Archive for the Series Category


Yuri Manga: Hayate x Blade, Volume 2 (English)

February 19th, 2009

I know you’re waiting for my review of Hayate x Blade Volume 2  in English, but look at it from my point of view. That’s like, ancient history for me. My heart is in the middle of the (as always) awesome soon-to-become Volume 10 and I just finished reading Volume 9 in Japanese. And here you are, asking me to step waaaayyyy back and review this volume. Okay, but only because I love you. ^_^

The first half of Volume 2 follows the trials, tribulations and duels of Hayate’s roommate Momoka, and her determination to save the woman she wants as her shinyuu from an abusive partner. While Momoka does, in fact, win her duel, Riona explains that she can’t partner with Momoka, because being beaten regularly sharpens her comedy skills as boke. (What you don’t quite get from the translation is that both Momoka and Riona are from Osaka. Japanese regional stereotypes for Osaka are an obsession with business, a love of food – especially takoyaki, a local specialty – and…manzai comedy.)

Momoka takes ultra-creepy Isuzu as her partner, a character I love with all my love – I’m so glad that you all can learn to love her too. For those of you who have not listened to the Drama CDs, Isuzu is voiced by Noto Mamiko, with full creepy BGM and echo effect. Isuzu is absolutely delightful.

This is followed by “serious drama” in which Mizuchi and Sou attempt to thwart Ayana and Hayate in their quest. With hilariously laugh-out-loud failure, of course.

Yuri in this volume is in dribs and drabs – Jun’s and Hayate’s attempts to be groped by Ayana, notably, and Momoka’s desire to partner with Riona can (and will be, no doubt) brushed with the fragrance of lilies by fans. But for my part, I’m standing behind Isuzu who, you will learn, is quite besotted with Momoka. And then there’s Hitsugi and Shizuku who are, by their very existence, Yuri and no one can tell me different.

Once again, I must disclaimer this next bit by admitting that I copy edited this book. Although I was not credited, I really did. (And I missed a typo that the one person on this continent who could have possibly noticed it, noticed and pointed out to me. I am contrite…and irked at myself.) So, it is with pride that I compliment Seven Seas/Tor once again on the reproduction of this fablous series. The quality of translation and adaptation were enhanced by top-notch copy editing (joke, joke!) and in every way but three this was a perfect volume. The main thing is the front pages are printed too lightly, and the ToC is a bit hard to read. It’s just a printer thing, probably no one’s fault. The second was my miss. See below for the third.

I think Sean Gaffney had the final word on this volume. He pointed out that intiially, you think that Hayate is the “idiot” mentioned in every chapter title but, by the time you’re done with Volume 2 you realize that *every character* is an idiot. He is 100% correct. On to Volume 3 and more action and idiotry!

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4
Series – 2

Overall – 8

The third thing that made this book less than perfect is not technical, it is organizational. Neither Seven Seas nor Tor bothered to send me a copy. So it is with much thanks that I bow with sincere gratitude to Okazu Hero Bruce McF. for this copy. As always, you are my Hero. ^_^





News Brief: Funimation licenses El Cazador

February 19th, 2009

I’m absolutely beside myself with joy. There’s only three anime I want to see licensed right now and this was number one on the list. (Blue Drop and Mnemosyne are two and three. I know you’re gonna ask.)

Fans of Bee Train’s girls-with-guns-on-the-run trilogy, completion is around the corner at last, with Funimation’s licensing of El Cazador de la Bruja!

Finally, we’ll get to see Ellis loving Nadie best when her eyes are shining.





This Week in Yuri – February 14, 2008

February 14th, 2009

Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s been a decent week for Yuri, we have lots of stuff to be all love-love about, so away we go!

Yuri Manga

Erin is pleased to tell you all that Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers) Volume 4 will be out in April! (I know you are all loving the scanlations, but allow me to remind you that scans don’t pay bills, so if you *can* please buy the actual manga, so the artist that draws it and the company that publishes it make actual money on it.)

And for your shopping convenience, the Yuricon Shop now has entries for the upcoming Volume 2 of Octave, Yuri Hime Wildrose Volume 3 and Manga no Tskurikata (a story about girl who wants to become a manga artist and, since yuri is so popular now decides to draw that.)

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Yuri Anime

The big news for the week was that Right Stuf has announced the license for Maria Watches Over Us Season 4. I wonder what gewgaw we’ll get with the 4th season? :-) And by the way – Yay! The trailer for the fourth season can be seen here. Not so crucial to them as are actually watching the season, but fun, nonetheless.

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Other Yuri News

y_y-san reports by Twitter that the Girls Love Festival doujinshi event this month was a success and that there are plans for a second GLF event to be held in Japan in September. That makes three such Yuri-specific events that have been held in Japan more than once. Hopefully one day I will be able to actually make one.

Grisznak just wants everyone to enjoy this Yuri-themed AMV that melds the timeless, classic sound of Elvis and the timeless, classic romance of Yumi and Sachiko. :-)

And Sylwia wants all Polish Yuri fans to know that the Comix Grrrlz website is relaunching with a shiny new look, and they plan on adding more Yuri info and materials, and more articles about lesbians in comics. Very cool, I think. I’m always impressed by the Polish Yuri fandom. :-)

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Other News

Follow this blog on your Kindle! If you want to get your Yuri news and reviews hot off the press on your shiny new Kindle Reader, take a look at Kindlefeeder, a nifty way to get your favorite RSS feeds delivered directly to your Kindle.

The Media Blasters store in Secaucus, NJ is officially open! Serge and I stopped by on a lark today and found the store fully functional, full of friends and we weren’t the first customers! Drop by – here’s the map of the location – they are listed as #5 “Rareflix.” And here are directions to the Harmon Cove Outlets. (We talked again about a Yuri Monogatari 6 launch party in April – looks like we’ll be doing that, so keep an eye out for details!)

Also for our NY/NJ/CT area folks, a friend of Rica Takashima’s, Yasushi Tamaki, is offering Japanese language classes in New York City this spring using one of the hottest, most brilliant Japanese manga around. If you’re in the area, give it a try! Here’s the info:

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NEW YORK JAPANESE LANGUAGE SCHOOL
www.ny-japanese.com | [email protected]

Learn Japanese with MANGA!

The New York Japanese language school is offering a SPECIAL CLASS! Learn Japanese and Japanese culture with the newest manga, “Saint Young Men.”

Beginners are welcome!
Please apply by email at [email protected]

Date:Special Course1 (Wednesdays):February 18th, 25th, March 4th &11th
7-8pm (total 4hours)

Special Course2 (Saturdays)February 21st, 1-3pm &February 28th
2-4pm(total 4hours)

Location:CAP2118 W.18th St, 6f l. NYC 10011

Free trial Lesson!

Text Book:Saint Young Men (聖★おにいさん)In this popular comic Christ and Buddha enjoy a comical holiday in Tokyo in the 21st century. This is a hugely comic in Japan which feature the funny adventure of these two friends as they experience Japanese culture on their zany vacation.

Tuition:One Lesson $20/a hour (Including material)

Other Services:The Survival Japanese Class for Beginners
New class starts in March!

Private Lesson in Manhattan

Learn Japanese one-on-one at a coffee shop in Manhattan!

Any questions? Send us email!
NEW YORK JAPANESE LANGUAGE SCHOOL at CAP21(18 W.18th St, 6fl. NYC 10011)
[email protected]





My-Hime Manga, Volume 2 (English)

February 11th, 2009

The cast of characters grows, the battle rages and, unexpectedly, there’s at least one something that we can twist into a Yuri-ish thing in Volume 2 of My HiME.

In Volume 1, as you may remember Tate, the least interesting character since Tenchi learned that a peaceful life will never be his, with his magical ability to call disaster and calamity from the heavens down upon himself and everyone around him. By which I mean he’s the most important person in the story.

After formally introducing Nao, Mikoto and Akane, an inexplicable duel pops up between Natsuki and Haruka in which they are each meant to represent their own team of HiMEs but is, in some more nefarious way, the by-product of Chairwoman Mashiro’s meddling. Nagi appears, has his name spelled two different ways, is waved over everyone’s head as a threat, then disappears. And finally, with a lot of sound and fury, Midori arrives.

(Thanks god for Akane, who remains the closest to a normal human. It’s good to know that at least one HiME isn’t completely broken.)

Shizuru’s affection for Natsuki is set on the back burner of the story, taken out only to provide a light Yuri coating to the two panels they spend in each other’s company.

But the big fight between Haruka and Natsuki offers a pleasant dollop of implied Yuri, when it quickly becomes a battle between Natsuki and Mai, who can’t play nice and share Tate, and Haruka and her own beloved key and another HiME in her own right, Yukino. Since we’ve already seen some less-than-subtle sexual implication about HiMEs and keys, we can draw our own conclusion about Haruka and Yukino. I’m sure you all know what my conclusion is. ^_^

In a few places in this volume, I found myself completely befuddled by either the story or the translation of the story but, after a moment, when I realized that I really honestly don’t care at *all* what the story itself is, it was a fine volume. Good luck if you do actually care what’s going on. My takeaway was that the writer didn’t really know what was going on, either and was making it up as he went along. ^_^ (My wife says, “Good for him for filling a book with derivative fluff!”)

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 3
Service – 5

Overall – 6

Many thanks to today’s sponsor and brand new Okazu Hero, Katherine H.! Your heroic efforts will be eternally memorialized on the Okazu Hero Roll – and email me for your very own Okazu Hero Badge!





Yuri Manga: Maka-Maka, Volume 2 (English)

February 6th, 2009

makamaka2In Volume 2 of Maka-Maka, Jun and Nene continue on their happy adventure together having intimate contact in public places, and becoming closer on emotional level.

Nene and Jun are happiest together, although they both have boyfriends. These, we are told repeatedly, suck as lovers. (We can probably take for granted that they suck as human beings, as well.) But that’s okay, because they have each other. And in between getting fondled at a restaurant or in a clothes store changing room, Nene is letting Jun touch even more intimate parts of her emotional life. Jun, very much the tachi of this couple acts, from time to time like she takes Nene for granted, but she also opens up to the other woman in a way she would probably never do with a boyfriend.

We learn about their respective childhoods, their first time with a man, their hopes and dreams, their fears and weaknesses.

But mostly, we watch them have sex. ^_^

Depending on your particular set of turn-ons, very hot sex.

As with the first volume, the reproduction is top notch. Color covers, protective obis that hide secret covers on both sides (hint: in the shower, they’re nekkid) double-sided insert poster and excellent reproduction of the internal color pages – all reproduced beautifully – with metallic inks on the cover even. The translation is smooth, makes perfect sense and gives each character a voice of her own. Phew.

Interestingly, Maka-Maka was listed on the manga.about.com poll for best josei series. I spoke to Deb about it because it is not really josei at all. It was drawn by a man, for a men’s magazine as an adult comic for men. You know – the whole lesbian sex/male gaze thing. But let’s face it, the distinctions of genre that are absolutely rigid in Japan (god help you as an adult male buying a magazine for young women, or vice versa) fail completely when manga reaches the market here. At least half the people who bought this book were women, likely more than half. It’s being sold as a “Yuri” manga here, not an “adult manga for men,” which makes me think that if the western manga market survives this economy, I *strongly* recommend rethinking the whole shoujo/shounen/josei/seinen genre scheme completely. I think western publishers should focus on subject genre (scifi/fantasy/mecha/guns/romance/sex) and age appropriateness, which is bollocks but necessary here. In any case, I agree with Deb – list it on the josei list because here in the west, at least, it’s a manga as much for woman as it for men.

The end of this volume is particularly Yuri-fan friendly, as Nene and Jun make a very public statement about Sex. Life. And Communication.

I can’t tell you why exactly, but for whatever reason I like the English adaptation better than the original. Frank, you did a fabulous job. If there were an adult manga award, I’d give it to Media Blasters for Maka-Maka. ^_^

Ratings:

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

Overall – 9

When I read this volume originally, I remember being turned off by the excess of bodily fluids, but reading it this time, it didn’t strike me that way at all. No idea why.

And let me once again thank Media Blasters for the first copy of this book off the printer. It doesn’t mean I’ll give you a better review, but you do get a bigger smile of thanks!