Archive for the Rakuen Le Paradis Category


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.





Yuri Manga: Rakuen Le Paradis (楽園 Le Paradis), Volume 7

December 21st, 2011

Hrm. So, if anyone asked me how to build a Josei magazine that men might also read, I’d say, get lots of top names to draw stories that are refreshingly different in that they are pretty much the same as everywhere else, except that the women are slightly more in control of their lives. Add in some Yuri, in the form of already-proven artists, and then mix in some stories about guys. I’m not saying that’s what Rakuen Le Paradis (楽園 Le Paradis) had in mind, but that’s what it’s doing.

Volume 7 hits the Yuri fandom hard right at the front of the magazine, with Nishi UKO’s “Collectors,” which begins with a backstory about Takako in high school. The bridge between these two chapters made me extremely happy, with frames of Shinobu and Takako playing with each other’s hair in a beautifully intimate scene as they talk. This is exactly the kind of thing I’m looking for – adult intimacy, without it being porn. This series is pretty much the series I keep talking about wanting to read – after the happily ever after. When this series comes out in a collected Volume, it’s instantly Number 1 for the year.

Then we get the backhand with something many manga readers have long wanted – another overtly Yuri story by Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei. In “Heart Cooker” popular actress Nasu Renge is invited to be on a cooking show. The hosts of the show are Barahara Ruriko, an older, very Dame Edna-ish character and Shiohara Satsuki, a young, attractive host. Right from the first moment Renge walks on stage, Ruriko notices a certain…tension…between Renge and Satsuki. And, as they introduce Renge, it turns out that Satsuki and she attended the same school. Satuski was a year younger, but had always admired Kawakami-sempai (Renge’s real name) as she practiced for track and field. At first Renge doesn’t remember Satsuki, but then she recalls a day when she passed the ball back to an energetic underclassman in the softball team, who she was instantly attracted to…. The entire time this is going on, the production staff is frantically looking to get the cooking part of the show moving along, but Renge and Satsuki start to fade off into their own little world, so Ruriko steps in to save the day and make the dish, and let’s the two women have their moment. As Ruriko finishes the dish, Renge asks Satsuki out for a drink and Ruriko smiles in satisfaction at the results of both cooking and matchmaking.

And last, but definitely not least, for Yuri readers, Takemiya Jin’s “Omoi no Kakera” continues, as Mayu struggles desperately to get her feelings for Mika in order and to deal with her best friend’s snarky, but accurate assessment of those feelings.

So, lets just turn around for a moment and survey the landscape. Three Yuri series, two about adults, all by women, two of which have actual lesbians.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

Le Paradis, indeed. I think I’ve died and gone to Yuri heaven.





Rakuen Le Paradis (楽園 LeParadis) Manga Magazine, Volume 6

July 12th, 2011

As always, reading an issue of Rakuen Le Paradis is like a trip into the adult reading room when you’re usually stuck in the kid’s room at the library.

We’re at Volume 6 now, and there’s a rhythm to the stories. They focus on so many kinds of relationships – from consensual abuse to tentative first love, with every kind of experience in between. But they are rarely same-old, same-old.

For Yuri fans, Nishi UKO’s “Collectors” continues to be touching and amusing, as Shinobu, Takako and their friends hit up a hot springs resort for a weekend away, only to find their conflicting personalities and priorities split them up almost immediately.

Also from Nishi UKO comes a rather touching homage to the story of Galatea, “Mannequin.” This was a totally “awww….” story, told in style by an elegant artist.

Takemiya Jin’s “Omoi no Kakera” continues with a shocking confession by one of Mayu’s friends who is sick of hearing Mayu say that gays make her sick…because she’s gay herself.

As always, these Yuri stories are only a few examples of the quality artists and storytellers captured in the pages of this volume. If you’re not reading this magazine yet and are wondering if there’s more to manga than just the same three plots over and over, I once again recommend Rakuen Le Paradis.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

For grown-ups who want to read manga for grown-ups.





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





Rakuen Le Paradis Manga, Volume 4

November 29th, 2010

In Volume 4 of Rakuen Le Paradis (楽園Le Paradis) we, the readers, are treated like the adults we are and…man, it feels good.

This chapter of “Collectors, “by Nishi UKO was absolutely breathtaking. Not because it was dramatic, or because it dealt with serious issues. It took my breath away because it was about women who are a couple, and their friends, and their lives. It was about nothing *at all.* It was just about the most perfect lesbian comic I’ve ever seen. Imagine – a story about women who are lesbian and then the story happens. Sigh….. And I’m a huge fangirl for Nishi UKO-sensei’s art, so as far as I’m concerned, this was a 10 out 10.

Takemiya Jin’s story that began in Volume 3, “Omoi no Kakera” continues here as Harada’s little sister is forced to deal with her brother’s relationship with Takaoka, her own feelings of disgust at his being gay and her shock when she learns that Takaoka is as well. It doesn’t help so much that Takaoka correctly identifies her feelings as the jealousy they are. This chapter went a long way to moving the sister as antagonist out of the way, so I wonder if we’ll get a third chapter. Gosh, I hope so. I really like the level-headed reality of this story.

Nishi UKO has a second short, “PV” that looks back at Takako’s first experience with another woman. It’s a sweet, little quicky.

“Ending,” by Shigisawa Kaya takes a very emotional look at the ending of a relationship, and provides a nod back to the old days of Yuri, when one person always ended up married or dead and the other bereft. It was so interesting to see that again I had to read the story twice to make sure it actually went there.  ^_^;

Once again, Rakuen Le Paradis weighs in as one of my favorite magazines. I just never know what it’s going to do with my brain or my heart. Whether the stories are straight, gay, lesbian, other, they are by creators that I personally consider some of the best in the business. While I’ved only touched upon the stories that have lesbian themes this issue, I don’t want you to assume that the rest of the magazine isn’t worth your time and money, because it absolutely is. In fact if you told me that I’d have to give up every magazine but one, the one I’d keep is not, as you might expect, Yuri Hime. No question, the one magazine I’d keep when all others were taken away from me is Rakuen Le Paradis.

Ratings:

Overall – 8