Archive for the Magazines Category


Rakuen Le Paradis (楽園Le Paradis) Magazine, Volume 14

August 4th, 2014

In the light of Hirari magazine folding, I’m even happier than usual to still have Rakuen Le Paradis(楽園Le Paradis). This magazine, which is sex- and fetish-friendly, has so far been pretty good to us Yuri fans, but I’m not taking anything for granted.

Volume 14 has a few ongoing series and a surprise or two.

“Collectors” traces Shinobu’s hunt for a specific edition of a specific book and is amusing in a way only book collectors will understand. ^_^

For once, Kurosaki Rendou allows the to girls in his story “Ren Lao” to not have nasty hideous sex. That’s was a surprise.. ^_^;

Aoki Ume has been added to the roster, but her story, while adorable, is straight as the day is long. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her work that isn’t a vaguely Yuri-ish story. It was actually refreshing. That makes, her, Kowo Kazuma snd Mziutani Fuuka all manga artists that I became aware of through Yuri, doing straight romance in this magazine.

Meanwhile Sengoku Hiroko, whom you may remember from the Mikazuki no Mitsu collection, has returned to Yuri with an uncomfortable student/teacher pairing in “Usuyamigari no Mune no Uchi.” (“Uncomfortable pairing” effectively covers about half the stories in this magazine and “hideously adorable pairing” covers the other half.)

Nishi Uko’s second offering this volume is “Roulette” which is quite possibly my favorite 4-page comic ever, as lovers kiss, they let the traffic light decide when they will finally part.

Take miya Jin’s “Omoi no Kakera” is drawing to a close, you can tell, because Mayu finally approaches Mika about what she overheard between the upperclassman and Saki. And, for the first time, Mika acts as an upperclassman and sempai, offering Mayu some common sense about her best friend. The next chapter will probably be the climax of this series, which made it three volumes, so that’s something!

Ratings:

Overall – 7

Volume 15 is already sitting here, I’d better get reading. ^_^





Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari to Cease Publication

July 30th, 2014

Volume 14 of Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari is the final volume of the magazine.

According to Comic Natalie’s report, a few additional collected volumes will be released after suspension, including Morishima Akiko’s “Seijun Shoujo Paradigm” (聖純少女パラダイム) and Kari Sumako’s “Watashi no Iyana Tomodachi” (私の嫌いなおともだち（仮）).

Currently on sale from Hirari Comics is Takasaki Hiromi’s Obentou to Kaze-san. (おべんとうと加瀬さん。) and Kazama Ayami’s Hoshi wo Futari de (星をふたりで)。

There’s a sense of creeping irony here for me, as I just recently pronounced it apparently stable. After 13 volumes, I finally relaxed and expected it to be sustainable for a bit. Still 5 and half years and 14 volumes is a good run and everyone who worked on it should be proud of their work.

Now we’re back to just one Yuri manga and there’s definitely room for more in the market. A number of my favorite manga artists are shifting back to doujinshi work. I hope someone will step up and start another Yuri magazine. I’m available, if they need help. ^_^





Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, Volume 13 (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり)

July 16th, 2014


 The cover of Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, Volume 13 (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり) is a bit of a tease, as it shows the characters from Amakure Gido’s Shuden ni ha Kaeshimasu, which is over and done with. :-( But it’s still a cute picture.

The lead story by Itou Hachi, “Haru no  Minuet” is a lovely story about a girl who becomes close with a hearing-impaired classmate. I’d love to see more Yuri stories that include issues of ability (and, gosh, folks, if you’re drawing/writing Yuri or lesbian-themed work, let’s get some diversity in there!)

In “Taiyou to Kaze-san,” Yamada and Kaze get to spend the day together in the pool. This series is so sweet it hurts.

I adored Shimano Yae’s “Makoto Gohan” for many reasons, none of which will be surprising. An adult woman, in a long term relationship with another women who communicates her love through food. This is my life and it made me extra happy to see it in manga form.

In Morishima Akiko’s “Shoujo Paradigm” Masami and Midori need to work out just exactly what their relationship is, really.

Morinaga Milk’s “Ohime-sama no Himitsu” takes a turn. As Miu and Fujiwara-sempai decide to give their relationship a real go, Fujiwara’s fans desert her for another cool sempai-type, Hirozawa, since Miu has Fujiwara wrapped up. Fujiwara is clearly happy with their new course, but Miu is starting to think she’s holding everyone back from being happy….This series started out a s bit of fluff, but I think we’ll get at least one solid volume from it, and with the new chapter, I’m really hoping for  two and a decent story. It definitely has potential.

What do you do if the person you didn’t know you liked tells you she has a girlfriend? This is is what Akuta Fumie asks in “watashi no sukina anokonokoto.”

“Under One Roof” continues to roll around in the same scene over and over as Miho comes home to her landlady’s gay friends over for dinner and innuendo once more, but it works for me. ^_^

As always there are many other stories and artists of note in this issue and surely there will be something  that will appeal in this solid Yuri anthology magazine.

Ratings:

Overall – 8





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

July 8th, 2014

Staring at the cover of the July issue of Comic Yuri Hime, (コミック百合姫), I was a loss for words. Apparently no one involved with this picture had ever been or knew a baton twirler. Ain’t no way I’d be that close to someone who was just learning basics…and definitely not in my uniform. ^_^; (I remember how hard those rubber ends were very well.)

And away we go into a Kuzushiro-sensei heavy issue, with several stand-alone stories and a new chapter of “Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san.” The last of the stand alone stories appealed to me greatly, as a simple meetup between two friends becomes a destructive battle in public over a momentary misunderstanding – it was very amusing. ^_^ An added bonus in this volume is a limited edition cover to Volume 3 of Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san.

Minamoto Hisanari’s contribution was absolutely wonderful, as a woman who works in costume doing tokusatsu roles is truly her lover’s hero.
“Vespa” comes to a climax that, for once, seems to actually pluck the main charcters out of their terrible situation with a big ole’ handwave. There’s a short piece by Kawai Roh that is set in the floating world of the Edo period but manages to still be healing rather than destructive.

Takemiya Jin’s “Chou Chou, Nan Nan” takes a quick turn to resolving one of the three couples, but more is to come, so we’ll see if this is where it stays. Chisako’s “Honey Switch” was a sweet little office romance.

And it looks like “Yuri Danshi” has come to the end of it’s lily path filled with passionate delusion. Gosh I hope so. I also hope they use the space it opens up for something good now. Thanks.

There are, as always, many more stories and articles, but these are the ones I found most notable in this now-nearly 700-page anthology. It’s pretty clear that moving to a bimonthly format hasn’t hurt Comic Yuri Hime at all. For which I am grateful.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

The good is very good, the bad is merely okay. It’s running just over 50% good. ^_^





Comic Yuri Hime, May 2014 (コミック百合姫)

May 22nd, 2014

Welcome to the May 2014 issue of Comic Yuri Hime, where the cover seems to be permanently suspended in a just ever-so-slightly skeazy Valentine’s Day scenario. The magazine opens with a feature on the Nekoyama-san to Inukami-san anime , which I really need to watch soon. ^_^;

The first really interesting story was by a newcomer, Aoto Hibiki, in which “Alice” keeps flashing back and forth between two worlds; one in which she’s a regular high schooler with classmates Shiroyuki (Snow White) and Akaukin-chan (Little Red Riding Hood) and a Wonderland environment. Alice isn’t sure which world is real, and she’s equally at a loss in both, but when Shiroyuki introduces a younger boy (that I’m betting is actually a girl) who was born a Prince, to their groups, you can kind of see where this is going. I just hope it’s fun.

Ohsawa Yayoi’s “Sensei Sotsugyou” continues the tale set up in the previous issue, in which a student learns more about her teacher than she bargained for, and finds inspiration in her.

In Amano Shuninta’s new series “Ayame 14”, Ayame fights with new feelings she’s never had to deal with, and one of their friends admits to her full mied-race name.

Okita Hiroko’s “Vespa” forces Kaoizuka to confront her commanding officer’s unrequited feelings and her feelings for her cruel Princess.

Takemiya Jin starts a new story, with a girl’s best friend making her see where her interest lies, in “Chouchou Nanan.”

Bosou Girlsteki  Mousou Renaiteki Suteki Project follows a date gone terribly wrong in a story that has no idea where it’s going yet.

And “Rock It, Girl!” by Tanaka Minoru comes to a rousing finale that still managed to be freakishly weird. The girl gets the girl in the weirdest way possible. I really enjoyed this story, it basically followed none of the rules, ever. ^_^

As always there are many other popular series, 4-koma strips and the like for your entertainment. Comic Yuri Hime seems to have settled into a general level of just better than average quality for one solid issue after another.

Ratings:

Overall – 7