Archive for the Magazines Category


Yuri Manga: Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, Volume 1 (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり)

June 25th, 2010

2010 has been good for Yuri in one way – there are even more Yuri Anthologies than ever before. Alongside of Yuri Hime, Yuri Hime S and Yuri Hime Wildrose we now have more recent additions Tsubomi, Yuri Shoujo,  eclectic Rakuen Le Paradis and now, Hirari.

It will not probably come as much of a shock to learn that the bulk of the stories are focused on schoolgirls, with a few stories that touch upon the adult world. And, also not so surprisingly, the art doesn’t really ever communicate any adult sensibilities. In fact, one story made no sense to me until I realized that it was not, in fact, about schoolgirls, but about teachers. The certainly didn’t look like grown-ups, which complicated things for me.

Hirari, Volume 1 (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり) can be summed up in the line, “You don’t understand my feelings.” In many of the stories, one character thinks that the other does not like or love her the same way as she feels about her. In all of the stories they are wrong. This doesn’t mean every story is nothing but mindless repetition and I feel that there’s an actual effort to provide some variety in set-up and style. Unfortunately for readers such as myself, the lack of resolution beyond forehead touching/hand holding/smiling at one another means that, even though the stories are not *actually* the same…they still feel it.

Through no fault of its own, Hirari also lacks any really strong artists (I’m long past hoping for strong writers.)  Where Rakuen, Yuri Shoujo and Tsubomi (not to mention the Ichijinsha publications) all  have some popular doujinshi artists-turned-professionals, Hirari looks decidedly second-rate in comparison. I don’t hold that against the publication, though. There’s only *so* many excellent artists out there and everyone deserves a chance to pay their dues and learn how it works.

I admit that I did have to read the anthology through three times before any of the stories stuck with me, but a few have. The two teachers, one of whom is still dealing with a kiss between them from years earlier, a girl who needs sleeping pills to go to sleep, concerned about her friend who is happily sexual and seems kind of flighty, a story about pop idols that are forced to switch staff and a story in which the most visually striking piece is the cover page, as a girl arranges her shadow to make it look like she and her sempai are kissing.

While I did not fall head over heels in love with this anthology, I’m always willing to give a new publication the benefit of the doubt. So, if a second volume is published, I’ll probably get it.

Not “recommended” per se, but I’m not warning you off, either.

Ratings:

Overall – 6

The rating is a little lukewarm, and so was the anthology. I’m still looking for those stories between “Story A” and porn. A little passion wouldn’t kill this book.





Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime, Volume 20, Part 2

May 27th, 2010

The second half of our overview begins with Takemiya Jin’s “Kirakira,” in which Saya befriends Mari, the plain sister of magazine model Ria in order to get closer to the famous sister, only to find that her interest no longer lies with Ria at all.

With the kind of synchronicity I’ve come to expect from her, Miura Shion’s Yuri essay discusses Ohana Holoholo.

The “Para Yuri Hime Ten” strip is about a girl who discovers Girls Love manga and life in elementary school.

Meiko is 28, and she’s having an affair with Yukari, a girl years younger than she in “Lunch Box.” She feels a little guilty, then a little jealous and then mightily annoyed, when Yukari tells a friend that she’s not seeing anyone. It was just a case of miscommunication, though.

“Mizu-iro Cinema” comes to a close with Tae leaving Yui to allow her to get back together with Akane, without asking Yui if that’s what she wants. She doesn’t and they end up together. Phew.

In “Moso Honey,” Nonoka’s Student Council tenure seems to involve her being depantsed/deskirted rather more often than you’d expect. Nozomi-sempai is cool, because we’re told she is.

Fans of service will enjoy the color pages, wherein the Sono Hanabira, Ikkitousen XX, Shin Koihime Musou Otome Tairan and other anime and movies are discussed.

Mist-a-like, “My Unique Day” brings star actress/dancer Miki into the orbit of her admirer Sorako, and their brief mis-start before they both find the right method to fit their relationship.

Hayase-sempai rises to the occasion with an impassioned, if fictitious, defense of Mashiro when they are both dressed down by a teacher for having a relationship out in public where peeping toms and jealous classmates can tattle about it. Hayase says that she coerced the younger woman. When Hayase returns to argue their case, since it was in fact the jealous classmate who tattled, the teacher shuts her down. Crisis looks like it might actually loom in “Sayonara Folklore.”

And at last, a story I skipped. I’m finding the bittersweet not-quites of the Black Cat Mansion series to be pretty dull.

“DNA Double XX” returns with a chapter that has a lot of potential and fails almost utterly to maximize any of it, cashing it all in for a pile of cliches. Aoi cleans up nice for the dance with the Eves, to learn that the Adam’s plumage is not the only thing they do to attract mates in this society of peacocks. There will be duels, we are told, so it’s no surprise when, after Aoi disses Erika for her unkindness to a clumsy, sincere, bespectacled girl who wears underwear which we are forced to look at repeatedly, Sakura appears to defend the Eve-in-chief. Duel? Do ya think?

Skip the next, as “Hime Koi” has roundly failed to capture my interest.

And lastly Hakamada Mera’s “Kimi ni Naru” goes where we hoped it would go, as Amane spills to You just what her history with Yuki was. It turns out to be slightly more seedy than expected, as Yuki became pregnant by her tutor. You offers herself to Amane as a stand-in for her lost love but, after a rather hot kiss, Amane reels herself in. She pours cold water on both of them by telling You that she can stay the night but after this, she doesn’t want to see her ever again. Understandably, I think, since it would take a seriously strong person to avoid that particularly slippery slope. I want to categorically say that between this story and “Kaichou to Fukukaichou” in Yuri Hime S, I’ve come around to Hakamada. Her characters still have giant heads, though.

The ad for the next issue offers a 5th anniversary special “surprise.” Along with all the usual fun, there’ll be a pin-up by and interview with Aoi Hana‘s Shimura Takako. And, most importantly, from this issue forward, Yuri Hime is moving from a quarterly to a once-every-other-month format, so 6 times a year from the current 4. I hope you’re as excited about that as I am.

Overall – 9.5

So, 5 years into this experiment, we have a solid handful of some really decent art, storytelling and by god, adult women in relationships. Now we just need to get it over here legitimately and we’ll have arrived.





Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime, Volume 20 Part 1

May 26th, 2010

If there was ever a volume of Yuri Hime magazine worth buying, Volume 20 is that volume. It was the most stellar issue to date. I’ve mentioned that I have now taken to skipping any stories that simply don’t interest me – out of 18 stories, I skipped only 2 and liked or loved all of the ones I read. This was a great volume from beginning to end.

It begins with cover art by Fujieda Miyabi of Sarasa and Seriho from Ame-iro Kouchkan Kandan, and moves right into a pin-up by Morinaga Milk on one side and Dite on the other.

The first story, “Tsuki to Drop” is a variation on the group date gone wrong plot, when Nobara gets jealous of the guys paying attention to Tsuki at the gokon.

In “Mukou no Budou”, Itsuwa is regretting not taking the chance to reach her hand out towards Mitsue, when she had it back in high school. Seeing Mitsue with a lover now hurts more than she was prepared for.

Miwa-san is a typical OL, whose life changes when she quite accidentally meets actress Nagae-san. Suddenly, her life is filled with new people – and new feelings. These last two stories are both stories about adult women, so of course they made me happy.

And, although “Yomijinrazuno Tsukari Desu” is back in a school setting, there was something so refreshingly goofy and fun about it that I liked it anyway. When Tsukasa gets a love letter from “S”, she thinks it’s from Sumika, and goes the old-fashioned route by befriending her to get closer to her. However, she completely misses the fact that the writer of the love letter shares the same initial with her best friend, Sakurako.

Morishima Akiko’s series about grown-ups, “Renai Joshika,” brings two of the couples together in a business overnight in a cheap hotel in Hokkaido. This story has a number of things I’ve never seen in a Yuri Hime manga before, including some very clever fourth wall breaks and femme drag for the two butches, Mitsuki and Saki. And it looks like Mitsuki and Kaori are reigniting their old relationship. It’s been 15 years since they were lovers – I’ll be interested to see how their adult relationship works out.

“Yr Yr” covers that awkward space between a confession and a response.

And we’re going to end with an utterly squee-worthy chapter of “Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan” about which I can say very little without spoiling it. Sarasa and Seriho go out on a second date. To say that Seriho brings a U-haul would not be that far off. lol Seriously – this chapter is worth the price of the magazine. (I’m a little shy of halfway, but pressed for time today.)

Speaking of the price of the magazine. I know that many of you would purchase it if it were cheaper to get but sadly, the reality is that unless you live in Japan, it has to be shipped, until they – and we – have a model that works for legit digital reproduction (something I am working on, because it’s time to stop discussing the problem and start talking about the solution.) The magazine is about $9 USD and the shipping can be twice that easily. As you know, I always link to the Amazon JP entry for the magazine, because I have an affiliate account. I know it’s pretty steep shipping from there, but that cost per item goes down when you buy many items at once. A 20-item order can have a cost per item of about $4 USD, depending on what you get. Here are some other options:

BK1 books has more shipping options, so you can go a slower/cheaper route. You do need to know some Japanese to use their site, where on Amazon JP you can check out in English.

Also, if you live in a major city, a large bookstore can potentially get a subscription for you. And, if there is a Japanese bookstore anywhere in or near your town, they probably won’t have any difficulty getting it for you. Asahiya, Kinokuniya and Sanseido all have overseas stores and all are glad to provide subscription services. It helps to show up with a cover, or a printout of the title and/or the ISSN for them. We speak with an accent. :-)

There are also an online subscription services available from Sasuga Books and CD Japan, although neither have Yuri Hime listed, I’m sure they will be glad to assist you.

J-List does have Yuri Hime listed in their magazine section, and a subscription is available through them.

And Anonymous tells us that HMV JP also has an English-language interface, with a caveat that HMV’s overseas shipping is EMS only, no SAL. Thanks Anon, much obliged.

So, there really are a lot of options for you to buy Yuri Hime, and make the point that there is a legitimate overseas market. The more we buy, the more our voice is heard. In the near future I’ll expand about how this can change things for all our benefit – and talk about the solution I mentioned above. :-)

Part 2 tomorrow!





Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime S, Volume 12

April 20th, 2010

I will continue to do what I started with last issue, and only address the stories I felt were worth reading. The rest do not appeal to me for one reason or another and I don’t want to waste my time even so much as synopsizing them.

So, for me, the first story in Yuri Hime S, Volume 12, is “Fufu.” Let me be very clear – this story is *important.* Some people, after having read my glowing review of this story from the last volume were disappointed because nothing happens. The first chapter is just about two women who sit around talking. This is followed by this volume’s chapter in which they go out shopping for a bed. That’s it. But that’s precisely why it’s important. This story is about the little moments of domestic bliss that are the majority of time spent in a marriage. On 2chan, the response was, “why should I care?” and a lot of derision about lesbians and why they don’t want lesbians in their Yuri. That’s why this story is important. Because, no, Yuri fandom, especially the male half, are not more open-minded and accepting. If anything they are usually less – sexually immature sometimes, sexually conservative frequently. Otaku in Japan are rarely socially liberal. Social and political equality for gay couples is not even in the playbook, much less a priority.

So when “Fufu” covers this territory, gently, adorably forcing this audience to repeatedly confront the fact that lesbian couples are happy without a man, and would like to have words and laws that protect their status absolutely – it is important. I remain thrilled with Ichijinsha’s decision to run this series in Yuri Hime S.

Above all…c’mon…the story is about getting a big pluffy bed! As a proud owner of one of those, I say without reservation that this is the greatest story ever! lol

In “Okkake x girls” Amami-sempai and Koyanagi-sempai had a smoking hot kiss in the last scene of the school play and it’s inspired some of the other students to try it out. This series gets points for having Amami accepted into the “Sakarazuka” school where she’ll become a real prince.

In “Kaichou to Fukukaichou” the Vice President is starting to come to terms with what she feels is a hopeless love for the President, only to encounter the President in tears over a difficult family situation. She offers comfort in the form on an embrace and lets the girl she loves cry in her arms.

“Marriage Black” tells the tale of two daughters of opposing crime families, mixed in with a little “The Graduate” and a little murder. I kind of wonder where this one is going.

Hiyori Otsu’s “Orange and Yellow” covers the well-worn territory of a girl and the moron she loves. ^_^

“Shinagami Alice” avoids explaining anything by adding a sadistic Loli who kidnaps the lead, so we don’t notice there’s no plot.

The plot takes a turn for the irrelevant when the male lead of the play disappears just before the school festival in “Konohana Link.” I’m once again of the mind that this will all make more sense once I get all the chapters together, because right now, it’s too scattered for me to follow.

The memes are flying thick and fast with no sign of an actual story in “Zettai Shoujo Astoria” No one’s gonna complain that this story moves slow – it’s on a treadmill to nowhere at full speed right now. Even the characters run around the campus a lot.

Anna’s doll talks and she’s still in love with Elza. Elza asks her to be her disciple, and kind of misses the fact that she’s in love with Anna, too. It’s okay, it’s not like we expected genius from “Cassiopeia Dolce.”

And while that’s only about half the volume – that’s the half I read. There’s other stuff, both adequate and bad, and I’m sure some of you will like it very much, so let me remind you that only buy *buying* Yuri can you support it. Otherwise, you’re just stealing from the artists and the publishers. If you follow a series regularly, consider purchasing the magazine to pay the bills of the hard-working men and women who create these stories for you!

Ratings:

Overall – 7





Yuri Manga: Rakuen Le Paradis, Volume 2

April 4th, 2010

Volume 1 of Rakuen Le Paradis was hardly perfect. But I liked how it bucked convention and did whatever it pleased. Volume 2 is no less unconventional and sometimes, as a result, it’s downright disturbing. But even with a few stories I didn’t care for, I found this volume intriguing.

Because this is a Yuri blog, I’m going to focus on the Yuri stories, but the magazine has much the same lineup as last time, so if you like any of those artists, it’s worth a look. And at least two of the straight stories were very good, IMHO.

The most important story is the second chapter of “Collectors” by Nishi UKO. If you’ve been following Okazu for any length of time, you’ll know that she is one of my favorite artists – I love her clean lines and the unabashedly adult sensibility with which she imbues her stories. Nishi Uko-sensei often writes stories in what I am calling (as of this week) the Yuri Gap.

The Yuri Gap is that space after “zOMG! We’re in love!” and even after the obligatory first sexual encounter, but before “we’re an established couple.”

As I posted recently on the Yuricon Mailing List:

1) There’s Yuri in which a character is perceived to have a one-sided crush. (There’s TONS of “Yuri” in which there is no one-sided crush, but fans decide there is and interpret everything to fit their idée fixe.)

2) There’s first love Yuri in which two girls/women realize – to their shock – that they love one another.

3) There’s PWP Yuri in which two girls/women, for virtually no reason whatsoever, suddenly have a physical relationship.

4) And there’s relationship Yuri in which two women are a priori living together as a couple.

There are *of course* exceptions to these. But in my opinion, there’s a distinct gap here. The gap is that bit that interests me most, to be honest.

It’s obviously easy to sell 1) one-sided and crushy Yuri – no commitment is needed from the reader to make the relationship work. And it’s pretty easy to sell 4) a pre-existing relationship to a reader because, duh, it’s pre-existing so you either accept it or you don’t read the manga.

Most of “Yuri” fits neatly in 2) and 3). First love stories are titillating in an emotional way, and sex in a physical way and sometimes either kind of story can be titillating in either, or both ways.

And yet…I can’t help but notice a gap.

The gap is that bit after “we’re together as a couple” and before “we living together.”

This is the kind of story I covered in “Playing House” in Yuri Monogatari 4 and what “Fufu” is doing in Yuri Hime S. This space when two women are past building a physical relationship out of an emotional one and trying to translate that into real life. Moving in, getting furniture – dealing with bills and budgets and family and food and…stuff.

In “Collectors,” the couple isn’t living together, but they are together. But the stories are about the little things. The very little things. Sharing space and sharing clothes and little pieces that finish off the big life puzzle. And for that reason I like that story more than I can convey simply. And this chapter was funny, too.

Takemiya Jin covers the newest most popular Yuri couple with the high school girl and the college student tutor that fall for each other in “Omoi no kakera (2 piece).” It’s kind of safe territory, but the author gets to play around with the kind of character she does best – apparently amoral, but actually very nice character.

And in “Parfum” Nishi Uko once again deals with one of the important little pieces – when a couple fights for no goddamn good reason at all.

In “Sukina Hito” a sister’s nighttime affection for her older sister is starting to put some cracks in her relationship with her boyfriend.

There’s also at least two stories that cover “Girl’s Talk” episodes, and which are true enough to life that most folks will automatically write the relationships in as having some physical component when it really doesn’t, because clearly when women are complaining about their boyfriends, the only logical conclusion is for them to have sex together. It’s not really there, but I know my audience. :-)

My only disappointment with volume two is that this time there wasn’t any BL included. I very much liked that the last volume had some (even if I didn’t actually like the story itself.) Based on the kinds of stories being included in this volume, the readership is skewing strongly female, so I’m really hoping to see some more variety in the next volume.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Like all anthology magazines, I don’t expect to like all – r even most – of the stories in this magazine, but I seems to be enjoying about half the work in this magazine. That’s a pretty high “like” ratio. :-)