Archive for the English Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Negima! Volume 8

January 6th, 2006

Once again, I am pleased to present a guest review by Sean Gaffney, in order to save myself any but the most minimal effort today. It’s been a loooong week. :-)

This is a fairly sedate, but good, volume of Negima!. We get a mix of plot, sex comedy (mostly nudity…) and fighting. In fact, the one drawback is that the fight takes up the entire second half of the book. Good if you like seeing fights drawn out, I guess.

Every volume we seem to examine one or two new girls in the class of 31. This time it’s Chizuru Naba, who’s similar to Mutsumi from Love Hina but less airheaded. She’s very motherly (and yes, has the biggest breasts in the class – 94 cm), and takes to Kotarou (the dog boy who makes a return here and is pretty much a semi-regular after this arc) like a duck to water.

For fans of Mai-HiME CG art, she, like Shizuru, likes to practice the art of sticking leeks up people’s butts to cure what ails them. And, like Shizuru, she gets a bit carried away doing this.

The other student we meet is Chizuru and Ayaka’s roomie, Natsumi Murakami. She’s rather plain and has freckles, and thus feels inadequate most of the time, especially since she’s rooming with two big-busted beauties. She mostly exists as a straight woman in this volume… hopefully she’ll get more to do later.

Meanwhile, Negi is training with Evangeline in a special time-controlled environment… which Asuna and a bunch of others promptly break into. But that’s OK, as it leads into Negi finally telling Asuna about his tragic past. It is indeed rather sad, epecially the guilt he’s carrying around from it. We also see the entourage starting to try to learn magic, though they’re all bad at it with the exception of the experienced Setsuna.

After this we get the meat of the plot, as the demon from Negi’s past (gosh, he shows up right after Negi revealed it) shows up, kidnaps the girls, and challenges Negi to a duel. Kotarou joins in, and the duel is, as I said, about 65 pages long. Negi loses and everyone dies. Wait, no. Negi wins. Sorry, got confused.

There’s no yuri (OK, a villain zaps Setsuna by disguising herself as a naked Konoka, but frankly, Setsuna doesn’t have much time to get aroused before she’s knocked out). Nevertheless, I’d say it’s a solid volume. Still more interesting than Love Hina.

Thank you Sean for another review! While there is no “new” Yuri, it does look like the resident cute Yuri couple have some staying power. We can all hope for one decent fanfic and a few cute pictures repeatedly endlessly on the Yuri picture boards. :-)

 





Ouran High School Host Club, Manga Volume 3 (Guest Review by Sean G.)

November 25th, 2005

Today’s review is once again written by Guest Reviewer and Yuri fan extraordinaire, Sean Gaffney.

***

I’ve been enjoying a manga from Viz, Ouran High School Host Club. The basic premise is that a high school girl is mistaken for a man by the school’s Host Club, a group of bishounen parodies that walk the earth. They induct her into the club, and then resolve to keep her secret after it’s revealed (she wasn’t really hiding it, she just dresses in men’s clothing). The club itself seems designed to part high school girls from their money by pandering to their fantasies.

The manga is filled with yaoi parodies. The two twins are Fred and George from Harry Potter in Japanese clothing, and Hunny and Takashi are a cross between Momiji and Hatori from Fruits Basket and the couple from CLAMP’s Suki. Everyone at some point plays gay for the girls, who all go “SQUEEEEEEEEEE!” just like American yaoi fangirls do. :)

In any case, in Volume 3, Haruhi (our heroine) is accosted by 3 members of the nearby Saint Roberia Women’s Institute White Lily Club (also known as the Zuka Club). They’re the female counterparts to our heroes, and Zuka is short for Takarazuka. The club is known for their dramatic productions. Naturally, the Host Club immediately thinks one thing about these girls: “L-L-Lesbians!?” (Something which, for once, isn’t denied by the girls, at least not in this volume).

They insist they will get Haruhi to join their club instead, and the Host Club are worried, as they’ve wondered before, what with Haruhi wearing male clothing and enjoying the attention of the women who go to the Club, if she’s a lesbian.

This is only one chapter of the volume, but the chapter ends declaring that the Lily Club is a ‘new rival!’, so I presume we’ll see them again. The manga is quite funny, being a broad parody of yaoi and bishounen cliches, with this chapter also parodying yuri. The back says it’s for Hana-Kimi fans, but it reminded me more of Greenwood.

–SG
Viz’s footnote: Lily = YURI!

***

Erica here again: I noted some interesting things about this manga when I read it. Notably, the girls of the Zuka Club appear in regular school girl uniforms, but they are imagined by Haruhi and the guys in full-blown Takarazuka outfits. ^_^

And it’s kind of amusing that fans of Hana-Kimi, in which a girl dresses like a boy to gain access to an exclusive boy’s school in order to be with the guy she likes, are assumed to want to read a story about another girl who dresses like a boy and goes to a boy’s school. Now…what kind of person might like that kind of story, in which the major feature is a girl in a suit? I wonder…. Maybe I ought to have someone do a story like that for Yuri Monogatari. ^_^

Again, my thanks to Sean for his guest review!





Mahou Sensei Negima, Manga Volumes 6 and 7, Guest Review by Sean G. (English)

October 18th, 2005

Once again, we bring you a guest review of Negima! Magister Negi Magi by the redoubtable Sean Gaffney! Yaaaaaay! (Say this last bit in a Kermit the Frog from the Muppet Show voice.) Sean’s review is quite timely, because as you know, I loathe Akamatsu’s work and didn’t feel like writing anything today. :-)

Let me take this opportunity to thank Sean, also, for having been one of the most AMAZING staffers we had at Onna!. He was a whirlwind, handling not only the panels, worksops and demos, but also stepping in to handle many of the Programming events, which freed me to do important things like tell people where to find paper and pens and interview for 80 minutes with people who quoted me for less than 20 words. LOL Sean, you have my eternal thanks. No foolin’.

Without further ado, here is Sean’s review of Negima, Volumes 6 and Volume 7:

The manga and anime Rurouni Kenshin is known for its Kyoto arc, which is generally considered to be lightyears ahead of the other arcs. Likewise, Negima really steps up with its own Kyoto arc, dropping most of the comedy for a Volume to focus on action and drama, as Negi and the others are under attack from their rivals.

The action is fairly well drawn, with little of the confusion that mars series like Trigun. We get a few more girls finding out Negi is a wizard, though Mana and Ku Fei don’t seem very surprised. Negi’s secret is still one of the worst kept ever.

Then there’s the Yuri. Aside from the ‘grasping at straws’ couples (“Look! Kaede is holding Yue in her arms after rescuing her! It must be love!”), there’s still just Konoka and Setsuna. Luckily, that’s more than enough.

Setsuna in this volume reveals her other big secret – she’s half demon, and has big wings. Setsuna is convinced this will make everyone loathe and fear her. But these aren’t bat-like wings, they’re big, fluffy bird wings – everyone notes they look cool. So Setsuna races off to save Konoka, who notes that they make Setsuna look like an angel. OK, self-worth crisis over, mostly.

(In the Negima anime, they kiss. But the Negima anime is awful in so many other ways that I can’t recommend it even to the staunchest yuri fan unless they just get one episode, watch the kiss, then delete it.)

In Volume 7, there’s less of a focus on the two. However, we see Konoka being told that with training, she could be a very powerful mage. She chooses to begin the training, and wants Setsuna as her partner.

This is the best part of the volume. Konoka relates to Negi that Setsuna says that girls shouldn’t kiss, but she wants Setsuna to be her partner, so is there another way to make a pact? It’s very clear from Setsuna’s denials that what she meant was that when the two of them kiss, it shouldn’t be just for a simple magical pact, but for something deeper. Her expressions are very cute.

One last thing to note on the yuri front is Kazumi, the sly newspaper girl, who is clearly amused at Setsuna’s blushing denials, and notes that ‘It’s just a kiss. Girls our age experiement with that stuff all the time’. Which again is a nice bone to throw to those seeking more yuri in the series than Konoka and Setsuna. OK, it’s a tiny fragment of a bone.

Negima continues to be far more interesting than it should be, considering the artist and all the shounen fanservice. And indeed the 10-year-old hero. Despite all that, it’s still a page-turner, and more and more characters are gaining depth as they get focused on.

Oh yes, and in the Translation Notes, Del Rey will tell you what a paipan is.

Erica here: Once again – thank Sean! (Insert wild applause, again in Muppet Show style)





Sister Red, Volume 1

June 14th, 2005

Another first today for Okazu! But a rather bizarre one, I admit. Today I am reviewing Sister Red a manga with absolutely *no* yuri at all whatsoever, except in the most peripheral sense.

Once again, I’d like to offer my gratitude to Touko_no_doriru-san, who gave me both volumes of this manga in Tokyo. Subsequently I have learned that Comics One has translated it into English. Sister Red, Volume 1 is available through Amazon.com.

If it ain’t yuri, then why am I reviewing it? Because it’s the second series by manga artist Hayashiya Shizuru, creator of yuri series Strawberry Shake and artist for the mostly-yuri doujinshi circle, Jesus Drug. It is therefore of interest to me, and perhaps to other fans of her art.

To put it simply, Sister Red is a vampire story, although the word “vampire” is never used.

We are introduced to our heroine Mahito, during a typical school day. Mahito lives with her father and her cousin, Erika who is very like a sister to her. Erika is a little spacey, and has a tendency to be weak physically and emotionally. Mahito loves Erika and is always there to protect her, but is also, deep inside, a little resentful that Erika doesn’t fight back more for herself.

One night, on the way home from school, Mahito decides to take a shortcut home and is promtply hit by a car. As she bleeds into the street, the men in the car see her dying and run off without calling for help. Mahito sees a mysterious woman in a black trenchcoat who says inexplicable stuff about her heart. She closes her eyes – only to find herself at home in bed, with a doctor in attendance. Unfortunately it wasn’t a dream, as she learns when the mysterious woman, Alice, appears again and explains that she has given Mahito part of the heart of Scarlet in order to keep Mahito alive. Because, in fact, Mahito did die because of the accident. Now Mahito is one of the walking undead, and is developing mighty weird powers.

The plot of Sister Red is actually rather complicated – Alice is being tracked by her half brother Yuri who wants the heart back so he can become truly immortal. But who Scarlet is and why Alice has her heart is still a mystery to Mahito at present. In the meantime, she is forced to deal with other Night creatures – some of whom masquerade as human and prey upon real humans. Mahito starts to embrace her powers when another night creature seduces and kills her kouhai, an innocent and sweet girl. (This is the only even vaguely yuri-ish bit in the story, btw, since the creature was masquerading as a girl – and implies that she had her way with the kouhai before killing her.)

It’s a dark story, moody, and really, really violent. Lots of blood and beheaded bodies and mangled body parts and the like, once again showing that Hayashiya-sensei is not afraid of a little gore and random acts of extreme violence. Some of the action scenes are exceptionally well executed – especially in the second fight with Yuri’s first lackey, whose name escapes me at the moment. And I’m not just saying that because she’s an eye-patch wearing kick-ass chick. lol

The only downside is that the character development is a bit rushed, because it’s a short series.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 6
Yuri – 0.5

Overall – 7

All in all, a dark, creepy, gory, yet fun to read, vampire story from Hayashiya Shizuru





Yuri Manga: Passion Fruit, Vol. 1: Sweat and Honey

March 28th, 2005

From the only publisher who has really attempted to market Josei manga, Tokyopop, comes the first volume of an intriguing collection, Passion Fruit: Sweat and Honey. I say “intriguing” because while it had some definite merit, and I’m glad I read it, I’m not entirely sure I *enjoyed* it.

Special thanks to faithful reader and beloved sycophant Sean Gaffney for pointing me in the direction of this volume. ^_^

Folks who read Cookie magazine will be familiar with the artist of this particular anthology, and you’ll see the familiar style of Okazaki Mari, who was also a contributor to Yuri Shimai magazine. Clearly a “friend of Yuri’s.”

(Wouldn’t that be a fun new code to use? Everyone knows the old “friend of Dorothy”. right? Yuri fans could say that we’re “friends of Yuriko”. LOL)

This collection had several stories that included some Yuri-ish interaction, but none of the stories end with the girl getting the girl…in fact, in most cases that was a relief. As with most short story anthologies, the characters were rather more dysfunctional than usual and the endings tended towards pat. But that’s a fault with short stories in general and shouldn’t put you off this particular collection.

The first story, “After Sex A Boy’s Sweat Smells Like Honey,” is an ambiguous tale of two female cousins. One of them is initially repulsed by the other’s fragility, but in comparison to the men she is seeing, comes to find her more and more appealing.

“About Kusako” was, to me, a very disturbing story. Moeko finds a girl growing out of the ground, like grass, as she walks her dog. (Hence the name, “Kusako,” which would mean “grass girl”.) Kusako is incapable of moving, so Moeko waters her and shields her from the hot sun and generally grows fond of Kusako. Moeko returns to the field after a prolonged period of time to find Kusako withered and dying, but small Kusakos everywhere. If this kind of stuff lived in my head, I’d be creeped out.

“Sister” was my favorite story. A young woman’s older neighbor passes out nearly every night on her doorstep. Out of duty and kindness, she drags the woman in and tucks her into bed. Eventually, she confronts the neighbor about her miserable life, only to learn that she knows *nothing* about her…except that she loves this “old hag”. I won’t give away the ending, because I really liked it. :-) No, it isn’t Yuri, but it was pretty great.

“The Land Where Rain Starts To fall” has a *very* similar feel to the “Shibuya” series Okazaki-sensei wrote for Cookie. It’s a vignette of an apparently dysfunctional couple – Kaya, who refuses to come to school and Kumi, who seems appallingly low self-esteemy-y. They engage in some sexual play, ostensibly to seduce or annoy Kaya’s older brother. The vibe off of Kaya is heavily incestuous, Kumi seems more like a plaything. But she’s actually completely aware of Kaya’s machinations, and goes along with them willingly. In the end, the girl does not get the girl, but this series has, perhaps, the happiest ending in the volume.

The last story was written by Hiratsuka Mari, and is a bittersweet nostalgic look at boys in school and their too-sexy-for-her-own-good teacher. It was cute and fluffy.

I’m still not sure I’m comfortable with her art or her storytelling. The art is too loose for me to find appealing, while the stories are too tense…but those are the very qualities that make her stories, even the short ones, work.

Ratings would be variable, so let’s call it an overall 7.

No, it isn’t the 100% yuri we all long for, nor is it happy, really, but I definitely think Passion Fruit Volume 1 is definitely worth getting. Support Josei manga, support Yuri themes in Tokyopop manga and cough up a few bucks for Sweat and Honey.