Archive for the LGBTQ Category


LGBTQ Manga: Lesbian-teki Kekkon Seikatsu (レズビアン的結婚生活 )

October 27th, 2014

ltksIn spring 2013, Higashi Koyuki and Masahara Hiroko made waves all around the world with the first ever same-sex wedding ceremony at Tokyo Disneyland Resort (TDR). The two are both activists and writers, and their story was widely shared around the Internet and in print publications.

Lesbian-teki Kekkon Seikatsu (レズビアン的結婚生活 ) is the manga retelling of their story. Beginning with their decision to do a wedding ceremony at Disneyland and their experiences convincing TDR to accommodate them, the story is a very honest, very real, touching and sometimes painful discussion of their lives, their lives together and their love for one another.

Koyuki-san, a former Takarisienne, is the more high-strung of the two. She has also written a book about familial abuse she suffered as a child. After flashbacks to her first love in school, we hear very little about her life, except to mention briefly how difficult life at Takarazuka is.

Hiroko-san is, of the two, the way more mellow personality. We get a fair amount of detail about her life, and her relationship to her parents, all of which is actually relevant to the narrative at hand, as her parents help pay for the extravaganza. Her father’s speech at their wedding is illustrated with guests bawling happily and I was no different. Hiroko-san’s parents were, in some ways, the real heroes of the book.

My favorite chapter tells of Koyuki-san asking Hiroko-san to propose to her romantically, then grading her half-hearted attempts. My favorite was the moment Hiroko-san came home. “I’m in the bathroom,” Koyuki-san says. “Let’s get married,” Hiroko-san says. “Negative 5 points,” is the reply. ^_^

Many of these flashbacks are related as answering questions from the wedding guests. When did you come out? Where did you meet? Who proposed? All told with humor and honesty, interspersed with educational essays about LGBTQ terminology, coming out and other LGBTQ life issues.

The artwork by Sugiyama Eriko is appealing and cute, rather than realistic. It balances out the heavier moments well and allows readers to focus on the story and the people, rather than getting lost in detail.

If you can read even a little Japanese, I’d recommend this book with all my recommends. The story it tells is a moment of history that may well be the moment a tide turned. This is as real as real gets.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
LGBTQ – 10

Overall – 10

Koyuki-san and Hiroko-san have written a second book, about becoming mothers, titled Futari no Mama kara, Kimi-tachi he, so you can follow their continuing story. ^_^





LGBTQ Manga: Torikaebaya (とりかえ・ばや ), Volume 4

October 5th, 2014

torikaebaya4

Volume 3 of Saito Chiho’s manga adaptation of the Heian classic, Torikaebaya (とりかえ・ばや ) ended with Tsuwabuki discovering – we think – Sarasojuu’s secret.  Volume 4 begins with the meddling and slimy homosexual Shikibukyou no Miya, slimily inviting them both to an evening of poetry reading and song singing. Sarasojuu collapses and, mindful of the secret he thinks he knows about Sarasojuu, Tsuwabuki jumps to protect his friend, carrying Sarasojuu away to his room. Unable to help himself, he looks under Sarasojuu’s clothes and his suspicion is confirmed. Tsuwabuki tells Sarasojuu that he’s glad she’s a woman, he’s had feelings for her all along and they make love.

After leaving Tsuwabuki’s apartment, Sarasojuu falls into a funk that lasts for days. Sarasojuu can’t tell anyone what happened and is feeling very alone and sick about gender, sex and life.

A call to appear before the Emperor changes Sarasojuu’s attitude. Once again determined to live the life of a man, Sarasojuu appears before the Mikado and they discuss a massive engineering project  – rerouting a river. The Mikado assigns Sarasojuu as project lead, and calls to Sarasojuu, asking about  Suiren. The Mikado confirms that he’d like Suiren to be one of his women.  Sarasojuu visits Suiren, who truthfully claims a distaste for men, but the Mikado makes it moot by appearing. Suiren runs away and Sarasojuu pretends to be Suiren, but the Mikado appears to see through the trick. Suiren’s case is taken up by the Onna Touguu, for whom Suiren serves as handmaiden, who pleads with the Mikado to not have to lose Suiren from her side.

Things are super awkward between Tsuwabuki and Sarasojuu, until Sarasojuu invites him to visit what they both know is his child. Sarasojuu concocts a plan to give Tsuwabuki and Shinohime alone time, and spends that time again tortured over what life there is for someone neither truly man or woman.

We turn away from this self-reflection and for one brief moment, see Sarasojuu rising to heights of skill as chief engineer of the river project. We see Sarasojuu’s leadership qualities, and the easy way Sarasojuu  interacts with the men. For one moment, we see a happy Sarasojuu.  But, upon visiting family, Sarasojuu is called to visit Shinohime, who is pregnant again and has morning sickness. Sarasojuu also becomes nauseous and is suddenly, horribly, shocked to think that she may be pregnant with Tsuwabuki’s child, as well.

At the end of volume 3, I wasn’t yet sure whether this would be a comedy or a tragedy. Now, it looks like it’ll be a tragedy.I’m not surprised, but a girl can hope, can’t she?

We haven’t spent much time with Suiren, as a court woman’s life was much more sedate than a man’s in the Heian-kyo, but I imagine that Suiren often has similar doubts to Sarasojuu’s. There is a very sincere, very stark difference in men’s and women’s lives in this story. That both siblings have lived as their chosen gender this long is a good thing, but one just can’t see it ending well.

As always, the art is gorgeous.  And Saito-sensei is not ignoring the issues of gender and sex conflicting, even with the confines of the story setting. Sarasojuu’s internal conflict reads very realistically to me. I constantly have to remind myself to breathe as I read this manga.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 3
LGBTQ – 6

Overall – 9

I’m really hoping there’s a happy ending out there, even if I can’t see how that would possibly happen. Breathe.

Volume 5 is already available! I must read it asap.





Yuri Manga: Couleur de bijoux d’amour (宝石色の恋 西UKO作品集)

September 25th, 2014

housekiIt’s always a good day here at Okazu when we can read and review a new collection by Nishi UKO-sensei of Circle UKOZ. Today is a good day. ^_^

Couleur de bijoux d’amour (宝石の恋) is a collection of non-Collectors stories from Rakuen Le Paradis magazine, augmented by 2 online comics for Rakuen Le Paradis and an original doujinshi story.

Nishi UKO-sensei’s art is sophisticated and tight, her characters look like…well, people. Incredibly attractive people, but more like people than manga characters. They eat doughnuts, they get into fights, they go to bars, they touch, they laugh, they smile, they have lives with coworkers, neighbors, relatives and friends. They wear fashionable clothing, live in apartments, have jobs, face rejection, attraction. They have lives.

These stories are, in short, exactly the kind of thing I’m always looking for in Yuri – stories of women who love women, and then the story happens. It would be equally as valid to call this a LGBTQ manga.

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This collections includes 18 shorts – don’t miss the one under the cover! Of these, my two favorites are the story “Up and Down” and it’s sequel “helter-skelter.”  the first part, a woman meets and is instantly attracted to a new neighbor. Her emotional roller coaster as she learns about her neighbor (and her school-age child) is both sweet and amusing. In “helter skelter” she has befriended the neighbor and her daughter. The daughter decides they should all go to a public bath – the two women suffer from extreme embarrassment as we can see that they are both thinking much the same thing about each other.

Sweet, human, poignant, these stories are written with adult sensibilities in mind. From cover to cover, Couleur de bijoux d’amour is stylish and elegant.

Ratings:

Art – 10
Story – Variable, of course, but screw that. 10
Characters – 10 We get little time with anyone, but it’d be hard to not like them
Yuri/Lesbian – 10
Service – 4 These women wear fine lingerie.

Overall – 10

This collection is a shoo-in for my Top Ten List this year. I really hope there’s something even better, not because I don’t want this to win this year, but think of how amazing it would be to be better! ^_^





Upcoming LGBTQ Comic/Yuri Manga Events

September 21st, 2014

DSCN5321For folks on the East and West Coasts of the USA or in and around Tokyo, Japan, there are a number of events of interest coming up and I *hate* reports that start “Oh, hey, I did the coolest thing this year and forgot to mention it was happening in time for you to plan to be there!” So, in order for some of you to make plans to be at these events, here are several upcoming events that I think you might want to make an effort to attend!

 

GLFes 

October 19, 2014, Yokohama, Japan, Yokohama Minato Mirai, Hall Marineria (横浜みなとみらい・横浜産貿ホールマリネリア)

This is the 12th Girls Love Festival event and it looks fantastic this year.  I think this is their first time in Yokohama, and next year it appears to be back in the Tokyo area. I actually changed my plans this year to attend, because under the GLFes umbrella, one of the events is “Onaji Hoshi ni Umareta Futari” an all-Yuri Sailor Moon doujinshi event. Amano Shuninta-sensei (Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na) did the cover art and I felt almost obliged to be there for the first-ever all-Yuri Sailor Moon event, y’know?  ^_^

The way GLFes works is that there are a bunch of thematically-organized sections. There will be a KanColle “event”, the above-mentioned Sailor Moon section, Sakura Trick, Yuru Yuri, PreCure and whatever other series are popular will get their own sections. Tucked in between are original works which, as you may be aware, is what I like best. ^_^

There are no panels, but I will be with a few folks with coherent Japanese and hope that I can speak to a few of the folks there interviewy-like. Fingers crossed.

 

Geek Girl Con

October 11-12, 2014, Seattle WA, Washington Convention Center

The reason I will not be at NYCC this year is because I am going to Geek Girl Con. This year is the 4th GGC and I wanted to at least experience it once.  Pretty much the entire Panel Schedule is of interest to and focused on Women in fandom, gaming, media, comics, etc. What I’m not seeing a whole lot of is LGBTQ-themed stuff, which sort of surprises me.

Queerbaiting in Genre Television: Representation or Exploitation?

Gaylaxy Quest: Exploring Queer Fantasy and Science Fiction

are the only things I see on the schedule. There is a BL-focused panel. No Yuri, but I wasn’t applying to run one, and there are, as I always say, way more straight girls than gay ones.  There are some “Female Gaze” panels, but from experience I know that those tend to be very straight (and usually pretty objectifying men-focused) and not my cup of tea.

I know The Legend of Bold Riley‘s creator Leia Weathington is supposed to be there and I hope to hang with her and a couple of Friends of Yuri. If you’re gonna be there, do let me know and we’ll make time to catch up and say hi!

 

New York Comic Con 

October 9-12, 2014, Javits Convention Center, New York City, NY

New York Comic Con has gone back and forth on Queer presence and equity of representation, but this year they seem to be making a special effort to have a number of panels on Women in Comics and Geek Media. Here are few you probably don’t want to miss:

Prism Comics Presents: Women in Queer Comics

Women of Color in Comics: Race, Gender and the Comic Book Medium

The Mary Sue Presents – Strong Female Characters: The Women Shining in Geek Media

Because I will be on the other side of the country for the weekend, if you do attend NYCC, (especially any of these panels) and would like to do a write-up of your impressions, please let me know and I’ll give you a quick tutorial on how to write something up! Industry panels are written up by every blogger in the universe, but far fewer people cover the meaty topic-oriented ones. I’d love to have eyes and ears at NYCC. You’ll get a colorful YNN Correspondent badge to display on your webpage or social profile in thanks. ^_^

 

International Manga Festival

November 23, 2014,Ariake, Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Big Sight

The International Manga Festival, aka the Kaigai Fes, is held as a part of Comitia, the biannual all-original doujinshi event. Begun just a few years ago, the Kaigai event is getting larger and more exciting every year. A bit like the opposite side of the TCAF card, the Kaigai Fes has comic artists from outside Japan, and it’s a lot of fun, seeing folks who are bridging the oceans to communicate about comics and comicking.

Comitia itself is a very cool event. Because it focuses on all-original doujinshi, I’ve found some good LGBTQ narratives and some straight-up Yuri as well. Next year I plan on revisiting the Kaigai and Comitia and seeing how far they’ve come. ^_^ If you can’t make it, rest assured, a number of manga bloggers will be covering this event. Keep your eyes especially on Deb Aoki’s Manga Comics Manga site for news and reporting.

 

Winter Comiket

December 28,29,30, Ariake, Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Big Sight

World’s biggest small press and self-published comic show. Makes SDCC look like a baby event. It’s huge, intimidating and electrifying. Everyone who loves comics should do this once. ^_^ There are Yuri parody and original circles, but you have to work at it a bit to find them all.

 

And while this is 6 months out, I want to give you all a heads up for these 2015 events:

Queers & Comics – LGBT Cartoonists’ Conference

May 7-8, 2015, New York, NYC, Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS)
The Graduate Center, CUNY – 365 Fifth Avenue, NYC

The Keynote speakers will be Howard Cruse and Alison Bechdel.  More information can be found on their website or their Facebook page. I’m hoping to be there, although it means I will probably miss TCAF, because the world is like that, but I don’t want to miss it!

 

Toronto Comic Arts Festival

TBA, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I can’t rave enough about TCAF. It’s got a strong manga presence, a strong LGBTQ presence and it’s generally the most fun I have at a North American event. The 2015 dates and location(s) have not yet been announced, but if you can make it, do!

 

So there’s a few vacation ideas for you coming up in the next half year or so. If you’re going to be at Geek Girl Con or GLFes, let me know so I can say hi!

 

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LGBTQ Manga: What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 2 (English)

September 11th, 2014

eat2When I reviewed Volume 1 of What Did You Eat Yesterday, I found myself mildly disappointed. I like Yoshinaga Fumi-sensei’s obsession with food, and the idea that she had done a realistic story of a gay couple who was together and then the story happened, thrilled me no end.  But as I read Volume 1, I found myself feeling intense dislike for the lead character, Kakei Shiro, who came off as vain, self-absorbed and pretty sour. When I commented to other people that he and his boyfriend never just talk, they show no affection for one another and might as well be roommates, they’d all stare at me like they’ve read some completely other book. It was, to say the least, disconcerting.

Thankfully, many of these issues go away in Volume 2. (I like to fantasize that a bunch of gay readers wrote in and complained that Shiro was kind of a jerk. ^_^)

In Volume 1, Kenji and Shiro are a couple because we’re told they are. In Volume 2, we get a look at how he and Kenji met and moved in together, although nothing about their actual relationship. Watching the two of them is like being a teen over a friend’s house. You know their parents are “married” but they don’t seem like anything other than Mr. and Mrs. Smith, if you know what I mean. ^_^;

More importantly, this time we get author asides assuring us that, although he’s stone-faced or sour-looking, Shiro has hidden emotions of joy, triumph and satisfaction and his parsimony is not a lack of funds or him being cheap, but a genuine enjoyment of the challenge of buying and using cheap, good ingredients to make economical, delicious food. Okay, I can buy that.

The final part of the volume is rather serious, as Shiro learns that his father has cancer. This chapter hit me hard for the conversation about his reaction to the news. That struck me strongly.

The bulk of the “story” is still the making of menus, cooking and eating of meals and enjoying the heck out of them. Anything plot-like is secondary. But with these little almost side-stories, we’re learning about the people who populate Shiro and Kenji’s world…a thing that still lacks in many of the schooliest of Yuri. Characters in those stories are rarely allowed the luxury of classmates or family. Shiro and Kenji have friends, not always mutual, separates casts of coworkers, customers and people they speak to.

I love Yoshinaga-sensei’s clean art style and the detail with which the food is presented. So detailed that I was able to recognize slices of bitter melon. That‘s detail.

At first, I wondered if the translator was not a cook, but then I decided they were, they just had an ever so slightly prissy style – and to give them credit, they have to balance the idea that not everyone has a market where they can buy miso or dashi, with the idea of making a readable book. It’s a tough balance to strike and they did it pretty well.

I’m much more kindly disposed to Volume 2 than I was Volume 1. We may even try some of the recipes.

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Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8 Shiro’s fleshed out and I found myself liking him a lot more
Characters – 6 Everyone was less wound up this volume
LGBTQ – 7 Kenji and Shiro act in ways that indicate they care for each other.
Service –9  Food, food, food

Overall – 8

I’d still like to see Shiro smile a bit more. But even without, it’s a readable series, and has some nice touches.  Volume 2 warmed my cool feelings for this series like a bowl of Shiro’s simple soup. (Terrible line, I know, I had to do it. ^_^)