Archive for the Series Category


Yamada to Kase-san, Volume 3 ( 山田と加瀬さん。)

September 1st, 2022

Kase-san and Yamada moved to Tokyo last spring. Now winter is ahead of them and they are settling in, mostly.

As Yamada to Kase-san, Volume 3 ( 山田と加瀬さん。) begins, Yamada has taken massive strides towards building a new life. It’s true that, as a first-year, she lacks some confidence, but her bouts of low self-esteem are much rarer than before. She’s learning a lot, working hard at her job and making friends. And this year, as the school festival approaches, she’s honored to take part in a special edition of one of her favorite gardening shows. The gardening club is working with their favorite teacher to do a live performance, with a special guest – a famous voice actor.

Kase-san’s school festival is on the same exact day. How they balance the schedule, Kase-san dealing with one last (and for once, rather amusing,) round of jealousy and what becomes of them when the voice actor turns out to be a good gardener, a decent person and an adult who provides good advice, is the bulk of this volume.

The other half of the story is the inevitability of a coming crisis with Kase-san’s roommate. Kase-san’s old rival from high school confides that she knows Kase-san has a lover. Fukami is trying very hard to not care, but…she cares. It is becoming harder to ignore that her feelings for Kase-san are not roommate-y. What will happen with them? We don’t know and it may be moot – because Yamada and Kase-san start talking about the next year and maybe living together.

I like that this manga is moving at a pace that is slow, but somehow feels real-ish.  That is to say, we’re not hitting multiple festivals per volume, which means that we have time to look at both Yamada and Kase-san and see how far they’ve come. Even the art invites us to see both of them as more adult. Yamada, especially. They have distinct personalities, and styles. It’s been half a year, Kase-san is finally dealing with the jealousy thing, Yamada’s low-self-esteem has really changed from her days in high school. Our little girls are growing up and it’s…nice. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – Not really, this volume.
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

There’s no date yet for Volume 3 in English, but I bet it’ll be out in 2023!





MURCIÉLAGO, Volume 18 & 19

July 11th, 2022

So, MURCIÉLAGO. It’s still not good by any conceivable metric. And, while it never crosses the line into actual exploitation, it gets reallllly close pretty constantly. Therefore, I am bundling MURCIÉLAGO, Volume 18 and Volume 19, as a pair, so I can binge and purge the whatever it is that keeps me coming back to this gorefest. ^_^

Volume 18 wraps up the story of Sendou, the yakuza failure who kills people with a fencing sword, as he dies pretty much as ignominiously as he deserved. Of note was the fact that Chiyo-chan and Kuroko are now so much an established couple, the mangaka immediately tires of them. ^_^

In the new arc that begins after boring adult murders, another new, creepy man preys on girls because apparently that is what adult men want to read about. That’s not weird at all or anything. And what we are given is a a love so toxic and bent that girls are dying because a bereaved father has lost his mind to grief, magically ignoring the fact that he was a shitty person in the first place, as shitty people always seem to.

Serial killers are so common in Rurie no one would probably really care all that much about this one, except that Rinko becomes involved. Rinko, you may remember was another victim of a creepy serial killer…only, in her case, her father trained her to become an assassin herself, preying on people he wanted dead. Rinko has found a loving and perfectly suitable home living with Kuroko and Hinako, and Ai. A family of mentally unstable murderers, but a loving home nonetheless.  Proof of this is Rinko attending school, making real friends including Noel, a classmate with whom Rinko is very close. And potentially growing closer. Even Kuroko notes that Rinko and Noel are heading towards more than friends. She’s chuffed that her adopted daughter is so on the team. But in between them lies a horrible secret. Rinko is the person who killed Noel’s father and she’s afraid that it will ruin their friendship…until Noel is kidnapped by the current creepy dude.

In Volume 19, Noel is exceptionally cool under pressure, in a way that I know for sure I would not be. She plays along with the kidnapper, in hopes that the longer she survives, the longer she has to find a way to escape.

Kuroko, of course, ends up seducing Noel’s mother. Because of course she does. Team Kuroko does track down Noel’s whereabouts and for the very first time in her short, violent life, Rinko is a hero as she rescues Noel. During their tearful reunion, Rinko admits the truth to Noel, who says she likes Rinko too much to ever blame her. And they go on to become besties, as one might if one lived in the capital city of serial killers, elder gods and other indescribable horrors and unspeakable terrors.

As usual the final portion of the book is tied up in whatever Hinako is thinking, which is always impenetrable.

The next volume which is out in Japanese, is set up by the reappearance of the sniper with the spiral eyes, Kuchiba Reiko. I await it with glee. Or dread. I’m not really sure which.  Gleeful dread. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – Almost none, comparatively.  How creepy is that? Some mild nudity.
Yuri – 8 

Overall – 8

 
Volume 20 is out in Japanese and will be arriving in English in October.

This manga is such a specific flavor of fucked up, I feel like I can’t really stop reading until it, or the world, ends.





Birdie Wing -Golf Girls Story-, Season 1

June 29th, 2022

From the gritty world of urban decay and underground mafia golf to the well-manicured lawns of elite golf clubs in the shadow of Mt. Fuji, Birdie Wing -Golf Girls Story-, Season 1, has exactly none of the things you might expect if I mentioned I was watching a “golf anime.”

Birdie Wing has given us a sports anime that is very similar to the isekai of I’m in Love With The Villainess. In sports anime, there will be sweat and tears and hard work and competition and characters striving to reach their goal – this is a genre with rules. Instead, in between Gundam references and throwbacks to Yuri anime of the 00s, we have a a sports anime that gleefully flaunts the rules of the genre. Where ILTV took isekai and squeezed it until it told a story about social justice, Birdie Wing is doing the opposite. Sure, there is sweat and training, but there are no tears here.

In most sports anime, the arrogant and competent athlete is our rival…someone to try and beat, and having beaten, befriend. Not here. In Birdie Wing only the strong survive. Everyone on the screen is confidently arrogant about their skill, and competent enough to back it up: With the most arrogant being Eve and Aoi, whose supreme confidence in their skills turn errors into comedic moments, instead of tragic ones. There is nowhere for them to go but up, like the symbolically rising arc of their shots off tee.

Our team is, in actuality, a comedy troupe composed of two odd couples, a hefty splash of eau de Yuri and a soupçon of old school shoujo series wrapped in the sponsored gear of a sports anime…and an audience of adult Japanese men who are being wooed to play in beautiful, exclusive, undoubtedly outrageously expensive links. Last night, while playing around, I found the Raiou Girls’ School golf team clubhouse in the real world, a clear indication that you and I are not the intended audience of this anime, but merely lucky bystanders.


Season 2 of this delightful romp was announced before Episode 13 premiered on Crunchyroll. Visit the BW official site for spoilers and implications.

Will Aoi, Eve, Ichina and Amane being able to, I dunno, take down the evil, sexy mafia lady and fulfill Coach Gundam-injoke’s dream before he coughs up blood and dies? Probably not, honestly. But I am here for it, no matter.

Which brings me to the Yuri. Is this Yuri? The series has not been at all shy about implying that Eve and Aoi are sisters. In fact, it’s gone out of it’s way to beat us over the head with the idea. Eve is using kisses to coerce Aoi, in an absurdly cute and screencappable way, and Ichina has kindly noticed the Yuri score rising, but whether our ball is headed into the rough or toward the fairway we don’t yet know. (Yes, here at the end, I finally allowed myself a stupid golf metaphor.)

Sceencap by Hyperart Marcus-san

When I initially reviewed Birdie Wing, I asked for a smidge of Yuri…and totally got that and more. I called it “overtly subtextual” in my first review. Now it’s a bit more complicated. Eve is using her natural charm to seduce a willing Aoi, and it’s right there in the open. But will it be passionate platonic sisters or passionate platonic partners in golf or… passionate platonic something else that they’ll shoehorn in? And will we even care?

The good news is that we will get the end of this story, which has me absolutely ecstatic. But…will we get the end we want? Probably not, but we’ve been talking about this series a lot on the Okazu Discord and we think the series has a twist or two up it’s sleeve for us yet.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Great scenery porn and animated drives
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Service – 4 There is some service, but they’re keeping the creep low-key and tolerable
Yuri – What the heck, I’m going for it ……10

Overall – 10

In my recent video on Yuri Studio, Sports in Yuri Anime & Manga, I said that this anime was very close to being the greatest Yuri sports anime of all time. Here at the end of Season 1, Birdie Wing is even closer to being the greatest Yuri sports anime of all time….and I’m not even sure it needs more Yuri to hit that mark. ^_^

What a great anime this is. I can’t wait to rewatch it!





Otherside Picnic, Volume 7

June 13th, 2022

Otherside Picnic, Volume 7 is an excellent read on every level. In fact, please feel free to stop reading right here and just go read the 7th novel in Miyazawa Iori’s scifi-horror series. It’ll be worth the time and you’ll probably get more out of it than reading me talking about the book.That said, I have quite a lot to say about this volume. ^_^

When the cover was released, you could hear the cries of fandom Internet-side. This cover presaged an intense volume. It wasn’t lying.

Volume 6 set up a newish conundrum for Sorawo and Toriko. Having established that they both have reciprocal feelings does not actually help Sorawo at all to sort out how she’ll deal with her partner.

As the curtain opens on Volume 7, important things have shifted. Sorawo still isn’t really able to human quite yet, but she’s…different. Her ideas are better formed, her goals are clearer, and in this volume she steps into a leadership role that suits her well. Toriko is struggling with the idea that she’s been one of many women for Satsuki Uruma, and, for the first time, Kozakura joins the adventure as an adult, and equal. Up to now, she’s acted much more like the child she resembles, rather than the adult woman she claims to be. In essence, our team has begun to find themselves in the middle of the chaos of the Otherside.

As a thriller, this volume was super solid. The main plot, the way the Otherside in general and Satsuki in specific, responded to Sorawo’s tactics were fantastic. This volume successfully rehabilitated several previous characters, while never losing site of humanity’s weaknesses.  The climax was excellent. Well-conceived and executed…this was a genuinely outstanding volume.

shirakaba’s art is back to illustrating the people but there’s been visible improvement in the art, so it feels less like a sop to the concept of a “light novel” than it used to.

While the series does feel a bit like it must be winding down at this point, there’s still some cleaning up remaining. Or…I certainly hope so. This has been a wild and creative ride – I’m reluctant for it to end. We need more Yuri scifi. I need more Yuri scifi. This volume had some outstanding horror beats and even more excellent emotional beats.

For a series built around unspoken fears and emotions, Otherside Picnic has done a fantastic job of expressing the unspoken fears and emotions of humanity at large and the individuals it features. As a result, I’ve been able to learn about myself, as well. If you’ve been hesitating picking up this series, I think it holds up under scrutiny. Give it a try.

Ratings:

Story – 9
Character – 9
Service – 1
Yuri – 8

Overall – 9

I’ve managed to review this without spoiling it at all. If you’ve already read it, I’d love to hear what you think in a spoiler-free manner in the comments!

My only spoiler – I was so glad to see Kokkuri-san in this volume, I applauded. ^_^





Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina!, Volume 1 (平民癖に生意気な！)

May 15th, 2022

We’ve all read the “other perspective” Light Novel by now, haven’t we? My Next Life as a Villainess, for instance, ends every chapter with the same story from the other person’s perspective and, while cute, it doesn’t add that much to the narrative.

Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina!, Volume 1 (平民癖に生意気な！) is once again a brilliant exception to a Light Novel rule. This volume covers the same story as the first novel of I’m in Love With the Villainess, but has so much original content and such a completely different perspective on key dramatic elements. That said, that’s not the only reason it’s worth reading – as usual, it’s the characters that put it over the top for me. Including a new character who never appeared in the original story and, plausibly, has several solid reasons for not doing so.

Claire François, the only daughter of the Bauer Kingdom’s Minister of Finance, is a young woman of extraordinary privilege. She knows this, in a theoretical sense. In a not-theoretical sense, Claire believes in the nobility – that they have an important place in society and that she has both rights and responsibilities because of that role.  When a commoner in her class suddenly confesses her love, Claire has no comprehension as to why? Why her? Why this…? Claire hopes to shake her off but her best friends, Pipi and Loretta, dissuade her by imagining much more severe bullying tactics. When the commoner manages to becomes Claire’s maid, everything starts to change. 

Educated by her new maid and her old one, Lene, Claire begins to see the world from the perspective of the commoners and she’s deeply put off by what she has learned. As Bauer fights internal and external strife, Claire François starts to understand the values she holds may not be up to the strain.  But – importantly – Claire herself is up to the challenge. Her belief in her position, her power and her friends makes this book an outstanding read.

We learn so much about Claire’s apparent henchchicks in this novel that they never again will appear to me as merely hangers-on. Pipi and Loretta get not just backstories, but massive character development, especially in volume 2 of this series. In actual fact, it is a scene with them that has made me cry in this go round. I’m also leaving out everything about the new character, because I don’t wish to spoil anything at all about that.

As a result of my experience with other LNs, I was deeply unsure that this book would offer anything worth reading. It has blown me out of the water. Everything in it is worth reading. Not only do we get a much better idea of who Claire is, but we can see something that Rae herself could not – how effectively Rae hid herself in the first novel…and when that disguise slipped. Claire turns out to be remarkably insightful in a lot of ways and a very good friend to the people she cares about. This book was so good, I read it very slowly and carefully, so I wouldn’t miss a word. inori-sensei’s writing has absolutely leveled up. hangata-sensei’s art is still quite cute and is a little less portrait-y than it was in previous LNs, but still focuses on the figures over the action….typical of Light Novels.

This book has once again been released by GL Bunko in digital form and, like other GL Bunko novels, you can get this on US Kindle in Japanese. I will of course be writing GL Bunko([email protected]) to ask them to please continue the series. There are so many stories yet to tell.

Another way to read this novel is to support Inori-sensei on Pixiv Fanbox and read the sanctioned fan translation, which is released in English and Korean. And, of course, please let Seven Seas know that you’d like to see She’s Such a Cheeky Commoner! in print in English. I know I would. It was really good.

Ratings:

Art – 7 hanagata’s art is so much more confident now
Story – 10 Outstanding writing never mades me feel like it’s the same thing over again
Characters – 10 I cannot express to you how *good* the characters are here
Service – 3? 4? A bit, sometimes
Yuri/LGBTQ+ – Super complicated question! Rae’s feeling are not returned, but the queer content is still totally there.

Overall – 10

This is nothing like the typical “other perspective” trope. While you would have to have read Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 1 at least, readers are well-rewarded in this volume for their time. It’s really an excellent book.