Archive for the English Manga Category


Lesbian Comic: she said (English)

May 14th, 2012

Readers of Okazu frequently see me request more “After the happily-ever-after” manga; stories in which the girl, having gotten the girl, proceeds to make a life with her.  Well, there’s a good reason why we don’t get that so much. For the presumed male audience who is really only interested in Yuri as fantasy, there’s relatively little interest in the building of a real relationship. Take Shizuma and Nagisa out of Miator and their relationship, which is doomed to fail once it hits the real world, is a bore.

But, if there’s one thing that keeps people from exploring the after the happily-ever-after moment in comics, it’s the harsh reality that after happily-ever-after comes, sometimes, not happily, and not ever-after.

When the Prince rides off with the Princess, we fade out so we don’t have to listen to the Princess wondering why his friends are such losers, or listen to them screaming at their kids. Obviously.

Equally, when the girl gets the girl, we often fade out because its really hard on reader and writer to have to wade through the period after 6 months or so, when the fires of lust burn less hotly and people are trying to figure out where they fit in to each other’s lives. One of the ways to do this is to create a death off-screen, and have the character deal with it, as in June Kim’s 12 Days. This kind extreme crisis, what I call “hand of god” writing, is not easy to do well, but it makes the situation fait accompli for readers. We deal with the situation as it was presented to us. (June did it very well, btw.)

What is significantly harder is a deft handling of the end of a relationship. One of the finest I’ve ever read is “Your Hair” by Niki Smith, which we included in the Yuri Monogatari 5 collection. It’s tense and frank and uncomfortable and sad. Absolutely stellar work.

Up until now, I have never read a story that covered the beginning, middle and end of a relationship in a way that was worth recommending. Today I say to you, run, do not walk over to Lulu and buy she said by Kris Dresen.

This story starts with the beginning of a relationship, goes through the flirting and the getting together, the being together, the discomfort of a growing rift, and the final throes of a parting all in few words. Each page has single spoken line, at most two. Nonetheless the story is rendered in depth with terrific facial expressions and evocative body language. (I’m a sucker for this especially, as shockingly few comic artists do more than pose their characters. One day I will show you Nishi Uko’s “Collectors” and you’ll all cry at what you’ve been thinking is good art.)

The most interesting thing about this story is the piece that’s left out. By the end of the book, we have no idea what, really, split them up. Although one can hazard a guess, that’s not the point. The point is that this story is every relationship cliché stitched up together to tell a story we’ve all heard a thousand times. But never once like this.

One of the things I like best about Tsubomi magazine right now is their willingness to deal with the not-so-beautiful parts of lesbian relationships. Abuse, both physical and emotional, and even overt homophobia, never grace the pages of other Yuri tales, but these are the realities that real women face.  If we want our stories to evolve, it’s necessary to face the whole thing and not stay stuck in childhood fairy tales. (Now that I think of it, we sort of got that backwards, with lesbian literature so focused on the end in early stories, then tentatively adding in happy endings, and now going back to face those endings more realistically and honestly. Less knife fights and predatory lesbians.)

Kris Dresen tells us a fable about the before, during and after happily ever after. It may not be happy, but it’s damn good.

Ratings:

Because all my ratings are really geared for Yuri manga, I’m going to stick with an overall for this one.

Overall – 8

My very sincere thanks to Kris who inscribed my copy with something inspiring and who inspires me to do more. ^_^

Quick disclaimer – although she inscribed it, I bought my own copy of this book. Don’t want you to think I’m sucking up to her! ^_^

 





A Certain Scientific Railgun Manga, Volume 3 (English)

March 5th, 2012

In Volume 3 of A Certain Scientific Railgun, the Level Upper Arc comes to a crashing conclusion in which tears are freely shed by many characters and by at least one reader.

Yes, even though I knew what was coming, by virtue of having read this series in Japanese and seen the anime, I bawled at Kiyama-sensei’s horrific backstory, and again when Saten was revived. In Volume 3, we get to see the strength of all three of our protagonists. Kuroko’s tactical mastery, Uiharu’s’s strategic skills and Mikoto’s sheer psychic strength, all in order to save their dear friend and the others, both good and bad, who have fallen victim to the Level Upper.

If the manga stopped here, as the anime did, I’d still consider it worth reading. This was an exceedingly entertaining arc, with pathos, nobility, friendship and even humor (although of all things in the series, it’s weakest at humor.)

Yuri ups a bit with a short side-story that quite specifically follows Kuroko and Mikoto and their relationship. It was this story that made me believe that Kuroko’s feelings for Mikoto are actually quite sincere, in fact.

There’s nothing new to say about this series, except that you should definitely give Volumes 1-3 a try and see what you think. It gets even darker and, IMHO, somewhat less satisfying from this point on  – purely because it  is less about the girls as a group and more about Mikoto as an individual. If the intersection of magic and science appeals to you, however and you like watching female characters with great psychic powers and little temporal power, by all means continue reading this series. I have no doubt that Seven Seas will continue to produce a fine translation, whether I review it or not.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 5
Service – 4

Overall – 7

Today my sincere thanks and appreciation go out to Okazu Hero Albert L, for his sponsorship of today’s review!

To become an Okazu Hero, sponsor an item from my Yuri Wishlist on Amazon or Amazon JP and you’ll get a badge that proclaims you a Hero, suitable for use on websites and social profiles, mention on our Okazu Hero Roll and my very sincere gratitude. Additionally, if you sponsor an English manga, the item will be donated to the Library, so your gift will allow many other people to enjoy the title. It’s a win-win-win. ^_^





Last Big Push to Make JManga Global

February 22nd, 2012

Dear non-North American Readers,

JManga is making one last push to try and convince the bosses that JManga ought to be globally accessible.

I’m sure you agree with me that having to beg to be *allowed* to give them money is not the most auspicious beginning a relationship might have, but at the moment, that’s what they want. Please visit their Facebook page and “like” the post about global access if you do, indeed, desire to give them money.

I once again award you all my “Best Fans in the World” Award and give them a big ole “You’re Doing Capitalism Wrong” award. ^_^;

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you!





Princess Knight Manga, Volume 2 (English)

February 21st, 2012

Handsome.

Manly.

Feminine.

Pretty.

Think about those words applied to a man, then a woman. For a woman to be “handsome” is perhaps not an insult, but when a woman is called “Manly” it almost assuredly is.

A man who is called feminine is probably not particularly thankful for that, and while pretty boys often get the girls, you don’t want your son being called “pretty” by the bully in school.

Sapphire is both pretty and handsome, and manly and feminine – but not at the same time and only at the exclusion of one or the other.

Sapphire’s boy heart makes her strong and confident, gives her hope and heart, but her girl heart makes her weak, hopeless and incapable.

Volume 2 of Princess Knight is less about imposed gender roles and assumptions than Volume 1 was, and yet is more problematic for those of us who want to see Sapphire the girl be the Prince we know she can be.

Aside from this nagging problem with this story – which is to say, the story – the rest of Volume 2, seems like a Boy’s Own Reader, with witches and demons and even Satan, Princes and Kings and Queens and pirates and a tournament.

The story ends (somewhat abruptly) with the reunion of Franz and Sapphire. I’m going to pretend that they will return to Silverland and find that Plastic has indeed declared Sapphire the true ruler, and that Franz is supportive and he and Sapphire co-rule over Goldland and Silverland and usher in a new age of equality…which is the exact opposite of the ending Tezuka implies here, but I don’t care, he’s dead and I’m not. ^_^

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 7
Yuri – 1, if you pretend that Friebe might have come around after time
Service – 1, on principle only

Overall – 7

Oh Friebe. You are both a knight and a woman and there is no nonsense about girl hearts and boy hearts with you. Why do people do not love you more?





A Certain Scientific Railgun Manga, Volume 2 (English)

February 19th, 2012

The first US patent for a Railgun (a device that propels a projectile through electro-magnetic force) was granted in 1918. I mention that only because so much of what populates our scifi seems to be a direct result of World Wars 1 and 2.

In Volume 2 of A Certain Scientific Railgun Manga, we’re racing forward with the Level Upper story, and things are really starting to look grim. When Saten-san becomes one of the people who collapses into a coma, it’s even more urgent for Uiharu and Judgement to find out what’s going on.

This volume spends some time with Kuroko in prolonged battle, so we can see that she’s got some real chops, and also to make us realize how forlorn Saten feels when she simply can do nothing to help anyone. It’s a feeling anyone of us might have had at any time. We don’t have powers, those of us who are not physically strong know exactly the level of frustration and anger Saten feels. We can’t just wade in when the going gets tough, the only outcomes is that we ourselves will get hurt. And so Saten does. She uses her last conscious energy to call Uiharu, thus goading Judgement into greater urgency.

Professor Kiyama is turned into an apparently evil genius for the purpose of this volume of manga. I like the way that ups the tension, as well.

The bigggest weakness with this series is the incredibly stupid intrusion of A Certain Magical Index.  Kamijou is a distraction, his reactions to everything and anything are absurd and Misaka’s obsession with him is random. I realize that Index is the larger body here, of which this is a mere spin-off, but the connection is so…unorganic. Everytime Kamijou appears, one just has to heave a sigh and wait for him to go away. And of course Kiyama’s propensity for shedding her clothing is merely ham-handed service.

The strength of this volume is Kuroko. It’s hard to take her seriously at first. She’s not nasty, but she’s a child, an a privileged child at that. This formula pretty much guarantees we giver he no respect. But here in Volume 2, she earns that respect in the old-fashioned way. She puts the beat down on an opponent much bigger and apparently stronger than herself by using her powers and her brains. And, to her credit, she doesn’t walk around bragging about it. Kuroko is the kind of heroine a book like this needs to be readable.

Yuri in this (and almost all the other volumes of the series) is minimal. The cover provides about the sum and total of the Yuri, with a picture of Kuroko snuggling a Mikoto doll and later Kuroko leaping to embrace Mikoto, but this series was never really about the Yuri. It’s just the icing flowers on top of the cake. ^_^

The Level Upper arc has a bit more to go, then the story turns very dark indeed. For now, we will watch as Uiharu, Kuroko and Mikoto set out to get to the bottom of the Level Upper and save Saten-san.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 7

In many ways I preferred watching Kuroko fighting, since she has limitations that Mikoto does not. All in all, a rollicking adventure, suitable for scifi fans of most ages.