Archive for the Series Category


Maria-sama ga Miteru Drama CD 11: Cherry Blossom

February 11th, 2008

Is there any one among us hard-hearted enough not to swoon when Noriko relates her first sight of Shimako under the sakura tree, looking like Maria-sama come to life? Not me, certainly.

Maria-sama ga Miteru: Cherry Blossom Drama CD set was lovely. Simply lovely.

For the plot, please take a look back at my notes on Part 1 and Part 2 of the novel. (I had not yet begun translating the books at that point, so these are notes/synopses not full translations and therefore still available on Okazu.)

The first CD in the set recounts “The Sakura Among the Gingkos,” the portion of the novel in which we meet Nijou Noriko for the first time, and she meets Shimako. Incidentally, we also meet Matsudaira Touko, but I’ll get there in a bit.

“Sakura” follows Noriko as she meets Shimako and deals with some mild bullying because of their developing relationship. (The latter is only partially true, but she doesn’t know that.) The story climaxes during the Maria-sai, as Shimako is forced to out herself as the daughter of a Buddhist priest.

The Drama CD of this part was fantastic. Noriko, a transfer student from a co-ed school, has always seemed to me to be the most grounded of all the characters in the series. She comes off here as so *normal* it almost takes one’s breath away. Confronted in the beginning of the story by Touko and two other classmates and their positively Baroque formal Japanese, it’s really no wonder she feels disoriented and alien at Lillian.

Noriko’s meeting with Shimako is related very prettily. Noriko’s happy obsession with Shimako is instant and very much *right* on that line between friendship and love. It’s powerful – and mutual. The “outing” scene was horrific. From Noriko’s point of view, it can only be seen as heavy-handed…at best. When Shimako admits to being the owner of the juzu and Noriko bursts into tears for her – it was very moving. Once again, the Marimite cast is superlative.

The second disk of the set, “Background Noise,” covers the same circumstances from Yumi’s point of view. We see the concern Shimako’s friends in the Yamayurikai have for her, and how much they are, really, trying to help. However…to her credit, Yumi spends the entire story thinking that they are handling it really badly. They are, and I’m glad Yumi recognizes it. Itou Miki’s over-acting Sachiko is both hysterical and really cringe-making. As I listened to the scene in the church, I kept thanking the universe that I was no longer a teenager. ^_^

The other half of “BGN” is the introduction of Touko who, if you will please excuse the language, is a total twat. Kugimiya Rie is spectacular as the entitled, manipulative Touko. I’ve grown so used to her – and she has changed *so* much in the course of the novels, that I had completely forgotten what a slappable little creature she is when she first arrives en scene.

Listening to her snipe at Yumi, a thought suddenly hit me. Rainy Blue is coming up. I’m going to have to sit through those DCDs. Ugh. Ughughugh. I don’t know if I can do it. Oh well…I have Kohitsuji no Kyuuka to look forward to, after that whole thing is over. I’ll just grit my teeth and cope.

In happier news, we get a little Sei-service, when Yumi visits her, and after the Maria-sai.

For the first time, there is a bonus track where we get some very amusing comments and a lots of “natsukashii”s and “hisashiburi”s by the voice actresses. I was very glad for the bonus track. It’s about the only time we hear what the seiyuu have to say for themselves – it is immediately apparent that this group feels *very* comfortable with each other at this point. And that they’ve got a load of in-jokes. Also, I found it amusing to hear several of them refer to the series as “Marimite.” ^_^ I don’t know why, it just tickled my fancy.

The one physical extra is a postcard of Hibiki Reine’s art of Noriko. Pretty, as always.

Ratings:

Story – 7
Characters – 8 for Noriko and Shimako, 4 for Touko, 7 for everyone else
Yuri – 5 It worked a bit better visually, with those long, lingering “just kiss her” moments
Service – 8 who else buys these other than us obsessive fans? ^_^

Overall – 8

This is me, grasping at the Touko of Bara no Hana Kanmuri and trying to forget the Touko of Cherry Blossom, signing off.





My Zhime (My Otome) Anime, Volume 3

February 10th, 2008

Sincere thanks to Ted for sponsoring today’s review! Be a hero and sponsor a review of your very own by purchasing something off my Yuri Wishlist. You’ll get my sincere thanks, and the adoration of everyone who reads and enjoys the review. :-)

My Otome, Volume 3 is a total gyroscope of a story. You know how a gyroscope spins so fast that it looks like it isn’t really moving? That’s pretty much the feeling you get watching this volume of My Otome. Nothing is happening, but it’s not happening so fast that there’s an illusion that the story isn’t moving. Only, it is.

The first big exam for Otomes-in-training has arrived, and as is usual, the protagonist has no clue what anyone is talking about. Every else in Garderobe knows that this cross-country trek and cooking competition is a major portion of their grade – how Arika manages to not have heard of it even a little approaches a kind of genius. Sabotage strikes Arika and poor Erstin, and although they both survive, lots of nothing-really-happenings happen as a result. Sergey and Arika have a tense encounter, Nina starts to move her dislike for Arika out of “rival” into “person I most want to see die horribly” and Tomoe turns out to be Evil, and Psychotic. We’ve already seen evidence that she is a Lesbian, so we can add her to the list of EPLs.

The other main “nothing really happens” arc, actually explains a lot to us, the viewers, although just about none of the characters have enough pieces to put anything together. In a thoroughly predictable twist of fate, it turns out that Queen Mashiro, Nina and Arika all share a birthday. Huh, how ’bout that.

Mashiro meets and is befriended by the Prince of Zipang, Takumi, but as both are incognito, they just think that the other is a commoner. Arika (because of course, with all the graceful, accomplished and beautiful Otomes-in-training at Garderobe, the only one who could possibly take Mashiro’s place is the one bumpkin in the place) pretends to be the Queen, while poor Akira, who is already pretending to be a boy, now has to pretend to be the Prince of Zipang as well.

Shizuru proves that her gaydar is good and sees right through Akira’s drag king act. Later, when Akira *has* to use her mouth to give Takumi medicine, Shizuru is completely unflappable as everyone else reacts to what appears to be a m/m kiss by pointing out that that’s another type of love. So the Graceful Amethyst comes through like a seasoned lesbian. Points to her.

Important stuff does really happen in the middle of all this silliness and chaos. Among them, the development of a definite triangle between Nina, Sergey and Arika is probably the most icky-making, but it is pretty significant.

On the good side, we get to see Chie and Akane materialize. ^_^

It’s episodes like this that pissed off a lot of viewers. Where My HiME was, about this point in the story growing very serious, My Otome simply refuses to. I see that as a positive – we’re not being fooled into taking this more seriously than it deserves. But I can see where the humor wears thin, too. I will give it this – until Mashiro used Marie Antionette’s line about “let them eat cake” I’d never really thought about it as an expression, not of disdain, but of complete cluelessness. (I’m not in the habit of thinking about Marie Antionette much, I’ll admit.)

The one extra is bizarro world side story as Shiho “maki-maki”s everyone, causing much of the havoc that fills the exam arc.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 7
Story – 6
Music – 7 (I like the various materialize themes)
Yuri – 1
Service – 7

Overall – 6

My *only* complaint about the anime remains the same as was the first time. What complete ass makes girls trek cross-country in the woods wearing bloomers and boots? That’s just absurd. I hate the writers for doing that, and every single person who found that cute, sexy or otherwise in any way not completely dumb.

I’d also like to register a complaint with Amazon. PICK A SPELLING, for pity’s sake. My Otome, My Hime-Z, My Zhime. Pick ONE. Stick with it. Thank you. It’s like Ikkitousen all over again.





Yuri Manga: GIRL FRIENDS, Volume 1

February 8th, 2008

Among the many items I picked up in Japan last month was the first volume of Girlfriends, the newest manga series by Morinaga Milk.

Girlfriends runs in Comic High, a “shoujo” magazine for men. The stories in Comic High are shoujo-esque, girly romances and the like, but the intended audience is adult men. These are guys who read shoujo, but feel embarrassed picking up Margaret or Ribon, etc., in the store. I can’t help but feel that this is pretty much a perfect audience for Morinaga’s blend of blushy-cheeked sweetness, service and Yuri.

If you have read Kuchibiru Tameiki no Sakurairo by Morinaga, it might seem difficult to *not* make comparisons between the two volumes. In one sense, this story seems to be a few steps backwards from the story in Kuchibiru. And the character designs are very similar. (Similar, in fact, to all of Morinaga’s Yuri couples.) However, the characters here are different enough that you can read Girlfriends without making too many mental comparisons.

Mariko is a quiet, introverted girl. One day, quite out of the blue, it seems to Mariko, Akiko speaks to her in class. Akiko (called “Ah-ko” by her friends) is very extroverted. She rapidly draws Mariko (now called Mari-chin) into her circle. The two quickly become best friends.

The early chapters each focus around a very typically girly sort of topic. Hair. Clothes. Makeup. As the conversations and circumstances center around these things, we’re watching Mari balancing an undefined need to please Ah-ko, and a struggle to shed her introverted isolation and find herself. But don’t get me wrong – the story is about the hair, the clothes and the makeup. Mari’s struggle is happening in the margins of the story.

What isn’t happening in the margins is Mari’s infatuation with Ah-ko. That’s pretty much front and center. When she and Ah-ko change classes, Mari’s taken aback by the rapidity and familiarity of Ah-ko’s overtures to their new classmates. But Mari comes up from behind and makes new friends too, alongside her best friend.

Until a “go-kon,” a group date, where Mari simply cannot handle the thought of watching Ah-ko being super friendly to a bunch of guys, which precipitates a crisis. Ah-ko picks up on the signal pretty quick and she and Mari bail. They go back to Ah-ko’s place where they have a few drinks, since they didn’t get to drink at the go-kon. Ah-ko has no tolerance for alcohol, so she falls asleep and Mari, who can’t stop looking at Ah-ko, leans over and kisses her.

The volume ends with Mari being shocked/mortified/titillated at her behavior.

So far, the story is that of a crush in progress. Ah-ko, being the kind of extrovert she is, and with the kind of devil-may-care friends she has, is just the kind of person to practice kissing with her best friend, or have a breast-size competition with no deeper meaning in it. (Not that she does in this volume – it’s just the kind of thing she might do.) It is Mari who is so serious and who over-thinks things. It’s also Mari who is quite gay. Ah-ko *might* be, but Mari? Definitely. She just doesn’t know it yet. With apologies for paraphrasing an over-paraphrased line, “I have seen Girlfriends, and they are us.” If you take my meaning. ^_^

Girlfriends also has a fair dollop of service, mostly in the form of playing dress-up. This *is* a manga for guys, and generally shoujo manga has a a fair bit of that kind of thing anyway. Japanese women seem to have no qualms about enjoying other women’s bodies – as a point of comparison and as something nice to look at. Can’t really argue with that. (Although I personally prefer clothing to underwear for visual appeal.) The only really extra servicey bits are one of Ah-ko’s friends who seems to shuck her top at any excuse, or for no reason at all.

Without spoiling anything, I think it’s safe to say that the point of this manga is the journey not the destination, so expect a lot more delaying tactics as the story goes on. Will Mari and Ah-ko actually get together? No way to know as of yet. Guess we’ll just have to keep reading.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 6
Service – 5

Overall – 6

I have a 5-minute attention span for conversations about hair, clothes and make-up. After that, I’m done. If your tolerance for such things are higher, you’ll probably want to add a point or two to the Overall score. ^_^





Yuri Manga: First Love Sisters, Volume 1 (English)

January 30th, 2008

Thanks and gratitude go out to Eric P. who sponsored today’s review!

My first encounter with the character and story that would eventually become First Love Sisters, was about 4 years ago, when Yuri Shimai magazine put out the first Koi Shimai Drama CD. At the time, a “Yuri Drama CD” was a pretty rare get and for that alone, I was happy to have it. The story of that first Drama CD – which predates the manga – was, as I put it, “melodramatic and predictable.” But don’t get me wrong – it’s not at all bad. As I mentioned in my review (and history of the series, which had a slightly cubist origin) of the Japanese edition, Hatsukoi Shimai Volume 1, the story is a tad tame, but was still better than a lot of junk out there. :-)

First Love Sisters Volume 1 is pretty much Marimite with the romance made slightly more explicit and characters who are not nearly as 3-dimensional. But you know – it’s still a sweet enough story for what it is. The winner of the series in every version is Chika, for coming right out and saying that she loves Haruna, forcing Haruna’s whole worldview to change. As Yumi clones go, Chika’s a pretty good one. ^_^

Which brings us to the Seven Seas edition of First Love Sisters. As always, they do a fabulous job on translation and adaptation. Little things please me, like Akiko’s usage of “onee-sama” at school and “onee-chan” at home, and the fact that the school’s nickname, Tsunojyo, isn’t lost. (Because, let’s face it, Tsunokamizaka Jyoshikou is a mouthful. ^_^)

Color pages are reproduced in color – always a nice touch. The color is a little anemic and there’s some moire patterns in the background, but it still looks nice. Comparatively to the original Japanese edition, the background tones reproduce a little roughly – in particular, Akiho’s hair looks a little weird. But if you aren’t comparing with Hatsukoi Shimai, then you won’t have to worry. It looks plenty good.

The story is still another “schoolgirls in love” story, but there’s no doubt about the intensity or sincerity of the emotion. And going forward into the next volume, we’ll see that chaste embraces are not the end-all-be-all of this relationship, which is a tremendous relief. (The future volumes of this manga make my fanfic for the series obsolete, but I don’t care at all. ^_^)

The final pages of the book include some 4-panel comics, that were originally under the dustcover, a preview of volume 2 (Touko-sensei!) and a nice little preview of the English-language edition of Voiceful, another Yuri Hime collection.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 8
Series – 0

Overall – 7

As the first of Seven Seas’ adaptations of a Yuri Hime collection for their Strawberry imprint, and with their continued quality in translation and reproduction, I definitely recommend First Love Sisters for folks looking for decent Yuri.





Gunsmith Cats Burst Manga, Volume 4

January 28th, 2008

I know I’ve said it before, but I adore evil, psychotic lesbians. Maybe because most real lesbians are so damn *bland* and want to “help” and for people to “be nice.” Makes me want to spit. Pah. No, give me a EPL with a weapon and no morals, and I’m a happy Erica.

So, when I saw the cover of Gunsmith Cats Burst Volume 4, I leapt (gracefully, of course) across the store shouting, “Wahoo! Goldie! Yippee!” or something equally as befitting my status as an adult.

In GSC 4, Rally is approached by Dennis – you remember Dennis, don’t you? Goldie’s devoted henchman? Dennis has a problem and he thinks that Rally may well be the only one to help him with it. If you recall, when Goldie died so tragically, so young, she had been injected with her own ridiculous drug. And of course, she didn’t *really* die. She and Dennis just plunged off a unfinished road into the water. But we didn’t ever see the bodies – so you know what means in manga-land. No bodies – no deaths. And even if you see the bodies, they probably still aren’t dead.

So Goldie is alive, but has no memory. And Dennis thinks that Rally, as the person who most captivated Goldie’s thoughts, the person she obsessed about, would be the one person who could stimulate those memories. And stimulate is exactly the right word. Anyone who read the original volume of GSC will remember that a huge chunk of Goldie’s time was taken up by turning Rally into an obedient sex slave.

Of course nothing is simple, and while Goldie is hosting Rally and Misty, another group of gun-bearing thugs attack. Lots of shooting and explosions and Misty running around pantsless and other important things happen.

Does Goldie get her memory back? What do you think? Those were some good memories…  ^_^

Goldie gets her freak back on, and Dennis continues to be devoted and…the end.

Yuri is mostly recovered memories, but there is one cute maid that Misty hits up (with positive results until a grenade sort of puts a buzzkill on that.) And of course both Goldie and Rally’s memories of those good times they had in the past. But, now that Goldie’s back in the saddle, I can hope that some day she’ll return to kidnap and drug Rally again. In the meantime, when Dark Horse gets this volume out in English, get it!

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 8
Story – 8
Yuri – 3 Good times, good times.
Service – 5

Overall – 8

Goldie’s back! Yay!!