Archive for the English Manga Category


Boyish² Butch x Butch Yuri Anthology

February 10th, 2022

Today is a double-your-pleasure review, as I have both the Japanese and the English language collections of Boyish², the crowdfunded Butch x Butch Yuri Anthology to talk about!

The Japanese edition arrived first, so that was my first impression of the collection. I appreciated the variety of stories. A little fantasy, a little school life, a little adult life, a little comedy, a little tragedy, a little adventure… we got a nice mix. With 11 artists, I was able to really enjoy different interpretations of what “Boyish” (which is like cute butch, baby-dyke, you know…boyish) means to each creator. With butch x butch, some of the stories looked a little like a BL manga, but I felt that the emotions in the stories showed that even the most masculine characters were women.

The stories were pretty easy to read in Japanese…and then the English edition arrived! I was able to check my interpretations against what was a pretty solid translation. The lettering was easy to read and s/fx were translated, which freed me to re-read the volume, paying more attention to the art. Which was really a lot of fun.

I liked all the stories for different reasons. Nekobungi Sumire’s stories have a little whimsy, a little science fiction/fantasy. There were a couple of school life stories that didn’t go the way I expected and one or two that did. Mint’s dark fantasy story, “Sea Foam,” felt and looked so much like a MIST magazine story, that I instantly loved the art and adultness of the setup.

My two favorite stories come at the end of the book. Host Natsuo Mutsumi does a fantastic little coffee shop story that stars a black barrista, Gray, and her Japanese soon-to be girlfriend (spoiler!). They are absolutely adorable. I hope to see more of them. And Hanakage Alt flexes her love of muscled women in the final story, “I’ll Sculpt My Abs.”

The covers are the same for every edition, so you’ll get the same cute image from Akizora Sawayaka regardless of which edition you get. And you can order a poster with the cover image as well on the Booth.pm site. There are 4 editions available of this anthology, all with the same cover, so be careful when you order: Print editions in Japanese and English and digital editions of the same. Shipping for the print editions will need to be done through a shipping service, like Tenso. Booth.pm does not ship overseas. Which is why the ebook is a great choice – it’s an instant download. Last note – this book was crowdfunded, so there may be limited copies of the print version available.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

Obviously, if butch x butch is not your cup of tea, then this might not be to your taste. But as a filler for what I see as a huge gap in Yuri, I think this volume did a bang-up job. My congratulations and thanks to everyone who contributed!





Hello, Melancholic!, Volume 1

February 7th, 2022

It is my incredible pleasure today to introduce you to one of my favorite series of 2020, Yayoi Ohsawa’s  Hello Melancholic!, Volume 1.

Minato’s goal in life, is to slip through without being noticed. This goal is difficult, as she is unusually tall, a little shabby and her voice is rough with disuse. She’s extremely nervous and afraid of offending anyone. So when she notices someone playing music in her school that, notably, has no concert bad, she’s intrigued despite herself. And…she has been noticed. The upperclassman she saw finds her, and Minato’s life is completely turned around.

Hibiki is a 18-wheeler truck of a personality and she’ll wheedle, cajole and beg if it gets her what she wants. A fair objection at this point is that she’s really not listening to what Minato wants and that may make some readers uncomfortable. If you’re able to let that go in hopes that Hibiki’s plan is pure of heart, I can assure you that it is. All she wants is to have fun and play music! 

As I said in my review of Volume 1 in Japanese, “Hello, Melancholic! is a story of a life redeemed from the darkness. It’s a joy to experience sneaking out and jammimg with Minato and a delight to see her lifted by Hibiki and given space and imprimatur to spread her wings and fly.”

But you don’t have to rely on me to convince you. Instead, let me once again share this magnificent 23 minute voiced manga promotional video from Ichijinsha. This is the promo video Ohsawa-sensei refers to in the author’s note. If this doesn’t convince you, feel free to walk away and not look back. But for me, this was a clincher. It even has an original piece of music, but for me, it was the color that nailed the point.

 

 

Minato has been traumatized, but Hibiki is a perfect psychopomp to help move past her trauma. By giving Minato a welcoming space – even if Minato can’t quite stop waiting for the other shoe to fall- she’s able to start healing. We’ll see so much more of that in the upcoming two volumes.

I want to thank Margaret Ngo and Marykate Jasper for their translation and adaptation and Mo Harrison for the evocative lettering. There’s no actual music in this manga, but the sounds of music making are very visible. It’s important for the lettering to capture that. Thanks to the whole team at Seven Seas.

Lastly, I’m absolutely delighted that we finally have something from Ohsawa Yayoi! She had a bunch of one-shots that became her Black Yagi/Strange Babies series, which I adored and I still hope to see 2DK, G Pen, Mezamashitokei. in English one day. In the meantime, we have this three-volume story that is,something I wish we got more of – people being empower in small, but important ways, to grow.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 2 A bit, but Hibiki’s doing it on purpose
Yuri – 1

Overall – 8 because it’ll get better and needs room to go up. ^_^

Finding yourself and friendship in band. There’s nothing more I could ask of a high school manga.





My Idol Sits the Next Desk Over! Volume 1

January 28th, 2022

Sakiko is a shy, introverted person. Unsure of herself, she never knows what to say. But secretly, she has a passion – she is obsessed with a pop idol singer, Chihiro, part of a upcoming group Spring Shine. When Sakiko sits down in her seat, she is shocked to find Chihiro sits right next to her! What she doesn’t know is that the creepy, stalkerish fan that haunts all of the Spring Shine boards is *also* in her classroom. Welcome to My Idols Sits the Next Desk Over, Volume 1.

I’m going to be honest here…this book starts out rough. The stalker, Maya, is obnoxious and toxic, bullying an already nervous Sakiko. Chihiro is friendly, but a bit clueless. About halfway through, I was starting to feel as if this book was going in a direction that was deeply uncomfortable to be understood as a comedy. But, then, surprisingly Sakiko makes a move. She includes stalker Maya in her just-forming relationship with Chihiro…and the three of them become, tentatively, a unit.

And that simple turn takes this whole series from zero to hero. In a later chapter, Sakiko decides to join photography club in order to, of course, take pictures of Spring Shine. Her new sempai takes amazing pictures, but disdains pictures of humans. So, Saikiko drags him along to a Spring Shine concert where he finds inspiration!

The art is typical, with a lot of scared, pained, anxious faces at the front end, and a lot of genuine delight towards the end.

If this is the tone this manga is going with, Sakiko becoming the person she can bem  I think I can be convinced to come back for more. The first chapter’s Sakiko was too nervous and victimizable, I suppose is what I’m trying to say, to be likeable. But once she takes the situation into her own hands, the whole story becomes palatable and, dare I say it, enjoyable.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – Starts at 6, but moves up to 7 by the end
Characters – 7
Service – Not really
Yuri – Is one-sided obsession Yuri? The jury is out on this.

Overall – 7

Would I recommend this? Sure, if you’re looking for a quick read that doesn’t ask too much of you… sure. 

Final note: Spring Shine is a great idol group name. ^_^





If You Could See Love, Volume 1, Guest Review by Day

January 26th, 2022

Hello and welcome to another Guest Review Wednesday on Okazu. I’m extremely pleased to welcome back one of our long-time reviewers, Day! Please give Day your kind attention and don;’t forget to show some love in the comments. Day will be looking at If You Could See Love, Volume 1, by Yeren Mikami, which is out now in Digital format from Yen Press. Day, the floor is yours!

Ever since she can remember, teenager Mei Haruno has been afflicted with a weird ability – she can tell who is in love with whom because that affection appears as a pink arrow to her. The distracting nature of this aside, it’s gotten her into trouble in the past because it’s led to her meddling in other people’s would-be relationships, leading to her own social isolation. Hoping to get away from having to see all these arrows and get a fresh start, she enrolls in a girls’ high school… only to realize that not only are there loads of girls into girls, but that two of them are into her. And they’re both her roommates. Shenanigans and bathtimes ensue.

When I originally planned to write this review, I sat down, opened a word processor… and stared blankly at the screen, as I realized that, despite having read this within the past month, beyond the broadest outlines, I’d completely forgotten what happened in this manga. I did remember that it was a bit bland and not very good, and that there was something to do with love arrows, but that was about it. So, I cracked it open again, and this time I took notes. All of which is a lengthy way to say – this is a really forgettable opening volume. And, wow, my brain sure blurred my recollection of just how wildly stupid the premise and its execution is.
 
Mei is a fairly standard issue manga heroine, her personality lining up with what one could guess from her hair color (energetic, cheerful, not very bright). But did I say cheerful? Oh, how could I forget her dark past (pissing people off by telling their crushes they have crushes on them) that’s made her swear off romance?! Her admirers, friend Sayo and Rinna, are likewise not particularly distinct. Sayo is the childhood friend Mei hasn’t seen in years, and, yes, of course the girl has spent the intervening time pining for Mei… as well as growing very large breasts. Rinna meanwhile is tsundere-ish, and has met Mei previously, although Mei doesn’t remember this; the manga doesn’t quite come right out and say it, but there’s an implication that she’s also been yearning away for our lead for some unknown amount of time before coming across her again.
 
Despite Mei’s repeated insistence that she’ll never pursue romance because of her very sad past, its crystal clear by volume’s end that this is going to resolve itself in a three-way relationship… which is one of the few things I’d give the manga points for. I don’t care much about these girls, but this actually seems the natural direction for the relationship to move in. The other item I’ll grant credit for is that the manga uses the color pink in its otherwise black and white visual scheme to make things like those love arrows, hearts, and cherry blossoms really pop off the page.
 
I’d be hard-pressed to recommend this one, even to the most diehard fans of schoolgirl yuri (goodness knows there’s plenty better series featuring that available in English). It’s aggressively bland, with a bone-deep stupidity to the premise that is never elevated by the writing, nor are the characters engaging enough to make it worth enduring. 
 
Oh, it may go without saying, but there really is NO sense of queer identity whatsoever in this one. Also, I loathe the cover.
 
Ratings:
Art – 6 (its polished while also completely not to my tastes; I smirked over fact that adult characters are indistinguishable design-wise from the teenagers)
Story – 5
Characters – 5  
Service – 4 (surprisingly not pervasive but there is a very extended bathing scene early on)
Yuri – 7 (well, it’s definitely yuri, even if it’s very silly yuri)
 

Overall – 5

Erica here: Thank you so much, for this review, as much for taking one for the team as for giving me a critically needed evening off. ^_^  I’ll be honest, I do not favor Teren Mikami’s work, so wasn’t feeling enthusiastic about this. Blob heads. So thank you for the honest review!

 




semelparous, Volume 1, Guest Review by G-Man

December 8th, 2021

Welcome back to Okazu on Guest Review Wednesday!  I am so excited to welcome another brand new Guest Reviewer today. If you’re a regular reader, you know what my opinion of semelparous is, so I asked around for someone else who finds it entertaining to review semelparous, Volume 1, for us. (This is an Amazon affiliate link, since this has not been added to the Yuricon Store)  ^_^ Please give G-Man with a warm Okazu welcome. ^_^

I’ve been a fan of the “giant monster destruction” genre since childhood, especially those good ol’ Godzilla movies. Now that I’ve also become a fan of the yuri genre, when I heard that two of my favorite things had come together in a big action-packed package known as semelparous, Volume 1,  words failed to describe my excitement. A manga with strong gay ladies kicking giant monster butt? What more could one ask for? Well…

Colossal beings from a parallel world called “kaiju” are attempting to break through the wall that separates our worlds, presumably to wipe us out. Yorino Aratsugu and her best friend Haruka are training to be “bouhekishi” (or “barrier specialist”), superpowered soldiers who fight the kaiju in the pocket space between dimensions. The two are always at the top of their class, but on their first real mission, Haruka is killed in action. Distraught and fueled with anger, Yorino vows to exterminate the kaiju herself, and it seems the only one who can bring her back down to earth before she gets herself killed is her new partner, Captain Youko Kaminoi.

Based on that synopsis alone, I’m sure most of, if not all of you, are already drawing parallels to Attack on Titan; big humanoid monsters trying to break through a wall to destroy humanity, an eager young protagonist who becomes an angsty edgelord after someone close to them is killed by said monsters, soldiers who flip and twirl around a cityscape to fight the monsters with cool weapons, etc. Not to mention there’s a twist in a later chapter, which I won’t spoil for anyone interested in reading, that pretty much seals the comparison. However, the big difference is that semelparous fails to deliver its story and worldbuilding with any of the nuance that Titan did.

semelparous suffers from a severe case of tell-don’t-show. When we’re not in the midst of a high-stakes action scene, we’re listening to bulky exposition dumps, telling us what things are, how things work, or who characters are and what their feats/motives are, rather than letting us figure that out through visuals and the characters’ actions and personalities. While there are a handful of solid moments, such as Yorino making new friends at school or her exchanges and banter with Youko, they are few and far between amidst all the explaining.

And what about those characters? Yorino seems to be on track for what TV Tropes would call a “break the cutie” arc, in that she starts out innocent and naive but slowly starts to get horrific events piled onto her conscience; Haruka’s death, the aforementioned plot twist, and potentially those new school friends who have death flags by the truckload. However, she’s still able to open up occasionally and not let hatred become her entire personality. Youko has that typical “anime best friend” energy, in that she’s very outgoing and somewhat airheaded, but as a higher-ranked bouhekishi she has baggage of her own and some dark secrets. Like many anime BFFs though, she can be a bit too touchy-feely for comfort at times, and some will likely be annoyed by her lack of respect for personal space, particularly in one shower scene. Other than the two leads, there aren’t really many standouts as of this first volume.

Now let’s discuss the elephant in the room: the artstyle. It should be noted first that the author, Ogino Jun, is a hentai artist. One look at their artworks and doujinshi is a clear indication of that. As such, semelparous’ character designs, i.e. the female characters, are all drawn as Barbie dolls with balloons strapped to their chests. Their “combat outfits” are skin-tight, yet still manage to emphasize their assets. Even when the girls are out of combat, it seems like their clothes are a size too small to the point where the fabric visibly strains at the buttons. There’s jiggle physics, panty shots, shredded clothes, girls standing with their hips jutted out for no reason… the works. It’ll undoubtedly be laughable and distracting to most readers, and outright offensive to others. But if you’re numb to this sort of thing like I am, then you may find the art at least halfway decent. Character designs are very same-face, and backgrounds are nothing special, but where it really shines are the action scenes. Jun has a knack for dynamic poses, exciting choreography and angles that make our heroes look badass. The kaiju, while somewhat generic in design, are still quite intimidating and drawn in a way that makes their size and power felt. These parts were the highlight of the manga and admittedly got my blood pumping from time to time. Jun clearly has strengths, but their style won’t be for everyone.

In terms of yuri content, Yorino and Youko are obviously the main romance. While there likely won’t be a committed relationship between them for some time, what with all the trauma and monster attacks on their hands, the chemistry is definitely there. Yorino is stuck in an emotional rut, and Youko is doing her best to bring her out of it so they can both live their best lives should they be killed in action the next day. Yorino is also the resident gay disaster, constantly blushing at affection from both Youko and her friend Haruka before her passing. It’s rather amusing when she tries to be the brooding loner, only to turn into a stuttering mess when faced with Youko’s flirting.

Ratings

Art – 6 (when discounting the ridiculous proportions, 5 when counting them)
Story – 3 (delightfully dumb, but derivative and over-expository)
Characters – 6 (basic but still fun and plenty of potential for development)
Service – 9 (but for all the wrong reasons)
Yuri – 7 (starts taking off at the end, but mostly just teasing and blushing for now)

Overall – 5 (If you’re looking for something thought-provoking and emotionally riveting, this ain’t it. Though you might get some enjoyment and a few laughs if you turn your brain off)

semelparous, Volume 1 is out now from Seven Seas, Volume 2 hits shelves in February,

Erica here: Thank you so much for taking a crack at this and giving it a fair review. 

I haven’t taken a look at it at all, so I can’t comment on the localization team, but since this is from Seven Seas, I imagine they are doing the best job possible, as they usually do.