The 16th Volume of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫) starts off with a big “Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan” presence. Sarasa, Seriho and two new characters, Mana-chan and Shiko, adorn the cover. Inside the cover is the “Pink Princess” Drama CD in which we are introduced to Manako and Shiko.

This is followed by something I do not particularly care for. There is a thing that Japanese seiyuu do, to play with the images of their characters and as a form of service, where they pose or imply Yuri between them and the other actress(es) who voice characters in the same show/CD. It’s pretty popular among fans, there’s even blogs that track this fake lesbian coupling among seiyuu…but it really kinda squicks me. They aren’t a couple, and they don’t look like they even want to touch each other. It strikes me as icky, not cute. Nonetheless, those kinds of pictures accompany completely banal interviews with the voice actresses of “Pink Princess,” and more ads for the delayed first volume of Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan with or without Drama CD extra.

A GIGANTIC two-page spread with GIGANTIC characters frenetically announces the return of Zaou Taishi and Eiki Eiki to the pages and cover of the next volume of Yuri Hime.

And then, for variety, we get the next chapter of “Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan.” :-) Seriho has told Sarasa about Sumire, a school friend who is, indeed, a woman who loves women, but who was not her lover. Sumire arrives early and gets to tease both Sarasa and Seriho in turn. More importantly, she gets to see the two of them interact and not surprisingly sees what neither of them can, that they are in love. After the shop closes for the night, Sumire lays it out to a genuinely amazed Seriho, then passes on their day together to give Sarasa an honest-to-goodness date with the woman she loves.

“Kuchinashi” (Gardenia) is a nod to Yoshiya Nobuko’s Hana Monogatari, even set in the Taisho period for verisimilitude. Sayako is adored by all the girls in the school, but Suzuno’s feeling are deeper. They meet, come together and are parted by the usual complication of marriage. But they will always have these memories.

“Sumire-chan no Namida” is about a crybaby, and the girl who loves her for it.

What goes on in the staff rooms of a women’s club? Read “Girls End” and meet the staff of a ladies club for women who like women and find out! (Reality may be checked at the door.)

Miura Shion takes on the Machikado Hanadayori manga in her essay on Yuri.

Kurata Uso takes a look at the true meaning of being “in the closet” in “Closet,” as Kaname wrestles with her true feelings for Ai.

Sa-chan is shocked to learn that her beloved sempai is leaving to go to Switzerland – and sempai is just as shocked to learn so belatedly of her feelings, in “Keshi Saru Koi to Onegaigoto.”

And the next chapter of the Black Cat Mansion series continues with Tamaki, who has never really managed to make friends with any of the other girls. She finds them loud and irritating. Until she meets Kei, who also stands apart from the rest of the class. The two of them become close, but Kei keeps a distance between them that Tamaki would like to close. Crisis brings them closer than ever before, and maybe is the start of something more between them.

Ichijinsha continues to flog the Yuri-themed game Soulphage and, as with Aoi Shiro previously, has a manga to push it. Kagura is so very excited to be going to high school where she can reuinite with her adored Sukune-oneesama, only to find that Sukune has no idea who she is.

“Tenki Youhou Ha” tells of the March that Kae spends camping outside in the cold rain to purge the feeling of a broken heart, and the warm summer sun that Satoko ultimately brings into her life.

Tae-chan is spending the summer break working off the debt she accidentally incurred by pushing Yui into the water and losing her necklace. Yui seems rather stand-offish, but Tae learns that it’s more possessiveness than aloofness. To cheer Yui up, they walk up to the very top of a tall hill and look down from the shrine there on the beautiful coastline. Tae wonders what Yui’s former lover was like, but Yui only responds enigmatically, the she’s fallen for someone else….

The love triangle in “Kono Onegai ga Kanau kara” takes a surprising turn. Umi’s jealousy threatens to turn her against Tsukiko and You-chan. When she learns that a shrine behind the school can grant wishes, she seriously considers cursing them in order to get Tsukiko for herself. When gym class becomes a game of Hide-and-Go-Seek, Tsukiko finds herself alone with Yoe-chan, who points out that its obvious that Tsukiko *really* likes Umi. Tsukiko runs after Umi and finds her returning down the hill where she made peace with her feelings and wished not for revenge, but that Tsukiko’s feeling reach You-chan. Umi collapses, and Tsukiko carries her to the infirmary. When Umi wakes up confesses her feelings, kisses her…then keeps going. You-chan, on her way to vist Umi, comes across an embarassing scene in the infirmary – then runs interference to keep them from being discovered by the school doctor.

Which seems like a good spot to stop for the day. It’s a pretty strong first half for this volume – with some rather interesting things to come!

It’s been two full years of Yuri Hime S (コミック百合姫S (エス)) now and, as I sit here re-reading this volume, I find that it is definitely showing signs of maturity. Relative maturity, at least. The propensity for the stories to include the most typical forms of service hasn’t gone away. We are still subjected to swarms of girls in uniforms, maid outfits, bloomers (long gone in the real world, but unfortunately lodged firmly in the minds of fanboys) and of course, an obsession with bathing.

Before I continue this review, my wife reminds me to mention that we saw some pictures of Takarazuka girls, though. They were part of a “women’s work in Japan” article. Very interesting.

Let’s talk perky-breasted 2-dimensional girls. Let’s talk Yuri Hime S Volume 8.

The cover is once again graced by two of the characters from “Honey Crush,” a story I wish I liked more than I do. I don’t hate it, but I wish I could love it. I feel like it has potential, but it isn’t allowed to move out of it’s own teeny-tiny frame.

Yoshitomi Akihito hits the pinnacle of his career with yet another story about two girls sweating, wearing bathing suits and eventually kissing in “Natsu no Hajimari.” Fans of his bathing-suit fetish will absolutely enjoy this iteration of it as they have so many of the others.

“Amatsubu Harmonia” tells the somewhat unrealistic, yet touching story of Yuuka, the “other daughter” who is left alone most of the time, and her completely sociopathic attachment to a waif she meets in the rain. The fact that she and the waif end up together is meant to be interpretated as a good thing. :-)

Nina reminisces about how alone she is and about the death of her mother in “Flower Flower.” Shuu once again is a really, really nice gal that Nina edges ever closer to one day being worthy of.

I give in. “Yuru Yuri” is like a 4-koma that’s drawn wrong. Anyway, wacky things happen – mostly in the mind of the Miu-like Kyouko. Take her out of the story and it’s basically about a bunch of girls doing their homework.

Madoka is contemplating suicide in “Honey Crush.” Having been betrayed by her love, her spirit has vacated her body – with the result that she can now see her stalker ghost. But ghost and Kyouko convince Madoka to live on and so she does – only now she can’t see the ghost who loves her anymore.

Uso Kurata skims the line of Yuri and every other possible relationship between females in “Linkage.” (It took me longer to figure out that title than you’d probably expect. lol) Rica Rozenberg is a genius scientist, with a painful past. She is convinced that she can program emotions into her robots and, with the creation of Elder, she has succeeded. But her success causes a crisis and Elder’s system fails. It’s only through the power of love that El is saved. If this ran not in a Yuri magazine, I’d see it more as mother/daughter big/sister/little sister thing, but whatever. It was cute.

“Minus Literacy” comes to a climax, when Matsudaira and the gang learn that a crisis has occurred at the “organization” Miharu left them for. The estate is taken over and we are all very shocked to find that the person who has taken control of Matsudaira’s debt is…Miharu. Shocked I say. ;-)

The position of student council president is an important one, but sometimes, there are needs that reside in a heart that cannot be expressed through churning, grinding paperwork. Or so I gather from “Omoi wo Mukou,” in which Saori convinces Yuki to abandon her work for a day and act out a play between the two of them. They take the stage with – and for – each other, for this once.

As usual, I’m skipping “Love Cubic” but there’s a love complication somewhere in between the usual stuff.

“Otome Kikan Gretel” was a chapter filled with egregious nudity, bathing, the implication of a 3-way relationship between the other group (not Yuu’s) and an admission by Yuu that she quite likes soft breasts. Well…duh… Nonetheless, it made me laugh. I have *no* idea why. :-)

Crisis in “Casseopiea Dolce!” Anna is ever closer to maybe, perhaps, one day confessing some small portion of her feelings to Elza-sensei, but a newcomer shows up on the scene to confuse things. Karen, who makes the glass eyes used by the dollmaker, decides she’s fallen in love at first sight with Anna. A timely and oh-so-realistic slip in the bathroom gives Anna a chance to convey her feelings in the most basic way. She kisses Elza, then runs away passive-aggressively.

“C de Onegai” is the same old schoolgirl story with hilarious love triangle hijinks, centering around a misunderstanding of the A,B and C designations used for sexual activity. (Analogous to our first, second and third base.) Kaede confessed her feelings for Meru three days ago, but has not gotten a response. When she does, it’s, “let’s take it from C,” which Meru thinks stands for “chuu” – i.e., a kiss. Things become complicated when Kaede passes a chuu onto Meru, but finds her best friend Aida giving her a chuu, too.

Suzuki-san remains bad with dogs and Saori collapses in another pulse-pounding chapter of “Konohana Link.” I keep waiting for anything to tie together, but nope – not so far!

Miduki Maya provides a silly look at the line between roleplay and delusion in “Hakushaku no Okinihairi.” The “Count” takes a great deal of interest in one of the first-years, and it turns out that, despite the Dracula roleplay, she actually *is* interested in the first-year. No, really.

Fukukaichou has seen her world crumble and now she sits, alone, crying at her own stupid feelings when Kaichou walks in on her. “Kaichou and Fukukaichou” face a crisis, as Kaichou asks what’s wrong and refuses to accept the usual, “nothing” response. There’s not nothing wrong, she says, if you’re sitting here alone, crying. Fukukaichou, beyond the end of her endurance, leans forward and kisses Kaichou and immediately knows she’s ruined everything. Despite myself – despite the fact that I know what Kaichou’s reaction is going to be – I’m actually looking forward to the next chapter of this.

And last, Natsuneko tells the story of a miraculous meeting of two women who have had their hearts broken and are now contemplating suicide in “Yaneura no Kiseki.” I won’t give away the twist in the story, but it was snort-worthy.

So, looking back at it, this was probably the most enjoyable volume of YHS so far. Sure, there’s still a ton of service that does not serve me, particularly and a somewhat tiresome lack of adult women who like other adult women, but hey, that’s why I publish Yuri Monogatari. For a maid-, schoolgirl-, bathing suit-, bath-filled rubbish magazine, it was quite enjoyable. :-)

Overall – 8

The second half of this volume of Yuri Hime (百合姫) picks up with “Mizu-iro Cinema,” a little ditty about popular actress Yui who, after a day’s shoot decides to take a walk along the beach. As she stands looking out over the water, a voice impores her to not jump and she is tackled, then accidentally pushed in, by a girl school uniform. Tamae takes Yui to her house to warm up and dry off. Yui and Tamae realize they are the same age, and during a discussion about school, Yui reminisces about her former schoolmate…and lover. Upon returning to her hotel, Yui realizes she has lost a necklace given to her by that former lover and rushes back to see if Tamae found it. Tamae leaps into the water to find it when she realizes that the necklace holds meaning for Yui, but as the other girl looks for it, Yui thinks that maybe, it doesn’t have that much meaning after all. The end of the story asks “Has a new love begun…?” But really if it weren’t by Hiyori Otsu, running in Yuri Hime and they didn’t say that, I’d say, “Not really.” But what do I know? ^_^

“Sei Ippai Suki to Uso to” is by another new winner of Ichijinsha’s manga contest. Kayo and Miya meet on the first day of school and become love rivals for the hand of Rinko-sempai. Only, Miya has fallen in love with her rival. Happily, Kayo is also in love with Miya, so it all works out. The best thing about this story was that the art reminded me of Raku-Gun’s, but wasn’t as angular and cynical.

Oh look at that. “Nanami to Misuzu” is still running.

This is followed by color pages hawking Ichijinsha properties. Then moving on into “Sweet Peach” which completely fails to capture my attention. The splash page offers gratutious bathing scene for those who really like that. Touka is thrust into another confusing situation as treasured companion to Amateru-sama and surrounded by maids and handservants. It makes about as much sense as any other scenario in this story has.

“Shirogami” allows the editor to include another “wounded girl” story. Minaho has no memory of the past two years, not even a glimmer of recognition for her best friend Takako. In her mind, she’s still in her third-year of middle school. Takako comes by bringing books for her all the time. Minaho wonders why she likes them so much, but Takako’s answer throws her for a loop – Takako knows her likes and dislikes and holds books she knows Minaho will like to forward them to her. The messages on her cel phone to “that Minaho” – her self previous to her accident – from Takako puzzle her. She deletes them, until she comes across a picture of her and Takako…kissing. At school she confronts Takako with that picture, insisting that she is not “that” Minaho. In tears, Takako apologizes for upsetting Minaho. Minaho gets a heartfelt mesaage that Takako misses her and the next day, Minaho waits for her, sending her a message that she wants to see her too.

“Tokumei Prologue” tells the story of how Nanao met Matsumoto, before the stories that make up Junsui Adolescence. It was love at first sight. ^_^

In “Past Heaven” Yuu has never had the chance to go to a friend’s house so when Ayumu invites her, she’s very nervous – and even more so when she realizes that they are alone. But Ayumu is Ayumu, so Yuu-chan is happy, until Ayumu pushes her back and asks her to go out with her. Yuu replies that she doesn’t do that kind of thing, and Ayumu immediately relents. But at school the next day, when Yuu greets Ayumu, she’s greeted pleasantly – with her family name instead of her given name. Yuu guesses correctly that she’s hurt Ayumu. She finds the other girl smoking behind a tree, and learns that Yuu resembles (heavy sigh) a girl she used to be in love with. They were discovered kissing by a parent, who separated them immediately. So when Ayumu came to this chsool, she was immediately captured by Yuu, who resembled her girlfriend. Yuu says that she really doesn’t think there’s a difference between being friends and going out, but Ayumu says that it is different. Yuu declares that she can’t become Ayumu’s former gf, but will make sure she’s not alone. They end the story eating warm taiyaki together.

And finally, “Apple Day Dream.” In between being reminded that Mayu has a big chest and Kaoru loves big chests, we learn some incidentals about the cast, like family members and favorite flavors. Mayu give Kaoru Valentine’s Day chocolate, but really doesn’t expect anything in return.

Overall – 8

This issue probably had fewer stories I genunely didn’t like then any other. Overall it’s a neat bell curve – a few to love, most average and a few to dislike.