Archive for the English Anime Category


Tokio Private Police Anime

March 15th, 2004

I spent some time this weekend watching about half of the *very* old hentai series Cream Lemon (which is one of the possible origins for the use of the word “lemon” to represent explicit sexual content in a story, btw). I can’t say I was disappointed, because my expectations for Yuri hentai are very low. Some of it almost approached being decent, but not without tradeoffs. I watched these raw, because who cares what they are saying? ;-)

Let me indulge in a short rant about hentai…it sucks. Like live-action porn, it focuses on the least sexiest aspects of sex for extended periods of time. What is it about sex that makes it so impossible to show without making it ridiculous and dull? Perhaps, because it is, at its core, ridiculous and dull? I don’t know…all I know is, that a truly *good* Yuri hentai has yet to be made. There are certainly decent enough scenes here and there and every once in a blue moon, an anime that doesn’t utterly bite…but these are few and far between.

Okay, I’m done ranting. I guess I’ll talk a little about some of the Yuri hentai I’ve watched over time and let you know about some of the gold nuggets I’ve managed to find. And when I’m done watching all of the Cream Lemon series, I’ll even devote a whole entry to the good bits. ^_^

Let’s start today off with the best of the bunch –

Tokio Private Police – 1998

This isn’t just the best Yuri hentai I’ve seen…it’s the best hentai all the way around, period. Right off the bat, it’s a very well-executed parody of Patlabor, an excellent series in its own right. It manages to keep the essential humanity that makes Patlabor so notable, as well as having a sense of humor and an actual plot, go figure.

TPP does have one non-consensual sex scene right in the beginning, but is otherwise filled with more consensual sex than most hentai – and pretty much everyone appears to be enjoying themselves…something that’s all too rare in hentai.

The Yuri scene is relegated to the typical position of okazu, that is…an appetizer, not the main event, but it’s really an exceptionally well done scene. Not only are the women definitely, positively adults, but they sex seems realistic and their bodies, do, as well. No hermaphroditic transformations, no tentacles, no bondage…just really decent sex between two women who look like women. I’ve come to believe that the former are just easier to animate than the latter, hence their proliferation. But on the whole, I’d rather see people going at it and having a hell of a lot of fun than stupid, unrealistic plot complications.

When the “main event” does happen, its no different – we get to see two human adults having good sex. IMHO, this is a refreshing and long overdue concept in hentai.

So, whether you’re in it just for the Yuri, or straight sex appeals, I definitely have to give Tokio Private Police a thumbs up. This *has* been released officially, so get TPP on DVD. It’s definitely worth the money, especially if you’re a Patlabor fan! ^_^





Yuri Manga: Air Master

February 26th, 2004

Okay, I’m a little tired of talking about shoujo Yuri titles, so I thought I’d cover a few shounen Yuri series of note.

Air Master

I’ve talked about this one before, I know, but it bears repeating. The basic plot is…well, there isn’t really a plot. It’s about an ex-gymnastics champion turned street fighter. Her gymnastics skill manifest as a distinctly unique fighting style which involves seriously BIG air. Hence the name, “Air Master.”

Aikawa Maki is a great heroine. Competent and cool in her millieu, sort of dorky and insecure outside it, she’s surprisingly human and likable. Her friends are quirky and funny, and her enemies even quirkier and, in many cases, funnier. Of these, the best, by far and away is Sakiyama Kaori, who may possibly be the funniest, most imaginative and most likeable psychotic to ever grace a manga or anime.

The Yuri comes in right at the start, as Maki’s new friend Mina develops a raging crush on Maki, which quickly develops into a raging lust for her. In the anime, this is seriously minimalized, but in the manga, there’s some terrific scenes as we get to see what Mina’s actually thinking (hoping/wishing/fantasizing ) about in regards to Maki.

There’s a few downsides to this series – for one thing, the manga art is *seriously,* distractingly ugly.  There’s some intense fighting violence (which I quite like) and some serious sexual violence, as well (which I don’t.) Episode 24 of the anime is one of the single most violent 20 minutes I’ve ever seen animated that didn’t involve guns or mutating things. The little old lady who sat next to me on the plane while I watched it on my computer, almost had a heart attack, poor thing. And there is unneeded and egregious, yet expected service.

On the good side, you have great characters – I mean REALLY great. With the exception of one or two characters, even Maki’s opponents are engaging and fun. In the tradition of shounen fighting anime, most defeated opponents become allies, so it’s nice to have them stick and around and keep coming back. Rematches with defeated opponents are actually better than the original fights, as Maki’s skills keep improving over the series.

Ratings

(Manga) Art – 2
(Anime) Art – 6
Characters – 9
Story – 7
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8





Yuri Anime and Manga: Battle Athletes/ Battle Atheletes Victory

February 9th, 2004

A little while ago I managed a few minutes in that magical land of used Japanese manga, Book-Off, and managed to find the entire run of the Battle Athletes Daiundokai manga, which is very, very, VERY out of print. (I occasionally get requests on how to find the manga – read the line before this one about where I got my copy. That’s basically all the advice I can offer you on finding it.) I immediately went home and read them with great interest – now I want to tell you all about it. ^_^

More people are probably familiar with the OVA and the television series, distributed under the titles Battle Athletes and Battle Athletes Victory, than the manga. The television series is based on the manga more closely than the OVA, so it’s basically the same story as the manga, with Ichino given a stronger role to play, both in the story as a whole and in Akari’s life. The manga is more about Kris and Akari and less about the back stories for all the other characters…. But there are few things that *all* of these have in common

Mylandah is psychotic in every series. I like that. I find psychosis to be an extremely attractive quality in a strong female character – the fewer morals, the more I like them. In the manga, like the anime, her psychosis stems from a once-healthy obsession turned ugly – her feelings *for* Lahrri changed into competition *with* Lahrri. In the TV series, they end up acting like a married couple, to the confusion and consternation of the other girls – their conversations approach near-silent communication. It’s a cute, subtle touch, in what is otherwise a really dumb story arc. In the manga, just as in the TV series, Mylandah is forced to realize that what she really feels about Lahrri is *not* hate, but love. In the Epilogue of the manga, we see them cuddling in a thatched roof hut on a beach somewhere, completely alone. So that ends that story – and it’s a really sweet picture. :-)

Anna’s story is also in the manga – in fact, it is the same story as both the OVA and the television series, which makes Anna a much more bizarre character than either of the two animated versions. Jessie, Ayla, and the others all exist in the manga, but their stories are reduced to mere traces, which didn’t make me cry, really. What the manga really focuses on is Kris and Akari.

The relationship between Kris and Akari, in almost every version is made explicit, but I like the manga best. Sure, they kiss in the anime, and sure, even naive little Anna can see what’s between them, and sure, Kris comments to Ichino that they are rivals for Akari (even if Ichino is in denial). But, in the manga, the entire end of the Cosmo Beauty competition is between the two of them and the final race is Chris versus Akari. A personal conflict comes between them and threatens their friendship on the eve of the final race. It’s very tense, emotional and well done.

Ultimately they do race and, after the race is over, in front of all the spectators and, presumably, the entire world watching on TV, they kiss. I mean they *kiss*. It’s pretty fabulous. :-) I wish there were more anime and manga with such kisses.

The manga has so many of the good things about the anime and almost none of the really bad things – no cow, no aliens, no resurrected Tomoe Midori, none of that. The Principal of University Satellite is still a pervert, but that seems to be about as bad as it gets. The manga also loses Akari’s crybaby tendencies, and her inability to learn from her experiences…a very good thing, IMHO. And the Yuri is 100% real, no substitutes accepted. So, honestly, if you like the anime, then it’s really worth it to get the manga for the *real* story…and that kiss. ;-)

Ratings:

Yuri – Anime (7) Manga – (9)

Art – 6, it’s nothing special in either manga or anime.

Characters – Manga (8) Anime (6)

Story – 7

Overall -Manga (8) Anime (7)

 





Yuri Anime: Azumanga Daioh

February 2nd, 2004

Things I’m Not Going to Write About
Part 5

This week, we’ll continue the series of short opinion pieces on popular and well-known series with yuri content. Why not, eh? Next week, we’ll pick up with some older, obscure works.

Azumanga Daioh:
This isn’t a “yuri” series, per se. One of the secondary characters, Kaorin, is, however, clearly a babydyke in training. Her crush/obsession with the magnificently kakkoii Sakaki is *definitely* yuri.

The manga makes it plain that Kaorin worships and, at least in a vaguish sense, desires Sakaki. The anime loses any of the “vague” about it and makes it really, really obvious. (There’s the seven jets flying overhead with rainbow colored smoke and wedding bells ringing as they dance, or perhaps it was Kaorin’s New Year dream in which she was rescued from a girl gang by Sakaki on a white horse, awakened *just* as they are about to kiss…) The relationship is played for laughs since its completely one-sided, but the whole series is played for laughs, so that’s not a negative thing. This is a loopy, silly series that makes me laugh so hard I snort. And it has yuri. That makes it good in my opinion.

The manga is alreadyavailable in English from ADV Manga and ADV Films has the anime slated for a Spring 2004 release. The downside to this is that the English translation of the manga is pretty lame. For once, the translators kept the yuri intact, but the translation tries so hard to adapt the manga for an American audience, that almost all of the jokes fall flat. It was very disappointing, especially as the manga is really quite funny, at least in Japanese. Unfortunately, ADV decided that we wouldn’t “get” it, if they left Yukari-sensei as an incompetent English teacher, so they changed it to Spanish, thus rendering all of the gaijin and English-language related jokes completely meaningless. As a result, I hold low expectations for the dub adaptation of the anime, but they can’t really screw with the Japanese version, so just watch that.

On an entirely wacky note (as befits this series) my *biggest* complaint about Azumanga Daioh is the lack of decent yuri doujinshi. There are many, many doujinshi of this series – a side effect of the minimalist art, which allows many people to recreate the style easily – but they seem to fall into two categories: 1) sexless parody and gag and ; 2) appalling hentai. Most of the AD doujinshi I saw at Comiket were in the former category, which was fine. But the few hentai doujinshi I saw were just…yeah. I mean, Sakaki and the *cat*??? Chiyo-chan and anyone? Hello? What about Sakaki and Kagura or Kaorin and Sakaki? Sheesh, I would have even accepted Tomo and Yomi…and I’m really stretching there, I think. LOL But bleah…the cat. I swear to god, every series I ever like, the doujinshi pairings are always the most appalling…sigh. There is exactly *one* KaguraxSakaki doujinshi and everytime I see it on Yahoo Japan, it’s starting at $20. I’m just too cheap to spend that on something I can’t see first.

But this is all irrelevant, isn’t it? The series itself is hysterical and I encourage you all to purchase it (not download ripped files…go and get a job, become a productive member of society, pay taxes and support your evil habits honestly) and join us on the Yuricon Mailing List to chat about how funny it is.

Ratings for the Japanese version only: Yuri – 6, Art – 5 (it’s intentionally minimalist) Story – 9, Music – 7, Characters – 8, Overall – 8





Yuri Anime/Manga: Revolutionary Girl Utena

January 30th, 2004


Things I’m Not Going to Write About
Part 4

Shoujo Kaukumei Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena

Created by Ikuhara Kunihiko and Be-Papas, this surreal series is really four slightly different stories, each of which explores a different facet of the characters.

– The manga is the most straightforwardly “magical girl” entity. The only yuri in it is Anthy and Utena’s ambiguous, but intense relationship.

– For the TV series, this was upped a notch, with the addition of sexuality as a whole as a separate subplot. The TV series explores yuri, yaoi, intergenerational, incestuous and yes, even straight, sexuality, casting few judgements about any of it. In addition, Juri is added to the yuri mix, giving yuri fans yet another uber-cool competent character to admire.

– The movie manga is a step sideways, drawing back to the initial Anthy/Utena relatonship, but nodding to proto-yuri novelist Yoshiya Nobuko, and evoking a more intimate feel, since the story is really about the two girls – and their personal quest.

– The Utena movie is a step in the opposite direction, opening the world up to a kind of meta-surreality. Again, it’s all about Anthy and Utena, but for once, the subtext is made overt in the infamous, but really very cool, lesbian street luge scene.

Artistically, Utena takes a little getting used to, with its constant nods backwards to early Yuri pioneers Yoshiya Nobuko and Ikeda Riyoko.

(The Marimite anime is doing the same thing to Utena, with eyecatch visuals and music that are strongly reminiscent of the Utena eyecatches, not to mention the striking detail of the birdcage-shaped greenhouse.)

The television series also spins all the conventions of “magical girl” anime out of proportion, forcing the viewer to create their own meanings for the symbols that inhabit Ohtori.. But for all that, it definitely holds the current #2 place as poster-child Yurii.

The movie is a whole ‘nother thing altogether. Hyper-real, with both art and story completely out of proportion to any other genre or style, it reads as, either a bizarre acid trip, or to us literature majors, a simple allegory. (Here’s the literal sentence people seem to completely fail to understand: “Utena is the vehicle by which Anthy escapes Ohtori.” Got it *now*?)

Amazingly, there are people who have seen the movie and *still* don’t think that Anthy and Utena are a couple! LOL Don’t you wonder what they saw?

Ratings:

Yuri – 9
Art – 8
Story – 8
Music – 9
Characters – 10
Overall – 9