Archive for the English Manga Category


LGBTQ Manga: Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare, Volume 2 (English)

August 9th, 2019

Every once in a while in any media, something comes along that is so radical, so once-in-a-lifetime, so game changing that even if the buzz around it is hyperbolic, it cannot be enough. (Except for television, which talks about every show as if it is a masterpiece, no matter how banal.) When it comes to queer manga, we’ve had a relative glut the past few years with manga like My Brother’s Husband, My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness and now this extraordinary story.

In Volume 1, we met Tasuku, a young man being bullied for his sexuality, something he wasn’t sure about at all. At the Drop-In Center, he meets a group of LGBTQ individuals, who change his life, Haruko and her wife Saki, Chaico, an elderly gay man, Nanami-kun older than Tasuku, but young and attractive to him, and Misora, a young trans girl.

In Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare, Volume 2, Tasuku tries to understand Misora a little better. She’s struggling with mutually exclusive gender identity and puberty. She’s so alone that Tasuku’s attempts to get closer are seen as insults. And Tasuku only has so much time and attention for the youngest member of the Drop-In Center, as he’s finally starting to admit to himself what the people around him have known…that he is gay. He is learning to accept that he has a crush on a classmate, to figure out what he’s going to do with the house he’s been given to rehabilitate and, in the few empty spaces, he’s trying to be there for Misora, who isn’t making it easy. Misora’s struggles are equal or greater to Tasuku’s, but he only has so much of himself to spread around. A friendly date to a local festival ends in disaster.

Haruko takes several opportunities to make important points about LGBTQ people and life, and is, as she has been from the beginning, the strong backbone of this circle.

Beyond the drama that is stirring at the Center, and unbeknownst to Tasuku, his crush may have learned his secret.  Volume 3 will be explosive.

The art is excellent, at times breathtaking. The representation of queer people living their lives, dealing with both society and individuals who seek to harm them, or make them invisible, and the internal struggle with acceptance and understanding that every individual must work through, is handled in very real, very nuanced strokes.

Creator Yuhki Kamatani and the series deserve all the praise they received. I also want to take a moment to note the folks who have worked on the English adaptation: translator Jocylene Allen; adapter Ysabet MacFarlane, both of whom I consider masters at their craft; Kaitlin Wiley, who did lettering and retouch – one of the most difficult jobs in manga; KC Fabellon whose cover design is true to the original and legible and striking; original designer Hiroshi Nigami, a credit I am very pleased to see here; proofreaders Kurestin Armada and Danielle King, editor Jenn Grunigen, and Production Manager Lissa Patillo the unsung heroes of great works. Amazing job, every one of you. Please note that Seven Seas credits every single person who brought this amazing manga to you. Not every manga company does and I want to say that this is definitely one of two things that has set Seven Seas apart from every other company since the beginning.  I’m also going to shout out to Lianne Sentar who is Marketing Manager for Seven Seas, and Jason and Adam at the top who make the choices. This was a really good one.

I hope to see this book break records, like Nagata-sensei’s work has, because if there is a manga series that I consider more important to LGBTQ folks than Lesbian Experience….it’s this one.

Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare is a masterpiece of LGBTQ life in Japan and a masterwork of a manga.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters- 8
LGBTQ – 10
Service – 0

Overall – 9

It has been just shy of a year since I reviewed the Japanese edition of this book. Even knowing what will happen in Volume 3 (slated for a September release, whoo!) and Volume 4 (which hits shelves in December!), I cannot wait to read them all over again!

When I reviewed the Japanese edition, so many of you said you couldn’t wait for it in English. Well…here it is! This series will make a great  holiday gift for your young queer friends and relatives. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Yuri is My Job, Volume 4 (English)

July 22nd, 2019

Yuri is My Job is unquestionably rooted in Yuri tropes. It is indubitably based around intense emotional relationships between women. There is one one-sided romantic relationship, the acted frisson of relationship between two characters and, in Volume 4, we learn of a past romantic relationship among the Liebe cafe staff. But there is not a romance among the main characters…as of yet. For all I know, there may never be.

So, I ask you, my dear readers: is Yuri is My Job a “Yuri” manga?” ^_^ Think about it, then tell me what you think in the comments. I’m not planning on editorializing about this, I just want to know what you think.

In Yuri is My Job, Volume 4, we delve ever more deeply into Kanako’s inner life, as she is poked and prodded by Sumika, who presents herself as coming from a high moral ground, but may in fact be more self-serving than she appears. We get to see that Nene is the staff member whose relationship Sumika has told Kanako about and it turns out that she may well have gotten that wrong, too. As Nene states so plainly. “I think I at least know how to fall in love with people on my own.”

Finally, the Blüme contest is on. Even after securing her vote, for some reason, Sumika will not leave Kanako alone. Kanako thinks of it as bullying, Sumika thinks of it as concern. And, after order has prevailed, Sumika as “third-year” has won; after all of the drama, the politics, all of Kanako’s desire to see Hime pull off a coup has been left behind, they come to a place where they are able to confide in one another. Kanako – finally – puts a name to her feelings for Hime.

And then the cafe moves on to the next marketing event! For the first time the “students” will be wearing summer uniforms. This brings a whole new crisis…and a whole new solution.

We get a couple of extras, including a fun little Yuriten-themed short Miman-sensei had drawn a “Yuriten Cafe” comic for the event the year I attended and I was all whiny at the staff about it not being real. Uchida-san told me they just couldn’t manage it that year. I hope they consider doing one eventually! I want to go to a Yuri-trope cafe and be made to feel uncomfortable about my interests. ^_^

The second extra follows Nene handling the various teas, and what motivated her to talk to Sumika about their failed sisterly bonds.

Once again, Miman-sensei gives us insight into their process, which I continue to find fascinating.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 5
Service – 4 since one piece of this volume pretty wholly focuses on breasts.

Overall – 8

Yuri is My Job hits all the right notes for all fans of classic “S” Yuri literature, animation and comics. One of my favorite volumes so far. There’s a lot of strong character-building for all of the staff.

So, what do you think of Yuri is my Job? Is it – by your standards – Yuri?





The Rose of Versailles – Behind the Scenes

July 18th, 2019

Today I am writing about something near and dear to my heart – the upcoming publication of shoujo manga classic The Rose of Versailles, by Riyoko Ikeda! There is a single, specific reason I want to write about this, but it’s going to take a while to get to, so buckle in for a story. ^_^

For one thing, I was absolutely thrilled to be able to assist with this production, and I want to be really honest about this, because I didn’t do fuck all to get this job. That this job landed in my lap is an example of the single most important piece of advice I have ever received from my mother – It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. This is one of the ugliest truths in the world, but it is a TruthTM. I happen to be friends with key people on this project; people who know me, know my skills and strengths and who trusted me to do something for them.

Which brings me to the next thing I want to point out – this series was translated by two different translators, both of whom I adore and consider good friends, Mari Morimoto and Jocylene Allen. Mari has been responsible for some of the best known and best-selling manga on the market, including Naruto. You’ve read Jocylene’s work in a ton of Yuri manga. Both of these women are incredibly talented and I have immense respect for their work – no ‘but’s. They are geniuses. Put a pin in this, because we will swing back here towards the end. In this case, one of the translators, Mari Morimoto asked me to edit/adapt their script as a hire by her, personally. She needed someone to bounce some concepts/choices off of. Again, let me be clear – I did not make any translation choices. I made suggestions of ways to make things sound better. In the end, the translation is the translator’s work, but where there are three ways to say the same thing, as an adapter, I’m looking at the voice of the character, the tone of the story, and suggesting a way to say it that reads more consistently.

I was in discussion with the publisher one day who was bemoaning some extraordinarily tedious work he had to do as part of getting things organized and simply offered to do some of the grunty bullshit that was needed. ^_^ Editorial assist crap. Like, here’s a 5 page Excel spreadsheet, fill-it-in-for-me stuff. When people say they want to work in publishing I’m not sure what they think they’ll be doing, but let me assure you – this is what you are doing. ^_^ My editorial assistant is taking pieces I write, and incredibly tediously adding in footnotes. I do not envy her this work – which is why I hired her! I hate footnoting things. It’s boring shit that has to be done.

Sometime later, when the series was close to completed, I was once again talking to the publisher and he commented that he needed someone to go back and just read the whole thing and make sure all the names were consistent. This seems obvious, but there were two translator shifts, from one person to another, then back. Sure it seems like it might be easy, Marquis de Lafayette isn’t going to be spelled differently because he’s a real person, barring an honest typo. How about Girodelle who was wholly made up and whose name is not Girodelle nor Girodel, but ジェローデル? So I had the honor and pleasure of reading the whole thing in the most tedious and painstaking manner I could, not paying attention to the story, per se, but all the individual words. I ended up fixing some stuff and caught a few typos, which brings me to an important point:

There will always be typos.

Are you, like me, one of those people who cannot not edit as they read? I get it, I really do. As a reviewer if I catch a minor typo and I can tell the publisher, I do. But generally I, like you, am reading the retail copy (on purpose. I don’t often remember to ask for review copies, because I also want to support the work with my money. I do note when I get a review copy, but it’s not all that common.)

Yes, some typos are worse than others. Inconsistency in names can be annoying, misspellings of important words likewise. But I know from translators that sometimes something is explained in Volume 21 that they had to do their best for Volume 1-20 on. And the explanation might make their choice seem stupid but how were they to know the future? Or what if the publisher or creator wants that spelling? Yes, Zolo is meant to be Zorro. BUT, copyright is a thing, so Zolo it is. Jeanne d’Arc’s name misspelled in a popular series franchise pissed me off no end, BUT what if were intentional and not just the translator making a mistake as we, in our ignorance might assume? You get my point? And still, typos just happen. My famous story is that in the first printing of Rica ‘tte Kanji!? I had 2 editors, 2 proofreaders and I personally read it over like 5 times…and there was still a typo.

I have friends in book publishing who do editing and proofreading. They have been responsible recently for several reprinted classic works that have been re-read for hardcover, paperback, trade and deluxe editions…and they still find typos. AND, more importantly, they know they’ve missed some typos, AS WELL. If you are reading RoV and you come across a typo, you can certainly let the publisher know. But don’t get snotty about how dare there be a typo. We worked really hard and long and really hope there are no typos.

There will always be typos.

At last, I get to my specific point. I will be speaking about translation in October at Michigan State University and one of the things I’ll be talking about is The Rose of Versailles. Because the translators made really terrific choices. At least one of which will annoy the proverbial “some people.” It will annoy them because they are used to one version of the story (the anime) which makes a different choice, and they will ignore that the why for the choice is literally stated in the manga. It won’t matter, because as I have commented recently the old adage, “every asshole has an opinion” has become commutative and nowadays every opinion has an asshole. ^_^ Some of you will tell me that you don’t like the choice, and that is fine, you are allowed to not like it. But I am going to tell you right now that this is the right choice – the manga itself tells you that. Trust the artist to know her own intent. Every word, every image and every page of this book was approved by Riyoko Ikeda. Other choices may also be something you personally might not have made. That is also fine. I stand by the translator choices.

And, with that, I present the covers to Udon Entertainment’s upcoming release of The Rose of Versailles.

 





Yuri Manga: Yuri is My Job, Volume 3 (English)

July 8th, 2019

In Volume 1 and Volume 2, we met and learne about Hime’s inner life – or lack thereof – and, Kanako, Hime’s best/only friend who believes in Hime’s goal of marrying rich and living a comfortable life. But why would such a shy and retiring girl like Kanako even be friends with someone so shamelessly extroverted as Hime?

As we get into Volume 3 of Yuri is My Job! by Miman, it’s Kanako all the way down. How she met and became friends with Hime, and why she feels such intense loyalty to someone who, by her own admission, lies constantly, it’s all explained…to some extent. The rest of the story is Kanako’s own obsessive tendencies…tendencies that really worry Sumika.

As the senior member of the cafe staff, Sumika takes it upon herself to prioritize the harmony of the cafe over any one person’s needs. We get a tantalizing glimpse of her past and a situation involving employees in a romantic relationship and the fallout of that situation.

But for Kanako, she has a number of hurdles to jump. For one thing, her monomania means that she won’t speak directly to anyone else on the staff other than Hime, a situation that becomes that much more difficult when jobs have to be redistributed as a result of the chef calling in.

And then there’s the “Blüme” contest. Hime is shooting for the position, despite being told how inappropriate her desire is. Worse, in Sumika’s opinion, Kanako is going to support her. The politics of the situation are surprisingly complicated and everything is in turmoil. Sumika worries about the cafe and the customers, while Hime has to be reigned in and Kanako is forced to address her obsession.

Once again the author’s notes are excellent, really explaining the process and limitations of scripting an ongoing series.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 2

Overall – 8

Yuri is My Job! is a rich and thoughtful drama and a ridiculous comedy of manners rooted deeply in 20th century Yuri tropes.





Yuri Anthology: Whenever Our Eyes Meet… (English)

June 28th, 2019

A little over a year ago I had the pleasure of reviewing Anoko to Me ga Autabi Watashi ha Shakaiin Yuri Anthology (あの娘と目が合うたび私は 社会人百合アンソロジー). Today I have the even greater pleasure of reviewing the translated edition, Whenever Our Eyes Meet…!

The place of anthologies in the west are still pretty shaky. People are sometimes confused by the idea of a scene, or a concept being the point, rather than a fully developed story. Japanese anthologized stories are so often just a scenario or setup to something that we are then supposed to imagine the rest of, rather than a complete story. But for a glimpse of the variety in jousei Yuri manga being created in Japan, this is a great collection. My favorites remain the same as in the JP edition. Quoting myself:

The volume starts off really strongly with a lovely cover image and opening story by Harukawa You. In the opening story, a graphic designer is hired to do a CD cover design for an indie singer whose schtick is wearing a horse head. What is hidden underneath the mask is a really lovely young lady who admires her work.

I really enjoyed irua’s “Everyone’s Missing Out” in which a unloved boss turns out to have a secret supporter among the employees. I still enjoy this one, especially as the boss is middle aged.

Seta Seta’s “Stopped Meter” was a ridiculous story I liked about a female cab driver finding herself driving someone she knew a long time ago in another job.

And Yuki Yukiko’s ”Hand-delivered Love Letter,” about a woman who works at a shipping company and her charming and beautiful customer, was a terrific end story for the book.

Yen did another lovely job, and Leighann Harvey’s translation was seamless, but for one complaint which is not her fault. I will stick to my guns and say that Yen translating “Yuri” in the title is pointless. Yuri is a genre term and does not need translation. You don’t have to translate the word “daikon” in a recipe, either. It’s called a daikon. Yen’s refusal to acknowledge that we’ve worked long and hard to get that term recognized is a pain point for me and exactly why I do not tend to count Yen as “allies” in the manga industry. Queer folks and our allies understand how hard we fight for our words and how much it takes to have them recognized. Yen’s management does not and will not recognize this because this is not their fight and they don’t “get” why it’s important. Nice people, who do a great job, but not necessarily on our side.

Ratings remain the same as for the JP edition:

Art – Variable but generally good
Story – Surprising variety, considering
Characters – Generally likable
Service – Not really
Yuri – Yes

Overall – A solid read, let’s give it an 8

Realistically, I’m no more interested in falling in love with a coworker than a classmate, but at least they are all adults. ^_^