It’s a holiday weekend here at Okazu, and we’ve been stuck inside with a sick spouse and a bunch of tight deadlines for work. So I’m taking today off.

We’ll be back tomorrow with business as usual. Have a lovely day!

As most of you know, today is Thanksgiving in the USA, and over the past few years I’ve written posts outlining my gratitude, because as far as I’m concerned, I can’t thank you enough.

Thank you Okazu Guest Reviewers – You are so important to me. You give us all unique perspectives and teach me something about something every time.

Thank you Okazu Sponsors and Subscribers – I quite literally could not do this without you. Heroes one and all.

Thank you to YNN Correspondents and Okazu Readers – everyone who reads, shares news and comments here on Okazu. I appreciate your fact-checking and your opinions. You are all the fabulous Yuri Network and without you, there’s be no point to doing any of this.  ^_^

Once again I am humbled by your support and enthusiasm. Wherever on the globe you are, have a wonderful day and thanks to you all. ^_^

The other day, when I reviewed the Takahashi Makoto Artbook, Akogare,  I called it an OMG and I promised I’d tell you the most WTF thing I found in Mandarake this time.

Well…this has got to be the most OMGWTFBBQ thing I found on this trip:

It’s a Cream Lemon Figurine Set that includes two Cream Lemon Escalation figurines: Rie and Naomi-oneesama in full BDSM gear. I didn’t know my eyebrows could go that high onto my forehead. ^_^ Of course I nabbed it right away!

I managed one more OMG thing from Mandarake, but that’ll wait until another review. ^_^

In Volume 1, we met teenaged assassin Imari, who is young, but looks younger than she is. She encounters and fights assassins Touno Sui (pictured on the cover) and Touno Ai, who work for their crime boss brother Touno Ryuichi. She also encounters Ichigo, the daughter of a crime syndicate, and her assassin bodyguards, Manten and Renka. The plot, however, was subsumed in the drive to look up skirts.

In Destro 246, Volume 2 (デストロ246), the story becomes clearer. A Russian mob boss, Laskov, is targeting Yokohama…in fact, he is targeting Imari’s high school, which does appear to be a hotbed of yakuza and professional killers. Ichigo’s crime syndicate, 893, is targeting Laskov, and his lackey Nagumo, a teacher at the school…and *his* assassin and lover, Motoka. Imari, Ai and Sui all join Ichigo to defeat the Russian interloper. Rawr us.

There is more Yuri in this volume than the first. Manten and Renka are definitely lovers, and definitely enjoy threesomes with Ichigo.

The overall feel is that the editor read Volume 1 and said, “get on with it” and Takahashi was required to come up with an actual plot. There’s less upskirting and more general nudity and some implied sex this volume. More importantly, I found I actually like Manten and Renka, as well as Imari, who comes off as being sort of sweet and honorable for an assassin. The characters aren’t nearly as well-developed as they were in Jormungand, but at least I can tell them apart now.

Of course, I couldn’t care less about Laskov and we loathe Nagumo by the end of the volume, so swift deaths can’t come quickly enough, so we can get back to our regularly scheduled teen female assassin bouts.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 3
Characters – 4 I still needed to refer to the Character profiles from time to time
Service – 6

Overall – 6

Not award winning, but I’ll keep reading.