There is a fine line between “She doth protest too much” and “Standing one’s ground.” When it comes to a woman not buckling under the pressure of the wishes of everyone around her, I’m usually right behind her, rooting for her to make her own decisions.

In Volume 2 of Yawara, A Fashionable Judo Girl, Yawara doth protest too much.

Her Mom has already pointed out that girls who do Judo are still feminine. Everyone in her school looks up to her for guidance and leadership and even her friends think she ought to step up and shine a little more.

But no, Yawara has a dream of being a nobody, of embodying the passive ideal of wife and mother and passing through life with nary an influence. Okay, fine, that’s her choice, I got it. I don’t agree with it, but it’s hers, so I respect that.

But, when the judo club implores her to become their coach so they can man up and defend their reputation, and Kazamatsuri begs her to compete, telling Yawara that she shines brightest when she’s playing Judo, Yawara hardens her heart against them and says that *they* are being selfish.

“No,” I found myself lecturing this 2-dimensional, fictitious character on the screen, “you’re the one being selfish.” Even, as Every Sports Writer Matsuda points out, Haute Couture, Rich-Girl Sayaka is running along a beach dragging a *tire,* all because of Yawara.

It takes an unfunny stalker to piss Yawara off enough to bring about the change of heart needed to make this series move forward. Watching the formerly pathetic Judo team kick his ass helped.

I did not ever do Judo, but I was a martial artist for two decades and have a few years of Aikido in there. Let me tell you something about throwing and being thrown. Throwing is easy. Being thrown is hard. Taking ukemi, as they say, is the essence of any martial art that includes throws. Here’s what I want to point out – there’s a lot you can do to change the direction of a throw. And when Yawara throws the punk stalker, she throws him straight down. In a way that I can guarantee hurt. A lot. It was satisfying.

In fact, watching Yawara practicing her rolls really made me want to break out the mat and do a little practice myself. Which is the hallmark of a really good sports story for me. I want to get up and do the thing myself.

In any case, Sayaka has eyes only for Yawara, unfortunately not in any way that can remotely be described as desire, but we’re getting there. Yawara and Sayaka are about to have their first match and will be rivals for the love of Kazamatsuri. It doesn’t sound promising, but remember Ayaka and Ryoko from Tenchi? They pretended to fight over Tenchi all the time, but even Sasami saw through that. ;-)

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 5, because unfunny stalkers are unfunny
Story – 8
Yuri – 1
Service – 5

Overall – 8

Again, my sincere thanks and probably my next set of bruises as I practice my ukemi are dedicated to Ana M.! Thanks for sponsoring this trip down not just one, but two memory lanes for me. ^_^

It’s that ole classic love-hate rivalry.

A mean, self-centered, usually at least borderline psychotic person, has their worldview shattered by a rival they cannot control through money or power or sheer force of will.

Typically, the hero/ine is wholly unaware of their “rival’s” feelings. Often they are unaware that they have a rival at all. No, the strong emotions live one-sidedly in the teeny little obsessive heart of the evil rival. Let’s face it, A-ko never gives B-ko a second thought.

In Yawara, A Fashionable Judo Girl, Inokuma Yawara is uninterested in her rival, Ho’onami Sayaka – indeed, she’s largely unaware of her until Sayaka makes her presence un-ignorable.

For old-school Yuri (and Yaoi) fans, this kind of relationship is full of nostalgia. Before we had actual GL and BL couples, we had this. And that was pretty much it. So, for a lot of reasons, slipping Volume 1 of Yawara into my DVD player was pretty nostalgic. That, and seeing AnimEigo’s logo being rained on. Anyone who started watching anime in the late 90s knows what I mean.

Yawara is from about 1989 and is mind-bogglingly based on a manga by Urasawa Naoki, better known now for such adult-focused series as Pluto, Monster, and 20th Century Boys. Everyone has to start somewhere, eh? :-)

The story follows Inokuma Yawara, a high school senior who wants, more than anything, to be a “normal” girl who goes shopping with friends and has a boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, her grandfather and guardian is a former national Judo champion who has trained her to international levels of skill. Yawara doesn’t really like doing Judo and has no interest in competing, but forces combine to bring her into the public eye.

In Volume 1, Yawara comes to the attention of rich girl Sayaka who has always excelled at everything she’s ever done. What she needs, she knows, is a real rival – someone to pit herself against in order to force her to strive. When she learns of Yawara she’s determined to make Yawara that rival – so much so, that she turns women’s Judo into a media circus just to force Yawara out. She even sets up a national Yawara “boom” in order to hound Yawara onto the mat with her. But the “way of Yawara” isn’t that easy for either girl and Sayaka’s just going to have to wait her turn.

The title of the series is a pun, by the way. “Yawara” (柔) is the same word as the “ju” in Judo, which means the way/path/road of gentleness. Yawara is a gentle girl with killer Judo skills.

For me the best thing about the series – other than the not-quite-hot rivalry – is the actual Judo. The techniques are well-animated and identifiable. There’s even a little booklet with description of the techniques mentioned. The martial artist in me loves that.

The worst thing about the series is Yawara’s grandfather who is a typical impolite monkey of a grandfather. He’s not a pervert but he is an asshole. His assholishness is supposed to be funny, but it isn’t really. There are also panty shots, which *really* makes me wonder about you guys and your obsessive need to look at women’s crotches that extends even to animation.

Other than Jigoro, this series has pretty great characters, which is a pleasure. The reporter who “discovers” Yawara really believes in her, Sayaka’s coach; who is a well-known playboy finds her skills fascinating; the president of the Judo club at her school is a great big, sweet lug and her friends look and sound like actual human beings. Even her mother, when she shows up, turns out to be awesome, reminding her that doing Judo does not make her less feminine, women should be strong and that any guy that disses her for doing Judo deserves an ippon.

The one physical extra is a booklet that contains all the notes for the episodes (which are also included separately on the menu for each episode) and the Judo techniques that are discussed in the series. The video menus are decidedly old-school – after each episode, you’re transported back to the main menu to choose the next episode. After you choose the episode, you’re offered scenes, then language choices. The soundtrack (finally!) defaults to Japanese with full subtitles.

Subtitles are a story all of their own, as it happens. They are taken from a fan translation done in college, I believe, by someone you already know – the translator of Strawberry Panic!, Ana Moreno. The same Ana M. who is our Okazu Superhero here AND the very same Ana M. who is the sponsor of today’s review. So, triple thanks to you Ana for allowing us to share in your fannishness!

Overall, this series is a lot of fun. It was back in the day when I first watched it and it’s no less fun now, if you can manage to stand characters that don’t look 6 years old and act their age.

Ratings:

Art – Old school 7
Characters – Also old school 8
Story – Typical sports anime 8
Yuri – 1
Service – 3

Overall – 8

Aside from everything else, it’s great to have a real sports anime with a female lead over here. Fergit all those baseball and basketball series – *this* is Japanese sports, with lots of style. If my Gift Guide had included anime, this 40-episode collection would have been included. It would make a great gift for anyone into sports stories, strong female leads, old school anime or anyone interested in Urasawa’s early work.

Quick, name an all-female anime/manga version of the Chinese Epic, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. No, wait – quick, name three.

Last year we were ‘treated’ to Koihime Musou, one of several gender switch versions of the historical epic Romance. This year we have the debatable pleasure of a sequel, Shin Koihime Musou, currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

The sequel begins with the appearance of the real Ryuubi since, as you may remember from last season the guy we thought was Ryuubi was not. The real Ryuubi is a bit of a ditz, but is, of the entire cast, probably the most sane.

Having thus met the third of their triad, Kanu and Chouhi renew their vow of sisterhood, just in case we forget the whole vow under the peach tree thing.

The three, and a few of the others, head off to something something which in this case is get Ryuubi’s sword back, have adventures and eat – a lot. An inordinate amount of time is spent watching the travelers eat. In the meantime, the story veers off to follow three sisters who turn themselves into pop idols through magic.

There’s also a mad dash to squeeze in a bunch of new characters, to round out the cast.

Sei’s Yuri quotient has dropped significantly along with her screen time – one of the side effects of too many characters, so older ones are used less effectively.

For Yuri we’ve got Kakuka who is obsessed with Sousou and frequently has explicit fantasies about her. (Please note: “Perverted” does not apply. Sexual fantasies are not “perverted.” They are completely normal. I’m freaking sick and tired of seeing the word “pervert” misused to describe a person having a fantasy. Not having sexual fantasies is far weirder than having them.) I’m really rooting for Kakuka in this. I think she and Sousou would make a fun couple, much better than Sousou and Kanu.

This season is no better or worse than the first season. It’s all much of the same – silly things that have nothing to do with the Romance take center stage, while important political things are pushed to the background. Breasts still bounce, clothes are still silly, the writers are clearly hungry and stuff happens.

For what it is, it’s fine. I turn my brain off and watch the pretty colors move around the screen. :-)

Ratings:

Art – Meh, but what can you do
Story – It’s in there somewhere I’m sure
Characters – There’s a lot of them
Yuri – Go! Go! Ka-ku-ka!
Service – Are Us

Overall – 7

I *really* don’t remember Guan Yu falling for Liu Bei in the original. But it’s such a prevalent theme in these anime/manga/game bastardizations that I’m now beginning to wonder if I was just blind to the obvious. I’m going to have to re-read that and see if I can read between the lines more. :-)