There is no one more amazed than I am that I am still writing reviews of Akili’s weird little manga, Stretch. But here we are and the timing couldn’t be better.

Volume 2 of Stretch (ストレッチ) carries on almost exactly as did Volume 1. We first see Ran and Keiko in various setups for stretching, a little vague Yuri-ish vibe between them, a dollop of not-vague service, followed by seeing them at their worst, then ending with some insight into their past. The order all this plays out is exceptionally fascinating, as the book starts off light-hearted and forgettable, but ends with pathos and character depth so we feel sympathy…and enough interest that we’ll tune in next time.

But, the story, as it were, is mostly motivation for illustrations of various stretches, which just happen to allow the artist a chance to focus on various body parts of the women in a pretend-not-creepy way, while, in fact, being creepy. It’s just anatomy, you see.  The actual art is decent, and the illustrations of the stretches are helpful. I try most of them out as I’m reading, just to make sure he’s not making anything up. ^_^ Also because I’m trying to do a little more running and stretching is pretty high on the list of things I want to spend time doing instead of seeing a doctor. ^_^

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In the meantime, in between stretching, both Keiko and Ran are starting to fill out as people who are rather important in each other’s lives.  There is a vibe between them, but I feel strongly that that is as much service as the crotch-eye-view during the stretching…it sure ain’t for the characters’ benefit.

Ratings:

Art – 9 Very good with moments of excellent
Story – 7 When it bothers to have one also good
Characters – 7 You have to like them, or why read this manga?
Yuri – Depends entirely on your motivation to see Yuri. I see about a 2
Service – 6 A constant presence

Overall – 7 It is a decent enough read, especially if you want to learn to stretch.

Morita-san ha Mukuchi, Volume 9 (森田さんは無口) is not a Yuri manga. It never has been. And yet, for a not-Yuri manga, it does everything it can to sort-of, kind-of, shoehorn little teeny drops of not-quite-Yuri into every corner. Like eking out the the last few bit of sugar glaze onto a crumb cake, the thing is plenty sweet enough, but if you just get a bit more on it…

This volume begins with the girl who is stalking Mayu stalking her. And then we drop that like the untenable plot point it is. Phew.

From that point on, we’re given the silliest possible set-ups, like the cover, group hugs, and Mayu’s cousin Yukino being weird to make our lizard brains think “girls touching!” If this manga was in any way mean-spirited, it would feel gross. But it never does. Mayu and her friends continue to genuinely like and care about one another, and so a group hug makes us smile.

The one (in)sincerely service-y bit was when Misaki nearly collapses in gym and finds her head resting on super-cool Yamamoto’s lap…at which she completely overheats. (The rest of the girls in lass also start feeling like they need some lap treatment, not surprisingly.) The how and why Yamamoto ended up there is vague, class president, blah, blah, but she doesn’t seem to mind either.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 9
Yuri – 1
Service – 3

Overall – 8

There’s no substance here. It’s cotton candy. It always tastes the same, it never tastes like anything but too much sugar, but you know, every once in a while, in the right circumstances…it’s a lot of fun. ^_^

Back in October, I was trawling through Mandarake in Nakano, Tokyo, (as all good otaku must) and I found two amazing things. The first one was an artbook by Takahashi Makoto, Akogare, which I discussed back in November. At the time I mentioned that I had found one even more amazing thing. And today, at last, I will tell you about it. “It” is a Rose of Versailles Karuta box set.

To begin with, Karuta is a card-matching game. If you’ve watched the anime Chihayafuru, you’ll be familiar with it. Cards with verses written on them are laid out between two players. A reader reads half of a verse and two participants reach for the card with the second half of the verse. Hyakunin Isshu, a game played on New Years’s Day, is one form of karuta.

In this version of the game, the lines are taken from the Rose of Versailles manga. Under the hiragana for “he” へ, we see a functionary saing “Heimindomo ha uraguchi he mawatte morau” – “Commoners go around to the back entrance.” As we can see, this is not received well by Oscar who says the 17th century French nobleperson’s version of “What the hell?”

The set box, card box and booklet are all adorned with art from Rose of Versailles, obviously.

The set box has this lovely illustration of Oscar and Marie Antoinette.

The box of cards contains two sets – one for the players with scenes depicted from the manga (as in the top picture) and another for the “reader.”

Fierce Oscar will win this karuta game!

This is the back of the card box, because of course it is.

The inside of the card box has an image of Oscar in classical armor, but I’d have to unfold the box to scan it in, so no picture for you.

The booklet includes a short discussion of key cards, with commentary by Riyoko Ikeda on them, and a CD.

I chose this page because I love you all.

This is the cover to the booklet

The booklet includes a CD with the first half of the card’s verses read by Takariesienne Shion Yuu, top star of the Star Troupe in 1992-1994. She played Oscar a few times and Fersen once in various iterations of Takarazuka’s most beloved show.

So, if you’ve ever wanted to play karuta, but with lines from Rose of Versailles instead of famous poems*, cards illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda and have the reader be  a former Takarauka top star, come on over, I can actually do that for you! ^_^

Ratings:

Too sublime for mere numbers.

I note, with some satisfaction, that I didn’t even overpay for this, because the other thing about Mandarake is that you can get reamed on prices, if you don’t know what stuff is worth.

*In 2005, when Yuricon and Shoujocon teamed up to run Onna!, we created a modern English deck for karuta. We apparently vastly overestimated the poetic literacy of the attendees, who didn’t recognize even so much as nursery rhyme phrases (no kidding “Mary had a little lamb”), much less famous poems (“How do I love thee…”.) That was a bit disappointing.

Last month, I took a look at the first volume of the new Puella Magica spin-off, which has now been released in English from Yen Press. I found it interesting for squeezing an almost unbelievable real story, the history of Jeanne d’Arc, into the Madoka framework of magical girls.

In Volume 2 of of Puella Magi Tart Magica, (魔法少女たると☆マギカ The Legend of “Jeanne d’ Arc”), the historical record is both more – and less – important to the story. Volume 2 is hip deep into the actual events of the war and Jeanne’s rise to fame., culminating in the climactic scene where she is brought before the Dauphin of France, only to proclaim him a fake, then to identify the true Dauphin from the surrounding courtiers.

A little inexplicably, Gilles de Rais is shoved into the plot  – we’re assured that he’s not into girls, only young boys, so the magical girls will be safe. Uh-huh, okay, thanks Bluebeard.

In the meanwhile, a third girl is added to their complement, Melissa, the inexplicable maid-costume-wearing daughter of a soldier. But Melissa seems like she’s a perfect magical girl candidate and Kyuubey agrees. Jeanne tries to keep her from making a contract, but she’s not to be stopped when it comes to saving her father, Lise and Jeanne.

Aside from these small additions, the story follows Jeanne’s triumphs and ends with her encountering  three girls who Jeanne believes are England’s magical girls. They are not.

The art is still strong and while there is no Yuri, there are strong emotional connections between the magical girls…and some real effort into turning Melissa into more of a person than either Lise or Jeanne. I’m looking forward to reading this in English.

This volume is most interesting when they leave the story free to run it’s own course without Bluebeards and evil witches.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 6
Yuri – 1
Service – 4 Vilence is still violence-y

Overall – 8

The book is still an interesting example of squeezing an actual existing legend into this series’ framework.

Last year, we were treated to an anime, Akuma no Riddle/Riddle Story of a Devil, which was sold blatantly as a Yuri anime, but failed, really to be anything specific. I mean, yes, there was some kind of emotion between Haru and  Tokaku, but it was neither explained nor allowed any time to develop. In my review of the anime, I note “Tokaku has feels for Haru, but they are tucked well away and Haru “daisuki”s Tokaku, but that could mean – especially in the context of the story – just about anything.”

The manga for the series is written by Kouga Yun, who is much admired among manga creators, both for her skill and for her longevity. Okazu readers probably know her best as the creator of Loveless, but Earthian was her first huge breakout hit. (Does anyone else remember the Earthian anime? It was a 3-episode OVA made from a 21-volume manga series that made no sense, but was one of the first BL stories to be translated into English. Gay angels were so 1990s.)

Having watched the anime for Akuma no Riddle, I didn’t have any particular hope that the manga would be more coherent. Predictably, it is not. Volume 1 of Akuma no Riddle (悪魔のリドル) is almost word for word the anime, with ever so slightly more emphasis on individual concepts, and less on prolonged action scenes. So many things that were unexplained in the anime remain unexplained. Why Myoujou High has a “black class” of assassins who are to kill a classmate  – unexplained. The creepy principal, his koan-like riddles – unexplained, why he gives a rat’s ass about Toukaku – unexplained. How Haru really manages to not die – unexplained. The one thing that is well and truly explained, as best as there is an explanation for it, is Tokaku’s decision to side with Haru. The explanation is worth the time it takes to get there – she feels like it. You go, Tokaku. ^_^

The other assassin’s backstories will be varying degrees of interesting, but right away we learn that Isuke was rescued from neglectful/abusive parents and raised by two fathers, a fact that, like so many others in this series, are presented without context or explanation. No one says “Really? Two dads? Are they, like together?” as one might expect.

Riddle Story of a Devil manga has been licensed by Seven Seas with an October 2015 release date, and is already listed on the new Yuricon Store, along with all the other available Yuri manga in English! I have no doubt that they will do a competent job with what is a competent adaptation of a ever-so-slightly-perplexing anime. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9 Clean and sharp
Story – So many holes, but fun 7
Characters – Pathos ahoy! 7
Service – 4 Because apparently this is a thing that boys need or something, I dunno.
Yuri – 1 Ever so slight in this story as a whole until the end, when it pops like a jiffy pop pan, hardly anything in this volume.

Overall – 7

It’s good, but I had kind of wished for better than just “good.”