Archive for the Miscellaneous Category


Okazu News: Okazu Post in Academic Online Journal

March 12th, 2013

Last year I wrote a blog post on Okazu about Maria-sama ga Miteru, Bodacious Space Pirates, The Bechdel Test and portrayals of women in anime that were genuinely strong (as opposed to the “strong woman” trope of body-suited chick with big gun). The article has now been published in an academic online journal on feminist studies, labrys. It’s been cleaned up so there is less presumption of knowledge of the series discussed for non-fan readers, so please feel free to share the link with media and feminist studies folks.

It’s a Woman’s World: Maria-sama ga Miteru, Bodacious Space Pirates, “strong women” and the Bechdel Test

It’s also been added to the Yuricon Essays page. If you’ve written something that belongs there, please let me know, we’re always looking for Yuri scholarship to add!

 

 

 

 





Fearless Defenders Comic, Issue 1

February 27th, 2013

On the Yuricon & ALC Publishing page on Facebook, Shannon Luchies put me on to this title and offered up this picture to entice me:

 
Little known fact about Erica – she has the entire original run of the Defenders.  I was a comics collector for many years before stilted writing and tiresome art put me off and I stopped. When manga took my hand and led me down the rabbit hole I was well-primed for the kind of fanaticism it required.

So, vaguely intrigued by the new series, Fearless Defenders, I called my Local Comic shop to see if they had it. I was told by the owner, a friend, that it was “pretty good.” Right now I’m feeling like most people must feel when they visit their childhood homes and see everything has turned all shoddy and their parents are becoming feeble.

Reading this book inspired me. Not probably the way the creators intended, however. Fearless Defenders inspired me to create the:

The Friedman Addendum to the Bechdel-Wallace Test

Does female character have agency?
Does she have society?
Does she have personality?

Or is she merely a female-shaped male hero doing male hero things while being female?

I’ll be using this in reviews going forward. Just as a litmus test, Bodacious Space Pirates passes the FA. So does Sailor Moon. The original Ghost in the Shell movie does not. This is not meant to overtake the Bechdel-Wallace Test, just to add a level of depth to understanding why a series might have a “strong, female character” and still be disappointing for women.

So, let’s get the bad out of the way. The female’s bodies can only be described as AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! I knew American comic art was going all tits and ass (often at the same time) but if their spines curve like that all the time, poor things must be in terrible pain.

Let’s do a quick contrast in battle art. Exhibit 1, , Fearless Defenders, Issue 1:

Ow. I dare any man to stand on their toes, with weight on their back leg, and spine curved and call it good defensive posture. I’m sorry, but fuck this. My wife rightfully points out that they are not in heels, which is true, and yet I notice that their feet are posed as if they were.
 
Exhibit 2, Avare Senki by Nakamura Ching
 

Which cover looks like it has a “strong female” on it?  I’ll be honest, I’m biased, because things like weight distribution in stances actually has meaning to me, and I’m heartily sick of females drawn with exaggerated “sexy” spine curvatures.

Okay, but, you say, what about the script? It was pretty good, wasn’t it? Fearless Defenders reads just like Tantric Stripfighter Trina, only in 20 pages not 200. The fact that the issue is a mere 20 pages is part of the problem, but the writing also made me very aware of the fact that American comics are now written for a very specific audience, one that does not include me. I’ve been defending comics a long time, but if this an example of a good one, I’m done. Like a Hollywood movie, every line was trite and overplayed.

Is there any good news? Yes, yes there is. Despite art and story being woefully mis-matched, this comic does indeed pass the FA. Misty Knight and Annabelle Riggs are friends. And, Annabelle has chosen to be there, and to stay, even when undead Vikings rise up around her. Split between good and bad,  Annabelle randomly kisses Val when she appears (see above) because, as the text helpfully explains, she “likes girls,” and as we all know, lesbians walk around randomly kissing any girl they find attractive, regardless of circumstance, like undead Vikings rising from nearby graves.

What is my point in all this? My point is, this series passes the Bechel Test and the Friedman Addendum and has at least one character, maybe two, who is a lesbian…and it’s still a bit disappointing.

That kiss should have been further along in the plot, not right off. It makes no sense where it is. Art, dialogue and that kiss are off of my mark for “pretty good.”  If a 15-year old sent me this I’d think it was genius. but for adults creating for an adult audience…. sigh…..

Ratings:
 
Art – 6 It’s executed well, but poses like that need to stop already
Story – 7
Characters – 7 We don’t get much beyond a line or two
Yuri – 9
Service – 9
 
Overall – 7

I’m going to follow the story for a bit, see if it gets better, but here’s what I think. You know how anime has a low frame rate, so when you watch it you have to fill in a lot of detail? This comic was drawn at a low frame rate and fans have to do a lot of the work to make it “pretty good.”





Destro 246 Manga, Volume 1 (デストロ246)

February 12th, 2013

Destro 246 (デストロ246) is the newest manga by Takahashi Keitarou, the creator of Jormungand. Where I might summarize Jormungand as an action manga about a group of unrealistically cheerful arms dealers Destro 246 is more or less about a bunch of young female assassin/bodyguards and their underwear.

Let me slack off and re-quote Tomo K. who let us know about this series in the first place:

“The story starts out with a Japanese businessman buying two 17-year-old female professional killers from a South American mafia to avenge his murdered wife and children. In Tokyo, the two bump into Imari, the professional killer from Ordinary, Takahashi’s debut series.

The Yuri part involves Ichigo, a senior-high girl who’s inherited her father’s yakuza business. She has two female bodyguards, Manten and Renka (who’re her classmates as well). The three talk of having threesomes “as the usual thing”, and there are panels where Ichigo fondles one of the bodyguard’s huge boobs, and the bodyguards kiss Ichigo in public as well.

When Ichigo destroys a rival, she keeps the girlfriend of the gang leader alive, and orders her to be their sex slave until she grows up and inherits her father business (then she’ll be forced to hand money over to Ichigo’s organization).”

There’s a lot of fighting and the above female assassin/bodyguards beat the crap out of some guys but in Volume 1 at least, there’s only vague hints of a plot.

So, what is this manga about? I honestly have no idea. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – ?
Characters – 4 Kind of cookie-cutter at this point
Service – 7

Overall – 5

There’s no sense of “competence” here as there was in Jormungand, just magical hand-waves of skill. And awkward angles for upskirt shots because we just can never ever ever have enough of looking at underwear on indifferently drawn female bodies.





Yuri Photo Collection: Kimi no Te (きみの手)

February 4th, 2013

Last month, I had an super exciting new discovery I shared with you via the Yuri Network News Report:

Through my gracious and talented friend Komatsu-san, I have met the cheerful and talented Ransui-san of Fantastic Yuri Rhythm. The two of them were vendors at this past Winter Comiket (and they sold pretty well, I’m told. ^_^)

Well, in reading Ransui-san’s Comiket report, I see that she shared a table with SEINE, who did a lovely Yuri photography book. Red Zoo is SEINE’s website, with some of the pictures available as a slide show (Click “Photography Works” on the Homepage, then the cover of “Kimi no Te” (きみの手) to enjoy the photos.) I hope I’ll be able to get a copy of that book one day, the photos are great and a few of them made me smile before I even realized it. ^_^

In response to this, Komatsu-san once again dug into his bag of generosity, and sent me a copy of SEINE’s lovely Yuri Photo Collection, Kimi no Te  (きみの手).

And it is indeed lovely. The two models, Pettanko-san and Okayasu-san completely sell this photo essay of two girls in school falling for each other. Through shots of their hands and bodies, we are allowed to see the evolution of an incredibly sweet relationship.

The one thing that really made the collection work for me was that neither girl had model-pretty hands. Not that their hands were ugly or anything(!), just that they looked like actual human hands, not hand-model hands, if you know what I mean. Since the story is primarily told through those hands, their verisimilitude made a big difference.

This photo collection is available through Toranoana or Comic Zin, so if you can buy through either of those services, I highly recommend you get this book! It’s a ‘Story A’ Yuri photoessay. How cute is that?

Ratings:

Photography – 9
Story – 8
Yuri – 9

Overall – 9

Thanks to SEINE for being kind enough to allow me to have a copy of Kimi no Te and many many thanks to Komatsu-san for sending it to me! This book is a joy from beginning to end. I hope to see more someday soon.





New Year’s Clean-Up Blow-Out Extravaganza Lucky Bags!

January 2nd, 2013


The Lucky Boxes have been claimed! Thank you everyone who helped me clean my home up, and I hope you enjoy all the stuff!

Fukubukuro, aka Lucky Bags, are a New Year’s staple in Japan. “Lucky bags” are grab bags which, for the price you pay, you get…whatever is inside of the bag. This could be anything from random goods at a home store to expensive shoe lucky bags. (Seriously, the very first lucky bags I ever saw were $100 blind bags at a shoe store. Can you imagine spending $100 and not knowing what the shoes you bought looked like?!?)

In this fine tradition – and because I am in the process of weeding my Yuri collection and I’d rather give you Yuri than give it to a used book store – I am offering 2 Yuri Lucky Boxes to start off the new year.

Here’s wishing you all a very Lucky 2013!