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.

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!

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

The second half of Comic Yuri Hime, Volume 19 starts off with Hakamada Mera’s “Sore ga kimi ni naru” in which You is fascinated by this older woman who looks at her with the memory of a love she had in the past. This time You accompanies Amane to the library where she works, to see what this mysterious woman’s life is like. When You gets caught in a late rainstorm, Amane is confronted with having the girl stay over her place.

“Himekoi” is full of screaming…again. And I’m skipping “Soulfege” because, bleah.

In “DNA Double XX” Aoi proves that she haz mad fightin’ skills, but the Eves have better Yuri-service.

Amano Shuninta’s “Cell Frame no Mukou Kawa” proves that once again, there is a group mind behind anthologies, as yet another cosmetics salesperson find herself part of a plot. This time she has fallen for the local pharmacist, who is unreasonably cute with makeup. For the record – I prefer girls in glasses. Justsaying.

“Mizu-iro Cinema” has an awkward reunion between Yui and her former lover Mizuki, while Tae is a little slow on the uptake. After Yui throws Mizuki out, she worries that Tae will find the fact that she is a lover of women repulsive (as opposed to, “I don’t love women – just you”, the old-school method of avoiding having any lesbianism in Yuri.) Tae is way too sweet (read; doofusy) to let that happen.

In “Cleo the Crimson Crises” the story doesn’t end. WHY? Why gods, do you hate us? Oh, ahem. So, Cleo and Suoh go to wherever Cleo is from and people are assholes to Suoh, so she can be a snot-faced wet rag some more. Gawd.

“Sayonara Folklore” continues – sort of surprisingly, because there’s not a lot of plot there, but… Sumika is still in love with Takase-sempai, who likes her back and everything is okay until another student starts to scream at them, and tells the teacher about them. And Takase finds that she too is not the first one her lover has loved. What does not need forgiveness is forgiven and at the end they still like one another.

And, finally, in “Tokimeki Mononoke Gakuen” Arare and Pero, now in the world of humans, go to Arare’s house, Pero meets her mom, is terrified of her, and licks the bowl clean – literally. Meanwhile, Kiri mopes, remembering how Arare disappeared through a vortex…and suddently realizes Pero’s with her! The end of this story becomes ever more obvious, but you, know, I’m still okay with it. ;-)

And there you have it. Better than average, with more very good and good than not.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

A fine specimen of a Yuri Hime, and another issue that gives me hope that one day I’ll see what I really want in a Yuri magazine – something somewhere between “Story A” and porn about women who love women.

“Got your heart!” says the cover of Comic Yuri Hime, Volume 19. And so far, at least, it’s right. :-)

After some color illustrations that are less skanky than I’m used to, we jump right into a new series “Moso Honey” by the insanely prolific Mikuni Hadzime (of Gokujou Drops). Nonoka enters a new high school and is drafted into the high-end and rather bizarre Student Council by a “cool beauty,” Nozomi. What will this mean for the decidely average Nonoka? Hijinx and Wackiness, of course!

“Kuma-san ni Tsuite” is a slightly uncomfortable love story between a woman who obsesses about teddy bears and her long-suffering friend.

“Spike Girls” is really interesting to me, not because it’s a perfectly respectable sport romance, but also because Takemiya Jin is also doing a sports romance as Junk-Lab, so clearly he’s really into the whole idea right now. :-) Jun is recruited by by Ichi-sempai to play on the volleyball team, but unexpectedly finds herself falling for Ichi-sempai, who was in love with her own sempai. Jun confesses, thinking that Ichi-sempai will be disgusted, but oh, look! not so much.

Mitsue Aoki’s “Sweet Room” is the kind of story that works only if you’re reading an anthology of a lot of one type of short story and you are therefore inclined to be a bit generous about handwaves that are awkward, because how many different ways are there, really, to tell the same story. Nozomi find a stranded high school girl and takes her into her home, because 1) she thinks high school girls are cute and 2) the girl was stranded, duh. But after the girl makes herself comfortable, pretty much moving in, Nozomi begins to doubt her own motives. When Nana seduces Nozomi, she’s wracked with guilt, unti Nana admits to being 21 and having made up the whole high school thing to appeal to Nozomi, who she overheard talking about how cute high school girls are at the convenience store where she works. Heh.

Miura Shion’s Yuri essay touches on Sasamekikoto and “Para Yuri Hime” is Fujio’s love letter to a school crush named Waka.

At the the Black Cat Mansion, tutor Jun rues the fact that she rejected her student Chiasa, on their last day together.

“Mahou no Te” is another over-complicated love story about a girl who learns that someone who touches you on the back of the arm is sure to be your true love, or something like that. Nasu is passively-aggressively in love with Seri. They embrace.

“Renai Joshika” follows Fumi, who falls in love with the woman behind the makeup counter. It turns out that “love” is the best makeup of all.

And this section, we’ll end end with “A Knife Edge Girl” which was probably the most realistic “friend in love with friend” story we’ve seen in a while. There’s a lot of interior emotion and some very little interaction, but it rings true in that a real love story is not one story – but two. Each of the people involved has their own story going on in their head, apart from the other. While this story only so far follows one character, we can see that the other has a whole separate set of stuff going on.

Up to this point, the magazine’s been better than average and has a fairly high percentage of grown up characters, which I will never complain about. The level of high melodrama is lower, and so is the “afterschool special” feel as compared to some of the stories we’ve had in the past.

Also, I’d like to note that the tone of obsessive destruction that used to walk hand in hand with Yuri is pretty much out of the picture now. No knives, paper cutters or rooftops threaten our Yuri with the grim specter of suicide. These characters might be depressed a bit when they think their love isn’t returned, but Yuri and madness no longer are equivalent.

In fact, what I’m seeing is more of that tectonic shift to strong characters, characters with jobs, lives, friends, characters with hobbies and interests and – can you believe it took this long – female characters in sports! ‘Bout time too. Honestly, you’d think *someone* would have written an Olympic-like competition Yuri story for this issue. Duuuuuuhhhhh……. However, I am sufficiently glad for the absence of Valentine’s Day stories. Phew.

Tectonic shift it may be, but I’m liking it.

Part 2 next.