Don’t forget to read the review of Part 1 of Yuri Hime, Volume 7, before you read this review, or you’ll be all confused. ;-)

Part 2 begins with a story by Hakamada Mera (of Saigo no Seifuku fame), a story called “A Giraffe’s Neck is Too Long.” Himeko tells Miki that she likes her over some cake, which gets Miki all flustered. They go to the zoo where Miki is uncommonly critical of the animals, hence the title. Quite suddenly for both Miki and myself, Himeko asks if they can have sex. Miki is stunned into silence. They go home, without Miki answering. Himeko suggests that first, maybe, they ought to kiss. Perplexlingly, the story ends there…. Typically of a Hakamada story, the characters look ten – and like they are wearing carnival heads. I’m just never gonna like the style…

Next up is the most weird chapter of “Tokimieki Mononoke Gakuen” to date. And that’s saying something, as this story has been one weirdness after another. Arare and Pero are on the run from their exceedingly angry classmates, who had all been punished severely by grump ole Rokurokubi-sensei, for their make-up skills – or more properly, Arera’s lack of them. This chapter is not for the faint of heart – if you’re squeamish or easily squicked, you might really want to skip this paragraph. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…! Arera and Pero run off and hide in a beat-up old shack, only to find a cow-girl-demon there, with exceedingly large breasts. Arare and Pero discuss how nice it would be to have really large breasts. They ask the cow-girl what she eats. She tells them that her name is Harami and she eats grass. They try this, but bleah. Harami says that what she really needs is to be milked, and asks Arare to do the honors. And, yes, she does. It’s a scene that is so awful that it’s wonderful, without being good. lol Arare is pretty squicked, but she does the deed, while Pero, not wanting to waste the milk, drinks some. At which her breasts grow enormous. Whee! Arare licks her fingers and voila! She too has gigantic boobs! The two capture some of the milk for their classmates and take their leave of a much relieved Harami. When poor Rokrokubi-sensei comes into class, she comments, and I quote, “It’s a village of breasts.” So awful… ^_^

“Spicy Sweets” was a really nice -and different – story. Yuu and Aki live together. Aki is a high school student who wants to be a baker, and Yuu…well, she has money, that’s for sure, but where does it all come from? Aki heads off for school, while Yuu lazes around, until the phone rings and she freaks. She rushes off to Aki’s school to get her, driving a high-end sports car and once Aki’s inside, she screams off, talking craziness about how they have to leave Japan – NOW. Aki, unsurprisingly, is confused. She convinces Yuu to take her home, where the source of Yuu’s anxiety is revealed as…her mother. It becomes instantly obvious that Yuu is, in fact the daughter of an old, powerful Yakuza family, and they’ve had enough of her nonsense. Aki stands up for Yuu, and we get a flashback of how they met when Yuu had originally run away from home. Yuu stands up for herself and her mother backs down. We leave the two of them to some private love-love and cake. For not being another “two schoolgirls decide they love one another” story, it’s worth it – but the art is interesting, too and the non-linear structure of the story works really well with the art. I hope we’ll see more of Neko Natsu in future issues.

More color pages reviewing a yuri-flavored game I’ll never play. lol “Katahane” art has been popping up for a few weeks on yuri image boards. This was followed by a “other yuri stuff” page with a quickie mention of, among other things, the movie Love My Life which I reviewed last week.

The Yurim fairy tale is “Little Red Riding Hood” this time with a sexy grandmother, sexy wolf and sexy hunter. No way to lose, is there?

The next, and final chapter of the second arc of “Hatsukoi Shimai” just about made the whole magazine for me. As I’ve mentioned several times, this arc has differed considerably from the original “Touko-sensei appears” version in the second Koi Shimai Drama CD. In particular, the end of that CD made me nuts, as Haruna and Chika lay in bed together (I grit my teeth as I type this) holding hands. UGH. Ughughugh.

This time, Chika runs out, not into the dark night as in the Drama CD, but into the rain, to look for the beaded ring that Haruna gave her. In this version Touko-sensei saves the day by returning it to Haruna, who slips it onto Chika’s left-hand ring finger – and don’t think for a second that they don’t notice. Chika practically explodes on contact. Haruna also confesses that the reason she was so standoffish to Chika, was that when she was a first year, she had a sempai that she liked, who was always lovey-dovey in private, but very cold in public. She saw herself in Chika and automatically tried to push her away. Meanwhile, Touko gets Akiho to admit how jealous she was of Chika and Haruna. Akiho ends up crying in Touko’s arms, not that Touko seems to mind, mind you. Touko does tell Akiho of her experience in school, with a girl she loved but never told, and Akiho still thinks she’s full of it. They do not, however, get together…yet. Back in Chika-Haruna world, they have arrived at Haruna’s secret place behind the school. The rain has stopped, the sun is coming out. Chika pulls out the ring she made and puts it on Haruna’s left-hand ring finger. And…they…kiss! Can you believe it? I was so happy. Then, just to make my joy almost complete (Touko not get Akiho, Erica still not 100% happy) Haruna FINALLY tells Chika she loves her. Finally. It’s been what, three years since that first Drama CD??? Grrr. But as an end to that arc – thumbs up. And more to come for the next issue, so there is still hope for Touko and Akiho. ^_^

Mori Natsuko has solid advice for the same three problems in her “Yuri Doujo” column.

Chi-Ran has two women who have sex! I know, you’re shocked. This time it’s a cute, little girl alien who has adopted a cute, not-so-little human. When her pet human shows some natural reluctance at sexing up a child, alien girl gets all grown up, special. The next morning she’s back to being little and, assumably, cute.

Last up is a gorgeous piece by Morishima Akiko called “Sakura-hime Hana Fubuki,” which, if you read “Ichigo-hime” in Yuri Monogatari 4, will be quite familiar. Unlike dashing and daring Ichigo-hime, who protects commoner Sakura, in this case Sakura-hime is in love with her protector Fubuki, but ultimately Fubuki returns to the flower petals that she is, while Sakura sits under the tree she’s named after and let’s the flower petals fall (Hana Fubuki). It’s a bittersweet story, beautifully drawn, as always.

Doujinshi reviews, fan letters and the usual bundle of ads brings us to the final get on this issue of Yuri Hime. A page of Yuri Hime stickers! Yes, you’re very own stickers of Ran and Julia, Ryou and Saeki, Chika, Haruna, Akiho, Letty Tsumugi, Chi-Ran characters and bunch more. I love stickers. :-D How much more do I love rare(ish) stickers of Ran and Julia….heh heh heh. I’m almost thinking of buying a few more copies of the magazine, just to have extra stickers. ^_^

So, there you have it. Yuri Hime 7, some of the best, some of the weirdest, some new, some old, and something for everyone.

I was looking forward to Volume 7 of Yuri Hime, but I admit to a teeny little bit of apprehension. Volume 6 was okay, but not terribly strong as far as stories went. Several key artists were on hiatus or had stopped drawing for the magazine, and it left last issue, I thought, just slightly flat.

I’m pleased to report that Volume 7 more than makes up for it. Yes, there’s still just slightly too many schoolgirls for my taste, but it’s not all children, and it’s not all what you’d expect, either. Sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes…. ;-)

The cover gives us a festive Valentine’s Day image of Chika from Hatsukoi Shimai, complete with love-love chocolate for Haruna. Inside, for the first time are two color posters that don’t make me wince. ^_^

The first story, complete with color pages, is the final chapter in Taishi Zaoh and Eiki Eiki’s “Little Red Riding Hood.” When we left off, Akiho had confessed her affection for Fuyuka, mostly to get a reaction from Natsuki. And react she does. The school’s female wolf goes ballistic at Akiho, screaming that Fuyuka is hers, dammit. Fuyuka screams that if Natsuki feels that way, she ought to say it clearly. The two teachers from the older “First Kiss” arc, knowingly clear everyone away so the four girls can resolve their issues in private. Natsuki tells the others that while girls were always screaming and carrying on at her, when she actually did confess her feelings to one, she was rejected. That, combined with Fuyuka’s earlier trauma, made her reluctant to say anything. But now, she and Fuyuka are ready to admit that they like each other. At which point Akiho leads Haruka off, letting the other two make up alone. She apologizes to Haruka, for the subterfuge of saying she liked Fuyuka, but Haruka says that, while she was surprised at that, she trusted Akiho implicitly. The story ends with Natsuki coming over to Fuyuka’s home once again, and this time they are on the same page with their feelings. But Fuyuka’s still got some surprises in store, as Little Red Riding Hood turns the tables on her female wolf.

This is followed by a GREAT chapter of “Strawberry Shake Sweet.” Photographer Sera-san and Ran have a nice little chat, the result of which is that they each realize that they’ve been incredibly stupid about an important woman in their lives. Ran laughs it off, but eventually realizes that she is, indeed, in love with Julia. (At which Ryou from Zlay although miles away, rhapsodizes about love as she senses Ran’s realization.) The page splits into two storylines, as Sera-san confronts her former model Rena, and Ran confesses to Julia. Neither outcome is what you’d expect, but both were great. ^_^

“Apple Day Dream” is a series of 4-panel comics that deal with employees at a fashionable clothing shop. The humor appears to mostly follow Kaoru’s interest in women’s breasts generally and Mayu’s specifically. Not my favorite story, but it had moments.

Takahashi Mako’s newest is, to date, my favorite. I almost actually *liked* it. “The Guts of a Stuffed Animal” follows the trials and tribulations of a girl who likes stuffed animals, and the girl who likes her. The characters all looked older than 4, a definitely plus for me, and no one seemed violently schizophrenic, also a plus. There were moments that I actually began to care about the protagonist, which hasn’t before happened in a Mako story.

The essay on Yuri Manga, surprisingly, deals with new series Aoi Hana rather than an older series, as usual. I think that says something important about Shimura’s series.

Fujieda Miyabi’s “new” series, “Ameiro Koucha Kandan” continues with a flashback to the day that Sarasa met Seriho for the first time. Seriho has just opened her tea house and is a little disappointed to not have had any customers. Sarasa points out that the sign on the door says “Closed.” They laugh. Haru and Hinoko wonder where Sarasa has wandered off to. Cute, sweet fluff, which sets the owner’s personality, and gives us a moment to get to know her and Sarasa. I expect more cute, fluffy-bunny moments from these two going forward.

“Mermaid Line” was, I thought, very good. Ayumi has always dreamed of being a bride. And her boyfriend, Ryuunosuke is going to make a great husband, she thinks…until he tells her that he really wants to be a woman. He breaks up with her and leaves, leaving Ayumi shocked to her very core. One day, tired of grieving, Ayumi finally begins to clean up all of Ryuu’s crap. She comes home from work to find the door open – and a woman in her apartment. Ryuu, now Aika, is apologetic for not collecting her stuff before. Ayumi and Aika talk a little, and when it becomes apparent that Aika doesn’t have anywhere to live, Ayumi tells her to stay. She admits that she still loves Ryuu, even if he is now Aika. In the end Ayumi guesses that she’ll just have to dream of being a groom, instead. It was a little pat, of course, but I really liked this story.

Color pages detailing the many bath scenes in the Simoun Playstation 2 game. If it was my thing, I might have cared.

“Winter Colored Feelings” is a harmless schoolgirl love triangle with no melodrama and a slightly bittersweet flavor. It’s not exceptionally memorable, but it wasn’t the worst I’ve ever read of the breed, either.

This is followed by Morishima Akiko’s decidedly un-bitter, slightly sentimental view of women’s professional wrestling in her “Yuri x Yuri” life column. Who knew that there was a soeur system in wrestling? Certainly not I. ^_^

“Nanami and Misuzu” continues to be wacky without being funny…this time Rina-sempai is sick, but when Nanami and Misuzu arrive, she’s *dead*???? Oh, no, she wasn’t. Ahahah. Funny nurse and sick people gags follow. I just gag.

So, here we are at halfway. I’ll stop it here, with the comment that the magazine starts REALLY strong, gets a little weaker, then gets really good (and really freaky) again. Lots more Yuri rabu-rabu to come in Part 2!

We left off from Part 1 after the essays about classic yuri series, this time, about two wonderful gender-bendy girl prince stories, Paros no Ken, Sword of Paros and Berusaiyu no Bara, Rose of Versailles.

This essay is followed by another new one-shot, “Pajama Yoru Hanashi”, about a bunch of girls at a pajama party. One confesses to liking someone. Under cover of the usual squeals and fuss, another girl pretty much figures its her.

Akiko Morishima is, in real life, a lovely, polite woman. In the day I spent in her company, she never once drooled, nose bleeded or otherwise acted in unflattering or pervy ways. :-) I say this because in her Yuri x Yuri report this issue, you’d never know that, from the way she draws herself as a slavering freak. ^_^; (She’s also much prettier than she draws herself, I have to say.) In this issue, she and Paiin-sama, her editor, visit a girl’s school festival. From the first time she’d addressed with “Gokigenyou”, Akiko’s a mess. It’s absolutely hysterical. I think she hits every possible stereotype and festish possible at school festivals…of which there seem to be many.

Takahashi Mako’s “Broken Rock Crystal Sugar” is a story about a lonely girl from a broken home finding light in the company of her best friend. It’s got the usual grim quality that keeps me from ever loving Mako’s work, but it’s less grim than most, which makes it good by that standard. :-)

The fractured, erm, Yurified fairy tale is Cinderella! A fine candidate for Yurification, as other than the prince, all the characters are women. Some nice servicey pictures of Cinderella helping dress her stepsisters – and her ES is suitably evil-eyebrowed and elegant. The Queen (no prince here) is pretty cute and even the witch gets the lipstck lesbo look. Of all of these fairy tales I think this one has got to be my favorite.

“Nanami and Misuzu” gets color pages! I wish it helped! Mushrooms, cell phones, getting lost in the woods and Rina-sempai’s offbeat behavior continue the Standard Operating Wackiness. (S.O.W.)

In “Hatsukoi Shimai” Haruna has just walked away from Chika in an espcially hurtful manner. Akiho vows to be there for Chika, and asks Chika to believe in her sister. Meanwhile, Teshigwara smiles and it creeps everyone right out the door…. Chika and Akiho’s class is working with Haruna’s class for the festival to do…erm, something. Haruna and Chika make beaded things, much as they did in the Hatsukoi Shimai Drama CD. They make little beaded rings and exchange them. As Haruna leaves, Touko-sensei berates her for being cruel. Akiho comes to her rescue, Touko retreats. That night Akiho finds Haruna in tears by her bed. We have a goofy interlude where Miyu (also from the Drama CD and the third volume of Yuri Shimai…and someone that no one but me remembers…) attempts to make grumpy Kirika (Miyu’s girlfriend and ditto all of the above) wear a frilly maid outfit. Touko-sensei runs into Akiho, who asks her to stay away from Haruna and Chika, Touko starts to seduce Akiho, who bursts into tears, pouring cold water on that. Chika is walking down the hall when Teshigawara grabs her and drags her away. Touko-sensei comes up and finds the ring Haruna gave to Chika on the ground. Oh Noes! More shades of that Drama CD, where Chika lost the barrette Haruna gave her. More to come – I know the drama is KILLING you.

Just about at this point, I was getting a little tired of schoolgirls again. This issue had sort of slipped back into all-schoolgirls-all-the-time territory. What with no “Strawberry Shake Sweet” and the fact that “Little Red Riding Hood” was off the adults and back to the kids, I was feeling a little down. Thankfully, this entry into “Mermaid Line” was a departure from the school.

Yukari and Mayuko are two Office Ladies (OLs). Mayuko’s off boyfriends, but she wants someone to date. Her bestest friend Yukari, who is seeing a guy right now, offers to play the role of “pretend lover”. Mayuko’s up for it, and they start going out for dinner, and movies and shopping – not really different from before, but they both get into the spirit of the pretend thing and hold hands and the like. The problem comes when Yukari starts thinking a little too hard about this whole thing. When Mayuko says that she’s started seeing someone, so they don’t need to do it anymore, Yukari is not as happy for her friend as she would expect. In fact, she’s downright depressed. Her boyfriend telling her that his mother is interested in her (as in, as a marriage prospect) makes her nothing short of miserable. To Be Continued.

Hakamada Mera is the artist who does Saigo no Seifuku and her entry, the final story, appears to be, if not set in the exact same school, then something exceptionally similar. Sadly, I don’t care for her art, or her stories – I feel like I’m reading about 10 year olds. In any case, Iwami-san is really popular, and Arisaka isn’t. But Iwami is love with Arisaka, who returns the sentiment. They kiss.

And that, along with the usual advice column, and manga, anime, game and doujinshi reviews, is that.

As always, you can get Yuri Hime 6 from Amazon Japan through the Yuricon Shop, or click the image above. I hope you will, of course, because it is still the only anthology other than Yuri Monogatari in existence and we want it to not die out like previous magazines!

It’s autumn once again. And with autumn comes many things – school festivals, leaf-watching and Yuri Hime. ^_^ Yes, Yuri Hime 6 is in, and once again it’s full of Yuri variety.

The cover depicts Akiho, right and her beloved older sister (“Sis-con?” asks Touko-sensei sarcastically…) Haruna from Hatuskoi Shimai in seasonally appropriate fashion. It’s nice to see them both happy.

Now put Touko-sensei and Akiho back on the cover, dammit.

This issue begins with a new story from Fujieda Miyabi, creator of Iono-sama Fanatics and Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majyo to, both of which rank high on my personal Yuri-o-meter.

The new story, Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan, was introduced to us in the little extra comic that came with Yuri Hime 5. To get you up to speed on the who and what, I did a review last month on the Ameiro series to date. This new chapter finds Seriho and Sarasa in a quiet moment as the cafe opens after the near-miss closing in last issue’s omake. (Seriously, if you haven’t already, go read the “series to date” post, because the story picks up at the end of that.) Seriho makes Sarasa overheat by: 1) laying her head against her and 2) telling Sarasa that she is like a tea cozy to Seriho’s pot, keeping her warm and alive. When customers come, it’s Haru, Hinoko and the usual gang – Sarasa gets even with them by making them the most expensive tea on the menu. ^_^

Tokimeki Mononoke Gakuen continues to be incredibly silly. Teacher Rokurokubi (a long-necked female demon) has got a bad neck sprain today and is in no shape to teach. She leaves for the infirmary with an admonition to practice beautifying. Arera is stoked – she’s got makeup down pat. She spends the day slapping huge amounts of makeup on the various “girls” in her class, for hilarious (ahem) results. In the end, she has no lipstick left for hereself, so when the kids all hike off to terrify Teach, Kiri kisses Arera to give her some lip color too. A surprisingly sweet kiss, I might add.

The next story is a one-shot, Hoshizora Cycling. Mako meets Momoka on her first day after transfering to Mako’s school. She can’t cycle, because she’s weak. Mako offers to give her a lift. Momoka and Mako continue this shared commute, drawing closer and closer. One night they join the others in their school on the roof to watch a meteor shower. Afterwards, Momoka won’t tell what she wished, but Mako breaks down and admits that she wished for Momoka to like her. Momo-chan fwaps Mako solidly on the head because, duh, she’s liked her all along, dimwit.

Apple Day Dream is a series of 4-panel comics about dress shop “Apple Day Dream”. Yuma and Kaoru are two employees of this purveryor of fine women’s apparel. Yuma has large breasts and Kaoru likes large breasts. Clothing and breast related humor ensues.

Taishi Zaou and Eiki Eiki’s Little Red Riding Hood continues with Fuyuka’s encounter with Akiho. (We met Akiho way back in Yuri Shimai 2, in “Expressions of Love,” where we learned that her friend, Haruka, loves to grab girls’ breasts. They resolve everything by agreeing that Haruka will not grab *other* girls’ breasts, only Akiho’s.) Akiho recognizes Fuyuka as a person in the same situation as she. Fuyuka is thrilled to have someone to talk to about the whole thing and the two rapidly become friends. Fuyuka admits that she’s concerned that Natsuki *doesn’t* feel the same as she does, and Akiho, clearly, get a bright idea. One day when both Haruka and Natsuki confront their pets, Akiho says that she no longer likes Haruka, but has fallen for…gasp!…Fuyuka! The chapter cuts out as she moves in for a public kiss.

Initially, I found this whole series a string of tired cliches, but recently, I admit to really liking the way Taishi and Eiki are tying all their elements together. The whole is significantly better than the sum of its parts.

Color pages with reviews of the Simoun and Strawberry Panic games. Not being a gamer, they are just pretty pictures to me.

And Chi-Ran finds yet another way to tell a girl meets girl story in Yuri Kago (Yuri Basket.) Maori makes her stick-in-the-mud, curmudgeonly way through life, skeptical of all relationships – and especially of the fortuneteller’s “basket of yuri” in the form of a decorative ball in which, Maori is told, she will find her lover. When the ball splits open and out pops a hideously adorable little doll girl, Maori is not amused. But over time, because of the doll’s sheer wonderful, sweet cuteness, Maori’s hard-assness melts. She finally admits to loving the doll, who promptly collapses, lifeless. One day, Maori is sitting on a bench when she is approached by someone who looks suspiciously like the doll. Could it be? Of course it could. ^_^

Which takes us to about halfway and the essays on classic Yuri manga by Miura Shion, this time Rose of Versailles and Paros no Ken (both of which have been review on Okazu, but I’m too grumpy to find the links at the moment.) Both are spiffy classic gender-bendy series, great for the little girl prince in your life. ^_^

I’ll stop here and finish up later – make sure you come back, because there’s good Yuri stuff to come!