Archive for the Series Category


Ichigo Mashimaro Anime OVA 3

September 3rd, 2007

See, here’s the thing.

We all know that, in Ichigo Mashimaro. Miu has a crush on Nobue. It’s also obvious that it’ll never happen. (And not just ’cause Nobue is more interested in Ana and Matsuri. It just isn’t ever going to happen. Nobue and Miu are way too similar to work as a couple, even if everything else managed to work out.)

But recently, I have become convinced that – should everything else work out – Miu and Chika might, possibly work as a couple. But that really has nothing at all to do with Ichigo Mashmaro OVA 3. I just thought I’d mention it.

It’s spring. It’s an extended holiday and Chika really, really wants to go somewhere or do something special. Despite her protests, Nobue has just the thing – a free trip to a B&B in Izu. She’s not willing to help Chika or Miu, but when Ana and Matsuri say that they would go, off they go.

Of course, it’s not that easy. They get lost, they arrive, they take a bath, Nobue pervs, they forget ingredients with which to make dinner, they pillow fight and they stave off Miu’s particular brand of insanity throughout. The above picture takes place when, in the middle of the night, in a fight over Nobue’s favoritism towards Matsuri, Miu steals a kiss from Chika and attempts to take one from Ana to prove some kind of point to Nobue that no one really cares about.

In the end, the five girls have a nice holiday in Izu, and in a moment of unusual sensitivity, Nobue waxes nostalgic and a little poetic; which sends little sister Chika into hysterics, of course.

Then they get lost on the way home.

And we would watch this kind of nothing for hours if they let us.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 4 (bath, kissing….)

Overall – 8

Sean, you owe me a Miu x Chika story. I am fully prepared to follow you in the afterlife whining about it for all eternity if you do not finish it.





Yuri Anime: My Zhime (Mai Otome), Volume 1 (English

August 31st, 2007

How many fanfics have we seen where the main characters are transplanted to a different location, time or situation than the original source material? The Senshi at an agricultural college, the girls of Marimite visiting (or attending school in) some North American location that just *happens* to be the same place the author lives or attends. There are many series that do that kind of thing within the context of the actual series.

Star Trek:Next Generation used their omnipresent Holodeck to allow a sort of time and space travel (mostly so we could see that characters play dress up) and Xena:Warrior Princess had a few stories which fans called “Uber-Xena” stories, in which Gabrielle and Xena were portrayed as more modern, but equally as silly, characters. (Which led to a whole genre of “Uber-Xena” stories, many of which were better than the actual series. I wrote one Uber-Xena story myself, In the Hall of the Mountain Queen, a title which came to me in a very memorable dream.)

And so we find ourselves regarding the series, My Zhime, aka Mai Otome, in which the characters of Fuuka Academy from My HiME are now suddenly on a planet much like our earth, but more feudal. The HiME are now become Otome – the human nuclear arsenal of each country. The school at which young women are trained to become Otome candidates, Garderobe, is the center of the new conflict. And while all the characters from HiME are moved to the new time/place/location/ their roles, ages and, in some cases personalities, have been altered to fit the new storyline.

I had planned of holding off reviewing this series at all until I finished reviewing all of the My HiME DVDs, but last weekend I decided that I wanted to watch Volume 1. Then, as I watched it, I remembered all over again why I thought it was a vastly superior series to the original. Mostly because it starts off as stupid fun with a hint of plot, continues to be stupid fun with an actual plot, and ends as stupid fun and who cares about the plot, which short side trips to wallow into meaningless angst. The difference is that, IMHO, HiME primarily wallowed in angst with pretensions of having a Serious Plot ™, when in reality, it was all meaningless angst and plot was a self-fulfilling prophecy with reset.

My Zhime, Volume 1, starts off with the arrival of a strange girl from out of the wastelands, at the sophisticated and cosmopolitan city of Windbloom. Yumemiya Arika is strange in the she is a stranger, and that she is clearly an uncultured bumpkin……and she’s just kind of strange, too. But in a good-hearted, honest bumpkiny kind of way. She’s convinced that her mother was, or maybe is, an Otome, so after her guardian dies, she’s come to Garderobe to find her mother. After she witnesses the coolness that is Meister Shizuru Violeta, the Graceful Amethyst, Arika decides to become an Otome, as well.

This plunges her directly into intrigue and politics on both the micro- and macro-cosmic levels, as the great rulers decide her fate and in school as the new student is assessed for her level of threat to the status quo. Because not everyone at Garderobe will become an Otome – only the most talented few. Arika’s immediate rival, Nina, can’t stand the girl, so of course they are assigned to be roommates, along with sweet, blonde, starlet-like Erstin. And this is when I remembered how much I liked this series.

As Arika runs around Garderobe trying to find the council and defend herself (and Chie gets her first lesbian cred powerup) she’s the butt (pun intentional) of many stupid physical, servicey gags. But as she runs around, and later, as she meets her new classmates, I found myself happy to see every familiar face, from Yukino and her pet Haruka, to Ers, or Irina. In fact, as Irina introduced herself I felt something almost nostalgic blossom within me.

This is your basic shounen heroine action series. There will be many battles of one kind or another; an outclassed, apparently idiot savant heroine who will battle her way to the top; magical/mecha creatures; did I mention battles?; conspiracies, politics, intrigue on the grand scale and bullying, teasing and misunderstanding on the small scale; and service.

Yuri in Volume 1 is limited to a single knowing look shot at Natsuki by Shizuru, as she teases Arika in a decidedly sexual way, and Chie’s instant high reading on the Yuri-ometer. Yuri in Zhime is a popular fetish, so we’ll be seeing more as the story progresses.

Art – 8
Characters – 8
Story – 7
Music – 7
Yuri – 3
Service – 6

Overall – 7

All the characters I like are older, cooler and gayer. Is it any wonder I like this series better? ^_^





Yuri Manga: Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl, Volume 5

August 22nd, 2007

Feeling crappy today, so decided to review something “feel-good.” Looked at my pile of things to review and realized that with only two exceptions it was all feel-good. Kinda creepy, huh? ^_^

Today’s post will contain *massive* spoilers. I frequently have spoilers, but because there is a scene after the climax of this series that I want to discuss, I have to give away the ending. If you do not want to know how this series ends, do not read past the bit that ends “Massive Spoilers Follow”. If you read past that bit, you will be spoiled for the end.

Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl, Volume 5 begins after Hazumu’s fateful rainy-day kiss with Yasuna. Soaked and cold, they bathe together. This fills Hazumu with guilt so she runs over to Tomari’s house to rinse and repeat, because she’s so torn between her two lovers that she feels obliged to balance the service.

Having said her good-byes, Hazumu pretty much spends the book wandering aimlessly between places and people, constantly aware that her life force is running out. To make matters worse, both Yasuna and Tomari tell her that they love her outright.

The school festival approaches and with it, Hazumu’s final hour. The day is spent in near misses and lost last chances to see Tomari and Yasuna. Night falls and they both find Hazumu on the roof, ready to say good bye.

***Massive Spoilers Follow***

Before Hazumu can say anything, the fence behind her breaks and she falls off the school roof to her death. Only…as she falls, a hand grabs hers and we see two sets of legs falling.

Hazumu becomes aware that she is dead. Only…she’s not. She wakes up in the infirmary. She leaps out of bed to pull the curtain back on the next bed to see that it was Tomari who threw herself off the roof to save her. It was Tomari she had called out for and Tomari who she had wanted to see. And now it is Tomari that she tells, “I love you.”

Outside the room, Yasuna has overheard it all. She’s happy that Hazumu is alive, and happy for them, but cries against the wall while Ayuki holds her.

Here’s the bit that makes all this work for me – the Christmas Concert has arrived and Yasuna is the featured soloist. Hazumu and Tomari sit in the front row, hand in hand. And through her music, Yasuna wishes them well and commands them to never ever let each other go. Her blessing and her emotion carries over – Tomari and Hazumu get the message loud and clear.

On the way to a Christmas party after the concert, under the starry sky and a row of light-filled trees, Hazumu and Tomari kiss. At the party, everyone is happily rambunctious – “Kashimashiku”.

The End

Following the end of the main story are three omake stories – two creepy Ayuki stories (or, really, stories that explore how creepy Ayuki is) and one with the usual Tsukiko Namiko-sensei gags of self-pity and clumsiness.

The End, again.

So…I liked it. None of the over-the-top absurdities of the anime OAV ending. True, Hazumu did not entirely make the decision herself, but a decision was made, the girl does get the girl and it’s not a bad thing at all. Unless you really wanted Hazumu to get together with Yasuna. And you know, originally I did.

***End Massive Spoilers***

Unlike the anime, the manga handles the final decision with a class that, in general, the series lacked overall. lol Yasuna gets extra class points, as befits her character. Ayuki gets extra creepy as the story goes on which has incited me to create an equally creepy girlfriend for her. (If I was into media-crossovers, I’d surely pair her up with goth Abby from NCIS. But I don’t have that kind of time, energy or interest, thank heavens.)

Despite the service, the aliens, the gender switching, the harem plot, at the end of the series, we’re looking at two woman in love with one another. And that’s what I call Yuri.

I think the end justified the memes.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Character – 8
Story – 7
Yuri – 10
Service – 5

Overall – 8





Burst Angel Anime, Volume 2 (English)

August 21st, 2007

Burst Angel, Volume 2 starts off in the middle of a story which is suspiciously similar to the infamous hentai anime, Bible Black. And that’s about the best thing about the whole volume. ^_^;

Let me stop here and offer my thanks to Daniel P. who sponsored today’s review! Yay!

Meg is undercover at a creepy private girls’ school in which students are going missing or going insane. She is schmoozed mightily by the ultimate star of the school, while she tries to find out the dirt behind the “Ishtar club” – the exclusive, elite, star-chamber cabal that everyone admires, desires and fears. To everyone’s (everyone that has never seen Bible Black, that is) surprise Meg finds herself attacked by a demon. Jo is forced to put on the school uniform just long enough to allow Meg to be kidnapped so she can rescue her from the demon-y evil thing at the center of the mystery. It is a great shock to us all to learn the true identity of the demon is….!

The second two episodes deal with a giant robot crow who kidnaps girls and therefore takes a stab at kidnapping Meg so Jo can fire up Jango and rescue her. Jo is successful, sadly. In the course of this arc, we learn that the occasional glowing brain is not just a shiny special effect, but an actual plot complication. Also, Kyouhei is injected with an SPCD (Stupid Plot Complication Disorder.) In this case, a virus that takes 6 hours to germinate within his body and then will kill him spectacularly. (Okay, they don’t say it’ll be spectacular, but I like to project.) Under the guise of saving Meg, Jo drags Kyouhei all around town pointlessly, in order for them to bond.

While the plots of this volume ain’t all that, the extras are. Once again, we have English voice commentary and Japanese radio dramas.

The English voice commentary is amusing. They comment on totally random things, background characters, Sei-who-is-not-Beth’s gravity-defying breasts, and the fact that the point on Jango’s head is supposed to be a cowboy hat, not a dunce cap. (Something I completely missed. Who has the dunce cap now, Erica? Huh?)

The Japanese radio dramas are strange and awkward, but amusing, as well. Watanabe Akeno (Jo) and Toyoguchi Megumi (Meg) do things like have a tongue-twister show downs, try to record a play written by a viewer with sound/fx and all, and have an entire segment where they speak in piercing, dog-whistle high-pitched voices about beer.

Not happy with just actually having cool extras, the liner notes are full of pictures and commentary. Very shiny.

Ratings:

Art – wildly inconsistent, but it averages at about a 6
Characters – 5
Story – 5
Yuri – 1
Service – 6

Overall – 5

The extras are so good, it’s *almost* as if they’re trying to make up for the lack of content in the anime.





Yuri Light Novel: Strawberry Panic, Volume 3 (Japanese)

August 10th, 2007

When it comes to Strawberry Panic!, Volume 3, I really don’t even know where to begin. This book was so cracktastic, so chock full of utter randomness that went nowhere and did nothing that the only thing I can think of to start is this:

I believe in my heart that stories that take place at all-girl’s private schools for the daughters of the privileged that are not action stories, ought to include no more than 1(One) use of private helicopters. More just seems overkill. ^_^

You may remember that Volume 2 in the Strawberry Panic! light novel series ended with Amane and Hikari having run away from the school together and Nagisa having removed herself from both the Etoile-sen and her relationship with Shizuma.

Volume 3 begins with the crowning of the winners of the most recent competition for the Etoile-sen – Spica’s newly returned violin virtuoso Kusanagi Makoto and Lu Lim’s girl prodigy, Byakudan Kagome (sans bear.) This couple was so utterly “huh???” I read the passage about three times to make sure I hadn’t gotten it wrong.

Nagisa, still suffering from heart break and nervous strain from the pressure of the Etoile-sen, decides to leave Astoria forever. Tamao catches her packing and begs her to stay – even offering to enter the Etoile-sen with her as partner. Nagisa relents and decides to stay, but doesn’t reenter the contest.

Momomi and Kaname notice one another for the first time. Woot.

Shizuma’s friends Mizuho and Hitomi admit to one another that they probably had something to do with Nagisa’s breakdown. In an attempt to reassure Nagisa, they told her the absolute truth about Shizuma and Kaori – that Shizuma never loved Kaori at all. In fact, it was Hitomi who was in love with Kaori, but since Kaori admired Shizuma so much, she introduced them. Kaori instantly fell under Shizuma’s spell. Shizuma didn’t want to be cruel, and she didn’t want to hurt the person Hitomi loved so much, so she stayed by Kaori’s side right to the end. This brings no solace to Nagisa.

Shizuma, under cover of contemplative internal monologue bares Miyuki’s and Yaya’s deepest secrets; Miyuki’s arranged marriage to some man her family had chosen and Yaya’s dislike of men, due to her father’s neglectful and abusive behavior.

For no reason at all, we learn Makoto’s secret, that she is illegitimate and that her her half sister is the “legendary” Etoile, Kusanagi Masaki. This fact is totally random, and never really given relevance and the fact that a whole new character arrives in the story to tell us this (a character who appears in the story primarily to be sexually harassed by Shizuma then does nothing else) makes the whole thing extra random. It also serves to show us that Shizuma, while in every other scene is genuinely kind and worried about Nagisa, when stuck in the bathroom behaves compulsively. (No, what it really shows is that painstakingly developed characterization will be thrown to the dogs for the teeniest, most pointless bits of service.)

Meanwhile, Amane and Hikari have run off to Amane’s family’s summer home. After getting wet in the surf, they return to the house to shower. Amane is overcome and begins to kiss Hikari. In a moment of utter, complete FAIL, as Amane begins to move down to her chest, Hikari says Yaya’s name. Amane stops and asks why, naturally enough. Hikari tells her about her and Yaya’s night in the pool. In a stunning display of self-control, Amane realizes that Yaya, poor bitch, is really in love with Hikari, and that if she, Amane, is ever to have Hikari for herself, she needs to return to Astoria, win the Etoile-sen with her, and rub Yaya’s nose in it but good. But she says it in a nicer, more cool and gracious way. ^_^

Lots of meaningless running around and angsting goes on. Yaya has stopped caring about life and is sleeping through class and haunting the halls of the dorm at night. When she does fall asleep she dreams sexually suggestive dreams about Hikari. In nearly every portentous scene, Chikaru appears, like some kind of omen of misfortune. In reality, she isn’t, it just seems that way. She also gets a random dress-up party with the Henshin Club for no reason at all. During this scene, Kagome admits that she doesn’t like Makoto, who made fun of her teddy bear.

Shizuma determines to leave the school, to return to her family and whatever marriage they have arranged for her.

The Principal of St. Miator, who likes her attendants in suits and sunglasses, suddenly appears in the story and also appears to find all of the drama fascinating.

The three Student Council Presidents meet to figure out what to do about the aborted Etoile-sen. Miyuki says that, since Miator is already holding the position, it should continue to do so. Shion objects for several reasons – Shizuma is graduating, and possibly leaving before that, Spica’s couple won the first petite crown and one half the second, so Spica should hold the position. But Chikaru regretfully says that Kagome has asked to be removed from the contest, since Makoto’s a big doodyhead. All three schools are without major candidates.

And then the first helicopter shows up.

Everyone – and I mean *everyone* – runs to the top of Spica’s big tower, the penthouse of which is the Student Council room, where the helipad is. (Yes, I am laughing as I type this.) The St. Miator private helicopter lands, disgorging Amane and Hikari, the sight of whom makes Shion burst into tears. (It’s hard to imagine if all you know of Amane is the anime version, but everyone at Astoria is in love with Amane’s good looks, her charm, her overwhelming charisma, etc.) Amane proclaims that they have returned, even though having left in the first place, they will probably be expelled. At which the Principal of Miator arrives and says that if Spica expels them, Miator would accept them. Chikaru chides the Principal, who is also her mother, for her recklessness. Learning that her family is an old Miator family, it makes perfect sense that Chikaru is attending Lu Lim.

Yaya has heard the rumors and rushes off, not to the helipad (snort) but to Spica’s Principal’s office where, when Amane and Hikari arrive, Hikari leaps into her arms, begging forgiveness. Seeing Amane and Hikari together kills all of Yaya’s unhappy thoughts and in a giant moment of satori, she realizes that she does love Hikari, but does not need to possess her. In her heart, she gives Hikari up to Amane, who accepts her happily.

Meanwhile, Nagisa suddenly realizes that she desperately wants to see Shizuma. Horribly, desperately. She runs around trying to find her, only to learn that Shizuma has already left the school. So, in a giagantic handwave, Tamao offers her *family* helicopter to go to the airport and stop her from leaving. Nagisa runs up just as Shizuma is climbing the stairs to the plane. They reunite with an embrace and kisses.

And they all live happily ever after.

The End.

So. I wasn’t really able to express to you in this review how much “wtf”-ness was contained in this book. Clearly the author thought the series was going to go on for longer, as she added in several characters that ended up doing not much of anything. I also think that at about the mention of the first helicopter, she had finally gotten a look at her paycheck for this job and thought, “well, screw that.” ^_^;

Both Amane and Yaya come through the series with actual personalities. Hikari fails massively as a person, but as a couple, only Amane and Hikari are at all interesting. Everyone at Miator was a bore and Chikaru was all foreplay and no payoff. And five years from now, when all the main players are gone, I have no doubt that Kagome and her teddy bear rule the school with an iron fist.  And, in my heart, I hope Kaname and Momomi have lots of hawt lesbian secks.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Characters – 6
Story – 10 for sheer wtf-ness
Yuri – 8
Service – 5

Overall – 7

I cannot wait to see this thing translated, really. It was so…yeah.