Archive for the Series Category


Otherside Picnic, Volume 6, Guest Review by Sandy Ferguson

September 6th, 2023

The cover of Otherside Picnic, Volume 6, manga, makes it clear we are about to enjoy the common trope of the “beach episode.” At least from the cover it looks like Toriko is enjoying herself, whereas Sorawo has her usual look of, ‘how can I possibly be happy with the fact that this gorgeous blonde wants to hang out with me?’

In Volume 6 we have the conclusion of The Kisaragi Station Marines Rescue Operation, then the fun part of the ‘Resort Night at the Beach of the End’. Then another story from Kozakura’s perspective, ‘Ms. Yozakura’s Food Spam Livestream.’ 

First, there is thrilling climax to the rescue operation where the Sorawo and Toriko tag team bring this story to a satisfying conclusion, with some classic Otherside Picnic dialogue from the Marines in response to their success.

What struck me was how successful the manga is in conveying a moment of quiet after the Marines have gone, that provides an effective backdrop for a touching moment of intimacy between the accomplices Toriko and Sorawo as they deal with the emotional consequences of their actions, and what it reveals about their evolving relationship.

And then off to the beach, because girls just want to have fun, well at least Toriko does.

There are obligatory moments of accomplice panic from Sorawo as she wonders what is more terrifying:
a) discovering that they have somehow ended up on a beach in the Otherside, or
b) dressing for the beach in the presence of Toriko.

In this volume we are given some fleeting glimpses of the happier days of Sorawo and Toriko’s lives, a rarity in the usual narrative of loss that are their backstories. Indeed, these glimpses may be seen as a backdrop to the unusual aspect of this volume, we see the Otherside as a place where Sorawo and Toriko can chill and have fun, free from their fears of the social pressures of this world, in this case the fun consisting of drinking beer and shooting guns.

In this volume the Otherside becomes, for a moment, more nuanced. It is not just a place that provokes terror or triggers insanity, but a place that can bring for Sorawo and Toriko moments of connection based on simply enjoying being with one another. But this being the Otherside, things change, and Team Sorawo and Toriko once more must face the terrors of the Otherside, and the artwork rises to the challenge.

In the bonus story we discover more about Kozakura’s gig as a virtual YouTuber and the nature of her avatar, in what I found to be an interesting reflection of her past relationship with Satsuki Uruma. This YouTube session centres on food, with unexpected contributions from Sorawo and Toriko’s bender in Okinawa. There are also moments when Kozakura shares her pungent thoughts on her dealings with Sorawo and Toriko, as well as her thoughts on the nature of Sorawo and Toriko’s relationship.

Story – 9
Artwork -9
Character – 8, I enjoyed watching Sorawo and Toriko learning to have fun together.
Service – 9, it is a beach episode, though tastefully done. And Sorawo discovers how comfortable Toriko is in her presence…
Yuri – 7, this volume explores the various levels of initimacy growing between Sorawo and Toriko

Overall – 9

All in all, another great read.





Otherside Picnic, Volume 8

August 27th, 2023

Otherside Picnic, Volume 8 was a mind-blowing, fabulous “wow.”

In this horror/scifi Yuri series by Iori Miyazawa, there have been two key mysteries; The true nature of the UBL, aka, the Otherside….and Sorawo. Because Sorawo is our narrator and protagonist the story has allowed her the time and space to be unaware that she even is a mystery, or to have any real insight to the mystery that is her.

Volume 8 begins with the mystery of Sorawo. She is, as they say in the biz, an unreliable narrator. Or…is she? We – and Toriko – have assumed as much because surely a person with her past cannot have made it to adulthood without some unaddressed trauma.  One of the deep leitmotifs of this series is communication – or the lack of it. Sorawo doesn’t understand people and isn’t great at understanding herself. This has and will come back again and again in the series. She is as much a mystery to herself as she is to anyone else. And having confronted the inescapable fact that she is – probably for the first time in her life – loved unconditionally – Sorawo wanders around her own small, but growing, group of confidants order to find the answer in herself…as she has always done for answers about the Otherside. This allows the narrative to revisit some old characters, meet some new ones, to clear up old puzzles and create new ones.

 We meet one of Sorawo’s classmates – a representative of normality – and Sorawo finds some assistance in that quarter. Reality has never been Sorawo’s ally before and it opens up new possibilities.  She speaks to Natsume and they finally communicate past the huge gap in understanding between them. This is an amusing scene, but unlike my esteemed colleague Sean Gaffney who laughed at Natsume’s description of Sorawo as a “raging lesbian,” I found it far more amusing that Natsume’s response to Sorawo’s cluelessness (denial?) about Toriko was to flatly respond, “That pisses me off.” I mean… I feel ya Natsume. ^_^ Of course Sorawo darkens Kozakura’s doorstep once again and again, Kozakura spoke like the adult she is supposed to be. It feels like her character, having been abandoned a few volumes ago, is being reformed as the grown-up in the room. I like it.

Sorawo meets and has an experience with a new character, Tsuji, a woman who was clearly written for me, personally. ^_^ I look forward to whatever develops with this fascinating new character.

All of this peripatetic musing must come to an end and in this series, what precipitates that end is..terror. Sorawo at last comes face to that which she fears most – and finds the will to confront it. It’s time to talk to Toriko.

What we get, then, is one of the most extraordinary explorations of physical, emotional and psychic boundaries that I have ever read. Toriko and Sorawo do not find a satisfying physical relationship on our plane. It’s only when they accept that they are now of the Otherside and the Otherside is of them that they find one another.  This was an outstanding scene that was consistent with the characters as we know them, the series’ premise as it has been given to us, and the deeper themes of communication and the mystery of both the Otherside and Sorawo.

The arc that has been building since Volume 5 has come to an incredible climax (and yeah, put every possible spin on that word) but the journey is not over. What will this pair find in the Otherside or themselves next time? I have no idea, but I am absolutely tuning in and finding out, since the addition of a new character leads one to assume a next volume.  ^_^

Ratings:

Story – 10
Character – 10
Service – Amazingly, not very much. Let’s give it a 3. It’s less “service” and more “grown-up.”
Yuri – 10

Overall – 10

Another outstanding volume, building on the last outstanding volume. Miyazawa-sensei is on top of his form right now and I am perfectly willing to wait a little while to get volumes of this high quality writing.

 





Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 1 (気になってる人が男じゃなかった)

August 14th, 2023

Black art and letters on vivid green background, a girl with curly hair sits next to an androgynous, masked, hoodied girl, while sitting on a guitar amp.Aya is a high school student who loves music of the 90s-00s. She’s content to sit and listen to the Foo Fighters in her ear buds, but when she see an old CD shop, she pops in and is awestruck by the cool guy behind the counter. She keeps dropping by to see the cool “onii-san” who share his musical tastes with her, but she’s still pretty tongue-tied when trying to talk about anything with him.

That onii-san has a secret, though. “He” is not an older cool guy, she is the girl who sits next to Aya every day at school, Mitsuki. Mitsuki works at her uncle’s CD shop, and he stresses about her constantly; everything from her loner life to her old guy taste in music.  Mitsuki is not terribly interested in being cool, or being friends with cool girls like Aya, but she is worried that Aya might figure out what is going on.

Aya eventually figures out what is going on.

So does a classmate who is, thankfully, more amused than anything else. He’s kind, sort of trying to get them together.

The thing is, when Mitsuki isn’t thinking about it…she really is pretty cool. ^_^

Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta (気になってる人が男じゃなかった), subtitled in English “The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All,”  by Arai Sumiko began life as a comic distributed online to instant approval by an international groups of fans who clamored for more. Luckily we got more and here we are with the first print volume of this manga.

With its uniquely visible color scheme of black, white and a vivid green, new pages of this comic were always super noticeable whenever they came across my feed. The art in this manga reflects the online sensibility too, I think. With unique perspectives on panel structure, body language and expression, this comic feels somehow grounded in street art and manga art at the same time. The change in artistic confidence from beginning of the volume to the end is visible, but the art solid all the way through.

The plot idea isn’t the first of it’s kind, but I am hopeful that it will be better-handled than others, given that we address the assumption here in volume one. Also dealt with is the jealousy of old friends when a new friend/interest appears, a story that will bleed into the next volume. Everything about this book gives me the sense that Arai-sensei has complete control of the narrative. I wasn’t entirely sure how the “he’s a she” was going to be played, but so far, it’s pretty solid, especially for a manga that was online first.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8 I think I kind of like the uncle, even if he is a bit extra ^_^
Service – 1 The setups for Mitsuki and Aya are like 5/10ths kabedon
Yuri – 4 Getting there, no question

Both Aya and Mitsuki have recognized attraction for each other, where will it go? How many other 90s bands will be name checked? Tune in to Volume 2!

For free sample chapters in Japanese, you can check this manga out on Comic Walker!





Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 6 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。)

June 22nd, 2023

A girl with medium-length brown hair in a maid's outfit, lifts a blonde with big banana curls wearing an orange dress, in her arms. Green flowers blooms, a bird flies overhead, a water-blob creature wear scuba mask on the brown-haired girl's head. Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 6 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) manga covers a pivotal moment. Yes, Claire and Rae are on vacation and yes, Claire is finally getting a literal taste of commoner life and finding it, unsurprisingly, unpalatable. She meets Rae’s family, and some folks who knew her back in the day…and the mystery of Rae Taylor is no less mysterious for all that.

But then the story takes a a turn. A ship of the Undead has arrived, which is bad enough, but there is something much more malevolent at work here. One of Rae’s old acquaintances turns against them – an act of desperation, but also with a clear mission of stopping Rae Taylor and Claire François. Who is pulling the strings?

Rae and Claire prevail, but the truth of Lui’s decision further radicalizes Claire to hate income inequality. A hero has begun to be born, only she doesn’t know it yet. And we are looking at the beginning of a revolution. There are still some arcs to go, yet, however. Next up, we will meet Lily and the Church will become a piece on the board. The volume ends with a few short scenes, and a short story from Misha’s point of view.

inori-sensei’s story gets better every time I read it. I’m free to pay attention to smaller and smaller details each time. And Aonoshimo-sensei has shown themselves to as deft with big action scenes as they are scenes of domestic joy – i.e., Claire finally getting food she can eat – or beach pinups.  Always, this series is a delight. We’ll be getting Volume 5 in English from Seven Seas in October, so look forward to that.

Ratings:

Art – 9 The fight scenes are quite excellent
Story – 9 It’s starting to get serious
Characters – 9
Yuri – 5
Service – Bathing and bathing suits

I had a thought today – this mostly medieval society has bikinis. Huh.





Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 4 (作りたい女と食べたい女)

June 19th, 2023

A large woman with long hair in a ponytail, wearing sweats carries fresh greens, a shorter woman in cream blouse and long, green skirt carries a box of groceries. They are smiling gently at one another.There are so many reasons that Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 4 (作りたい女と食べたい女) is an amazing volume of manga, that I’m hard pressed to pick one thing. That said, the best thing about this volume of manga is that it is extremely queer even as the characters basically just sit around eating food. ^_^

I don’t want to spoil anything about this volume because it is just so good, but I will tell you that it includes Valentine’s Day, important backstories and a huge decision that will change everything. I just love how everything in this series is rooted in reality. The story acknowledges trauma, but does not wallow in it. In fact, it offers a clear – and kind – path forward.

In the mean time, Nomoto and Kasuga have developed a family. Nomoto’s friend Yako hosts wonderful food parties, so we can enjoy them making takoyaki. New member of the family, Nagumo, begins to find her own self because of Kasuga’s and Nomoto’s kindness. That, in a word is why this series has become important to me – it is rooted in women taking care of each other, of accepting one another as they are. There is so much pressure even – often, especially – by other women, to conform to certain norms, that a series based around women caring for one another is exceptionally wonderful.

Because so little happens, and the story mostly revolves around people talking and eating, the expressions carry a lot of narrative weight. Yuzaki-sensei’s art is lively and fun, especially when the four are all together having a food party.

I will also tell you that Valentine’s Day is, typical of this manga, more to that than just shared chocolates. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 10 It’s not perfect but the expressions are fantastic
Story – 10
Characters – 10 Ahhhhhh!
Service – 0
LGBTQ+ – 10

Overall – 10

This volume just came out – I bought a print copy, but that wasn’t going to arrive until today, so I also bought this on Bookwalker so I could read it on the 15th. ^_^ Now, having written this review, I’m heading over to get caught up on Comic Walker. ^_^ Not obsessed much.

We’ll be getting She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat, Volume 3 in October from Yen Press.