Archive for the Otherside Picnic Category


Otherside Picnic, Volume 6, Guest Review by Sandy F.

December 1st, 2021

Welcome back to Guest Review Wednesday on Okazu. We’ve had 17 guest Reviews this year, 10 of them since September. Thank you so much to our Okazu Patrons for making this increase possible! I’m super excited to have more voices on Okazu and different perspectives for work I like (and works I don’t! Hint, hint: tune in next week. ^_^)

In the meantime, welcome back Sandy F. with a look at the most recent release in one of my favorite scifi-horror series. Take it away, Sandy!

Otherside Picnic Volume 6, out now from J-Novel Club, starts with Sorawo and it quickly becomes clear that something has happened to her. We discover she has lost her memory and her connection with the Otherside and the people she knows through that connection. Though she hasn’t lost her appreciation of Toriko’s beauty.

So begins what is a change from Iori Miyazawa’s usual approach for Otherside Picnic. Instead of a collection of Files, we have one narrative. And much of the actions happens in our world, with a number of trips into Interstitial Space, a phenomena we have encountered before. And Hah! there is a new player, T, for Templeborn, who pursues Sorawo and others involved in the exploration of the Otherside.

In this File of Otherside Picnic we follow various encounters between T for Templeborn, Sorawo, Toriko and others as they confront T’s agenda, with chase scenes and quite a bit of action including a trip to the DS Facility. The glimpses of Interstitial Space are fascinating and mysterious. But I felt that Interstitial Space is more of a distorted reflection of our world, and I missed the Otherside and its glimpses of mysteries beyond human understanding.

There is only one substantial scene in the Otherside and to me it was like a tweet from the Yuri Manga Bot, a twitter account that suggests Yuri plot ideas. In this scene we witness Sorawo and Toriko sharing in the joy of construction. A delightful scene and a reminder that as well as its terrors, the Otherside is a haven and a place of connection for Toriko and Sorawo.

In this File we continue to follow Sorawo and her tentative progress of confronting her own personal terror, personal relationships. There were a few Sorawo and Toriko scenes when I squeed just a little bit. They are definitely making some progress, with Sorawo surprising Toriko, and me, with her willingness to be more open about how much Toriko means to her.

I also appreciated watching Sorawo deepen her relationships with other people. For example, in a conversation between Sorawo and Akari ‘Karateka’ Seto, Sorawo confronts the disturbing reality that despite what she may think of herself, people might want to get to know her and like her.

And we are also given some glimpses of Toriko’s childhood that I believe gives us insights to why she enjoys exploring the Otherside with Sorawo.

One quibble I had was I thought this File was a bit busy with other characters such as the reintroduction of Runa Urumi as well as the girl from File 19. Sometimes I wondered if their role was to fill some space in the story, rather than contribute to the narrative itself.

The art was an interesting mix of action shots and characters, with more evocative images thrown into the mix. One with Akari I found particularly haunting.

I enjoyed the translation, especially the odd British word or phrase a feature that I associate with this series.
All in all, a great read, as always worth the wait. And now after the recent release of the album cover for Volume 7, the wait begins for the next great read!

Ratings:

Story – 8
Character – 9
Service – 4
Yuri – 7

Overall – 9

Erica here: Thank you Sandy! For me, the most impactful part of the series is that stunning opening, which really calls everything into question.

And, of course, since that amazing cover to Volume 7 was released, we’re all looking forward to the next book. ^_^ It hits Japanese shelves in a few weeks and I expect we’ll be hearing more about that soon from J-Novel Club. ^_^





Otherside Picnic Manga, Volume 1, Guest Review by Sandy F.

September 8th, 2021

Happy day! Not only is it  Guest Review Wednesday here on Okazu, we have a brand new reviewer! Today  we welcome Sandy, who is taking a look at Otherside Picnic, Volume 1 manga, out now from Square Enix! I know you’ll give him a warm welcome. Take it away, Sandy!

I am a huge fan of Iori Miyazawa’s Otherside Picnic series of novels. I enjoy following the adventures of Kamikoshi Sorawo and Nishina Toriko as together they explore the wonders and terrors of the Otherside. And at the same time, they also explore the wonders and terrors of human connection with one another.

When I heard that the novels were bring adapted into a manga, I was so excited that even though I can’t read Japanese, I bought the Japanese editions hoping that at least I would enjoy the artwork…which I did. When I finally got my hands on the English translation, it was worth the wait.

Like the novels, Sorawo is our guide to the Otherside. We are given glimpses of her story as text and artwork combine to introduce us to Sorawo’s first journeys into the Otherside where she will encounter the enthralling Toriko. This will lead into their shared experiences of the Otherside; experiences that will change them both.

For example, I particularly appreciated the depiction of the Wriggler also known as the Kune-kune. Not just the Wriggler itself, but how it acts as the path that will draw Sorawo’s deeper into the world of the Otherside and how this impacts her and Toriko. With this artwork I certainly feel that I am being given a glimpse of the Otherside and its mysteries, but not in such a way where I understand everything.

Overall, the artwork and the dialogue between the characters complimented my vision of these people and the Otherside that Iori Miyazawa had created so vividly in the novels. There are moments of the terror that creeps up on you from the Wriggler and the Eight-Foot-Tall Lady. And then there is the wary banter between Sorawo and Toriko as they take their first steps in learning about one another and helping us to understand what brings them into this world.

As well as the banter, through Sorawo’s internal monologue we are introduced to Sorawo’s emerging and complicated feelings about Toriko. Feelings shaped by Sorawo’s response to the nature of Toriko’s quest to find the mysterious Uruma Satsuki, as Sorawo wonders, what are Toriko’s expectations of her?

There are a couple of minor issues, such as the artwork was sometimes a bit cutesy for my taste. I appreciated the work of the translator, though I did miss some of the colourful British words and phrases used in the novel. There is also a bonus original story that gives us some interesting insights into Kozakura and the nature of her relationship with Uruma Satsuki and Toriko.

Ratings
Story – 9
Character – 7
Service – 4
Yuri – 5
Overall – 9

All in all, I thoroughly recommend reading this manga, but don’t forget the novel!

Erica here: Thank you Sandy! I’ve got this on my to-read list and am looking forward to it even more, now. ^_^ Thanks for whetting out taste for more Otherside Picnic.





Otherside Picnic, Volume 5

August 22nd, 2021

Otherside Picnic, Volume 5 begins in the middle of a story and for the rest of the book, that is pretty much where we stay. A scenario occurs, but it does not feel particularly resolved by the end of the section when it stops. Nonetheless, this novel covers a fair amount of ground, much the same way Sorawo and Toriko travel the UBL – a mapping of the story, rather than the story itself.

The first scenario begins with the continuation of the Love Hotel Girl’s Party set-up from the end of Volume 4. Clearly, in the real world a love hotel girl’s party is meant as a bachlorette /stag party for women. One might expect alcohol and a male stripper and other straight-women misbehaving nonsense. But because Toriko won’t say things and Sorawo was never socialized normally and will avoid all things unless they are said, and often even then, the two of them are joined by Akari, Natsumi and Kozakura. Then…something happens. What happens is interesting, but not for the thing itself. I’ll come back to this in a second.

Before I forget, I want to note that Miyazawa is losing his grasp on Kozakura. She started out as a point of contact for DS, but at this point is merely a grumpy, scared nobody in the story. I feel bad for her.

Following this was definitely the strongest section as Sorawo tracks down Toriko at university to have some stuff out with her. Toriko is, understandably, feeling endlessly rejected by Sorawo. Sorawo even understands that, but just is not capable of returning the feelings. When Toriko accidentally pushes Sorawo into interstitial space, Sorawo finds herself understanding, finally, what she has not been able to look at head-on. Toriko is in love with her. She acknowledges this – and recognizes that it makes her panic.

The third scenario puts Sorawo back in her happy place – investigating the Otherside with Toriko. Planning, traveling, thinking about getting new equipment…this is what she loves. And she loves doing it with Toriko. This is her love language. So, when they meet another person, how will Sorawo react? Not at all the way you’d expect. Todate doesn’t need their help. She and her dog, Hana, are suited to one another, as Sorawo and Toriko are. Todate teaches the two how to spot animals in this world. Her skills add a new tool to their bag and the hunt shows them that the Otherside may well have a logic of it’s own, if the animals have evolved to not be driven mad by it.

By this time, Sorawo and Toriko are starting to think about how lucky they were when they first met. And they are beginning to understand that the UBL has clearly changed them, and not just physically. This becomes part of the conversation in the fourth scenario as the story circles back to the first person the met on the Otherside. Abbarato comes back into the story like a reflection, through what may or may not be his missing wife. Sorawo admit she was always looking for proof of the existence of the paranormal in stories and now, Sorawo’s eye and Toriko’s hand are actual relics of that very thing…but what does any of it mean?

In this final scenario, the two encounter a feral child and again, this triggers Sorawo’s memory of her own, entirely abnormal childhood. This, along with several conversations about disassociative behavior is very clearly meant to remind us that Sorawo is not *just* being dense about her emotions. She had a shocklingly traumatic upbringing and, as I say, has never been socialized. This was pounded on us so many ways in this novel, I wonder if the fandom was being kinda dense themselves and Miyazawa felt he had to be like, “Dudes. WTF? Do you not remember this important thing?”

Which brings me to my point. Her family was part of a cult, she’s always been obsessed by the paranormal. Even Sorawo can see that the Otherside seems to focus on her, but what if it’s not that the Otherside focuses on her, but that she is, in a sense, creating it for us. At the very least, she is an interpreter. A phenomenon occurs and, with her experience of the paranormal, Sorawo tells us what to understand it as. Because of this, we have a way to comprehend those experiences. In a sense, she is telling us how to not go mad. And, in that sense, she is creating the Otherside for us. We’ve seen what it does to people with no point of reference. We can avoid that fate, because Sorawo tells us what we see.

There are two more things I want to note. One was the appearance of more typical Yokai and Tales of Tono in this volume. Up to now, the stories have been rooted in modern netlore, most specifically scary stories on 2chan. Tono Monogatari is a 1910 manuscript by Yanagata Kunio and Sasaki Kizen, which collected a series of folklore and Yokai stories from a town that, to this day, considers itself the home of the strange and paranormal in Japan. Famously, Gegege no Kitarou creator Mizuki Shigeru did a comic of this – which was translated into English by Zack Davisson and published by Drawn & Quarterly. The chapter with Todate is based on a tale from Tono.

And I hope you all noticed the traditional Yokai that appeared at the beginning of the story! Kuchisake–onna is a well-known tale that involves a woman with a face that has split mouth. She is known to ask strangers if she is beautiful…and if they say, no proceed to kill them. I was quite pleased at this scene. We’re big fans of contemporary Yokai here and the use of the story was perfectly done.

The Otherside is, in this story, a reflection, a sight out of the corner of one’s eyes, a unfocused thing you sometimes see. As my old martial arts teacher used to say, it’s all the “Yin” side. We can perceive it and some of us interact with it. It inhabits the same space we are in, at the same time. The use of mirrors and reflections really highlight that in this book.

Lastly, but not at all least, I would like to note the art. The series began with blandly moe-stye art that I did not think accurately portrayed the characters in the least. But now, we’re getting gorgeous, evocative woodblock print-like black and white images that are vastly superior. These images are so much better, I had to check that we had the same artist. So yay for shirakaba being able to give us art that suits the tone and feel of the story much more suitably than one more shitty moe pinup. The art in this book was outstanding.

The book ends a bit abruptly, which makes it feel like a set-up for the next volume. Fortunately Otherside Picnic, Volume 6 will be hitting your electronic devices in November, so there’s not too long to wait. Based on the synopsis however, we’re going to get more questions than answers…again. But that’s why we read this series, after all. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Character – 9
Service – 7 – Love hotel and stupid
Yuri – 8

Overall – 9

Otherside Picnic weaves contemporary folklore, psychological horror and romance into a compelling adventure.





Otherside Picnic, Volume 4

March 24th, 2021

At the end of Volume 3 our protagonists, Sorawo and Toriko have managed to free themselves from the clutches of an Otherside cult centered around the figure of Toriko’s mentor, Uruma Satsuki. In doing so, they uncover the cult headquarters, a remote building complex called The Farm.

Otherside Picnic, Volume 4 begins with Toriko and Sorawo accompanied by members of the DS and military contractors to clear the Farm of cult-built gates to the Otherside. This gives us a lot of space to encounter weird and threatening situations, and the general aura of not-rightness that contact with the Otherside brings. Sorawo asks DS to gift them the Farm, so they can manage it – and not incidentally, have a salary for doing so. She and Toriko provisionally get control of the Farm, and they hatch a plan.

But first, there some stuff going on that they have no idea what to do with, so they are avoiding what is happening to them…and what is happening between them. First and most pressing, it has been more and more obvious to me and to Sorawo, that the Otherside is targeting her, personally. Originally, she thought it was because of Satsuki, but she’s gone and it hasn’t gotten better. More phenomena are directed at Sorawo, specifically, and it’s clearly linked to her past. Every moment we get more of Sorawo’s backstory, everything about her makes more and more sense. And holy shit.

The second matter is no less pressing. As Sorawo and Toriko relax at a hot spring resort, they get very close to addressing what is building between then, but an Otherside phenomena occurs – a scene which is in my opinion, one of the very best in the books to date. Great use of everyday creepyness to create the Otherside’s signature threatening aura.

At last it is time to put their plan into action – Toriko and Sorawao plan an overnight trip on the Otherside. The preparations were actually quite interesting; soothingly banal, which was was a perfect setup for the final scene of this book in which all of the many issues mentioned here collide in an eerie grand finale. With the sole exception of Japanese writers’ newest grotesque body fetish – which I can live without ever encountering ever again – this ending was as least as least as strong as the Kotoribako and, like that ending, will undoubtedly send us into a whole new direction with the story. Miyazawa’s narrative arcs are tight here. shirakaba’s art in this book is way less goofy and much more moody…I like it. Translator Sean McCann and editor Krys Loh do a fantastic job of communicating unreal, not-things in a way that are the right kind of inexplicable. 

Ratings:

Story – 9
Character – 9
Service – 7 – Onsen bathing and /spoilers./
Yuri – 7

Overall – 9

Now this story is really ready to begin. Otherside Picnic is a beguiling tale of personal trauma intertwined with paranormal horror.

Otherside Picnic is available on Kindle, Global Bookwalker and wherever J-Novel Club books are sold. ^_^





Otherside Picnic Anime

February 14th, 2021

Miyazawa Iori has rather quickly entered the landscape of Yuri creators in recent years. With a lead story in the Yuri issue of SF Magazine in 2019, followed by the J-Novel licensing Side by Side Dreamers, and then the outstanding science fiction novel series, Otherside Picnic, Miyazawa has set a whole new sets of benchmarks for Yuri in a very short time.

The Otherside Picnic novel series has been fascinating. With an overt mix of Japanese netlore, science fiction, action and horror tropes and a big scoop of Yuri on top, I’ve enjoyed all of the novels so far. My reviews and others’ are all on Okazu in the Otherside Picnic category. Sorawo and Toriko are unusual as characters, compared with my usual fare. The post-apocalyptic unpredictability of the Otherside/UBL and its interactions with this world, give the series a Jorge Luis Borges-ish sensibility that I genuinely appreciate.

Otherside Picnic follows the adventures of college student Sorawo, as she find herself in an alternate reality that is embedded within locations in and around Japan. In this “Otherside,” Sorawo meets attractive Toriko, and finds herself traveling back and forth to the Otherside to gather artifacts for money, and help Toriko find a person who has gone missing on the Otherside…a person who clearly is more than just a friend.

It was with some trepidation that I saw the first key visuals of the Otherside Picnic anime. What was a darkish story about two young adults had already been given much-too moe illustrations in the books, and now it was the moe that was getting the focus, not the dark, not the deep, not the Russian science fiction, not the action, not the creative thinking around the creatures of the UBL. I won’t lie. I was deeply disappointed. Now that I have managed to watch the anime, which is streaming on Funimation.com, I’m still a little disappointed.

The first reactions I read of the anime seemed to focus on the translation, which chose “wiggle-waggle” for kune-kune. That didn’t bother me, as くねくね means wavy, or wriggling. I think the distaste there was the typical otakuish preference for the exotic other. I can see both sides and frankly glad they didn’t go with something like “The Wriggler”.  That is not the problem. ^_^; The problem is that they completely punted on animating the kune-kune, which are, based on the original description, very similar to the monsters of Side-by-Side Dreamers – a sort of familiarly shaped thing, but made of streamer-y parts. Something between those flappy advertising tube men, and the A-jin. The Otherside Picnic manga from Square Enix is way closer to my idea of what they ought to look like than the anime, which just…didn’t bother. The detailed burned-out buildings in the background look great. I wish they had given the same care to anything in the foreground.

Instead of a pleasantly befuddlingly creeping psychological horror, the anime is a comedy-action series, in which running and screaming takes up all the space the “what the ever-loving fuck reference is that?!?” of the novels. The pacing makes it impossible to appreciate the well-crafted horrible unrealness, before the screaming starts. For anyone who has come to the anime from the novels, it’s bound to be a little disappointing.  Even more importantly, if you are enjoying the anime, and decide to try out the novels, be prepared to be be actually creeped the fuck out. The anime makes everything so silly and cute, but the books do no such thing.

It’s not that this anime is unlikable. Actually, it’s very enjoyable, and the voice acting has been superb. As Sean Gaffney noted in conversation, Hanamori Yumiri as Sorawo is particular good, as her lack of affect when explaining her not-at-all-usual family life, actually increases the emotional impact. And if you’re not sure whether you might like this story, I’d definitely say give the animation a try….

…with “try” being the operative word. I know I have been banging on this for years, but Funimation is terrible at streaming. Streams cut out, commercials get stuck on loops, subtitles don’t work at all, or work wrong. I want so much for them to do this well, but they don’t. The first time I tried to watch the first episode, it took me 4 *days* to be able to get the whole thing watched and I ended up watching it with no subtitles at all, because the option never appeared. (Not a crisis, as I knew the story and can sort of understand, but that is not the point.) Funimation still gets a ‘D’ on streaming. I fear that a merger between Funimation and Crunchyroll will mean CR loses all of it’s decent streaming to Funimation’s vastly inferior system instead of the other way around.

Ratings:

Animation – 6 Unsatisfying. This COULD have been amazing and it’s just not
Story – 7 – Not as compelling as everything is crunched for time
Characters – 7 Sorawo comes off as more compelling, Toriko less, Kozakura feels even more like an afterthought
Service – 4 The key visual art was creeperish, and the moeification of the characters is itself a distracting bit of pointless service
Yuri – 5 Implicit and explicit in places and part of the overarching plot.

Overall – 7

So far at least, the anime feels like a children’s version of the novels. Goofy funhouse screaming rather than creeping psychological horror. Not bad in any way, just not good in the way the novels are good.