Archive for the Magazines Category


Yuri Manga: Hana to Hoshi, Volume 2 (花と星)

January 18th, 2013

In Volume 1, we meet Hanaii Sawako and Hoshino Shiori, former rivals in the sport of table tennis, now classmates in high school. In Volume 2 of Hana to Hoshi (花と星) their former rivalry has now turned into something more complex.

The bulk of the book is spent dealing with a digression and a McGuffin. The McGuffin is revealed in the backstory of Funami Chika, whose relationship with Hoshino is far more intimate  than Hanaii is ready to cope with. It’s Funami-sempai who tells Hanaii her story, ultimately freeing Hoshino from her past.

The digression is the existence of a male schoolmate who has fallen for Hanaii and – in an exceedingly rare display of normal behavior – confesses to Hanaii, followed by requests for eating lunch together and a date. The fact that he’s such a nice guy is almost a shame, because you’ve gotta feel bad for him. He’s so functional and he’s screwed. Poor Ogawa.

In my review of Volume 1 I suggested that I knew the perfect ending to this story. It’s not like it was a stretch or anything. This story began with table tennis and the only proper thing to do with it was to end it there, as well. And so, like Yukiko and Chikage in Sakura Namiki, Sawako and Shiori express their genuine affection for each other through their shared love of a sport.

Yesterday I mentioned that my review was a paean to connections. This manga was indeed on the top of my “to-review” pile, and so, when I hit page 18 of Sakura Namiki and found Yukiko in the middle of a ping-pong match, I started to laugh. As Lillian was born from Catholic boarding schools before it, the chances that  Flower and Stars was coincidentally about girls who played table tennis receded to near zero. No Yuri is an island entire of itself. And truly, one piece at a time, we’re now seeing tribute paid to the classic manga that came before in the manga that makes us smile now.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 1

Overall – 8

This story, so enjoyable on its own, must be seen as a part of a body of literature. Which, to my mind, makes it just that much more enjoyable.^_^





Yuri Manga: Asagao to Kase-san (あさがおと加瀬さん)

December 18th, 2012

Yamada is a completely typical Japanese girl, completely undistinguished, she thinks. On the other hand, Kase-san is athletic, attractive, popular. Kase-san’s a star long distance runner and Yamada is a nobody. There’s no way they could ever be friends.

In Asagao to Kase-san (あさがおと加瀬さん) Yamada finds that, amazingly, she does have something in common with Kase-san – they both take care of the flower boxes full of morning glories (asagao) on the school grounds. And, amazingly, they do become friends.

But as much as their friendship brings her joy, Yamada is tortured by Kase-san’s proximity. Her feelings are becoming far more intense than just friendship. She and Kase-san become a little closer when the runner decides that she’ll train Yamada for the marathon in gym class. They go out to buy Yamada proper running shoes, and we can see that their feelings are the same, but can they? It all comes to a head during the marathon when Yamada’s training is put to the test and so are Kase-san’s priorities.

Yet again, Hirari brings us a “Story A“-type story in which the pages end just as the story is beginning but, in this case, the emotions ring true and the story left me smiling. As “Story A” goes, this was a lovely little example of the beginning of a first love between two girls. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7 A little messy, but I liked it
Story – 8
Character – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 2

Overall – 8

The story broke no new ground, but the characters’ reactions were real enough to carry the volume. Of course, I wish we got to see them after this volume ends, when their relationship begins taking off. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, Vol. 8 (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり)

December 11th, 2012

Let’s say I have a bowl of vanilla ice cream (schoolgirl Yuri) and I think vanilla ice cream is okay, but it’s not as exciting as it could be.

When you’re confronted with a bowl of plain ice cream (a flavor you think is okay, but not wow) what do you do to make it tastier? You cover it with sauce and and blend in exciting things like gummy bears and toffee. Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, Vol. 8 (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり) is a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

So here’s the cover story by Hakamada Mera, in which Kikuka and Tsubaki become friends and maybe Tsubaki has a few internal monologue moments where she thinks that Kikuka is “pretty” or “interesting.” Pretty vanilla, right?

So then we add a little soy powder to the top of the vanilla in the continuation of “Kitsune-hime.” It’s an interesting taste, but a little dry.

No, what we want is something crazy – something really extra super yummy. How about caramel sauce, colored sprinkles and a LOT of whipped cream? Well, lucky you, because Morishima Akiko has you covered, in “Seijun Shoujo Paradigm.” Aoi comes to a real rich-girls’ school, all ready to be blown away by the ojou-sama in her class, so she’s a little disappointed when they turn out to be normal, Did I say normal? As they head up to the roof to do an AKB48 dance, you realize that you’ve landed in the sundaest story you’re gonna find in this mostly vanilla collection. ^_^

Sated as you are, you can peruse the rest of the stories and enjoy their different flavors:

Ballet and Yuri tastes like a blend-in of salted peanuts. Teacher/student Yuri tastes like bitter, bitter dark chocolate. Auri Hirao writing a Yuri story with actual Yuri tastes like finding a real vanilla bean in your vanilla ice cream. Grown up Yuri tastes like coffee liqueur over your the top. Each variation brings a different flavor or texture, even though the base is still vanilla. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – Jim Dandy

Age check – how many of you think “big bowl of vanilla ice cream” and think “Moby Dick” (If you get the reference don’t give it away.)





Yuri Manga: Hirari Special Girls’ School Life Anthology Houkago! (ひらり、別冊 部活女子アンソロジー ほうかご! )

November 27th, 2012

I know some of you are planning a pre-Xmas order from Amazon JP, in order to score your copy of Collectors, and I thought you might want Hirari Special Girls’ School Life Anthology Houkago (ひらり、別冊 部活女子アンソロジー ほうかご! ), too. ^_^

Let me be plain, where Collectors is the greatest Yuri manga ever published, Houkago is absolutely not. ^_^ But it definitely scratches a specific itch. From the folks who bring you Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari magazine, Houkago is a collection of one-shots by the same artists who contribute to Hirari. This means you’ll get stories by names you recognize like Morinaga Milk,  Mikuni Hachime, and Hakamada Mera, and some you might recognize, like kashmir, Hirao Auri and others.

The premise of the book is simple – school clubs.  Not all the stories are Yuri, some are just really nice stories about friendships and rivalries in school clubs. But a few are very Yuri indeed.

The story I liked best was one of the not-Yuri ones, about two goofball girls who befriend an injured, bitter and angry ex-athlete. The story was in no way Yuri, but the cheerful goofballs were refreshingly open and their happy doofusness completely changes the way Kawasaki views life. I was not previously familiar with the name Oshima Tamaki, but I’ll be looking for it now. kashmir’s story had a character who turned every scenario into a Yuri murder story. Hakamada Mera once again got to mention witches, even though her story was actually about Mah Jong. Morinaga Milk’s story about science club looked a lot like her manga about cooking club. ^_^

So, not *quite* a Yuri anthology, but I did like the  focus on clubs, which allowed the artists to trot out their own personal interests in the guise of storytelling. ^_^

So, yes, this anthology is no Collectors, (nor was it the Yuri sports anthology I eagerly await some genius editor in Japan to come up with one day, and be surprised that no one ever had come up with that idea before, because they do not use the internet) but for a solid showing by veteran Yuri and schoolgirl story artists, Houkago is a fair showing.

Overall – 8

Only one or two stories made me actively stabby, a pretty good percentage for an anthology.





Rakuen Le Paradis, Volume 10 (楽園 Le Paradis)

November 8th, 2012

While not unexpected, Rakuen Le Paradis, Volume 10 (楽園 Le Paradis) was full of some fabulous stuff. What is always unexpected is the stuff  to which my reaction is “eewwwww.”

For a magazine that has several of my absolute favorite series, by several of my favorite artists, it amazes me how many series it also has which instill in me a violent loathing. Kinda cool, huh? This is a magazine that is utterly unafraid of extremes. For every “Collectors” there’s something utterly vile by Rendou Kurosaki. (And this issue was particularly horrid.) For every miserable, creepy chapter of “Nisemono Honeytrap” there’s a refreshingly realistic chapter of “Kakera no Omoi.”

Reading a volume of Rakuen Le Paradise is a bit bipolar – “Yay!” “Boo!” “Yay!” “Boo!” At least I’m never bored!

Overall – 8

But seriously, this issue’s Kurosaki story was just nasty.