Archive for the Series Category


My Zhime (My Otome) Anime, Volume 5 (English)

August 17th, 2008

Volume 5 of My Otome brings us to the beginning of the fall into dread. Where up until now the series has been primarily a schoolgirl fantasy with a backdrop of bigger issues in the political sphere, Volume 5 shatters our and the characters’ innocent point of view with cruelty.

Windbloom is invaded, Garderobe is taken over by Nagi “for protection”, and the girls of the school find their loyalties tested. As the plot catches up to us, there’s less and less room for the kind of happy-go-lucky scenes that filled the first half of the anime. This volume is about loss and war.

However, because a Mai series is not really a Mai series without service, the extras jump in to fill the gap. In “Erstin’s Last Smile,” we get some heavy duty bath service starring Arika, Nina and of course, Erstin and her breasts. It’s a win for Nina x Erstin ‘shippers, of which I am sure there are many. Certainly, the Erstin goes lesbian scenario of the Mai Otome Miss Maria was Watching: Garderobe Secret Diary, Vol. 1 Drama CD implies that that is where Ers-chan’s feelings lie. The other extra presents us with a rather unlikely, and somewhat disturbing, Yuri pairing in Mikoto the cat and Aswald’s Midori.

Volume 5 is not happy, but it is crucial, if we are to have an actual story to care about. Another good volume of My Otome.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 7
Story – 8
Yuri – 1
Service – 5

Overall – 7

And my thanks once again to Ted the Awesome for being a hero and sponsoring today’s review!





This Week in Yuri – August 16, 2008

August 16th, 2008

Yuri Manga

At Otakon, no one was announcing any exciting licenses, but Media Blasters took some time at their Yuri and Yaoi panel to talk about their upcoming release of Maka-Maka. I spoke with Frank Pannone about it earlier, and he commented that they are reproducing it exactly, with the fold-out poster, the double cover…right down to the metallic inks used. He was very excited about how good it’s going to look and so am I. :-)

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Yuri Anime

mara reports some bad news for UK fans of Kurau Phantom Memory, as ADV has said that they are not going to be releasing the last two DVDs, volumes 5 and 6, to the UK. They suggest picking up the R1 versions instead. It’s another sign of how the anime market is crontracting pretty tightly. Personally, I wonder if they would have done better with Kurau had there not been such a huge time lag between its appearance on Japanese TV (and therefore bittorrents worldwide) and the time it finally came out on DVD about some years later.

I don’t remember ever mentioning this before, but my friend Komatsu-san reminded me recently that Futari ha PreCure (aka Pretty Cure) is being released by Toei as a directly downloadable anime. With much of the same staff as Sailor Moon, there’s a very similar Monster of the Day construction and a similar sense of Yuri subtext in pretty much every season so far. PreCure episodes are available for download at $1.99/ep, so no excuses about not having any money for that. lol

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Snatches of Yuri

I haven’t had a lot of time to scan my Japanese sources for the up and coming, but Jennifer D. wants me to tell you about an older comic called Stray Crayons about two women who hit rock bottom in their lives and find each other. Jennifer warns us that Volume 1 ends in a bad place and no Volume 2 has been printed. I’m just passing that warning on, so you don’t come running back to me screaming. lol

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Other News

Not Yuri, but relavant to our interests. Mari sent me this today and I wanted to pass it along to you, from Time Out magazine this week:

Time Out New York / Issue 672 : Aug 13-19, 2008
Tokyo redux
A new expo brings all things Japan to New York.

By Alyssa Pinsker

A new expo brings all things Japan to New York. By Alyssa Pinsker

Hot on the heels of the Brooklyn Museum’s enormously popular “© MURAKAMI” show and Haruki Murakami’s latest page-turner, Felissimo Design House [10 West 56th] is hosting an 11-week exhibition to celebrate Japan’s rich culture. The event will feature work by more than 70 of the country’s edgiest designers, but don’t show up in full cosplay attire-in other words, leave the Sailor Moon outfit at home.

“The cosplay, Lolita stuff makes me sick to my stomach,” says the normally reserved Haruko Smith, director of the Kobe-based lifestyle-products company, about the kawaii, Harajuku Girls image Westerners have of the Land of the Rising Sun. “Kawaii actually just means ‘nice’ or ‘cool.’” The exposition is named “Japan C,” as in “cool, cute, clever and creative,” and beginning Saturday 16, more than 1,000 everyday items will be on display and for purchase.

Each week will feature a new aspect, beginning with jiba (“tradition”) and then touching on home, fashion, food, stationery, beauty and pop culture in the following weeks. The featured products include skin creams made from fermented rice, collectible cell-phone straps, robots and the doughnut-shaped perfumed humidifiers of Naoto Fukasawa (whose work has inspired Apple’s design team). Other highlights include bubble packaging that emits both “sexy” and “fart” noises when popped; key-chain designers who make little robots from recycled computers; and a $200,000 Swarovski-crystal dress. “Now that Japan’s come more into its own, it can fuse with the West toward more of a synergy,” says Smith.

Other events include a breakfast hosted by Naomi Moriyama, the author of Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat (October 8); a “Sake 101” lecture (October 23); and a scholarly discussion on the concept of kawaii in pop culture (September 29). In addition, there will be family-day events, tours, receptions and screenings, and an auction to benefit the New York Restoration Project. With her penchant for alliteration, Smith adds, “You can touch, try and taste. We should have called it Japan T.”

http://www.felissimo.com/designhouse/

Japan ©

From Murakami to Hello Kitty, sushi to sake bars, and anime to video games, Japan’s influence has become more and more visible in arts, design, food, style, and popular culture. But there is so much more to discover-as Japan C, a groundbreaking showcase of all things Japanese, will prove. Beginning August 16 until November 1, this unprecedented 11-week festival of contemporary Japanese culture will take over the historic Felissimo Design House in midtown Manhattan. Spanning home and fashion accessories to gadgets, food, beauty and pop-culture products, Japan C will be part design exhibition, part bazaar, part trade fair, highlighting over 70 diverse Japanese firms who will be presenting and demonstrating their wares.

The goal is simple: to inspire visitors, including buyers, manufacturers, distributors and the general public, with the latest developments from Japan, while introducing the best of Japan to the American market. Discover the benefits of skin creams made from fermented rice by leading sake makers, or join the Japanese fad for collectible ‘keitai’ cell phone straps. Featuring robots of every shape, size and color, alongside all manner of zakka knickknacks, everything from kawaii anime characters, fine stationery and contemporary furniture to high-tech rice cookers promising the perfect bowl of rice, Japan C will represent all that Japan is today: Cool, Cute, Clever and Creative.

For more information visit www.japan-c.com

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I just loved how cosplay and Goth-Loli makes him “sick to his stomach.” lol

The bottom line is that the huge influx of Japanese art and culture that is filling the corners of New York City continues…..

Oh, and for those of you who like cosplay – today is cosplay day at the mid-town Kinokuniya in NYC. lol

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I’ll see if I can scan some of my Japanese sources and let you know what’s coming up for the next report!





Yuri Manga: Kannazuki no Miko, Volume 2 (English)

August 15th, 2008

In an epic display of overthinking things, it occurred to me that one could, if one was so inclined, consider Kannazuki no Miko Volume 1 as a story that stars Himeko, and concerns the bad choices she makes. In which case Volume 2 can equally be seen as an explication of Chikane’s story and her own series of bad choices.

I’m not saying that they *are* this, just that one *could,* if one was in the habit of sitting on a train and overthinking crappy manga, think that. ^_^

Tokyopop did a very superior job with this series. I want to say that right at the top of this review, because otherwise it might get lost in the middle of my damning with faint praise. ^_^

Volume 2 of Kannazuki starts with the morning after Chikane choses to protect Himeko by doing something unforgivable and making Himeko hate her, with Himeko forgiving her. Chikane pushes the envelope further and further, joining and destroying the Orochi, all to protect Himeko from having to chose an unhappy fate “for eternity.”

The best scene is when Sister Miyako uses her mirrors and illusions to seduce Chikane in the guise of Himeko. Faced with her heart’s (and other organ’s) desire, it takes everything Chikane has to refuse the illusion’s offer – and it’s the first honest glimpse of who she really is, behind the facade of cynical cruelty.

Once again Kaishaku show themselves as trendsetters, by bringing the series to a close with Chikane and Himeko reborn into a happy love affair as sisters.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 7

I can’t help but wonder – will this actually be the last Kannazuki no Miko post I ever make? Has this series’ time passed? A whole new generation of Yuri fans are being born even as we speak. What generic tropes and hideous fetishes will they be indoctrinated with…? Stay tuned to find out!





Maria Watches Over Us Anime, Volume 2 (English)

August 14th, 2008

From the perspective of having read so far into the novels that I have already “met” Nana, Yoshino’s prospective soeur, it was a huge step back to watch Volume 2 of Maria Watches Over Us, “meet” Yoshino once again, and watch her transform in front of Yumi from an apparently meek, mild and submissive soeur into the banshee we know and love.

There were so many things that interested me about the “Yellow Rose Revolution” arc the first time around and twice as many this time. But the one thing I want to point out is that where later, in Rainy Blue, Rei complains that Yoshino wields herself as a weapon against her, in Kibara Kakumei, Yoshino calmly points out that Rei uses herself as a shield. I was once again blown away by the detail and continuity in Konno’s writing.

One of the big complaints western fans have about about Marimite as a series is that is starts off very Yuri, but never has payoff – i.e., there’s no melodramatic protestations of love and/or snogging. But for my dollar, the end of “Rosa Canina” is about as sexy as hell. More so, when you remember that in the novels, that arc came after Ibara no Mori and we know that Sei is potentially gay. I say “potentially”, because after reading Ibara no Mori I allowed for some wiggle room, but after Rosa Canina was convinced that Sei is gay and knows it.

The translation for these episodes was generally good, with one notable gaffe, in which the “Lillian Kawaraban” is translated as the “Lillian Ledger” in dialogue, but the “Lillian Gazette” in text. Woops. ^_^

The extra with the recap of Yoshino returning Rei’s rosary still makes both myself and the wife giggle until we hurt. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 4 (Rei and Yoshino love each other more than anyone else in the world, and Sei kisses Shizuka. Nice.)
Service – 0

Marimite Fan – 100

Overall – 9

I know Sean disagrees with me on this but for me Shizuka x Sei is the hottest pairing in the series. ^_^





Maria Watches Over Us Anime, Volume 1 (English)

August 5th, 2008

If you’ve been reading this blog since anytime after 2004, you’ll notice that I have completely, hopelessly, irrevocably fallen in love with the series Maria-sama ga Miteru. Like many fans, I had never heard of it prior to the anime being released, but almost immediately was captivated by the characters. Propelled by a desire to know more, I followed the manga, the Drama CDs and, eventually, the novels.

Like many hardcore Marimite fans, I never truly believed the anime would be licensed – and feared that it might be and then eviscerated by a company that didn’t understand shoujo, or who only saw it through fanboy eyes.

When RightStuf licensed it, I was ambiguous – hopeful, yet cautious. When they added in the subtitle track with honorifics, I let my guard down just a very little bit because, after all, they could still …well, we’ve all been burned before by changed names, rewritten scripts, etc.

Then RightStuf opened a dialogue up with me, and we had a nice conversation about Marimite fandom and our obsessive need to spend time in the company of these characters – and our love of *stuff* related to them. At that point, I was convinced that, even if their release was not perfect by my definition, they were trying harder than any other company I had ever seen. As a result I was inclined to be generous. ^_^

After some little delay, resolved by the RightStuf representative with humor and grace – thank you very much, Alison – I received my box set of Maria Watches Over Us Season 1, slapped the phone charm on my cel phone and a DVD into the player to sit back and see what Nozomi/RightStuf had wrought.

It is not perfect. Even if *I* thought it was, no doubt other people would have different nits to pick! ^_^ It is however, a very good, very enjoyable English-language edition of what I never expected we would ever see legally licensed.

I am glad that they have the honorifics track. There’s still a few things that jar, but overall, there are fewer moments than I expected where I went “Huh? Oh.” And I do really find it less intrusive to have the honorifics than the always slightly awkward attempts at translating them. When watching the extras, “Maria-sama ni ha Naisho” shorts, the versions are the original subtitle track and even knowing that, I still find it a little odd to read “Mother Maria” and “Lady Sachiko.”

The plot is still hours of the most delightful nothing I have ever enjoyed. The non-adventures of average girl Yumi, as she is drawn into the rarified air of the school student council, is still by turns touching, funny, sad, funny, snarky and funny.

I just finished reading the 24th novel, and taking this huge step back was a chance for me to see just how much both Sachiko and Yumi have matured into the women they have become a year later. It makes me want the fourth season of the anime so much more, so everyone can get to know Touko the way I now know her. (She’s not the same girl as in Rainy Blue, I can tell you that. Neither is Kashiwagi what he seems to be.)

The *only* thing I really want to complain about is this – attached to the box itself was a sheet of paper with a synopsis for Season One that, when I attemtped to remove it, got stuck and pulled a bit of the cover picture off, thus ruinng the look of the box. Now I have to keep the stupid paper on. I really was annoyed by this – there was no reason to glue it to the box cover! I don’t even like boxes, but come on – if you’re going to ship me a paper box, please don’t glue stuff to it.

In every other way, I was delighted beyond measure to step back and once again be introduced to and fall in love with the lovely ladies of Lillian.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 3 (with an extra point for Sei’s “birds of a feather” comment in regards to why she was sure that Kashiwagi wouldn’t make a pass at Sachiko.)
Service – 0

Obsessive Marimite Fan – 100

Overall – 8

I think this box set would make a really good gift idea for a young lady in your life that is just getting into anime. A nice change of pace from the Death Note kind of thing. ^_^