Archive for the LGBTQ Category


Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou. -Revolution-, Volume 1 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。-Revolution-)

April 7th, 2022

It’s almost impossible to believe that I have never actually read the Japanese Volume 1 of this series, but it is true. I had read some of it as a webnovel, when it was licensed by Seven Seas, before I had a chance to pick up the GL Bunko digital edition. I read and reviewed Volume 1 in English a year and a half ago, in fact, and then ran ahead to read the rest in Japanese, because it was that good. Until now, it was only available in digital form in Japanese.

Well, now Ichijinsha has licensed the series for a print release and, finally, I have had a chance to read the first novel in Japanese. Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou. -Revolution-, Volume 1 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。-Revolution-) was just as excellent as I remembered. Company drone Oohashi Rei wakes up as the protagonist of her favorite otome game, and decides to romance the villainess, the high-minded daughter of nobility, Claire François. Rae Taylor’s actions are ham-handed, but her experience with the game gives her powers and knowledge that offers many advantages.

Having had a year to experience the entire story from Rae’s point of view (and some of the story from Claire’s point of view) I can now see many things that were seeded to be resolved later…and some hints of the Truth (TM) about the world. It’s nice to see those things being seeded way back in the beginning. I know many more will also appear in the next two volumes. The overtly queer content still makes this series stand out from a lot of Yuri work. I’ll never get tired of that. ^_^

Ichijinsha did a great job on the book, with color dust cover, color character page up front (with hanagata’s original art for the GL Bunko cover as  fold out. The cover for this edition is a new work by hanagata. All of the original illustrations are included and two extra stories. The first story is from Lene’s point of view, the final bit from Misha’s. I think I’d love to have this whole story once more from Misha’s point of view, for reasons that are a spoiler. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7 Portraits of the people, mostly, rather than the scenes
Story – 9
Characters – 10
Yuri – 7 one-sided in this volume, but…
LGBTQ –10
Service – 2 Dressing and undressing, Rae acting like a perv….

Overall – 9

This print edition doesn’t add anything new to the story, but it gives us a definitive volume for lovers of this series. If you’re still a holdout and where waiting for a print edition in Japanese, now is the time to grab a copy. Although, I won’t lie, having the Kindle translate feature makes reading the GL Bunko volumes a breeze.

It will be such a pleasure to be able to give this series more space on my shelf. ^_^

 





Mieri Hiranashi’s The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend Licensed By Viz

April 1st, 2022

Wonderful news today, as online artist Mieri Hiranashi announced that her online manga The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend, an autobiographical manga about her trials as a butch lesbian trying to get a girlfriend has been licensed by Viz Media.  She’s been creating this comic for a few years, posting chapters and process posts on her Twitter and her Patreon. 

To celebrate, Mieri has posted a video on her Youtube channel! It’s in Japanese, but has English subtitles.

 

I’ve been a big fan of Mieri’s work and of course I’m delighted with more manga about – and here I quote Mieri’s Patreon page description – “Hot androgynous women.” ^_^

2022 is looking very good for both queer and Yuri manga!





My Wandering Warrior Existence

March 21st, 2022

Kabi Nagata is back once again with a volume of her comic essay work. My Wandering Warrior Existence is quite possibly her best work to date.

To begin with, let me provide a Content Warning of some significance, Nagata talks about a sexual assault she experienced as a child, and the retraumatizing consequences. This was not sugarcoated in any way and was rough to read, so be warned. The experience is not presented out of context however, and it comes not as the point of the story, buy a jumping off point for a comic essay that will make you feel many things. Horror and anger, yes, but also triumph and, dare I say it, joy.

The volume begins with a search for joy in fact. That search takes Nagata-sensei into her own past and out again, as she talks about her relationship with her body, her sexuality, her gender, building a habit of self-care and self-love. There are many deeply moving moments including one key moment when a fan letter explains something that she had not been able to understand and, as a result, is for the first time to see those things she was missing in her understanding of relationships.

Of all her works, this one feels the most crafted to reach an audience. Her first books were diaries and there was a sense that a reading audience was a nice to have. There are some many things in this book that indicate that, for the first time, this book was meant to be read, by us and our reactions are accounted for. This becomes even more obvious as we approach the end of the book and are assured that Nagata-sensei is finding joy in her life these days. And much of the content is constructed to be far more relatable than previous volumes, which focused on her personal struggles.

When I read this book in Japanese, I laughed out loud at this image of the thing that brought her a lot of happiness….a giant fridge! I had also gotten a new fridge not too long before I read this and let me tell you – you cannot overestimate the power of a new fridge to bring joy. ^_^

We’re left, as a result, thinking, if small things like this can make her happy, then maybe there is hope for her…and by extension, there is hope for us. ^_^

Once again, ratings seem pointless. But, both narrative and art here are more confident and there is humor, along with the harrowing.

As always,the care an attention from the gang at Seven Seas, means we have all the right tools to work through this book. Thanks to everyone who made this such a great reading experience!

I joined the Lum and Colton of the lovely Manga Mavericks team to discuss this book on their podcast this weekend, so keep an eye out for that when it is hits their website. It’s always fun to dissect a book with them. ^_^





I’m In Love With The Villainess Spin-Off on Sale in Japan Today!

February 28th, 2022

Last week, inori-sensei announced that her newest novel was picked up for publication by her e-book publisher GL Bunko. Today Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina! (平民のくせに生意気な!)  is on sale as a digital work on Japanese Kindle and in Japanese on US Kindle.

This spin-off of the the original I’m in Love With the Villainess novel, follows the events from the perspective of the villainess of the game Revolution,  Claire François! Get a lot of insight into Rae’s love interest, learn about her close friends and watch as her feeling for Rae changes in real time. ^_^

It has not yet been licensed, but I don’t doubt that we’ll see a license soon enough for She’s Such A Cheeky Commoner! ^_^

 




I’m in Love with the Villainess, Volume 2

February 11th, 2022

I’m in Love with the Villainess, Volume 2 is a super fun volume of this story. In many ways, it’s the first turn away from goofy comedy to serious story. This volume contains the first of many conversations about sexuality and gender that this series will provide. I know I reviewed this back in February, in digital, but I wanted to take a look at the print volume as well. ^_^

For the first time, we really meet the three princes, the love interests of the game “Revolution, “and get to know their personalities. This is followed by the student ranking, where we finally understand that Rae, as protagonist of that game, is overpowered and formidable. And how obsessed she really wad with the game…and Claire.

This is followed by a magical battle against a giant water slime, that forces Claire to save Rae, but also keeps Rae on the lonely path she had set for herself. We know this because this is the volume where Misha asks Rae if she is homosexual. I want to stop and say that the art in that section is devastating, as we see Rae with her usual smile, talking about the old her, about how she’s used to her love not being returned – and –  how she’s convinced herself that Claire’s happiness is enough. Devastating…and irrelevant as we know. Phew.

And then(!) the volume wraps up with the lead-in to the Academy Knights arc…and more magic battles, lest we forget that this is a magic isekai. ^_^

Following the manga is a bonus story about Claire and Relaire bonding, which of course is ridiculously cute, and character descriptions.

Many thanks to Joshua Hardy on translation, Courtney Williams handling the lettering, Nicky Lim for the cover design and the rest of the team at Seven Seas for an enjoyable reading experience.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 9
Story – 9
Service – 1 Very little for this series
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9