Archive for the Series Category


Interview with Yuri Manga Artist Fujieda Miyabi

May 16th, 2010

There’s not too much to say as an introduction. I have been enjoying Fujieda-sensei’s work since 2004 when I encountered it in Yuri Shimai. That story would eventually be published as Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majyo to. I liked how cute his stories were and was charmed by the goofy humor of Iono-sama Fantics and the gentle calm of Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan.

I also believe that Fujieda-sensei has the best costume design sense in the entire manga industry. So, when he agreed to answer a few questions, you can imagine how thrilled I was. ^_^

Continuing my series of interviews with Yuri Artists, it is my unbelievable pleasure to present a short interview with Fujieda Miyabi-sensei.

***

Q1: Please tell us about yourself.

A: My name is Fujieda Miyabi.

Even though I draw mostly to make myself happy, I am glad that there are overseas fans who can enjoy my clumsy work.

Q2: How did you become a mangaka? Did you want to be one when you were a child?

A: When I was publishing original doujinshi (self-published works) I was scouted by an editor and became a pro. That original work was Twinkle Saber Nova. It’s not a Yuri work.

Q3: Which artists inspire you?

Although I am ignorant about Fine Art, the manga art that most inspires me is Nagano Mamoru’s Five Star Stories. After that, the CLAMP-sensei, Kouga Yun-sensei and others whose work I admired in my youth.

Q4: If you weren’t a mangaka, what would you be doing?

A: Before I set my sight on being a mangaka, I thought I might become a chef.
Even now, I like to keep my hand in and do design work.

Q5: What was your motivation to start creating Yuri Manga?

A: When two women are happy together as a couple, I can say that that is the time I am at my happiest. In my middle school years, I became acquainted with the idea of drawing same-sex couples through CLAMP-sensei’s and Kouga Yun-sensei’s work, and I began to think about doing stories with female couples. Once I passed through technical school for drawing manga, I began to draw Yuri manga.

Q6: Can you tell us a little bit about your process?

On average I draw about 16 pages every two weeks, but my production schedule is pretty unsteady. Faster if I’m running out of time.

Q7: How were Iono-sama Fanatics and Ame-iro Kouchkan Kandan received by the Japanese audience?

A: Iono-sama Fanatics was not a romantic love story between two women, but was drawn to be a story about a loving Queen with a harem. Those people who prefer mainly comical series seemed to like it. Ame-iro is about only two women, the ones who like it are those who take time and read it slowly and gently.

As an author, these both make me happy. I think Ame-iro is more popular and has gained more readers, though.

Q8: It is not unusual for a man to draw Yuri however, your work has a gentle, feminine atmosphere. What are your thoughts on drawing women’s emotions and thoughts?

Of course, because I am a man, women’s feelings are difficult.

But, I think it’s the same as when it’s a woman and a man, that sense of wanting to be kind to one another. That’s my first thought. How much of that emotion, of feelings of kindness or happiness is just in my imagination depending on the scene that I’m drawing.

Q9:　Is there something you’d like to ask your overseas fans?

A: To the fans who anticipate my next work, what kind of story would you like to see?
I’d like to hear from you.

(This is Erica: You can visit his website, Moonphase or follow him on Twitter and contact him directly!)

Q10:　Do you have a message for your overseas fans?

A: I am still inexperienced, but from here on, I will to the best of my abilities, continue to work as a Yuri manga artist. From far away, I will work hard to confer upon you happy hours.
Should you encounter my next work, I will be happy.

See you again.

***

Thank you Fujieda-sensei for taking time from your busy schedule and answering our questions – and thank you everyone for reading this interview.





Light Novel: R.O.D., Volume 4

May 14th, 2010

There are some inevitable things in the universe. If a conversation covers used books, then one of these inevitable things must surely be the town of Hay-on-Wye. It’s a lovely town, by the way. (Yes, of *course* I’ve been. Do you not know anything about me yet? I’ve been a bibliophile for many years more than I’ve been an otaku)

And indeed, the inevitable happens at the beginning of the fourth Read or Die Light Novel. Yomiko is let loose by her caretaker Wendy for two hours in Hay-on-Wye. And of all the books Yomiko wants most, the only copy is in the hands of someone else. He’s a nice-looking Chinese man, perhaps a little older than Yomiko. He genially suggests that they play rock-paper-scissors for it…and they do. Minutes pass into hours as they keep tying on “paper.” When Yomiko wins by suddenly switching to “scissors” he asks her flat out if she is a Paper User. They discuss her love of books, but she doesn’t tell him why she wants this particular book – one especially beloved by her mentor and lover, Donny.

Upon returning to London, a thin plot about a piece of the original paper that the Guttenberg bible was printed on is wrapped thinly around three things: 1) The guy Yomiko met in Hay-on-Wye is a member of the nefarious “Dokusensha,” an evil organization that is trying to do the exact same things the British Library is trying to do – but for the bad guys, which is to say, not us. 2) Dokusensha has a Paper User too, and this allows us to have wonking great battles on the North Sea and then over London (in which references were made to H.G. Wells) and 3) Nenene.

Oh, yes, although this entire novel takes place in the UK, Nenene decides to arrive just as Dokusensha invades the British Library and take her hostage. This gives Yomiko the opportunity to not just have a wonking cool battle over London – she on her paper airplane, Dokusensha with their paper dragon that comes up the Thames – but to rescue Nenene and be her hero. Nenene’s hero. With hugs, and tears, and protestations of “don’t scare me like that” and “I don’t ever want to be apart from you,” and “I want to be with you forever.”

A new character is introduced by the way…and no, it’s not Nancy. Not yet, hold your horses. She comes in the next novel. This time it’s Faust. Like Mr. Gentleman (a name that makes me think of Lewis Carroll every time I read it,) Faust is very old. 400 years of very old. Unlike Mr. Gentleman, he’s lived every one of those years in a 10-year old boy’s body. He looks, honestly, like Junior with his hair cut short and a “I know something you don’t” smile. He was a nice addition to the team, because while his abilities are strictly in the not-dying capacity, he’s a good strategist and a fast thinker. That leaves Yomiko and Drake to carry out the tactics, which works well.

I definitely like it best when Nenene and Yomiko are together and I’m very much hoping that that will be pretty much the rest of the series.They make a very cute couple, whatever they think they think about one another.

Ratings:

Art – 5
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 4
Service – 2

Overall – 7

Nenene and Yomiko are together for less than 10 pages and every last one of them filled me to satisfaction.





Aria Manga, Volume 5 (English)

May 12th, 2010

Aria Volume 5 (Aria (Tokyopop))In Aria, Volume 5, we stop pretending that there is any Yuri and just look at this wonderful world of Neo-Venezia for the simple joys it represents.

For two chapters.

Then Athena shows up and all the Fanboys are at it again, pairing her and Alice because they can’t stop themselves.(On this topic but as an aside, I am watching an anime on Crunchyroll right now that has no romantic pairings at all, but you’d never know that from the comments which are singularly obsessive on that topic. It’s like a broken wire in the collective fandom. One I share, obviously ^_^)

So, Aika, who was our slight delusion of Yuri, has turned her gaze away from Alicia towards Al – and it is good. Except for Al’s bad puns, which are execrable in any language.

Akari has eyes for no one and nothing but the grandeur and artistry of the town she has adopted as her home. In Volume 5, the town officially adopts her in return. I am told, by the way, that Venice really does this – people either love it with all their love, or dislike it. My parents feel deeply and passionately in love with Venice at first sight. They, like Akari, have spent an afternoon on San Marco Square following the sun and drinking coffee and accounted it the best afternoon ever spent anywhere.

For me, the most interesting and best chapter is a chapter in which Alice learns that left hands and sempai may seem clumsy or awkward, but when left to do what they are best at, excel. This chapter has some personal resonance for me, as well as just being a fun, sweet chapter.

I’d like to comment on the translation, as well. I think it is actually very in keeping with Akari’s personality to have her say things like, “What’s shakin’ bacon?” or “Holy guacamole!” Nonetheless, I loathe the choice. It jars with the overall tone and pace of Neo-Venezia, which is old world elegant and sedate. Translators, adaptors and editors ought to keep the big picture in mind, as well as the specific scene or character. There is nothing wrong with these idioms, I just find them irking.

There is no Yuri, as I have said from the beginning, in Aria. There is only delusion and wishful thinking. But, with the winter sun shining on the canals of Neo-Venezia, what better is there to do but sit, drink coffee and engage in some wishful thinking.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 0
Service – 1

Overall – 8

It is my sincere pleasure to thank Okazu Superhero Amanda M for her sponsorship of today’s review! It’s always a good afternoon when spent in Neo-Venezia.





Yuri Anime: Heartcatch PreCure

May 3rd, 2010

Okay, okay, calling Heartcatch PreCure “Yuri” is just wishful thinking at this point, but 13 weeks into it, this classic magical girl anime leads the pack for this season.

First of all, I must give a shout out to Komatsu-san, who has been gently trying to get me to love PreCure as much as he does for some time now. I watched the original PreCure (free on Crunchyroll!) which was fine, and liked what I read of Splash Star, but Max Heart and GoGo 5! were unwatchable in my opinion, and Fresh PreCure was…okay. Nothing really hooked me. Because of Komatsu-san, I checked out the website for the new series, but wasn’t very impressed with the art. But when he gave me a few of the episodes to watch, I found myself humming the opening theme for about a week. That’s *usually* a good sign that I enjoy an anime series.

And then Yuri popped on the screen and I was officially hooked. I mean that literally and figuratively, by the way. One half of the Yuri couple is cleverly named Yuri. The naming sense in this series is a nailbat of obviousness, as you will see.

The stars of Heartcatch are Hanasaki Tsubomi, whose parents run a flower shop and who becomes Cure Blossom. (Ow!) Her next door neighbor, best friend and partner in Precure, is Kurumi Erika, whose mother designs clothes and whose father is a famous photographer and whose sister, Momoka, is a famous fashion model. Erika becomes Cure Marine.

They are opposed by monkey-like mooks, tools of the Desert something-somethings. No one watches PreCure for the bad guys. They are totally forgettable…until Dark Cure, with her gothy one tattered batwing and one laser-beam eye and angst enough for a gaggle o’preteens shows up.

By herself Dark Cure is moderately amusing. So end-of-the-world and all that. But the screen heats up when, while facing down Cure Blossom and Cure Marine, Dark catches sight of…a girl. This girl is slightly older than the current PreCure, totally untransformed – and the two of them stare fixedly over PreCure’s head for a long time. The girl is Tsukikage Yuri (Ow! Watch that name bat, will you?!) voiced by Hisakawa Aya, which I think is a knowing nod to the adult portion of the audience for this series. (Dark is voiced by Takayama Minami, who you might remember as the former Rosa Gigantea, Sei’s onee-sama, in Marimite.)

So, okay, I was watching this scene thinking, “yeah, I can get into this.” But it was really icing on the cake.

There were a number of things that set this series apart from other PreCure and from other magical girl series. Firstly, Tsubomi’s grandmother had formerly been a Cure, which I think is a great touch. It gives Tsubomi a mentor and a source of info that isn’t passing for a stuffed animal during school hours. And both Erika and Tsubomi have dreams of the epic battle between Dark and a previous guardian, Cure Moonlight. Because I am not 4, it was instantly obvious that Yuri is/was Moonlight and that there’s a whole arc in whatever lay between her and Dark. I am tempted to write a fanfic of what *I* think that story is, before the series goes and ruins it for all of us. lol

Did I mention that Dark carries around half of Moonlight’s gem that broke during their epic battle? Well she does. Yuri carries the other half, of course, which means we’ll get a double redemption at some point.

Oh, and I completely forgot, the Student Council President is a cross-dressing girl. This is covered early on and it was pretty obvious that she was a girl (well, obvious to me, but I am not 4).

Yuri is also, just to make sure the doujinshi artists have a multitude of choices, best friends with Momoka, Erika’s sister.

Taken as a whole, I’m still making up about 97% of the Yuri in my head, but for a kiddy show, there’s enough to keep me watching for the rest of the season.

Ratings:

Art – 7 It took me a while to get used to it, but when you get into the right headspace, Yuri is attractive enough.
Story – Monster of the Day, blah blah.
Characters – 8
Yuri – 5 as long as there’s ambiguity
Service – 1

Overall – 7

I’ll never love PreCure as much as I do Sailor Moon, but Heartcatch is at least in the same folder in my head now.





Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Force and Vivid Manga

May 2nd, 2010

Despite the failure of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha to be profitable here in the west, in Japan it’s a thriving franchise. With the first full-length feature film Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The First out this past winter and not one but two new manga series, Nanoha is starting to show some serious staying power as a franchise. And it’s generating some of the seriously hottest figurines I’ve ever seen. If you recall, I had a crisis of conscience over a Signum figurine at Hobby Japan in Akihabara last month.

In both manga series Fate and Nanoha have reached the venerable old age of 25 and have, therefore, moved completely out of the fandom’s interest. And right into mine. The fact that this *still* makes me a creepy old lady is not lost on me. ^_^

In Magical War Chronicle Lyrical Nanoha Force, Kidou Rouka has been disbanded and Fate, Nanoha and Hayate have moved on with their careers. As we saw in the epilogue to StrikerS, all of Hayate’s Knights still serve in the niches they have carved within Michilda’s forces, and Teana, Subaru, Erio and Caro have also moved up in their chosen fields. Everyone is a productive member of adult society. So, clearly, it’s time to introduce new characters. Therefore we meet Thomas, an independent soul on walkabout for his own reasons, the naked magical girl he rescues, Lili, and seamstress and comedic relief, Isis. The three are each searching for something and are already misunderstood by a trail of people. Alongside of their story, all the major players from StrikerS have been reintroduced in their new capacities. We can anticipate that they will all encounter one another as the story progresses.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Vivid follows Vivio, Fate and Nanoha’s adopted daughter, in her quest to become a powerful mage like her mothers. We are reacquainted with several of the Number clones from StrikerS (the ones that went “good” on us), as well as the rest of the cast in a series of unlikely cameos. Vivio has become rather good friends with Nove, Wendy, Duici and the others, and has a few school friends to drag along. The complicating factor (i.e., new character) in her story is an unwilling clone of the ancient Emperor Ingvald, a girl with the awkward name of Einhart Stratos. It doesn’t make any sense to me either – just go with it. Einhart’s existence gives Vivio a chance to transform into her more grown-up fightin’ form as often as possible. There’s no real “conflict” here yet, but there will be. And, no doubt, there’ll be a chance to watch Vivio take after Nanoha-mama and “befriend” more than just Einhart.

In Force, Fate and Nanoha are presented at top of their form. Experienced veterans, leaders, commanders. We have yet to see them having an quality time together, but to be fair the series has a lot of stuff going on and there really isn’t room for it.

In Vivid, we see Fate and Nanoha as devoted partners and mothers to Vivio, but again, the story doesn’t quite have room for Fate and Nanoha to have time together. So, in both cases, the Yuri is there only insofar as you feel like making it up in your head.

Sadly this is not true for other fetishes. But aside from the apparently unavoidable (and in Japan, at least, profitable) fetishes favored by Nanoha fandom, both manga have good stories and are festooned with good characters.

Force Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 0
Service – 6

Overall – 7

Vivid Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 0
Service – 7

Overall – 7

Like Ikkitousen, I know what I’m getting into with Nanoha, so I am not complaining, just a little wistful for what might have been if the stories were written more for me. ^_^