. In this volume, she focuses on the positive influence her parents were for her, especially her father. She comments again that she’s sorry her first book hurt her mother, so clearly that is a really sensitive wound between them.

I appreciate Nagata-sensei’s candor. I know that this isn’t necessarily what she wanted from herself, but there is tremendous value in people being honest about what it takes to survive.

No ratings, except to say her art style is, again exuberantly destructive. It’s incredibly powerful.

 

I note that this book is published by East Press, not Futabasha. I have no insight to what that might mean, I just found it interesting. Seven Seas has licensed the book as My Pancreas Broke, But My Life Got Better, which is slated for a November 2023 release. Thanks waffle for the correction!





Onna x a Onna Umakuikanai Renai Essay parlor, Volume 1 (ๅฅณร—ๅฅณใฎใ†ใพใใ„ใ‹ใชใ„ๆ‹ๆ„›ใ‚จใƒƒใ‚ปใ‚ค parlor)

September 18th, 2022

Onna x Onna Umakuikanai Renai Essay parlor, Volume 1 (ๅฅณร—ๅฅณใฎใ†ใพใใ„ใ‹ใชใ„ๆ‹ๆ„›ใ‚จใƒƒใ‚ปใ‚ค parlor) by Fujio, has had a long journey from there to here. This manga began more than a decade ago with essays that were published in Comic Yuri Hime in 2010, then it moved to Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, (ใƒ”ใƒฅใ‚ข็™พๅˆใ‚ขใƒณใ‚ฝใƒญใ‚ธใƒผ ใฒใ‚‰ใ‚Š) in 2011. ( For those who don’t remember it, Hirari was the same magazine in which the Kase-san series was launched.) When Hirari ceased publication, this column moved over to digital comics platform, Web Unpoko, which is now a channel on Ebook.japan. Now it has been collected into one volume for the first time!

Fujio-sensei’s comic essay column is basically about how she’s kind of a loser with women. She loves women and would love to have a girlfriend, but she’s…a dork. We all know that feeling…and sympathize. ^_^  So each chapter discusses the kind of women she’s liked and even dated, from childhood to adulthood and how she’s kind of effed it up, along with advice from her editor and the beautiful BL manga artist she rooms with.

Fujio-sensei protrays herself as a hoodie-wearing slob, with unkempt hair and wearing sweats and sneakers.  Undoubtedly, her lack of humaning skills are blown up for entertainment purposes. The other women in the book are beautiful, cute, sexy, charming as needed., which makes this manga an interesting catalog of Fuji-sensei’s art skills; since chapters drift from great technical drafting, to elaborately drawn to loosely sketch to comedically outlined. As a periodic comic essay, it’s full of relatable pathos and sad-funny, the way it is when you tell a story about yourself being a dork. I wouldn’t have been able to read a lot of it all at once.

With impeccable narrative structure, the final chapter is redemptive, with an incredibly sweet entry that leaves one feeling good about one’s self and the hope that Fujio-sensei will be all right. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – These are stories of failures, told to be drolly amusing. YMMV, but for me – 6
Character – I kind of like Sensei as she portrays herself. I’d take her out to lunch. ^_^
Service – 3 Some sexy portraiture
Lesbian – 100% Cold truth

Overall – 7

I’d pick up a second volume if I encountered it on a bookstore shelf, but I’m not sure I’d order it.





My Wandering Warrior Existence

March 21st, 2022

Kabi Nagata is back once again with a volume of her comic essay work. My Wandering Warrior Existence is quite possibly her best work to date.

To begin with, let me provide a Content Warning of some significance, Nagata talks about a sexual assault she experienced as a child, and the retraumatizing consequences. This was not sugarcoated in any way and was rough to read, so be warned. The experience is not presented out of context however, and it comes not as the point of the story, buy a jumping off point for a comic essay that will make you feel many things. Horror and anger, yes, but also triumph and, dare I say it, joy.

The volume begins with a search for joy in fact. That search takes Nagata-sensei into her own past and out again, as she talks about her relationship with her body, her sexuality, her gender, building a habit of self-care and self-love. There are many deeply moving moments including one key moment when a fan letter explains something that she had not been able to understand and, as a result, is for the first time to see those things she was missing in her understanding of relationships.

Of all her works, this one feels the most crafted to reach an audience. Her first books were diaries and there was a sense that a reading audience was a nice to have. There are some many things in this book that indicate that, for the first time, this book was meant to be read, by us and our reactions are accounted for. This becomes even more obvious as we approach the end of the book and are assured that Nagata-sensei is finding joy in her life these days. And much of the content is constructed to be far more relatable than previous volumes, which focused on her personal struggles.

When I read this book in Japanese, I laughed out loud at this image of the thing that brought her a lot of happiness….a giant fridge! I had also gotten a new fridge not too long before I read this and let me tell you – you cannot overestimate the power of a new fridge to bring joy. ^_^

We’re left, as a result, thinking, if small things like this can make her happy, then maybe there is hope for her…and by extension, there is hope for us. ^_^

Once again, ratings seem pointless. But, both narrative and art here are more confident and there is humor, along with the harrowing.

As always,the care an attention from the gang at Seven Seas, means we have all the right tools to work through this book. Thanks to everyone who made this such a great reading experience!

I joined the Lum and Colton of the lovely Manga Mavericks team to discuss this book on their podcast this weekend, so keep an eye out for that when it is hits their website. It’s always fun to dissect a book with them. ^_^





Kyou mo Hitotsu Yane no Shita, Volume 1 (ไปŠๆ—ฅใ‚‚ใฒใจใคๅฑ‹ๆ นใฎไธ‹)

January 5th, 2022

Starting in 2020, Yuri manga artist Inui Ayu began an autobiographical comic essay column in the pages of Monthly Comic Yuri Hime. For almost two years, she had about a couple of pages every month to talk about her life with her girlfriend. It is absolutely adorable, and apparently garnered enough support that it was expanded into a full page series in 2021. Now it has been collected into a volume and I, for one, am really happy to be able to read it in one place!

Inui-sensei portrays herself as a bit silly, but primarily to show us how her partner, here known as Kon-san, is so solicitous and intuitive about her needs. We are assured they both love a lot of the same things, they are both into Yuri, and idols. In one particular chapter, something that made me laugh was, as they both watch some media with a lot of female characters, they are both like, “Oh yeah, this so Yuri.” Wifey and I have been known to say that very thing, so…yeah. ^_^

We learn how they met, and started dating and eventually move in, about their daily lives, and mostly, it’s all a giant love letter from Inui-sensei to Kon-san. Chapters are split up by short Q&A pages where Inui-sensei and Kon-san answer questions about their lives together; how they deal with social issues, whether they plan on getting married, and what kinds of foods they like – a whole gamut of questions, very personal and less so. Inui-sensei’s art style is cute, with broad, blushing faces, but her characters are not infantilized. These are adult women, with fashion choices and hairstyles. I love the looseness of the art.

It’s real life, but only a small slice, of course. Nonetheless, as I am very appreciative when Yuri artists are out, this kind of comic essay makes me extremely happy. This is a pretty openly queer story, too, which gives me hope for the future. It took Comic Yuri Hime a long time to be home to queer manga, and the more we, get the better it is for Yuri, I think. I’m so proud of the younger generation of manga artists who are much more open about themselves and their lives. Yay for them and yay for us! ^_^ This is, again, the future I want to see for Yuri manga.

Ratings:

Art – Inui-sensei’s signature style. Lots of blushy cheeks.
Story – Small slices of real life
Characters – Real people, but presented in a way to make them seem extra adorable. ^_^
Service – No, this is about the love-love of daily life
Yuri/LGBTQ+ – 10/10

Overall – 9

A cutely conceived and executed look at a real-world relationship turned into a manga about life and love. Sign me up for more of this!