Archive for the Magazines Category


Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime September 2019 ( コミック百合姫2019年9月号)

August 27th, 2019

After a lovely cover image by Shiromisakana to give this issue flavor, Takashima Eku’s “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Uta,” an over-flowing with emotion first love story starts off Comic Yuri Hime September 2019 (コミック百合姫2019年9月号) with a good feel. It’s not ground breaking, but I really like it.

One slice-of-life high school story is followed by another, as “Tsurezure Biyori” continues. Koharu and Mafuyu share a watermelon-flavored kiss, as one does in summer.

“Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatteiru” remains painfully adorable as date night ends up being interrupted by Hayama-sensei being a kind soul and helping a lost child.

“Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts” finally hits a jump-off point, as Uno-san starts to push back at the limitations of her “perfect” life and finds herself getting to know Satou-san better. Satou is a very honest and grounded person; she’s the kind of character we need to see more of, to teach other characters (and readers!)  to live your life, not what’s expected of you.

I skipped the next third of the magazine, straight to Ohsawa Yayoi’s “Hello, Melancholic,” which is hitting a number of buttons I had no idea I still had. I remember what it felt like to play music with others, when it all just worked. I have a particularly fond memory of a post-performance marching band jam, when were all locked out of the bad room and just played an arrangement of “My Favorite Things”…and it was just perfect. Hibiki obviously wants that for Minato and for her emotional wounds to heal… I do, too.

Oh thank the gods “Luminous Blue” did what I wanted it to do! ^_^ I was getting a little worried, but I can see that Iwami Kyouko-sensei has her characters well in hand.

“Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” by Miman-sensei has also finally taken the turn into the story it’s been running parallel along and fully committed and I am here for it. I am so looking forward to seeing where this goes. – and how it gets there.

This issue includes a short prose story called “Love Song wo Sakebu wake” by Suo, which is also available on Pixiv. We are definitely witnessing a shift in Yuri…

Ratings:

Overall – 9

…next issue of the magazine will include a bouldering comic; we’re seeing a foray into prose from Hayakawa publishing putting out more science fiction Yuri and LN’s from J-Novel club. Yuri is changing and that’s always a good sign of a healthy genre. ^_^

The October 2019 issue is out and we’re gonna pick it up today! I am slightly caught up for a day. ^_^

 





Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime August 2019 (コミック百合姫2019年8月号)

July 31st, 2019

Here we are, heading into slow, lazy days of summer and here we have an excellent bit of reading material for those very days in Comic Yuri Hime August 2019 (コミック百合姫2019年8月号). Most of the series running are matured a bit, having settled into their own millieu and we can just sort of sit back and watch the slow trainwrecks of oncoming dramatic crisis or enjoy the bright smiles and happy faces of couples enjoying their time together. Perfect beach reading, really. The cover story is cute and girly, as a woman convinces her lover to be her truest self in the clothing store.

This chapter of “Itoshi Koishi” by Takemiya Jin-sensei was the climax of Volume 2, in which Hina’s friend Rena lets Hina know that she knows Hina is seeing Yayoi. It’s a sweet and touching moment, when Rena affirms her love for  her friend and in doing so, convinces Hina that her friends can be her allies, if she can let them be.

“Scarlet” continues once again, moving forward and back at the same time. I wonder if it’s going to be allowed to go anywhere.

“Luminous Blue” is heading for a crash, one that we have been able to see coming for a long, long time and one that I’m not all that comfortable with. I expect the full collision next issue.

Shiki-sempai and Hina are both slapped upside the head with desire for one another and no physical or emotional space to unpack it in “Ikemensugi Shiki-sempai!”

Ohsawa Yayoi’s new story “Hello Melancholic!” is very reminiscent of “12-minute Etude” with almost identical setup, but I am content to see how it plays out. I like(?) Hibiki-sempai’s complete disregard for personal space. ^_^; Girls in band. I can be patient.

“Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatteiru” remains absurdly adorable, as the teachers tour the school festival and make out on the roof of the school. Absolutely inappropriate, both of these last two stories. Oh well. It’s summer, screw propriety.

Ashima is trying to figure out what she wants, even as she’s afraid of losing it, while Mayumi and Rin teeter on the edge of something more intimate, in “Umineko Bessou.”

As I said, a great summer read with stories for just about any taste in Yuri. Adults, school girls, creepy dysfunctional relationships, sweet functional ones, undying children, werewolves and whatever those other things are. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

I really like that I’m reading about 2/3 of the stories, (even the one about the undying child, and the horrible people in FLOWERCHILD’s story, both of which are grim as fuck,) and liking them, with only a few series I’m skipping whole because they are too intolerable. ^_^ And then getting lovely stuff like two teachers being so cute together I can barlye stand it and Hina and Yayoi and their friends, as comfortable places to return to.

If we can stay like this for just a while, I’ll be very happy. ^_^

 





Yuri Magazine: Galette, No. 10 (ガレット)

July 23rd, 2019

I know I’m running late with this, but I am finally getting around to reviewing Galette, No. 10 (ガレット)! Yay!

Reading Galette is always such an interesting experience. There is much variety and I’m often surprised when something I didn’t think I’d care for turns out to be something I like, or vice versa. I was a little bit worried that this was the end of my favorite story, “Liberty,” as Liz and Maki had finally come to a point where they were on the same page. I didn’t want it to end because that would have been very “Story A.” It hasn’t ended, but is has immediately turned in a direction I laughingly called “Story B” inside my head as Liz’s thoughtless former lover is probably returning to cause drama.

Hakamada Mera has an unusual offering this issue, about an adult couple that was very pleasant. Morninaga Milk’s drama about two women and their cat came to a head over… the cat. ^_^ “Kuri-san Kamo” told a story from a backwards angle that I quite liked.

This volume had additions from Galette Plus and Petite Galette. Color photo pages and color ink pages gives it the feel, a little bit ,of the magazines one picks up in the convenience stores. I’m not sure if I think it works, yet. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Another varied and fun issue of my favorite Yuri magazine! Here’s hoping that the crowdfunding picks back up and they can expand the issues a little. (I’ve bumped up my subscription, so I’m no longer next to the one name in the funders listing I actually know well. Awww. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime July 2019 (コミック百合姫2019年7月号)

July 2nd, 2019

Comic Yuri Hime July 2019 (コミック百合姫2019年7月号) was a little bittersweet for me. It marked the end of a series I hoped would never end, hisona’s “Goodbye Dystopia.” But aside from that there was so much that was else going on, that I didn’t have all that much time to be sad. ^_^

Kodama Naoko’s “Umineko Besso” took a different direction as we get to understand the story of Ayashima, and why she’s taking Mayumi’s intrusion on their happy household so personally.

“Tonari no Rakuen” by Kiriyama Haruka is a cute little adult life story about a working woman who needs a break and the partner who makes sure she gets it.

At last, we’re starting to get the backstory on Yano in “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” by Miman. She is not sure that she can trust Hime…and not sure its worth it, but she’s sympathetic to Sumika’s request to fake it beautifully for the sake of the cafe.

It’s school festival time in “Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatte iru” and Terano and Hayama could not be cuter if they tried. Until next month, when they will be even cuter. ^_^ Speaking of cute, Takashima Eku’s “Sasayakuyouni Koi no Utau” remains an adorable young love scenario. I’d add Yuama’s “Ikemensugi Sugi-sempai” to this list, as well. And “Itoshi Koishi” by Takemiya Jin.  All of these series have something that Yuri occasionally lacks – characters who really enjoy each other’s company. And now that I have said that out loud, as it were, I realize that that one thing is totally my boom in a romance. I really like it when characters like each other’s company. ^_^

“Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts” is turning out to be a surprisingly touching, as an office worker begins to question the assumptions she’s made about adult life.

“Scarlet” and “Kimi ga Shine Made Koi Shitai” scratch the horror itch, in completely different ways.

The end of the magazine includes a new JP publisher’s initiative to avoid piracy and the advert for Ohsawa Yayoi’s upcoming new series, about which I will have thoughts shortly. ^_^

Once again, this was a solid issue full of things I read and did not read and liked and did not like. The Yuri gods are in their heaven and all is right with the world.

Ratings:

Overall – 9 if I remember to not read – or even look at – several of the creepy moe series, 6 if I don’t

The August issue is already available and I’m already halfway through it. I love that there’s so much Yuri, but ahhh! I can’t keep up!

 

 





Yuri Manga: Liberty, Volume 1 (リバティ)

June 27th, 2019

Liberty, Volume 1 (リバティ) follows Honjou Maki, a boyish young woman who works for a small game company and is happy enough with her life, although the constant talk about who is seeing whom and who she might be or not be interested in is tiresome. Maki’s boyish , but still resents the fact that the other women just presume she’s not interested in men. She’s on her way home when a woman runs out into the street in front of Maki’s car. It wasn’t a suicide attempt, though…the woman was just trying to save a kitten from being run over. The women is flirty and flighty and before Maki drops her off, the woman asks Maki if she likes women. Maki isn’t able to answer, but the woman, also recognizing her specific boyishness calls her “Walking Coming Out” and writes down a phone number on Maki’s hands before she get out of the car.

Maki calls the number and learns that it’s for a musical performance venue. After work she goes over the location where the line is very long to get in. She learns its for the band Liberty and that the woman she met is its lead singer… and, that she is expected, although her new nickname is now “Aruku Coming Out” and she is a walking advertisement for her own sexuality now, whether she likes it or not. The singer takes her aside after the show and aggressively kisses Maki, making it very plain that she is interested in the other woman.

The next day Maki meets the new band that’s been signed on to do the music for the game her company is working on– the band is Liberty and their lead singer is Liz. Maki is clearly genuinely interested in and attracted to Liz, but Liz’s reactions are not…within normal parameters. When Maki gives her a pair of earrings a present, Liz yells at Maki to get out. We and Maki eventually learn why, but by the end of Volume 1 Liz is still mostly an enigma to both us and Maki. And her reactions are still over-the-top in any situation.

This manga is a collaboration between voice actress Kitta Izumi (Cordelia from the Milky Homes franchise)and Yuri manga artist Momono Moto, whose work I have followed for years. This story really plays to Momono-sensei’s strong points, too, with strong emotions and reactions and Liz’s light-gothic fashion look, which contrasts nicelyto Maki’s downplayed business casual. I’ve liked this story since it debut in Galette in 2017 and have been eagerly awaiting a collected volume. I noticed immediately that when Kitta-san announced this on Twitter, it was not published by Galette Works, instead it is a Kadokawa book. Good for them for getting the investment. (It’s not too hard to see Kadkoawa’s angle – voice actress from a Kadokawa series, veteran Yuri artist and their current investment in Yuri as a growth market. It all adds up.)

The book includes a short interview with both creators that is surprisingly cute and energetic.

As an adult life story with both a cute mostly-closeted boyish character and a beautiful melodramatic feminine character, Liberty makes for great Yuri soap opera.

Ratings:

Art  – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 7 Yes, in an adult female-focused way. Maki’s seduction is not explicitly consensual but meant to be understood as mutual.
Yuri – 10 with a light flavor of LGBTQ

Overall – 9

I really like this story and am pleased that Maki and Liz are going to get a chance to develop as characters and as a couple.