Archive for the Magazines Category


Yuri Manga: Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり) Volume 4

May 5th, 2011

You know all the stuff I keep saying about Rakuen Le Paradis? That the stories are written for an adult audience who wants to be treated like adults, and it takes couples beyond happily ever after? Well…none of that applies to Pure Yuri Anthology, Hirari, Volume 4 (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり).

In fact, very few of the stories even read “Yuri” to me at all. If they called it “Pure Friendship Anthology Hirari,” I would say it was more accurate that calling it Yuri. In fact, if anything, calling it Yuri stretches the definition of Yuri even past what I’m willing to admit Yuri is. Hirari is, mostly, stories of girls developing emotional closeness with other girls. Call it best friends or, maybe, in some cases, more…but not really. Almost every story in this collection is so removed from love or desire that I find it honestly ridiculous to call it that. Maybe a few stories have some light crushiness, but most of them sound like this:

In Hakamada Mera’s “Black and White,” creepy-looking, magic-user Kurosawa enters a new school and resigns herself to being alone as she always has been. Until another girl becomes her friend. But, when Kurosawa gets good grades on a test, she is accused of using magic and is ostracized. Until her friend comes and rescues her from class-imposed solitary life and forces the other kids to apologize. And…that’s it. It’s a great story of a nice friendship. Perhaps, maybe, it will develop into more, but after several chapters, referring to it as Yuri is just stretching the truth.

Ratings:

Overall – 6





Rakuen Le Paradis (楽園 Le Paradis) Manga, Volume 5

May 4th, 2011

I have been singing the praises of Rakuen Le Paradis (楽園 Le Paradis) magazine since the first volume. We’re up to the 5th volume and I really have nothing more to say about it that I haven’t already said. So, instead, I’m just going to talk about the series I like best in it.

The first of these is “Collectors” by Nishi UKO. This is a series of short vignettes about two adult women who have been together since college. They clearly love one another, but they have a problem – they have competing space issues. Shinobu obsessively collects books and Takako does the same with clothes. Their friends are well aware of their foibles and it provides as much amusement for them as it does annoyance. ^_^ I love this series because it is precisely what I always say I’m looking for – after “happily after after.” And it is drawn by one of my favorite artists.This is not high drama, this is the kind of boring, delightful every-day drama of making a life with another person. I adore this manga and can’t wait for it to come out in a collected volume.

Next up is Takamiya Jin’s “Omoi no Kakera.” This story has shifted considerably from where I thought it was going. A gay boy’s younger sister has begun to find herself obsessed with the lesbian girl, Mika, who befriended her brother. When Mayu sees Mika head into a love hotel with another woman, unexpectedly strong feelings of jealousy surface. This story really stands out to me for the discussion of what it means to “be gay.” Do all gay people sleep with anyone or do they only sleep with people they love…or is it different for everyone?  Obviously, it’s different for everyone, but Mayu’s just trying to make sense of her brother’s life and it’s not helping at all that she’s finding herself interested in another girl.

Of the straight romances, my favorite is Mizutani Fuka’s  “14-sai no Koi,” a story about two unusually mature young people. They are both smart, very together and they are in love. But, as grown-up as they act, they are still just 14 and their feelings for each other are captured with tenderness and lack of nostalgia, but very cutely. Really, they are just an incredibly cute teen couple. ^_^

I also love Kowo Kazuma’s “Dear Tear,” another young love story about a boy who hate girls who cry and a girl who hates crying and their tentative and awkward courtship.

While these are my favorite series, there’s a good other handful I really enjoy. Nakamura Asamiko, Unita Yumi, Ninomiya Hikaru and Shigisawa Kaya all do stories I enjoy.

I don’t know what else to say about this magazine other than I really like it.

Overall – 8





Yuri Manga: Tsubomi (つぼみ), Volume 10

April 14th, 2011

Earlier this month, I wrote a review of “Story A” for Hooded Utilitarian. In many ways, Story A is like a music hall song. You know music hall songs – these are songs that you know – at least the chorus. When music hall was a common entertainment, popular songs were sing-a-longs, with songs like “A Bicycle Built for Two.” (By Blur. Because music hall music is timeless.) Don’t know the lyrics?   Performers would display the lyrics as they were sung, so *everyone* could join in.  My wife’s favorite music hall song is “Let’s All Go Down The Strand” (also by by Blur, because why not)  which is a very singable song. Try it, go ahead, you’ll have fun. Here’s the lyrics, so you can follow along. The Strand is a large street in London, like 5th Avenue in New York City, with a lot of stores and museums and Trafalgar Square. Popular place to go and “be seen.”

The point is – when you know what to expect, sometimes it’s more fun, because you can just relax.

In Tsubomi (つぼみ), Volume 10, we can just relax and sing the chorus, because we already know the story: There is a girl, she likes another girl, the girl likes her, the end. Like a good music hall song, there’s nothing unpleasant about repeating this refrain over and over because we enjoy it.

Sometimes, there’s even a new verse or two.

Ratings:

Overall – 9





Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime,(コミック百合姫) March 2011

March 21st, 2011

Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫),Volume 2 gets off to a smart start with cover art from “Rapunzel,” this issue’s short story written by Fukami Makoto, illustrated by Kazuaki. The story is quite literally a tale about a girl trapped in a tower while an evil “witch” does experiments using her as a guinea pig – as a form of torture in order to get information on the whereabouts of the girl’s sister. Ultimately, the fifth artificial human caretaker she’s had, Chanel (number 5, yes, yes) helps her escape. This can only be described as a “really creepy story.”

This volume’s wacky column from the editors trains you in how to be a “Yuri Sommelier” and make suggestions of series based on people’s tastes. As you may know, I have avoided doing this for many reasons, but here is the primary one: When people recommend things to me, 95% of the time I don’t find them as wonderful as they did, and therefore assume that it will be the same for you if I recommend something for you. In fact, there are only two people I know who can recommend manga to me and only one who can recommend books.

“Wakka Hane-Hane” introduces us to aggressively clueless Yuka who shows up and moves in with Saka-chan and then is aggressively clueless until they both decide they like it that way. I never did come around to that way of thinking.

Hayase’s employment is the topic of discussion in “Fu~Fu” and so is the dynamic between her and Komugi. This leads into a little furry play on Kina’s part, and then a morning after hasty explanation in the hallway. A goofy interlude, with some serious implications about relationship dynamics, but again, presented in a way that slides the important stuff under otaku radar.

A woman falls for a married woman in “Suwako-san to Uchyuu Ryokou.”

Arisu and Saki contemplate marriage and “playing house” together in “Renai Joshikka.” This chapter was stellar. There’s a bit of awkwardness and miscommunication, as there is in real-life, but these are the first steps toward *after* happily ever after and I’m beyond thrilled that Morishima-sensei is the one leading the way! Everyone – follow her!!

Skipping “Kokoro Renjou” because I’ve kind of had it with the Black Cat Mansion stories. Fans of twincest will like this chapter.

“Hime Cafe” this issue is a somewhat informal chat about…stuff…with Namori-sensei, creator of Yuru Yuri. This is followed by editor’s recommendations and picks and comments, including the same kind of “everything old is new again” phenomenon we’re experiencing here. No surprise, you gotta figure every generation needs to rediscover the classics for themselves. (And what sells well never dies, so they’ll reissue things as long as people shell out for them!)

Rokuichi’s “Kimi-Watashi” is a slightly melancholic story about two women who can’t seem to let go of one another. This is followed by a sneak peek at the artist’s collection, Kuchibiru ni Sakete Orange, which I have previously reviewed.

“Yuru Yuri” was short. But don’t worry – it’ll be back.

Otsu Hiyori plumbs the depths of the moment between confession and answer, from the perspective of the one confessed to. Of course we all know the feelings of the confessor and the many tortures we/they go through, but what does the confessee feel? I’m not sure this story really convinced me – it was a little too close to “sympathy love” for my taste.

“Utsutsu no Itoshii Hito” by Takemiya Jin continues the saga of two sisters with radically different approaches to love.

When I saw that Uso Kurata was going to be doing something called “Yuri Danshi” I was not filled with joy, but neither was I running off panicking. I trusted Kurata-sensei to not turn in something that sucked. And so, I read the first pages with reserve. We meet Hanadera Keisuke, a secret Yuri Fanboy, with a stash of Comic Yuri Hime magazines under his bed and an overactive imagination. And a grin-making name. Even my wife laughed at that. Keisuke has a little crush on the Yamato Nadesico of the class, Fujigatani Saori. But when new student Miyajima Akane transfers in and immediately glomps her childhood friend Saori, a new obsession is born. Keisuke is *absolutely positive* that they must be a Yuri couple! All excited to see a real one, Keisuke begins to follow them when he comes to the sudden, sobering conclusion that, if they are really a couple – they would not want him around. There it is folks. The THREAT. If they are lesbian couple he is unneeded, unwanted – an annoyance. What mental hoops will Keisuke create for himself and jump through next time? Tune in to find out!

The short story by Miyamoto Ayako wasn’t all that good, IMHO.

“Juliet and Juliet” by Oimoro Jiroh was exactly what it sounds like.

Kurokiri Misao’s “Kokoro no Pendant” was a misunderstanding wrapped around a pendant, but everything works out in the end.

“Reversal” by Imura Ei was unique for several reasons. The art was all scratchy and sketchy, which sort of fit the tone of the story, which followed a girl involved with, let’s face it, it was prostitution. When she is hired by another girl for a little humiliation, she ends up turning the tables on just which of them is in control of the relationship.

Skipping a couple of stories which didn’t make a mark on me, the volume wraps up with a sneak peek of Rikachi’s Ibara no Namida. The sneak peek follows three female college students and the love triangle that has them orbiting around each other. It instantly caught my attention for the clean art and realistic behaviors. I’ve got the volume sitting here and I’ve bumped it up on the too-read pile.

So, overall, still loads to like for just about anyone, and maybe even getting better, bit by bit. I love the new wacky column in the beginning of the volume. Starting off with some goofball humor coming off the stress-y Fukami stories is a good way to get us all to relax and have a little fun while we read.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Before I wrap up, I want to answer one more question that was asked at the UBC lecture the other day that I didn’t have time to answer. The questions was, in short – whether men who like Yuri identify more with the seme or the uke (which only applies in *some* stories, but we’ll use it for the moment, because neither is the answer anyway) in a Yuri couple. Of course I cannot answer for every man who is a Yuri fan (or every woman who is, for that matter) but here’s what I’ve seen in the majority of the Yuri fans – we identify with the couple. In my many, many discussions with Yuri fans over the years the issue is not that we want to be Haruka, or date Haruka…we want Haruka to be with Michiru. Remember my interview with Fujieda Miyabi-sensei when he said that when he creates a couple together, that’s when he’s happiest. I have had so many people tell me that this goes for them, too. I also feel this way. When the couple is happy, so am I. Therefore, I will generalize and say that Yuri fans do not identify with either pursuer or pursued, but with an established, hopefully functional, couple. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Kyoumei Suru Echo

March 1st, 2011

Kyoumei Suru Echo (共鳴するエコー), by Kigi Tatsumi, is a collection of shorts from Tsubomi magazine,  that are intertwined by mutual acquaintance but otherwise don’t intersect. In this case, the connections have very little impact on the story and serve only as a thread that links them.

In “Runner’s High,” a horrible trauma turns out to be less of an issue than we might have expected, and once Yuki faces the truth, she’s able to move on.

Yuki’s coach Ayami deals with life and love when she was in high school in the second story. Nothing new, but cute nonetheless.

The third story covers a day in the life of the Yuki and her twin sister Hibiki, their older sister and the drama that makes a family a family.

It is the final, multi-part story that sets this collect a little apart from others of its kind. In “Lonesome Echo” Yuki and Hibiki’s older sister, Ritsuko joins the staff of a school as a new teacher. Ritsuko encounters a strange slacker student Yohko, who lounges around the music room and asks embarrassing questions of the new teacher.

As time passes, Yohko learns that some thing is not at all right with Ritsuko. She is being abused by her lover. A lover who, Yohko finds out, is female, older and Ritsuko’s former music teacher. Yohko stands up for Ritsuko, only to be brushed off by the arrogant, abusive lover. But Yohko is not a shrinking violet – she is the granddaughter of the school chancellor and has strings she can pull and the clout to protect Ritsuko. The end of the story is a handwave, but a perfectly acceptable one.

I thought this last story was interesting – if pat – because it illustrates a trend I notice in any maturing genre. Once every possible iteration of “Story A” is told, writers start to branch out. Depending on the genre, they may reach into more and more extreme perspectives, which why “suspense” novels are now filled with serial kidnappers/torturers/killers. In the case of Yuri, it means that along with some silly fantasy scenarios, we’re getting some looks at “lesbian life” outside the romance part. In the case of “Lonesome Echo” we got a glimpse of a real issue, abusive relationships. Yes, it’s true that the ending was not realistic, but the expression on Ritsuko’s face and the words she spoke about how her lover is really a good person, it’s her fault…those were real.

Ratings:

Art – 7 (I wish, in collections like these, that authors would include a cast of characters page, so I don’t have to guess at names and relationships)
Story – 7 overall, but 8 for Lonesome Echo
Characters – 7
Yuri – quite low, until Lonesome Echo, in which we see an actual couple in crisis – 6
Service  – 1

Overall – 7, Lonesome Echo – 8

If we want Yuri to mature as a genre, we must be willing to take a look at the bad along with the good.  This was a reasonably gentle entrée’ to a topic that would be distasteful to some and inexplicable to other readers of Yuri. The audience of Tsubomi magazine are used to their Yuri being dished up in palatably sweet flavors of schoolgirl crushes. A story like this would have a sour taste for many. And for that, I applaud it.