Archive for the LGBTQ Category


Lesbian Manga: Honey & Honey Deluxe

May 1st, 2007

Honey & Honey isn’t really a “Yuri” manga. It’s a manga about a lesbian couple, Sachiko and Masako (who is bi,) and their friends, some of whom are also sexual or gender minorities and some of whom are not – you know, like real people. It is also a biographical comic, written and drawn by Takeuchi Sachiko. Most interestingly, it runs in a mainstream magazine for women, Davinci, as a “Comic Essay.” And really, that’s a perfect description of what Honey & Honey is. (Thinking about it, this would be a good description for Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, as well.)

While the art isn’t terribly realistic, the storylines are. They go like this: Sachiko and Masako decide to go shopping. They look at glasses, and then shoes. Then they eat a crepe, and go home. And all the while, they are discussing things like the fact that they are on a date, what it means to be a couple, how the world perceives them and, most importantly, how much in love they are.

This all sounds sort of, “well, duh” but you know, it isn’t. Not at all. There are plenty of people for whom this would be revolutionary news – akin to aliens alighting – even here in my own beloved, mostly progressive, state.

So, when we watch Sachiko and Masako (and their transgender friends Kai and Kou) explain to straight friend Mai what it means to “be lesbian” or “be transgender” or any number of things that always seem self-evident, but just aren’t to a lot of people, it might feel a little preachy, but it isn’t meant that way at all. In the same way Rivkah described Steady Beat to me as having been written for Austin, Texas, this book was written for the average women of Tokyo – for whom sexual minorities are, really, aliens.

Other chapters include such amusing pastimes as shopping for “adult” toys, and attending any number of GLBT events, and the people that they meet.

There’s nothing dramatic in this series. That’s the point. It’s a slice-of-life look into a life that most people don’t live. It’s refreshingly normal, with a little heaviness on the “teaching” side. There are pages of term definitions and some facts about gender transitioning, and even recent LGBT history in Tokyo. None of those is to my taste – it gets in the way of the story for me, but I am not the target audience.

Overall, Honey & Honey is a sweet and mild look at lesbian life, with a good nature and gentle humor. Guaranteed to offend no one but those people who insist on being offended by the very existence of sexual minorities. If this were translated into English, it would be the thing you could give your relatives to explain the whole “gay thing” to them. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6 Intentionally silly/cute
Story – 6 Slightly bland but realistic
Characters – 6 No drama, but c’mon, we’re talking LGBTQ folks here! So unrealistic. ^_^
Lesbian – 10 A lesbian “onna-doushi love couple”
Service – 0 Not even the sex toy chapter has service

Overall – 6

I enjoyed the glimpse at beginning and end of the book of the characters drawn as if they were in more standard manga form. Kai and Kou in “shoujo manga” form made me laugh. Of course they are totally beautiful.

BGM: Cookie Day by Shonen Knife. (It’s a beautiful cookie day!)





Lesbian Novel: Himeyuri-tachi no Houkago

April 20th, 2007

This is me reading Himeyuri-tachi no Houkago:

^_^

o_o

o_O

O_O

I had absolutely no expectations of this book when I got it. Never read a single review, never even read the description. I bought it entirely based on the fact that Mori Natsuko is a famous lesbian author and I liked the title. ^_^ I was totally, completely unprepared for the kind of stories the book contains. It turned out to be a collection of “erotic fiction.” In other words, Himeyuri-tachi no Houkago was unremittingly filthy. It was also brilliant. This is *exactly* the kind of thing that makes spending all those hours learning to read Japanese worthwhile. ^_^

All the stories are short tales of emotional S&M and light B&D sometimes in a school setting, other times not. The way each story is constructed lets the reader know that the author is completely aware of how silly each premise is (and they get REALLY silly at times) and that she just doesn’t care, thanks. This is the kind of cheesy titillation that Strawberry Panic attempted, but came nowhere near the level of intelligence and artistry (and wtf-ness) that Mori-sensei attains here.

The first story was mostly a tale of emotional sadism in high school, but that was followed quickly by revenge against a school counselor who calls two girls’ relationship a “pseudo” love. Extra kudos to the protagonist, Miu, who pegs the teacher’s comment as a beard for her own gay leanings.

There’s the story that takes place in the future, when masturbation is an Olympic sport (I’m laughing as I type that, because the story is just…indescribably funny) and the hysterical story about the day when the aliens show up and demand to see a lesbian threesome in order to save the world. ^_^

My favorite story was the penultimate one in which an old-school sukeban gang girl type shows up at a rich girl’s school to challenge “the chief” – only to be tied up and tamed by the Student Council. Oh my god…so brilliant. I read this traveling home on the train – I hope my fellow passengers weren’t too freaked out by my fits of shrieking laughter. The last story is an homage to Mori’s horror roots, with a creepy sisters-by-marriage story with an unpleasantly ambiguous end.

And despite the absurd premises, this book was pretty hot. So bonus points for Mori, because that takes actual skill.

Ratings:

Story – 8 on average, with moments of 12
Characters – 8 on average
Yuri – 127
Service – 10

This book was so “stimulating” that I’ve already come up with two stories in homage to the sheer evil genius here. ^_^ I *must* read more by her…





Yuri Live-Action: Late Bloomers

March 28th, 2007

When this cynical, jaded reviewer finds herself grinning at something, it always makes an impression. Especially when I had no particular expectations for whatever it was that I was watching/reading.

Late Bloomers is a silly, awkward and surprisingly sweet look at two women who fall in love with one another.

Dinah Groshardt is a middle-aged math teacher in a middle-America high school. She’s pretty much the standard “teacher/coach” type, without the intense hatred of high school students one so commonly finds in real high schools. Carly Lumpkin is the school secretary, and married to the history teacher, who is pretty good friends with Dinah. Carly doesn’t like Dinah much, because her husband seems to have more to talk about with Dinah than with her. Dinah tries to be nice to Carly, but is rebuffed cooly.

When Dinah begins to teach Carly how to play basketball, it becomes apparent to us long before it does to them, that they are starting to be attracted to one another. It’s not long before their attraction reaches scorching point.

Once they become lovers, it’s not too far to wanting to move in and live happily ever after – which they attempt to do. When their relationship is discovered, it polarizes the town. Dinah loses her job and Carly apparently returns to her husband…but not for long. In the end, they force the town to deal with them and their relationship by having a very public wedding.

The end was incredibly stupid and pat – everyone who was against the relationship shows up anyway and kids, husband and co-workers all suddenly are okay with it all. But, you know – fine. It’s a romantic comedy, not a realistic slice-of-life or a drama or anything. It’s just a goofy movie about two not particularly sexy people falling in love. (I have to say, though, one of the characters reminded me strongly of a friend, which probably made her cuter to me than maybe to other viewers.)

What absolutely makes the move work – and far exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations – was how horribly sincere and awkward the characters of Dinah and Carly are. Dinah’s marginal social skills are so cringe-making at the beginning of the movie that she feels *real* instantly. Later, as they find themselves attracted to one another, there is another realistically awkward scene, as each in their own home, they appraise their very middle-aged bodies in their bathroom mirrors. Again, so real, that I didn’t have to suspend disbelief at all.

The emphasis here is on romance and self-discovery, but the bed scenes were just about right for this movie. No punches pulled, but nothing explicit.

If this was a movie about two teenagers, it would have been just another coming out flick. And really, it *is* just another coming out flick, because there are plenty of one woman in straight relationship x one lesbian falling in love movies out there. But a harmless and entertaining example of the breed.

Ratings:

Cinematography – 8
Characters – so painful they were good – 7
Story – 5
Yuri – 10
Service – not lesbian porn by any stretch of the imagination – 1

Late Bloomers was the goopy, soppy sentimental kind of cute. Not really a movie to have a bunch of people over to watch, I don’t think. This is a home alone, curled up on the couch with ice cream, type movie. Perfect for days when you’re under the weather.





Lesbian Novel: Red Light

March 4th, 2007

Victoria “Tori” Scotts is a young woman with a lot on her plate. In her third year of college, she is looking for a way to support her family, build a career and have a life with the woman she loves, Kerry. It’s a great deal to balance – especially when no one seems to be all that supportive of her dream to become an EMT.

Tori struggles against the unreasonable expectations of her mother – a woman wounded by love and crushed by circumstance – and the constant comparison with her famous cousin, music star Nina Boyd. When Tori’s lover joins the ranks of those who have betrayed her, she is even more determined than before to carve out a life she wants, in spite of…perhaps because of, the obstacles in her path.

In Red Light by JD Glass, we follow Tori through love, lust and trauma on the streets and in her house, and we watch her come out the other side, a woman who has prevailed against much to become the person she truly wants to be.

There is much to like about Red Light – Tori is a real person, someone a reader can easily picture knowing or meeting somewhere. Young, superficially tough, a little crude, Tori is any typical New York kid trying to find herself in a tough, crude world. Tori’s life is filled with passion for her studies and her works as an EMT. The passages as she is educated in the ways of “New York’s Best” are some of the strongest in the book. Tori’s enthusiasm for the job is magnetic. As we read, we *want* to know how to handle these cases, just as Tori does. And we can sit back satisfied when Tori’s reactions are the right ones, and her skills are up to the task.

Even her weaknesses are real – we can hardly blame Tori for viewing her cousin Nina and her wife Samantha as “perfect,” even though we realize that they simply can’t be. Given her family history, her relationship with Nina and the fact that she has been compared unfavorably to Nina most of her life, it would be simply ridiculous for Tori to not see her that way. When, as Nina puts it, Tori does a “great impression of being an asshole” it’s almost a relief that she *can* fall apart so thoroughly.

Tori’s life is also filled with raw sexuality. At the beginning of the book, there is a strong dichotomy between the Tori who we follow in classes, with her family and friends, and the Tori in bed. These two people seem fundamentally irreconciliable. As Tori grows, the separation between the “real” Tori and Tori in bed becomes almost schizoid, something that is completely consistent with the lovers she takes. As the story progresses the two Toris move towards becoming one, the “real” Tori, the nice kid all grown up, the Tori this reader hoped she could become. Interestingly, as a writer who just about obsesses about “voice,” the quality of making each character sound unique from one another, and unique from the writer, I was amazed to note that as Tori takes new lovers in this book, the voice of the sex also changes. It’s true, its real, but not something I’ve seen very much in lesbian – or any – novels, really.

My *only* real complaint about the book was that the sex occasionally got in the way of the story. I found myself thinking – especially towards the end, “Okay, great, they’re having fun, but can we get back to the story? I want to know what happens!” :-) Also, I should note for those who might care – the sex and the language are quite *blunt* at times. If you prefer your romance and sex girly and mushy, this might be too much for you.

The world of Red Light is not a perfect one, but it is a rather enlightened one. The idea of homophobia exists, but it does not directly touch any of the women in this book. The lesbians are out, and mostly proud, the people around them accepting – even so far as to joke with them in the crudest possible manner without fear of offending. And oh my goodness, what a relief that is! There is no “coming out” angst in this novel, but it’s not a perfect world, as we learn when the subjects of marriage and criminal charges come up. Let’s call it an idyllic setting, if only so Staten Island can, for once in its existence, be called idyllic. ^_^

One last thing of interest – the idea of ethnicity runs through the entire book in a way that I have never, ever before seen. It’s a part of each character, their lives, their names, their thoughts, without bringing a sense of heaviness or cloying baggage with it. Perhaps the author errs on the side of idealism here, but I really enjoyed the various family gatherings that seem so stereotypical, but so typical and real at the same time.

Is Red Light worth reading? Yes, it absolutely is. Whether you’re looking for a sexy book with a plot that holds together, or a good book about a good character, with some romance and passion, then this book will definitely be worth adding to your “to read” pile.

In conclusion, I guess I have to say that Victoria “Tori” Scotts passes my litmus test for any character. I’d be glad to have her over for lunch anytime.





Yuri Manga: Aoi Hana, Volume 2

January 23rd, 2007

I’m a pragmatist. When I was a little kid, I had to get three allergy shots twice a week. Other kids would scream and cry and carry on, but I just went in and got them. They started using me as an example to the other children. If they left me alone for a second with the other kid, I’d always say, “Look, you might as well stop crying – they’re going to give you the shots anyway, and the longer you cry, the longer you’re going to be here.” And that’s pretty much my attitude today. Things happen, and sometimes there’s just nothing you can do to stop them. Sometimes you can see those things coming. It doesn’t make them any easier to deal with, but it makes it easier to get past them.

I think that this is an important lesson – and it’s the thing I took away from Aoi Hana, Volume 2. Fumi, for all that she is a crybaby, appears to be a pragmatist. I deeply respect that.

(For a quick overview of the characters in this series and the events of the first volume, take a look at my review of Aoi Hana, Volume 1.)

Volume 2 of Aoi Hana covers the big event, when both schools get together for their stage version of Wuthering Heights. Yasuko-sempai is extra super cool as Heathcliffe, as expected. And, unexpectedly, she seems to really be making an effort to reach Fumi as a person, not just as a girlfriend. Then the other boot drops. I saw it coming (and so, I think, did Fumi) but when it came, it came in a way that completely lacked melodrama. And that, in a nutshell, is why I like this series so much. The characters are just as unsure of themselves as any teens, but there’s a distinct lack of shrieking and threats of suicide.  In all honesty, when I read any book, part of what goes on in my mind is “Would I want to hang out with any of these people? Would I let anyone in this story come over for lunch? No one, not one character in Life would be allowed in my house – while just about everyone in Aoi Hana would.

Other stuff happens, of course. Akira remains cheerful and understanding, without ever being a sop. I don’t trust or like Kyouko, even if she seems to be a good person, for a few reasons. We meet Yasuko’s extremely interesting family, and learn Yasuko’s big secret, which isn’t one really, if you have more than one brain cell to rub together.

At the end of the volume, when everyone’s crying into their tea, I couldn’t find it in myself to be upset, or even annoyed. I felt a little lonely, maybe, but hopeful that much of what happened will be resolved in the next volume.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 8
Story – 7
Yuri – 8
Service – 1

Overall – 8

It’s drama, not melodrama.