Archive for the Series Category


Yuri News this Week – June 13, 2009

June 13th, 2009

Yuri Events

Yuricon and ALC Publishing is, even as you read this, selling Grab Bags and Yuri Manga in Con Row at AnimeNEXT! Drop by tonight for the Yuri Panel at 6PM, in which we will talk about many things – almost all good. :-)

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Yuri Anime

Katherine was pleased as punch to be able to share the news with the Yuricon Mailing List that “Aoi Hana is premiering [in Japan] on July 1, according to the website which has been newly revamped, complete with new anime art, a wallpaper section (an adorable relationship chart, and a ton of other material.”

Yuri Light Novel

And again, top Yuri reporter Katherine would like you to know that Tiara Bunko has released a Yuri Light Novel, complete with illustrations by Chi-Ran called Ai Yuri Gakuin Youkoso E. The plot seems more of the same, but, hey, *more* of the same!

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Yuri Manga

The second volume of Creo the Crimson Crisis arriving on shelves next week is excellent testimony to the fact that my opinion is hardly the only one. :-)

And don’t forget your copy of Yuri Hime S, also on sale on the 18th.

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Other Yuri-ish News

Eric P. wants you to know that he found that “someone named Daniel Cronquist wrote a book called Set Apart that came out back in February. It’s a book that offers the Christian interpretation of all the religious themes and story elements in the Haibane Renmei series, while admitting the series isn’t directly a Christian story.” Apparently he interprates the characters as representations of the Seven Deadly Sins. I don’t think this is as crazy as it sounds – I saw Haibane Renmei as taking place in a kind of Purgatory, and I’m coming from a decidedly non-Christian point of view.

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Snatches of Yuri

Ashita Hareru Ya! is about 4-koma hijinks and Yuri sempai love at a nursing school. Volume 2 seems to be more Yuri than Volume 1.

For more girls’ school roomate love, check out Butterfly Kiss which does indeed look very Yuri love-love.

And one more for the fans of series that contain references about fandom, Transistor Tea Set~ Denkigai Chizu is another Mangatime KR 4-koma, with a Yuri character. This time, the series is set in and about the inhabitants of Electric Town, Akihabara, the otaku center of Tokyo.

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As always, email me at anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com with any Yuri news you’d like to share!





Maria-sama ga Miteru Special CD, Volume 2

June 12th, 2009

Tsutako is in the house! Yes, in the second Maria-sama ga Miteru Special CD, Satou Rina is the guest of honor and conversations about soeur and sweets abound. Satou Rina has the most amusing habit of calling Ueda Kana “Yumi-san,” which she just canNOT shake.

They discuss the usual things – the kind of junk food they are eating, who Satou Rina would have as a friend, souer, wife, etc. (Is there any surprise to find that she wants to be Yumi’s friend and have Shouko as souer? No, no there isn’t.)

But the great big super important reason you will get the CD is not the guest of honor, as cool as she is.

The reason you will get this CD is the drama.

The nearly one-hour long drama.

The nearly one-hour long drama voiced by Nazuka Kaori (Yun in Simoun, Subaru in .Hack/Sign) “Kareruki ni Mebuki,” (“From Withered Tree to Bud”) that tells the end, if you will, of the Tsutako x Shouko story from the perspective of her older sister, Kasumi.

The story that not only puts all the pieces in place for the Shouko x Tsutako story, but also makes plain what was up to that point obvious, yet implicit – Kasumi’s obsession, what in Japanese is called kataomoi, with the former Rosa Foetida, Torii Eriko.

Oh my *God* is this a good drama. Tears, laughter, it has everything. It has *everything*. It was so good I needed a smoke afterward.

The fact that so many of these side stories are being told in the CD dramas indicates to me that they are not intending on animating them, but I hope to be proven wrong. Tsutako, Shouko and Kasumi definitely deserve an OVA of their own!

Ratings:

Overall – 9.5

These Special CDs have been so amazing, I’m a little scared to get the next one, in case it fails to be as magnificent as the previous ones. But that won’t stop me for a second, really. ^_^





My-HiME Manga, Volume 5 (English)

June 10th, 2009

My absolute favorite panel of My-HiME Volume 5 is the first page. We see TWO gaudily dressed women, arrogantly posed, smiling condescendingly and clearly labeled “Three Cosmic Beauties.”

Eventually we learn why the third of the three Cosmic Beauties is not present in this panel, and I agree that a label stating “Two of the Three Cosmic Beauties” would not have been as dramatic, but…still. Totally typical of the whole My-HiME experience. ^_^

In case there hasn’t been enough screaming in the previous four volumes, the decibels are upped a few extra notches for this one. Pretty much everything is said in REALLY BIG LETTERS!!! so we know they really mean it. Nagi returns from the dead only to be killed again, which is pretty darn satisfying and, since there’s only one person in the whole world Mai loves more than anything, of course she has to fight that person. Tate gets both girls, sort of, and they beat the bad guy and save the world. Yay us.

Haruka and Yukino have a shiny hero moment which ends with Haruka’s apparent death, but that is of course reversed in a totally Haruka moment at the end of the volume. Second best line of this volume – Shizuru, at Haruka’s reappearance, “Waste of a good funeral.” Youko and Midori get a snuggly moment which pleased me, since they always seemed a more likely pairing to me than Midori and some random old guy.

In conclusion, ShizNat fans should avoid this series like the plague, as should anyone with a shred of dignity. Haruka x Yukino fans will find some sparkly bits hidden among the muck.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 5
Characters – 5
Yuri – 1
Service – 5

Overall – 5

I shout out, well mumble anyway, thanks to Okazu Superhero Bruce McF for sponsoring today’s review!

Oh, best line of the volume? In the author’s note at the very end, Kimura-sensei recalls, “Ken-etsu-sensei kept saying disheartening things like ‘Let’s try not to get cancelled!’ when we rode on the train together.” Says everything you need to know about this series, IMHO. ^_^;





Yuri Manga: Hayate x Blade, Volume 3 (English)

June 2nd, 2009

I told you, didn’t I? I’ve been telling you for years now and you *finally* realize that I haven’t been lying. Hayate x Blade, Volume 3 is…awesome.

In this volume, two major things happen – we start to learn that the characters we thought were all idiots are in, fact, amazingly, stupendously cool. And we also learn that as amazingly, stupendously cool as they are…they are still all idiots. ^_^

You are not alone when you decide that Jun is the most amazingly, stupendously cool character, by the way. As you will see in the next volume. You may also be amused, but not at all surprised, to learn that Jun is voiced on the Drama CDs by Toyoguchi Megumi. Yes, she *is* the Sei of this series – it wasn’t just your imagination.

So, in Volume 3, we realize that Ayana is deeper than just being a grumpy old grump and Hayate has a lot to learn and Jun has a very important person in her life and that person, Yuho, is quite amusingly broken. We also learn that Hitsugi and Shizuku are awesome. We actually learn that *every* volume, so just get used to me saying that, if you aren’t already. ^_^

I can’t speak for anyone other than myself when I say this but, I thought the fight between Jun and Ayana was genius the first time and I love it no less this time. Just wait ’til we get to Volume 4! (Which I just finished editing a few weeks ago. So, it’s a-coming.)

As with the last few volumes, I did in fact copy edit this one, and for the first time I’m actually credited. I have to say that I think Adrienne and Ed are a top-notch team at the translation and adaptation and it’s a genuine pleasure to work on this book – not just because I love the series, but because they do a fabulous job. I feel like the characters all retain their specific voices, no matter what accent or speech patterns they have in the original, without it ever sounding forced. As a person for whom “voice” is critical in writing, this may be the best ever example that a good translator and a good adaptor can really make a tremendous difference.

So, seriously, if you haven’t been sure if you want to get Hayate x Blade, do. Not because I love it, or because I worked on it, but because Volume 3 is pure awesome.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 4
Service – 2

Overall – 9

Tor still does not send me copies of books I work on (can you believe it? When I ask, I’m told they have no extras to send…seriously.) So my heartfelt, sincere gratitude to a new Okazu hero, Jason H for stepping in and sponsoring today’s review! Jason, thank you for being my hero! Drop me an email at anilesbocon at hotmail dot com and I’ll send you a copy of your Okazu Hero badge to proudly display on website or blog!





Yuri News This Week – May 30, 2009

May 30th, 2009

Once again, we are off in a blaze of Yuri!

Yuri Manga

From a conversation on the #lililicious channel on IRC, Erin S is pleased to report two new Yamaji Ebine books, Aoaza Shimi and Ai no Jikan. Be warned however that the second is not Yuri in any way – it’s about a possibly gay girl who falls in love with a definitely gay man after he saves her from being stabbed by a rapist. (It was a really depressing story, I read it for many chapters in Feel Comic.) The first title looks more promising.

Anonymous says that Gunsmith Cats Burst Volume 4 in English is tentatively due out in Autumn 2009 , while Volume 5 is planned for Spring 2010. (Yay!!!!!)

Coming next month from Ichijinsha is Butterfly 69, the collection from Natsuneko. Woot.

And double woot for Hayate x Blade 10 also hitting the shelves next month. The current arc is amazing, btw. :-D

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Yuri Anime

Sean reports back from the Funimation panel at Anime North, where he dutifully asked them about things that I care about. Sadly, they have said that sales for Lyrical Nanoha and Nanoha As have not been very good and so at this time there is no plan for a release of StrikerS. Which makes me wonder, yet again, why the lolicon of Japan are so willing to shell out money and the lolicon of the west so very not. I am not the only person in the industry who is of the opinion that most of the people who screamed bloody murder at the pulling of the Kodomo no Jikan license had no intention of ever buying it. I was discussing why this is with another industry professional at lunch yesterday. I joked that the lolicon here are too busy with their hands down their pants, they didn’t have time to put them in their pockets, but that was only to watch him snort milk. The truth is more complex. The audience in Japan for lolicon is older than it is here, it is less entitled, having not grown up with free downloadable illegal media, but that still isn’t the crux of the issue. In Japan, fans buy to show their love and support for a series and to gain status. They buy official goods and media to be part of the “real fan” club – to show that they are part of the team. In America, fans are mostly just consumers and don’t have any connection with showing loyalty by buying. A hand-made artist’s alley item that clearly is violating IP is *better* than the official item, because it leaves them with more money to buy more and it “supports” fan work – which to western fans is more crucial than supporting companies that make the original.

I can’t answer this, but I wonder if fans here would feel differently if the work was native. If they knew the artists who did the animation, the voices, the production and it was a western company that *made* the work, would they feel more likely to buy official, more expensive goods to support the company? I don’t know. I do know that lolicon here are exactly the demographic least likely to buy anything, media, goods, games, etc – college-ages males.

On to other marginally disappointing news, Funi also says that their agreement with Toei only covers online distribution, so there are no plans for a DVD release of Air Master. However, they said that if online views were really good, it might be considered. So, watch Air Master online. There’s, that’s easy.

Right Stuf announces a Gakuen Alice website launch.

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Yuri Drama CDs

sarcastic weasel wants you to know that the next Maria-sama ga Miteru Drama CD is slated to come out this July. Tears of the Rosary/ Yellow Rose Storm Warning has been added to the Yuricon Shop Drama CD Page along with all the Special CDs and many other great Yuri-themed DCDs.

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Snatches of Yuri

Dan wants to report a blink ‘I think that was Yuri’ moment in Zero no Tsukaima. He says: ‘Main character is Louise, a teenage student witch. A minor character is Agnes who is the captain of the all female guard for the princess. Well, the two are following a possible spy for another country when the spy hears a noise and back tracks. With no where to run, Agnes pulls Louise into a lip to lip kiss. The spy sees them and grins but leaves. Agnes remains all business tracking the spy but Louise blushes. Later, another character mentions that Agnes is scary and likes girls. Louise blushes more. That’s it. Nothing more. During the entire season, Louise is clearly in love with the other main character, Saito. If it had only been the kiss without the later comment, I would not have mentioned it. However, the random, not needed for the plot and not expanded comment about Agnes sounds to me (a huge Fanboy) like an attempt to keep GL fans interested. There is a third season but I would be surprised if the Agnes likes girls idea is explored. The plot would be greatly improved if the Agnes line was explored.”

Back closer to my world, Kanojo ha Megane-HOLIC brings together an agent, a high school, two girls and eyeglasses. It’s Light Novel that I’m tempted to read, just because it sounds absolutely idiotic. lol

Ame no Tou is a classic girl’s shousetsu about four girls and the love, hate and jealousy between them.

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Other Yuri News

In other Yuri News, there still no second season of Strawberry Panic planned and the live-action movie you thought you heard about is still actually Yoshida Akimi’s The Cherry Orchard.

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Which brings me to the end of another Yuri News Report.

I want to thank George for his lovely comment yesterday, about this being a real life version of Manako’s “Yuri Network.” That was quite touching. In reality, you wonderful people are the network – I’m just reporting the pieces. So, please write in with any tidbits of Yuri you would like people to know! It’s my pleasure to tell the world.

Have a great week next week – and here’s to even more fabulous Yuri news!