Well, when I read Mebae, Volume 1, I had some hope. Then I read Mebae, Volume 2 (メバエ).
Wow, did this volume stink…
…must have been all those bodily fluids. ^_^;
Ratings:
Overall – 1
I feel transported back to the bad old days of Yuri when “bodily fluids” was the plot. Whee.
Nature abhors a vacuum, we’re told and apparently that goes for Yuri anthologies, as well. With the retirement of Tsubomi and Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari (although several of those titles have migrated to web format), a new anthology has jumped into the space.
Mebae (メバエ) is decidedly male gaze, but it had only a few stories I found completely unpalatable. And it’s a good reminder that the Yuri audience is varied in both demographics and intent. For every Yuri fan that is looking for a Takemiya Jin story, there’s another looking for something by Kurogane Kenn.
With such a service-y cover, it was not really a surprise to find the opening story was in fact by Kurogane Kenn. (And along with Kurogane-sensei’s work, there were a few other Tsubomi contributors in the pages.) It was a little surprising to find the opener bereft of emotion or connection. He usually works a little harder than this. Two girls have sex in a restaurant booth, with little setup, in a classic PWP.
The next story is a complete contrast, “Paanto,” which is a melancholy look at admiration and competition in ballet.
I very much liked “kitsuku! DAITE Honey”, which was a cute little twist on a superheroine and the girl she protects and loves, who turns out to not be who she seemed. In fact, Mei turns out to be Kurara’s arch enemy. Despite her spectacular defeat, Mei finds Kurara waiting for her after school anyway.^_^
Akamurasaki’s “Nibi-iro Nokosu,” was a pleasant look at a woman’s reluctant affection for her unfashionable friend.
The final story in the collection “Aoi Honoo Kaoru Tsuchi,” by Naruko Hanharu, appeared, I believe, actually in Tsubomi magazine, and is re-cast here as a nice ending piece in which time heals several wounds.
While I didn’t find the more explicit stories particularly appealing, I certainly didn’t hate this collection. In fact, Mebae Volume 2 is in one of the piles, waiting to be read. I’m kind of interested how many of the Tsubomi contributors just picked up and another anthology jumped in to fill the gap.
Ratings:
Overall – 6
For those of you interested, Volume 3 hits the streets at the end of this month.
In Asagao to Kase-san (あさがおと加瀬さん), we met Yamada, a pleasant, average and friendly young lady who is very dedicated to the school’s Environmental Committee. She finds herself interested in the track star of the school, Kase. And, almost unbelievably, Kase returns her feelings.
Volume 1 is a slow, gentle story, as the two of them start going out, growing closer as they struggle with just exactly what “going out” means.
In Volume 2, Obentou to Kase-san (おべんとうと加瀬さん), they gently, cutely and realistically figure out who they are and what they mean to each other. Yamada has the higher hurdles, as Kase-san is super popular and Yamada doesn’t have the confidence to stand by her side. But Kase’s feelings are sincere and together they work it all out.
The drama here is small, the resolutions are equally as small, and I find myself wanting desperately to hug both of them and invite them over for tea, so they can see that sometimes we do get a happily after, after all. ^_^
Ratings:
Art – 8 It grew on me
Story – 8
Character – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 2
Overall – 8
As “first love” stories go, this is definitely one of my favorites. It’s a strong candidate for this year’s Top Ten. I hope we’ll see more of Takashima Hiromi’s art in the future.
It was a complete surprise to me that Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, Volume 14 was the final issue. Reading this volume, I had the distinct feeling that it came as a surprise to the artists, too.
And it’s a shame, as this volume, the last we’ll ever get, may well have been the overall strongest volume they ever had. But, with the example of Tsubomi already establishing that the Yuri audience, while demanding, is just not really all that big and self-supporting and not willing to support an online commercial venture, I guess Hirari just had nowhere to go.
Especially excellent was Amakure Gido’s opening story, “Watashi Baka”, about a post-high school meeting, and pretty much the entire first half of the volume (with one notable exception of Kurogane Kenn’s really creepy no-context sex scene story) were lovely.
I will look forward to the final wrap-up volumes of a few of these series, and hope that someone develops a valid online alternative for Yuri, as paper is just too damn expensive to be supported by this small audience.
Ratings:
Overall – 8
I admit to being concerned at the contraction of the Yuri market. A number of pro Yuri artists are having their gigs pulled out from under them and are returning to doujinshi. I desperately hope new opportunities open up for them soon, but I’m realistic enough to know my hopes aren’t meaningful in any real sense.
The one thing that can incontrovertibly be said about the Yuri Hime Wildrose anthology series is that they embody my definition of Yuri as “lesbian content without lesbian identity.” They are filled to the brim with “plot, what plot?” type stories that are constructed with minimal character development and maximum sexual activity. These volumes are Yuri porn and not much more.
What is sort of vaguely interesting about them, has been the contributors included in the collections. Some, like Saburota (Citrus) would be surprising to not see included. Others, like Amano Shuninta, (Phlosophia) ae a welcome sight. And non-Comic Yuri Hime contributor, Nanzaki Iku (Queen’s Blade), returns once again.
I had no particular expectations about Yuri Hime Wildrose, Volume 8 (百合姫 Wildrose) Of the various stories, I found the two most notable to be by relative “newcomer” Kuzushiro, who provides a multi-part series that opens the book. The story itself isn’t notable, but seeing a Kuzushiro story that had an actual sex scene was. I would like to commend him for having some sense of what sex between two women might be like, and the delicacy with which he portrays it. Not once did I want to cringe.
Ohzawa Yayoi’s story was also reasonable and about young adults, which is always a pleasure. Amano Shuninta pulled out the stops on her story, “Milky” for full-sexy time hijinks.
I actually enjoy Chisako’s work in Comic Yuri Hime, but her story, which obsesses about underwear, did not push any of my buttons in a positive way.
I genuinely enjoyed “Singin’ in the Rain”, Nanzaki Iku’s contribution. She’s left her Shizuku/Natsuki clones behind and is given a little time to actually develop her characters here, which she does, deftly. It was good to see her work again, it’s been too long.
Art in this volume is better than usual with a YHW. Even Kuzushiro puts his best foot forward.
I can never say I love the Yuri Hime Wildrose series, but I didn’t hate this volume either. The couples are mostly in mutual affection with one another, the sex is not icky making, and the artists seem to be having fun – and let me tell you how important that is.
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Ratings:
Variable, of course
Overall – 8
For once I think I’m actually keeping a volume of Yuri Hime Wildrose.
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