Archive for the Magazines Category


Yuri Manga: Shuden Niwa Kaeshimasu (終電にはかえします)

February 14th, 2014

Amagakure Gido’s Shuden Niwa Kaeshimasu (終電にはかえします) is a collection of shorts from Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari magazine.

The first story is a lovely two-part ‘Story A.’ Asaki rides the train every day and everyday she sees a tough-looking first-year student. Boyish, with dyed hair and wearing a mask (allergies, she says, when asked) the first-year turns out to be a sincere, awkward girl with the old-fashioned name Tsune.

Tsune and Asaki become close and each comes to the unnerving conclusion that she likes the other. In the second chapter they go out on a date and find that they like each other a lot. The story takes on a bittersweet feel when they realize that Asaki will graduate soon, but they kiss anyway, trusting that the future will be bright enough for them.

“Shoujo Planetarium” is a slightly unsettling story of two girls who meet in a fantasy setting. The story kept edging towards the creepy, then veering away, leaving me with the idea that it originally was meant to be something else entirely.

A like triangle is impossibly resolved by all three people agreeing to keep their relationships as is in “Isshun no Asterism”. A ghost waits a lifetime to get the girl in “Eien no Shoujo”.

The final story is also a strong entry. A younger sister has to completely rethink her opinion of her older sister, when she falls for what turns out to be her older sister’s lover. In the end, she decides that she had it all wrong all along.

The collection has no unifying theme (with the exception of the two astronomically themed titles), but it made the book perfect for short reads before bed. Not every story is happy, but the collection as a whole left me feeling good…which is a nice feeling.

Shinsokan has moved to a smaller format than they were using previously, away from the A4 size to a more common A5 size, which makes the book smaller, lighter and more portable.  I like the tighter new look…and I note that the volumes cost a little less than they did previously (although not on the same scale as larger publishers.) Hopefully Hirari won’t be forced out of print by costs. (Readers who insist on print really have no idea how much money print costs and what pressure it puts the publisher under.)

Ratings are variable, but averages are:

Art – 8
Story –  7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 9
Service – 3

Overall – 8

An enjoyable little collection of Yuri manga shorts.





Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime, January 2014 (コミック百合姫)

January 9th, 2014

While the cover of the January 2014 issue of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫) was much discussed for about 15 seconds when the art was released, the K-ON! clone art is pretty much the least notable thing about this issue. ^_^

The lead story is…well, it’s different. Loner girl find her alone time on the roof interrupted by the Student Council President who is there to stuff her face with junk food.  They get locked up there and end up having to jump the fence and drop two stories into the school pool. Love? I have no idea. ^_^

Love between sempai and kouhai in school and in adult life fill the next few pages. Chisako, having finished up her Dark Cherry to Shoujo A series, starts with another story about a boyish girl and her femme lover. Mio is a top-notch pro soccer player and is admired by many. Sakura, her lover is.,.just not satisfied. She couldn’t even tell herself why, so she splits from Mio. Time passes and she sees Mio again, and learns that her ex now has a boyfriend. Now that she can’t have what she had and threw away, Sakura desires it. Can you tell I’d like Mio to tell Sakura to get lost? I would. ^_^

Minamoto Hisanari is back with a fun story about the night-time shenanigans of the school’s 7 mysteries, which brings the girl who comes out of the picture on the stair in one wing together with Toilet Hanako in the other. and gives rise to a new mystery in the courtyard. This one was too adorable.

Amano Shuninta’s “Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na” comes to an end…and I panicked. I was all “what if they don’t bring Amano-sensei back? Argh! Augh! (They will, next issue. New series. Phew.) The end was as perfect as the rest. No one goes off happily every after, but there’s real possibilities, and a number of lost chances. I really want Asuna to have a spin-off where she finds someone nice. Maasa’s new career is the big reveal and I totally approve.

“Game” by Takemiya Jin continues with an excellent, painful, sexy, uncomfortable chapter. Moriko’s sister turns out to be a Yuri fan and discovers ‘Riko’s stash of Yuri doujinshi by Becky. Becky wants to meet this sister and, of course they, sharing an interest, fall right in. Moriko feels left out and abandoned. To make up with Becky, she offers to wear cosplay of Becky’s fave character. When Moriko speaks like the character, Becky jumps her. It’s a hot kiss and Moriko is powerless to stop, even as she knows that it’s not her Becky is kissing. “Awkward” doesn’t begin to cover it.

“Love Gene Double XX”  by Zaou Taishi and Eiki Eiki also comes to an end. It is a better end then than I expected, back when I reviewed the first volume, not as good as I would have insisted if I were the editor. ^_^ Aoi and Sakura are forced to fight one another and the loser will be “demoted” to the position of Eve. The obvious issue here is that why the flying fuck is being an Eve a demotion? Setting aside the fact that that is still sexism, in a one-sex world, the thing is, neither Aoi nor Sakura are particularly inclined to become an Eve. More importantly they want to show how much each other means to them by fighting as hard as they can against one another, a conclusion that seems silly, but makes perfect sense if you’ve ever competed in anything. The effort you put into winning is your show of respect.

In the climactic moment, Sakura decides that she’d rather just be with Aoi, and lays down her sword as Aoi attacks. (A pretty important act, as she admits that becoming an Eve is acceptable.)  Sakura’s sister, the head of the school, scoops up Aoi and Sakura and has them seen to. In her office, Sumire tells Aoi that she is not alone in thinking separating Adams and Eves is a really fucking stupid, insulting idea and forbidding love between Adams and Eves is adding insult to injury. (She actually mentions same-sex couples existed before the men all died.) Sumire tells Aoi that she has every intention of becoming Prime Minister and changing the laws, before we see her leap into Matsuri’s arms. Aoi and Sakura are reunited, secure that they can, at least while at Kingdom, be together. In a Dark Horse pairing, Erika actually comforts Momiji and for a moment, we like them both, although realistically, they’ll be a terrible couple. ^_^

I would have liked to see the series actually address the changing of the rules, but at least it acknowledged that the rules were fucking stupid.

As always, there were other stories, but these were this issue’s heavy hitters for me. Morishima Akiko-sensei’s “Yuripchu” and Tanaka Minoru-sensei’s “Rock It Girl” return next volume and, phew!, a new series by Amano-sensei, new work by Minamoto-sensei and other continuing series, so I don’t have to panic. ~Breathe~

Ratings:

Overall – 8

I was on pins and needles reading the end of “Love Gene Double XX.” There were just so many things wrong with the set up, it could have gone very badly.

 





Yuri Manga: Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, Volume 11 (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり)

October 27th, 2013

With the demise of Tsubomi magazine, Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり) has really stepped up its game. Volume 11 feels awfully like an actual Yuri manga magazine in a way that earlier volumes just had not done. And I cannot help but notice the author line-up is looking mighty strong these days.

Starting off with one of my favorite series in the anthology, “Sunahama to Kase-san” by Takashima Hiromi follows Yamada and Kase-san on their school trip. A minor misunderstanding turns into a chance to become closer and desire becomes more of a factor than has been previously. Yamada still has some major self-worth issues, and Japanese mangaka still think sports bras are a kind of hammerspace. ^_^

In Morishima Akiko’s “Seijun Shoujo Paradigm” Aoi is finding her feelings towards Riri shifting, and is only marginally distracted by the relationship between Reika and Yuki.

“Ohime-sama no Uso” by Morinaga Milk continues with Fujiwara-sempai joining Miu on a “date” but as the day goes on, Miu is more and more aware that they are not a couple, but just pretending to be one. To make matters worse, Kaori specifically tells Miu that her feelings for Fujiwara are real, unlike Miu’s. If Fujiwara is a prince, Miu is now well aware that she is no princess. I am enjoying the slightly atypical art in the story. Morinaga-sensei doesn’t often draw the otokoyaku type of girl.

Kumijou’s “Out of the Blue” is a sweet love story between a transfer student and a troublemaker. This story left me with a big ole grin on my face as I finished it.

Amakure Gido’s “Shuuden ni ha Kaeshimasu” draws to a close as the punk girls gets the girl.

“Soshite Watashitachi ha” is a nice little bit of paranormal in an otherwise typical first love story.

Kita Konno’s “Kirari” is a slice of life as two girls spend a quiet interlude at the sea.

Hakamada Mera’s “Hikari no Niwa” is a pleasant resolution to an “opposites attract” story.

“Under One Roof” by Fujio continues at the snail’s pace it has established, as roommates become more aware of one another with each chapter.

Maybe it’s that I’m in a good mood, maybe it’s something else, but I even liked Auri Hirao’s “anokono -shitekurenakkata – koto” about two roommates dealing with being left behind by a third.

Amame Osawa’s “Houkago no Mahoutsukai” was an absolutely adorable little paranormal bit about wanting to feel needed.

And “Koi suru Poccyari” by Kiyota Tomo is a story about being needed.

There were other stories, most of which I found less compelling, but this volume was  – by far and away – one of the best of Hirari to date.

Ratings:

Overall – 8





Yuri Manga: Namae ha Mada nai (名前はまだない）

October 25th, 2013

Kazuma Kowo’s Namae ha Mada nai (名前はまだない）is the latest collection of her work from Comic Yuri Hime. And all I can say about that is…ahhhh. There’s something, I don’t know, relaxing I guess, about her work even when the strength of it lies with her prickliest characters.

The first half of the volume are short stories that follow fairly typical school love tropes, but I love how her characters are never in elite schools, or have unrealistic uniforms. They wear sweaters with sleeves that are too long, or sweatpants under their skirts. They watch each other artlessly, and forget they’ve used their outside voice. We never for a moment doubt that we’re watching a real life.

With the title story, we delve slightly deeper into her typical teaser/teased strategy. Amemori is annoyed (i.e., wowed) by the new transfer student who, for some reason, appears obsessed with Amemori. There’s a distinct feeling of “poking the wild animal with a stick” about the new student’s behavior, but it’s pretty clear to both of them at some point that they like each other. Amemori is very very aware that she has not yet called the other girl by name. The title, is translated by the author as “The Name is Not Yet”, and I have been puzzling over how I might translate it myself. Maybe “No Name Yet”? I don’t know. The point is, Amemori knows her name, but isn’t using it. Until the end, of course, when she jumps to calling Hinata by her given name.

The final chapter is a short prologue for the relationship from Junsui Adolscence, Kazuma-sensei’s last Comic Yuri Hime volume.

I really enjoy Kazuma-sensei’s tsundere protagonist formula. I couldn’t tell you why, but it works for me. I’m glad to see her back in Comic Yuri Hime and look forward to more from her. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 1, on principle. There was nothing really “service” about it.

Overall – 8





Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫) September 2013

September 30th, 2013

The cover of the September 2013 issue of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫) is 3D, with a pair of glasses inside the magazine, so you too can look down the bikini tops of the girls of Yuru Yuri in 3D.

For me, one of the highlights of the issue was a fractured fairy tale by Minamoto Hisanari about “evil” stepmother Mars-sama, her step-daughter Snow, and the magic mirror, that was utterly silly and not all that sweet, really.

Momono Moto’s “Kuryaami no Asterisk” finishes up with both characters stepping out of their bad habits and reaching out to one another. A better ending than beginning.

“Bousoku Girlsteki Mourou Reainaiteki Suteki Project” heats up with a bitter rivalry for Student Council Vice-President. Less “harem battle” than I expected, but still kind of fun.

Takahashi Mako’s “Mujintou e Matte Ikunara” was lovely. Honestly the best story I’ve ever read by her. The feeling of going through life alone, as if one was on a deserted island, is something that probably many readers of manga can identify with.

I absolutely loved Katakura Ako’s “Warawane Majou no Shikeisenkoku” in which a witche’s prediction comes true, with a smile.

Nana is still working through her feelings for Satomi, but once she learns Satomi’s not-so-secret secret, she comes to a conclusion of a sort in “Kiss ChuChu” by Takemiya Jin.

The circumstances change between Ruki and Sachi, but not necessarily for the better, in “Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na Nanika.”

Zaou Taishi and Eiki Eiki’s “Love Gene Double X” is climbing tortuously towards a climax. We learn the source of the bitter feelings between Sakura’s and Aoi’s families as they face each other in a duel. The loser will be forced to become an Eve.  I’m still super uncomfortable at the direction of this story and I don’t have any hope that the real issues in the story will be resolved. Grrr…

In “Rock It Girl” by Tanaka Minoru, the band faces a new crisis/opportunity as they head to a summer music festival. Kaede is moved so deeply by the energy and the crowd that when Seira kisses her, she doesn’t resist. For a moment the two of them are able to not freak out and just be comfortable together.

The 4-koma strips “Nekoyama-san to Inugami-san” and “Kimono Nadesico” go through the paces as they usually do. Fans of “Yuri Yuri” and “Yuri Danshi” will find nice juicy bits to enjoy.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

This was a pretty decent volume.