The March 2018 issue of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫2018年3月号) was pretty darn good. Some of the longer serializations are settling in for the ride, others are flailing a bit and some are pivoting from a one-shot to a longer serial, which can be either good or bad, as you like. 

I’m quite enjoying the stories from the Yuri Hime@Pixiv that have been filling the back pages of the volumes. A few have been good enough to make me bookmark the page and start checking regularly. It’s a good idea for them to have a web comic page to gauge the popularity and potential of new artists and stories. They’ve never had a sample page of titles on their website like so many other companies have, but this page provides any number of first chapters for free. I recommend taking a look!

After a tiresome photoshoot, showing two women touching, zOMG and interview with the voice actresses for citrus, the first manga is one that I was both intrigued and appalled by, by Tamasaki Tama. A waif wanders in to a military school in some kind of fantasy Japan and ends up being accepted. She will now get three meals a day and a bed to sleep in, but who know what will happen to her if she’s sent to fight. Also one of the girls is already hitting on her. And stuff.

“Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” by miman is going exactly where I expected, but through an interesting pair of eyes. Sumika has accidentally learned of Kanoko’s unhealthy obsession with Hime, and finds herself concerned for the girl. She’s watching her with a new perspective and starting to reach out, surprisingly delicately, given that in her real life, she’s a brash Gal and not the gentle Tachibana-sempai she is at work. 

But the winner this month was Fujimatsu Mei’s “Miageta Kimi ha Kyou mo Hohoemu” which I finished up  with a quiet. “Well, that was adorable.” A small, strange and kind career woman falls for a woman at a shop. They go out, crisis occurs, they live happily (ever after, implied.) It was absolutely squee.

“One Night Friend” by Kayako was a sadly typical “drunken one night stand means one thing to you, but another to me” story. Until it wasn’t and they also are presumably in for some happily, if not ever after.

And now, we have to talk about Aoi in  Ohsawa Yayoi’s “2DK, GPen, Mezamashitokei.” She’s a jerk. I mean, we get it, sh’s not living her life honestly. When we thought she was, her teasing was just that but, knowing that she’s a hypocrite made this chapter very hard to take. Yes, it was predictable that she, too, had fallen for Kaede, but still. On the technical side, writing a harem manga in which both the leads are at the center of a Venn diagram of wannabee lovers has got to be an interesting challenge. 

And “Kimi ha Shoujo” which was kind of lovely went straight to WTF territory in this second chapter. I kind of hope she’s a vampire just so I can dislike it honestly. ^_^

“Shiori wo Sagasu Page-tachi” took yet another turn. I’m not sure if I keep just expecting it to be something other than it is, or it doesn’t know what it’s trying to be.

In contrast, “Watashi ni Karada Urutteminai?” started well over the shark and I’m just going along for the ride. Tsukasa’s father died leaving her mired in debt to a lot of unsavory characters, among them a tall, beautiful woman who offers Tsukasa a deal – let me buy you and I’ll pay off all the debts. Well, gosh human trafficking sure is a wholesome premise for a romance isn’t it? ^_^;

There were many other stories, most of which I read, and just a handful I didn’t (and most of those are the usual suspects…) so there’s a good bet that you’d find something to appeal to you in this volume.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

A good strong volume this month and I look forward to more. Conveniently, the April issue will be out shortly. 

In the February 2018 issue of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫2018年2月号) “NTR: Netzuzou Trap” comes to an end. I want to talk about this for a second, because in ending, it iremains a horrible series.  It ends with “happily ever after,”  which is to say that the two female leads end up together. At no point did the story establish a good reason why we would want them together. Nor did it convince me that the guys were particularly bad boyfriends, as they were lied to and made fools of the entire run of the story. In fact, I basically feel that anyone reading the story was being made a fool of, since it was never a Yuri story in the first place. 

Now that Kodama Naoko-sensei is free of it, I hope we’ll see a much less unpleasant series from her. I really like her art and her characters, generally, so this  story about unlikable people being unlikable was not all that enjoyable for me. 

Honestly, I’m just glad that’s over. 

In the meantime, Ohsawa Yayoi’s “2DK, GPen Mezamashitokei” continues (thank the gods!) and has veered into once-again uncomfortable territory. Both Kaede and Nanami have been invited to Aoi’s wedding, but Kaede has a deadline, so Nanami is shoved into the role of Aoi’s confessor. And confess she does. I can’t be the only one wondering why Aoi is marrying this guy at this point.

A lot of the established stories are taking strange turns in this volume, “Shiori wo Sagasu Page-tachi” and ” Watashi no Yuri ha Shigoto Desu” both shift towards more serious confrontations. Natsu-fuji’s “Kima ha Shoujo” seems pretty well-worn and comfortable by comparison.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

It was a pretty chunky issue and I think I read more than I didn’t for a change, even if “Yuri Yuri” is still limping along making old-man puns. The March issue goes on sale this week in Japan.

Comic Yuri Hime, January 2018 (コミック百合姫2018年1月号) is off to a strong start with series new and continuing, from folks we know we like, folks we know we don’t like and folks we don’t know at all.

We have Miman’s “Watashi no Shigoto ha Yuri Desu” in which our eyes are in fact turned toward Nanako and Tachibana and I find the idea that they will have a storyline unto themselves far, far more interesting than anything involving Hime.

And Ohsawa Yayoi’s “2DK, GPen Mezamshitokei” turns towards a new and exciting digression…one that makes me all kinds of uncomfortable, as Nanami heads to Kyoto to attend Aoi’s wedding, while Kaede remains home to hit a tight deadline. This is a recipe for all kinds of disaster. I can’t wait. ^_^

Taneko’s “Model-san and Ichimi Mane-san” isn’t “Liberty, but I like it anyway.  Katakura Ako’s art and storytelling remain messy in ”Hirusagari ni, mata”.

And of course, all the series I don’t follow that the editors love. ^_^;

Ratings: 

Overall – 8

Exactly where I like this magazine to be – a nice bell curve of Yuri. Comic Yuri Hime is also available digitally on Japanese-region Kindle and globally on Bookwalker. The February issue is also on shelves now.