Tori Koro, by hai ran, is another one of those series that rattled around forever on Japanese Yuri lists and sites, but I had never had a chance to look into it. Conveniently for me, DrMaster picked up the license to it and last year released volumes one and two.

Tori Koro, according to the comic itself, stands for “Tricolor.” The cover states, “tricolor-sisters +1 girl / nanase family’s 4-panel comics” Not very helpful I know, but it will make more sense in a second. ^_^ Tori Koro is yet another Dengeki Daioh series and one that I read monthly in that magazine. But…there’s a catch. I’ll get to that later.

First, the plot is a simple one. Nanase Yae, high school 1st-year, is informed rather suddenly by her mother, that two daughters of friends are coming to live with them. Sachie (Mom) wants the house to be lively again, as it was when Yae was younger and her husband was alive. Yae naturally is shocked – she hardly has time to get used to the idea before the two girls, Makishi (from Osaka) and Tatami (from Hiroshima) arrive. They immediately look at her cute, little body and think “yay, little sister” only to be amazed that Yae’s the same age they are.

The entire comic is slice of life “4-panel” strips, so there isn’t really a plot. The gags are mild, light-hearted and slightly goofy. They are also often based on cultural differences between regions of Japan. For instance, Makishi arrives with a takoyaki plate and Tatami brings a hot plate, to represent their local stereotypical cuisine. (Like, oh, someone from the South of the US bringing a deep fryer when they move.) Other gags are personality clashes and bad puns and some general stupidity. For example, when the postman arrives to deliver a package, he comments that he thought Mrs. Nanase only had one daughter. Sachie says that recently, she was reunited with her late husband’s two illegitimate daughters. Yae flips out at such an inappropriate joke. Of course, she also got burned by being put last on the family register at the front door, even though she’s the oldest of the three – and the only natural daughter….

And there is the catch. Between Makishi’s and Tatami’s accents and the silly gags, I find it nigh on impossible to comfortably read this comic in Japanese. Sometimes I can make the gag out, but often I really can’t without alot more work that I currently have time for. So I was *very* glad to see it in English. Tori Koro is not laugh-out-loud, gut-grabbing hysterical, but it’s cute and good for a smile. I haven’t seen any sign of Volume three from DRMaster, but if sales are good, then they may go ahead and put it out. So follow the links above and buy copies. Buy several. I want Volume 3+. :-)

Okay, so. The question you probably have is – where’s the yuri? And indeed, when I began to read this, I also had this question. I kind of assumed it would be fanservice yuri – misunderstandings between the new “sisters”, etc. Right at the beginning Makishi is talking to the person giving her a ride to the Nanase’s and she mentions that there’s a daughter and how she hopes she’ll get along with her. The driver comments that in cases like this, sometimes marriages come out of the situation…Makishi responds, “I said it was a girl!” and I thought, okay, that’s the kind of Yuri we’re likely to get. Fine.

Well, no. Wrong again, Erica. ^_^ I’m glad to report that, in this case, I just hadn’t been patient enough.

A few chapters in, a new character is introduced. Niwatazumi Keiko (“Niwa-chan”) sits in front of Yae, is very cool and very intimidating. And, it turns out, has a raging huge crush on Yae. A crush which she does not much to hide and everything to promote.

As far as technical issues go, the book has some good and some bad. Reproduced color pages look very spiffy. Sound effects are written in next to Japanese, which doesn’t bother me, although “bill and coo” for “betabeta” was just a weird choice. Using a 1930 dictionary are we? ^_^. It does look a little strange, especially when the S/fx could have been cleaned up. There’s consistency issues – in some case the page was retouched, in some cases not, Tatami’s name completely miswritten in an intro panel and honorifics are left intact in some cases but translated in others, which is very disconcerting. Even with editors and proofreaders, things slip through the cracks. But they probably should have stuck with either American or Japanese honorifics, not flip-flopped between them…in the same panel….

Ultimately, none of these issues make it difficult to enjoy the comics. Niwa’s crush is cute, Tatami and Makishi’s treatment of Yae is always good for a laugh, Sachie’s a nutball and as “wackiness ensues” type stories, this one is not at all taxing on mind or spirit. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 4
Story – 6
Character – 7
Yuri – 5
Service- 1

Overall – 6

Tori Koro is perfect for an enjoyable rainy afternoon reading. ^_^

I was so not going to publish an entry today, and then Sean Gaffney, god among men, sent me this! So here you go – a new review by our beloved semi-regular guest reviewer Sean.

Negima! 9, at first glance, appears to be a rather uneventful volume. We get introductions to four girls (well, three and a half), a couple of others are developed a bit, there’s lots of wacky comedy of errors, gratuitous nudity, and people getting punched for being perverts. All very typical.

Of course, this is probably one of the most important volumes, for several reasons.

First of all, this volume sets up the School Festival. As of March 2006, Negima is about to finish Volume 14 in Japan, and we’re still only in Day 2 of 3 of this Festival. It’s a HUGE arc, and this volume starts it up.

Secondly, we meet Chao Lingshen, even if we don’t find out much about her (she’s the one-half). She’s brilliant and mysterious, and also wanted by most of the school for various crimes. I suspect her plot will end up being one of the ‘end games’ in the entire manga. Plus, she’s Chinese and wears her hair in odangos, but has a small bust and an IQ in the 200s, which makes a nice change from the Shampoo stereotype. :)

In terms of yuri, we continue to have some amusing bits with our favorite canonical half-couple, Konoka and Setsuna. Setsuna is blushing and stammering, Konoka is oblivious. Setsuna sees Konoka in underwear, she gets very embarrassed. We’re
sort of in a comedy holding pattern here.

Of interest, though, is another ‘non-canon’ couple. We meet the class’s resident ghost, Sayo, a cute yet klutzy girl who was murdered in the 1940s but who still haunts the classroom. After being ‘outed’ by the class, she finds that she can actually be seen by reporter girl Kazumi, possibly as they sit next to each other. The interaction between the two is cute, and naturally since Kazumi’s the one who can see her, Sayo rarely leaves her side after this. Many fans like these two as a yuri couple, despite the obvious problems (such as one partner being non-corporeal), but it’s pure fan speculation.

This is a good if not great volume of Negima, but it does set up the Festival, and there are some very good stories coming up in that. Recommended.

Thanks Sean! The way you describe this almost makes me want to read it – which is quite a feat, let me tell you! :-)

Today’s review is once again by Sean Gaffney, because I am utterly exhausted and seem to be coming down with a cold. Sean is my hero.

Just got a new manga from Tokyopop, Broken Angels, by Setsuri Tsuzuki. The basic premise is that a girl at the local high school has incredible power to control water, and uses it when solving the problem of those around her, or defending herself against threats. She’s intriguing, and insists on dressing in the male uniform, but has all the sexuality of a throw rug.

However, then there’s the Class President. She has the best grades in class, is gorgeous… and is completely insane. After dedicating herself to the heroine after the first chapter, she proceeds to try to lure her to bathhouses, and dresses in the school nurse’s French Maid outfit (?!) to feed her lunch. I will admit she’s not 100% lesbian; when a guy accidentally gropes her breast, she responds by groping his crotch. She also declares herself a fan of group sex. She is a huge freakey freak, and I haven’t immediately loved someone as much as I do her in quite a while.

There’s a little more yuri in the book later, as an underclassman gets a crush on the heroine and demands they exchange class pins.

This isn’t the focus of the book, of course. The focus is our heroine, her amazing powers, her mysterious past, and hiding this from the rest of the world. The yuri is used as a comedy spice. That being said, it achieves an excellent balance by doing so, and I found the first volume read very fast. There are apparently five volumes of this series (Kowarehajimeta Tenshi Tachi in Japan), so I definitely look forward to more.

Recommended. And yes, there’s nudity, so throw in a highish service rating as well. :)

–SG

Once again, thank you Sean! This sounds like a lot of fun and I’ll be sure to look for it.

As I mentioned on the Yuricon Mailing List, I’d been meaning to mention Steady Beat for a while, but just kept forgetting. In fact, I’d stare at my “to review” list and say, “Gee, wasn’t there something I wanted to add to this?” But thanks to Erin, and her review on her LJ, I am not only motivated, but have remembered long enough to mention it, at last. Thank you, Erin!

First off, this is the first “American manga” I’ve purchased (if you don’t count publishing Yuri Monogatari that is.) I bought my copy at Onna!, and didn’t get to read it for several months afterwards. The art is, IMHO, typical of American-style manga art, with more rounded everything, less clean lines, and an uneven grasp of panel structure. But it’s not unpleasant to look at.

The plot, such as it is, involves Leah, a slightly underachieving (compared with her perfect older sister, anyway) high school student finding a love letter addressed to her sister Sarai. The letter is signed “Love, Jessica” and it’s not a confession letter so much as a “let’s meet again in the usual place” letter. The first volume is built around Leah attempting to figure out what the deal with her sister is, while not getting in trouble with her over-protective and over-critical mother. Somewhere in the middle of this Leah ends up meeting a guy, which is assumably our eventual love interest. The volume ends with a dramatic confession by Sarai to us, out of Leah’s hearing that the answer to Leah’s question is “yes.” Said darkly and with great big sad eyes.

The book is not bad, really. It’s supposed to be a bit “wacky hijinks” and goofy, and there were definite funny moments. The complication of the perfect sister with the unforgivable flaw is a bit melodramatic, and I think it might be worth emailing the author Rivkah and asking her to make sure the girl gets the girl, as a preventative measure. :-) It’s hard to say whether plot and characters are developed – or even developable – as the first volume is short and no new volumes have been released as yet.

All that having been said, it’s a nice story, and I’m all for manga fans expanding their horizons and supporting non-Japanese artists…especially as this sort of thing is clearly the wave of the next decade.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 6
Service – 2

Overall – 6

If you’re looking for manga in English with Yuri themes, you could definitely do worse than this. ^_^