Archive for the LGBTQ Category


Lesbian Anthology: Sparkling Rain (English)

May 15th, 2009

Yuki pulled her face away. She couldn’t get used to the concept that anything that lesbians made was wonderful. She did want to support lesbian work even if she thought it was ugly, and she couldn’t stand heteros mouthing off at lesbian work. Watching this bad piece of porn, however, was tortuous. – From “Monalisa Night” by Izumo Marou

Well, you know, I am *so* right there with Yuki. I love to support lesbian work, truly, but so often wonder who the hell it’s for? Not me, certainly. And Japanese lesbian works equally, if not more so, sometimes.

And so I approached this anthology with a full measure of concern that I might find it teh suck. Instead, I have to say – with great pleasure – that Sparkling Rain: And Other Fiction from Japan of Women Who Love Women, edited by Barbara Summerhawk and Kimberly Hughes, is full of awesome and wonderful. With the exception of one story, every single story had at least a few magnificent gems. Not like diamonds in the rough at all, though – like a ring that particularly catches your attention in a jewelry store window.

The anthology begins with introductions by Sawabe Hitomi and Watanabe Mieko, two women who were heavily involved in the lesbian community in Japan. Their insight into the politics and social situations of the time fascinated me. Not terribly surprising, as I’ve been lurking on the edge of their world for so many years.

This is followed by two literary essays, one on Yoshiya Nobuko, the woman I consider to be the great-grandmother of Yuri. These are then followed by about a dozen pieces of fiction, including a story by Natsuko Mori that I had previously read in her Himeyuri-tachi no Houkago collection, and a few translated Plica-chan comic strips, with a breathtakingly honest introduction by translator and scholar Mizoguchi Akiko.

All excellent, but these were not even the best of the collection. “Monalisa Night” is a non-linear multi-perspective tale that follows a number of women in a cubist painting of a story. Uehara Chigusa’s slightly tortuous, but very real “Story of a First Love,” starts off with one of the most honest appraisals of the delusional relationships we create in our own mind. And the title story, Nakayama Kaho’s “Sparkling Rain” is incandescently beautiful, painful, realistic and highly fantastic all at once.

And still, these are not the only treasures in this book. Almost every story stopped me cold with at least one truly remarkable, memorable scene or line. Even as I write this review, I can call to mind a number of scenes that have burned themselves into my memory. These are all stories I will revisit one day soon.

Every story was surprising, every story was interesting and even the ones I did not like, I was glad to have read. This was not just a lesbian work, and so worthy of support – Sparkling Rain is an *excellent* lesbian work and so, worthy of praise and recommendation.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

Seriously, I hope you’ll buy this, because it was truly an extraordinary book.

I want to thank James Welker for making it possible for me to review this, and New Victoria for providing a review copy. If this had been what I expected I would be thanking them politely but, as this book was unexpectedly excellent, I thank them from the bottom of my heart for giving me this opportunity to tell you all about it.





Day of the Revolution Manga, Volume 1 (English)

October 8th, 2008

How fitting that today, the Day of the Revolution, we start with a hero. Today’s review was sponsored by Martin S from Austria – thank you very much Martin. You are today’s hero! ^_^

Day of the Revolution tells the story of Yoshikawa Kei, a little punk-ass boy who is respected by his punk-ass friends and kind of idolized by them as well, since he’s kind of cute and girly. Kei learns that he is actually Intersexed. Because of a complicated family situation, he chooses to become a girl, rather than continue on as a boy. Hilarity ensues. Kei, now known as Megumi, finds it just about impossible to hide her identity from her former pals, which was a relief, since an extended series of gags while she attempted to do so would have been dire. ^_^

Tsuda Mikiyo, who also draws under the name Zaou Taishi, has a number of strongly gender-bendy and fakey Yaoi and Yuri titles under this name. Previously, I reviewed Family Complex, another series picked up by DMP. Originally, DMP announced Day as a Yuri title, but I and other folks wrote in to explain why it really isn’t. Nor is it truly a transgender story, but so few manga really are, when you think of it. So, once again, if you’re interested in MTF gender switching, this story could be of interest to you. In a way it is a sort of Intersexed story although, as with so many gender and sexuality stories, the larger issues of identity are subsumbed by inane details of gender roles. I cannot believe that the *most* important issue of someone transitioning from one sex to another is sitting with their legs closed. I just cannot.

Nonetheless, this is a reasonably amusing story. Much like Family Complex the fake BL and fake Yuri actually work in terms of the comedy. I don’t feel like the author is dissing or minimizing the issues, just that she’s writing a comedy and we should stay light hearted about it all.

The other feature of this book is the author’s extended author’s note. Tsuda is the only author I’ve ever read that draws herself as a human as well as some avatar character. And her author’s notes are detailed pieces of autobiography that give some actual insight into the woman behind the art. It’s refreshing and entertaining, a stark contrast to most of the other author’s notes I’ve read. (The worst two so far, “Recently I’ve developed an interest in hand lotion,” and “…who has started developing feeling for organutans.” I mean, really.)

At the end of the volume, Megumi, stressed out about the possibility of having to one day have sexual relations with a man after an aborted attempt at rape, chooses her friend and mentor as a woman, Makoto, to be her partner. This is what DMP assumed made it a Yuri story. It isn’t. Obviously they hadn’t read the second volume. But I had. ^_^

More gender-bendy goodness to come in Volume 2!

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7, 9 if you’re looking for Intersex stories that aren’t porn
Characters – 8
Yuri – 2ish, if you squint
Service – 5, a little for the BL fans, a little for the rest.

Overall – 7

I think I actually like Tsuda on her own more than with her BL manga partner Eiki Eiki. Sacrilege!

 





Yuri Manga: Gunjou, Chapters 8 and 9

September 5th, 2008

Erica is on vacation and is likely having way more fun than you are right this moment. Except for the bits when’s she’s feeling a bit socialist and irritated by the excess of early 20th-century landowners and captains of industry. Tacky bastards. In any case, expect delays…with…stuff…and stuff, until she gets home and caught up on sleep and reintegrated into life.

Squee! Two whole chapters of what is unconditionally my favorite manga of the year.

In Chapter 6 and Chapter 7, the blonde (called “Sensei” by the Japanese fandom, on account of her being a vet,) and the brunette (likewise referred to as “megane” for her glasses) have spent a tempestuous evening, full of heightened emotions, dark despair, sexual tension, passion and fury. We left them in the tub, as the blonde lets the brunette see the tearful face she makes – as she tries to kill her.

In Chapters 8 and 9, we take a step back to see the moments before the beginning. When BL and BN have met again for the first time in many years, and how their akashic ties slowly, surely and irrevocably become intertwined in a way that affects not only their own fates, but those around them.

We know what happened to BN’s husband – after all, his murder is the beginning of everything in this story. But, what happened to BL’s life when she picked up one day and walked out of it? We know that she has an ex-lover. What we learn here is that she and her lover had been together for almost ten years and that her lover had gone so far as to call her parents and invited them to visit, because she wanted them to meet the person she wanted to spend her life with. They do arrive, but never get to meet that woman….

We see the results of the violence, the cascade of emotions that catapult them eventually into a life on the lam. We see the friends, the coworkers, the normality that BL walks away from. In counterpoint to this, we see the misery, the drudgery, the physical and emotional agony, and the utter hopelessness that BN faces every day.

In fact, we gain such a clear picture of how we got here, that the only question that remains has *got* to be – where are we going?

In her blog, Nakamura-sensei has discussed the sadness with which she contemplates the end of this series. It makes me lonely to think of a life without Gunjou, so I can understand her feelings – and their aren’t even my characters! ^_^;

Here’s my thoughts on the end of this series. I think that the *best* we could hope for is that they die together. But that’s not the way this series has gone at all. So, my real guess is that when the police catch up to them – and they will – the blonde will confess to the murder and to having kidnapped and beaten the brunette, turning her into a helpless and sympathetic victim. The blonde will take the rap and by doing so, will free the brunette for the first time in her life of being beholden to anybody at all.

It’s not what I *want* to happen, of course. ^_^ That’s what I *think* will happen.

In the meantime, I wait with bated breath for my next monthly fix of the most amazing manga I’ve read in ages.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 8
Service – 3

Overall – 10





Lesbian Novel: Sempai to Watashi

July 16th, 2008

Mori Natsuko-sensei is a well-known and well respected author in Japan. She got her start in speculative fiction/horror, and built up quite a following. She happens to be a lesbian and also writes lesbian and gay stories, many of which are extremely explicit and often, in my meager experience with her work, to have at least mild bondage.

Mori-sensei currently writes the “Yuri doujou” advice column for Yuri Hime magazine, in which she fields the same three questions over and over ad nauseum, but does it with the kind of humor and flair I would never be able to muster about someone else’s tedious relationship problems. Mori-sensei also happened to be a guest at Yuricon 2005 in Tokyo, where I found her to be a sophisticated and cultured woman.

Previously, I reviwed her book, Himeyuri-tachi no Houkago, which was a hilarious collection of exceptionally filthy short stories, almost all of which were so bonkers that my shrieks of laughter disturbed many an Acela passenger that weekend.

So of course when I learned about Sempai to Watashi I ordered it right away. ^_^

The story is pretty much identical to the setup in Hitohira and just as realistic. At T. Women’s University, there is an erotic novel writer’s club. There is also a competing club, which for argument’s sake I’ll call the erotic novel appreciation society, because I never bothered translating the long names for each club. The ENWC has five members and puts out a beautifully printed, perfect-bound anthology called the “Monthly Gomorrah.” The ENAS, which consists of two members, our protagonist Mitsue and her sempai Amari, puts out a copy book called the “Monthly Amazon.”

Both publications focus on lesbian sex, but where the members of the ENWC are self-admitted lesbians and to gain ideas for their monthly stories engage in free sex together, Amari-sempai is adamant about *not* being a lesbian herself, but rather being interested in erotica only for masturbation. Mitsue is head over heels in love and lust with Amari-sempai, so pretends to agree with her so she can remain by Amari’s side. However, after Mitsue is approached by Hanayo, the leader of the ENWC, she finds herself drawn into an ever deepening and widening circle of BDSM lesbian sex. Some of these chapters are not for the faint of heart. No lesbians were harmed by the making of these chapters, unless you like your lesbian sex to be sweet and cute and not involve tape over the mouth and the creative use of vegetables, in which case you’ll really want to avoid this book like the plague. LOL

(At some point I couldn’t help but wonder why it is that in my recent anime/manga/novel perusals, I keep coming up against so many things with the same style of ball gag? I have no opinion either way about BDSM., although I do believe strongly that it can be a lot more beautiful in text than it ever is in real life.)

In any case, after being the bottom to Hanayo’s top, and the bottom to evil loli Ruri and Jinko’s top, and the top to Hanayo’s bottom (a very nice bottom I gather, from the book,) and a voyeur as Hanayo is pleasured by her Vice President and adoring lover Eri and any number of other combinations, Mitsue defects to the ENWC, partially because sex is better than no sex and partially because Ruri blackmails her into doing so.

Of course, when the tables are turned and Ruri, who had during the course of the book kidnapped Hanayo and was keepng her as a pet (please don’t make me explain that…) is finally defeated by Eri, and both Hanayo and Mitsue are set free.

Mitsue immediately runs back to Amari, gives her the newest chapter of her erotic series “The Secret Adventures of Princess Karen” and is stunned to be told to get out by Amari-sempai. Predictably, the reason Amari wants Mitsue to go is that her new story is really hot and Amari is getting horny. Mitsue applies a *teeny* bit of physical coercion and bondage and convinces Amari that she is, in fact, a lesbian, and that lesbian sex is way better than masturbating alone.

And they all live happily ever after…except for Ruri, who is now the punching bag for everyone in the ENWC.

The End.

It wasn’t as funny as Hime Yuri-tachi and some of the extended BDSM scenes got a little tiresome (“You want this don’t you?” Nod. “Say it.” “I want that.” “Want what? Say it.” etc, etc…) but overall it was just a big, creatively executed pile of porn, in which a few scenes were really standout and occasionally quite sexy.

You know what I always say about this kind of thing – why else would you study a foreign language except to read porn on the train, while no one around you can tell. :-)

Ratings:

Art – 4
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 10000000000000
Service – 10000000000000 (Yuri fanboys would hate it. It is neither cute, nor sweet, nor loli, nor that “Story A” type Yuri that they all love so much.)

Overall – 7

I wonder what the reaction to me reading it on a Japanese train would be…. ;-)





Yuri Manga: Gunjou, Chapter 7

June 27th, 2008

While everyone else in the mangaverse is talking about the July issue of Morning 2 magazine because of the wonderful new manga series by American artist Felipe Smith, *I* want to talk to you about Morning 2 because of the story that’s the main contender for best Yuri Manga of 2008, Gunjou.

This manga is so awesomely dysfunctional that it makes me want to dance around in joy every time I get a new chapter. :-D Chapter 7 was complete and total win. Here’s the quick background: A brunette, who is a straight, married woman – whom I refer to as BN – asks her close friend, a blonde lesbian (BL,) who is in love with her to murder her husband. BL does the murder, and BL and BN are now on the run from the police together. Before you read today’s review, go read my review of Chapter 6, so you can catch up on where we are.

BN is in her room, thinking miserably about how BL wishes she had killed her, rather than her husband. She is clearly missing BL, although she can’t admit that. There is a knock at the door. BN answers it to find BL telling her how lonely she is, and drawing her in for a kiss. They fall to the floor. BN apologizes, saying that she’s got her period, so BL says fine, we’ll do it in the bathroom.

They have raw, totally unsexy, yet completely sexy, sex. It’s nasty, emotionally and physically. It was awesome.

But never once does the emotional brutality these two inflict on one another let up. There is a fabulous scene where, after they had have sex, the blonde pulls out a towel and snaps it, then reaches out to put it around BN’s neck. She, not at all surprisingly, reacts like she’s about to be strangled. But, in one of those random moments of tenderness, BL just makes a big fluffy bow out of the towel. It was so incongruous and out of place, yet strangely fitting and sweet.

In the course of conversation, BN asks what BL looked like when she was killing her husband – what was the look on her face.

They go to bed and sleep a little, but BL gets up and pulls a razor out of BN’s handbag. BN wakes up and they decide to take a bath. BL comments on BN’s bruises. As BN replies, we see the bath from outside the curtain, and hear the scream.

In the final pages, we see the blood running down BN’s arm from the hand that stops the razor blade from cutting her throat. “You’re crying” she says. “Now you know,” BL says, “what I look like when I kill a person.”

Total wow. There is nothing like this manga – how I wish I could make you all read it. It is beyond wonderful. I mean, sure, its awful, but in a good way – “awe full” if you take my meaning.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 8
Service – 3

Overall – 10

So, let other have their “Saint Oniisan” and “Peepo Choo” – I’m the number one fan of Gunjou, and proud of it! This is the perfect Evil Psycho Lesbian story. Best evar, IMHO.