Archive for the English Manga Category


Kampfer Manga, Volume 2

April 6th, 2015

Kampfer2At the beginning of the year, I was ambiguously pleased to review Kampfer, Volume 1 on Kindle, the manga of a short-lived and utterly forgettable anime series about a guy who turns into a girl and has to fight for reasons that remain obscure through the series. Now, through the good will of Okazu Hero Day, I am able to assure you that two volumes in to Kampfer, we are no more well-informed about the situation than we were.

In Kampfer, Volume 2,  on Kindle, from Digital Manga Publishing, Natsuru has to get into the girls’ section of the school. In a normal situation this would not be particular difficult, but this school has strict segregation, enforced with high walls, security (and barbed wire fences, probably.) Why? Who knows…add it to the list of “whys?” for this series.

Natsuru has learned that the President of the Student Council is a little smarter than the rest of the Kampfers – in order to force Natsuru over to the girls’ side, she’s kidnapped Sakura. Natsuru plays the hero(ine) and rescues the happless damsel, who was already in love with her girl form and is now completely gaga over her. Sakura asks girl-Natsuru out on a date, causing boy-Natsuru to die a little inside.

For no reason, Natsuru accepts and we are “treated” to girl-Natsuru dress-up dolls. No new plot information is revealed. So, basically, the entire volume had a single chapter’s worth of content.

I am shockingly not filled with despair at the idea of a third volume as, at this point, I want to see how long they can string this along without having to actually do anything with the plot. Much like the Battle Club manga, I expect nothing from Kampfer. Not even so much as an explanation, much less a resolution.  It’s already had the same Yuri we saw in the anime.

At the end of Volume 2 we have exactly the same amount of no idea at all why anything is as we did at the end of Volume 1. On to Volume 3 for more nothing!

Ratings:

Art – 7 Good enough that with all the service, I can’t read it in public
Story – 3 Nothing, with a side of who cares
Characters – 4 Sakura would be cute if she weren’t a doofus
Service – 8
Yuri – 3

Overall – 4

Bets on Volume 3 being any better? I didn’t think so.

Along with Kampfer, there is some actually good Yuri manga available on the Digital Manga page of the new Yuricon Store. Check it out for titles old and new for your Kindle device or app.





Yuri Manga: Whispered Words, Volume 3 (English)

March 10th, 2015

ww31Yay!! Woo!! Other terms of exuberance! We have reached Whispered Words, Volume 3, out in English from One Peace Books! Whee!!

But before we celebrate, let us take a look back at how far we’ve come.

In Volume 1, we met Sumika, who is tall, athletic and hopelessly in love with her best friend, Ushio who never even considers Sumika as a possibility. Ushio isn’t trying to be cruel, but she is sure that Sumi is “normal” as she terms it and doesn’t want her to get roped into the negative treatment she’s come to expect from the other students.

In Volume 2, it becomes increasingly obvious to everyone even, eventually, them, that Sumika and Ushio are in love with each other. Even as they start taking tentative steps to be together, life gets in the way.

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In Volume 3 as Sumi, Ushio and their friends all start thinking about graduation, Ushio’s grandmother is injured and asks for Ushio to come and take care of her, potentially splitting her and Sumi apart just as they are starting to have something to stay together for. Ushio’s brother reunites with an old flame and their grandmother puts pressure on them to marry.

While all that is going on, Sumi runs for Student Council President. When rivals for Student Council President use dirty tactics, and a member of the Karate Club gets in a fight, Sumi feels her best action is to remove herself from the contest. To everyone’s surprise, Ushio steps up and takes her place in the election. There can be no underhanded tactics, after all, Ushio’s been out since middle school.

The end of this volume is everything we could really have hoped for. Recognition that life is not easy – it even has some real-life homophobia, so when love wins the day it’s just that much sweeter. It’s a story we’ve been told a million times since we were kids, but it’s rare that we get to see it in a Yuri manga – sure, the real world can be awful, but love makes us strong. And so it does. Also weak. And stupid. But sometimes it works out  and when it does, it’s totally worth it. Just like this manga series.

The third volume goes on sale officially on March 17th. Pre-orders have already shipped.

I promised you – I swore to you – that this manga was worth it. Trust me, the ending is just as much fun in English as it was in Japanese. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Yuri – 10
Service – 1

Overall – 10

Thanks very much to Robert of One Peace books for the review copy, it was even better than I had hoped. ^_^ If you’re still waiting to get a copy of this series, take this opportunity to check the offerings out on the new Yuricon Store, where Volume 1 and Volume 2 are currently listed with multiple vendors and Kindle Editions are also available!





Yuri Manga: Whispered Words, Volume 2 (English)

February 8th, 2015

ww21Whispered Words, Volume 2  (Amazon / RightStuf) is the English-language edition of Sasamekikoto, Volume 4, Volume 5 and Volume 6.

And, as I said in my reviews to those volumes, when this much pressure has been built up…something’s gotta give.

The series started as a mostly-comedic “best friend with a crush” plot, expanding out to almost all the possible Yuri tropes that we were familiar with. For that alone, this was a pretty terrific series. But then the veil of comedy became thinner and thinner and we started to see a serious drama beginning to unfold…and more importantly, the abyss of possible tragedy. In a fascinating sort of reverse meta, the characters are painfully aware of the impending calamity.

Sumika and Ushio are speaking to one another, but nothing is being said. Everyone around them can see what lays between them. Even when they know what it is, they can’t just say it. The logjam becomes untenable. Thankfully, the tragedy that breaks it up is laughably mundane. Phew.

This volume has some of the best storytelling I’ve seen in schoolgirl Yuri manga. No complicated school rituals, no gender switched plays…no tortured metaphors. Just two people you can imagine knowing, in a situation you can imagine happening, and the manga is still funny and ridiculous and painful in places…just like life.

Technically, Volume 2 is a notable improvement over the first printing of Volume 1. I know just how difficult it is to publish a 100% error-free book, and it amazes me how jarring even a single typo is. Generally speaking, I think 1 error per 100 pages is acceptable. This book has fewer than that. Nice work by One Peace.

Volume 2 includes a sweet little short about a schoolmate of  Ushio and Sumi’s with powers of divination who can’t see her own future. It has a very “awww” ending.

The best part of this review? Volume 3 is already shipping. If you gave up on this series, for whatever reason, I ask you right now, as a personal favor – give Volume 3 a chance. It’s worth it. I promise.  ^_^

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Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 8
Story – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 1

Overall – 8

Many, many thanks to One Peace for the review copy.  Volume 2 was as emotionally wrecking as I suspected, and I’m very glad it’s in English for us all to be brutalized. ^_^ Volume 3 ahoy!





Yuri Manga: Citrus, Volume 1 (English) Guest Review by Amanda B

February 4th, 2015

CitrusV1SSELast week I confessed I just wasn’t enjoying Saburouta’s manga Citrus, and asked you, my dear readers  to jump in with a review. And once again you are the best readers ever. As a result, – it’s another Guest Review Wednesday and we have another Guest Review! Please welcome Amanda B who has graciously written up her look at Citrus, Volume 1 for us!

Saburouta, who made an appearance in Yuri Hime Wildrose Volume 7 back in 2007 with a smutty one-shot, has returned to the Yuri scene with a drama-filled, pseudo-incest manga titled Citrus. Citrus is currently in its 4th volume, running bimonthly in Comic Yuri Hime, and was recently licensed in English by Seven Seas (yay for more Iuri!). It has caused such a stir in the Yuri world that a Promotional Video was created (voiced by a few notable actresses featured in various Yuri anime titles) to recount the manga up through its 3rd volume! It’s pretty obvious this series is a guilty-pleasure read. Not everyone is into the whole “incest” factor, so discretion is advised if this isn’t your cup of tea.

The carefree and fashionable Yuzu Aihara’s world is turned upside down after transferring to an all-girls high school upon her mother’s remarriage. Not even making it through her first day of school she manages to sully her reputation and anger the beautiful, but snobby student council president, Mei. After returning home, Yuzu finds out that Mei just so happens to be her newly inherited younger sister, a detail mom forgot to mention. It is made evident that evening that Mei clearly has some boundary issues after randomly kissing Yuzu, at which Yuzu becomes literally dumbfounded about her newly appointed role as the “older sister”.

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Throughout the volume, Yuzu finds herself constantly conflicted between her increasing lustful desires, and trying to gain Mei’s respect in order to increase their family’s cohesiveness. One night when attempting to kiss Mei, Mei cries out for her father, whom we have yet to see, and the matter is not discussed further (at least in this volume anyway). After a series of disastrous events, Yuzu finds Mei’s grandfather (headmaster of the school) collapsed on the floor of his office and brings him to the hospital. After coming to understand Yuzu acted as the caretaker for her grandfather, Mei appears to be somewhat grateful before instantly returning to her tsundere mannerisms. The final arc of the volume centers on Yuzu coming to the conclusion (after consulting with bff Harumin) that her attempts to become an older sister figure have failed and that she is in fact, in love with Mei.

As a fan of Saburouta’s Yuri works, I am beyond pleased with the artwork. It is gorgeous! There is quite a bit of service throughout with various kissing scenes, particularly the shower scene. The story however is very chunky with a plethora of forced drama. Mei’s cold exterior warrants the obvious dramatic plot-hole I’m sure will be explored at some point. I get the feeling a good portion of the fandom for this series are in it mostly for the illustrations – watching pretty girls go at it is something I too enjoy.

Ratings:

Art – 10
Story – 4
Characters – 5 (definitely room for character development in the upcoming volumes)
Service – 6
Yuri – 9
Overall – 7

Sometimes I can’t help but wish Saburouta would just instead collaborate with another mangaka capable of writing a decent drama (maybe Shuninta-sensei) while she provides the illustrations. Volume 2 will be available in April.

Erica here: Thank you Amanda! Much obliged for the review.

I was reading Fujimoto Yukari’s essay in Eureka magazine’s “Yuri Culture” issue and something sort of dawned on me. In Oniisama E, we spend a lot of time watching Miya-sama and Saint Just’s unhealthy relationship on screen, but there’s actually another half-sibling relationship directly in front of us the entire time that is perfectly healthy – for a number of reasons, not least of which because Nanako doesn’t know it exists. Henmi and Nanako serve as sane, healthy foils for Rei and Fukiko, letting the audience know that it’s not normal to be so weirdly manipulative of one’s half-sister. Citrus is in desperate need of a foil couple, some representative healthy relationship,  to relieve the thick atmosphere of “this is not and really cannot be a good thing.”





Western Comic: Tomboy

November 18th, 2014

tomboy Graphic Memoirs are a bit of a conundrum to me. They are super popular, often incredibly well executed and yet, as I read them I often feel a sense of intense boredom, as I might if anyone were to tell me their entire life story in a monologue, without any kind of break.

Tomboy by Liz Prince hit me square in the middle of my problem area. Prince’s art is quite good, but her life…was my life. I already knew about the feelings, the gender expression issues, and the teasing. Although the details were different, the substance is the same. I wouldn’t bore anyone else with those details – at this point they are 40 years old anyway, what’s the point? So, reading about Prince’s experience with a gender expression at odd with society’s expectations was, for me, a trifle exhausting.

Two things made this book pop for me. The rare moments when Prince stops telling the story to comment on it were exceptional. It’s the adult voice looking back at the child that interested me most. I dealt with 13-year old issues at 13, it’s hard to be terribly enthusiastic about that now. But 31-year old Liz Prince commenting on things that were incongruous…“The irony of being called a farmer while wearing a suit jacket and carrying a leather satchel briefcase was lost on me.”…that was worth reading!

The second stand out feature was, honestly, the very end of the book, when she suddenly realizes that, although she thought she was telling a story about her life and the guys she looked up to and wanted to hang with and be with, she has a sudden epiphany that the story is equally about the women in her life. The girls she emulated, adored, befriended, who guided her and gave her the chance to become who she is. As I read that bit, I – for the first time in my life – had my life flash before me, in a series of memories of all the girls I looked up to, who broke my heart before I knew that was what was happening, who were my best friends until they weren’t and those who were there for me when no one else was.

In that one moment, this book went from good to excellent. Because while I don’t expect everyone to care about me, or my childhood, Liz Prince quite literally pulled it whole out of my brain and laid it out for me to see.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – My life, my friends, my experiences and me. 10
Service – 1 on principle
LGBTQ – 5 the narrative is wholly about being gender non-conforming

Overall – 8

So, from one tomboy to another (and who also gets mistaken for a guy about half the time) – Thanks, Liz Prince. Let’s climb a tree together one day. ^_^