Archive for the Series Category


Yuri Manga: Hayate x Blade, Volume 6

April 23rd, 2007

What do you get when you cross independent, strong female characters who tend towards violence and are more than a little cracked, a school festival, maid costumes, a kidnapped kindergartner, 80 eyeglass-wearing fangirls and a whole lot of sword fighting? Why, you get Hayate x Blade, Volume 6.

We left off in Volume 5 at the start of Tenchi Gakuen’s school festival. And right away, something is wrong. One of the kids visiting from Hayate’s orphanage has gone missing – Miki, the very same one we saw in trouble in the very first chapter. Hayate’s frantic rush to find Miki gets completely sidetracked when a ransom note informs her that the child is not lost – she was kidnapped! (Every scene we see from this point on of Miki, involves her stuffing her face with candy and demanding to be spoiled or she’ll make a scene. We’re never worried about her.) The ransom note demands Hayate show up on the north field, where she is confronted by the Mikado Akira Fan Club, who call themselves the A-team. To “protect” their beloved Akira-sama, they demand that Hayate leave the school, or they will be forced to hurt Miki.

But Hayate is not alone for long – first Ayana, then the Kiji-Michi and Momoka-Isuzu teams come running up (complete with Momo-chan and Kiji arguing about which one of them gets to stand in a high spot and declaim “wait right there!”)

The six are soon joined by two more, as Suzuki, haunting Ayana’s steps as always, joins the group with her partner Sou. And, all of a sudden, the 80 bespectacled fans of Student Council member Mikado Akira suddenly realize that they are horribly outnumbered by the 8 that face them.

It is one of the school rules that fighting cannot take place except when the bell rings – otherwise disgruntled kentousei would be fighting constantly. So, Hitsugi and Shizuku go running over to the north field to make sure that the fight is not held illegally. Hitsugi, being Hitsugi, decides that, rather than stopping the fight which would be dull, she’ll rearrange things a bit to her liking. The A-Team are given wooden practice swords to fight with – and Hayate and her friends, who are mostly in maid costumes (except for Hayate who is dressed as a chick and Momoka who is dressed as a cartoon wolf) get ladles as their weapons. Hitsugi tells them that if even *one* of them gets their star taken, the entire team loses. Or they have to defeat all 80 of the A-team. Before the bout is over, Hitsugi makes sure that Jun gets a bit of the spotlight, by pointing out that the battle is being projected over the whole school. Jun, who had been content to watch up to that point, jumps into the fray.

It’s no contest.

When Akira herself shows up to take on the last of her fan club, they merely collapse in exhaustion. But not before Akira pulls off her studly Student Council long overcoat to reveal…a maid costume. She’s pretty pissed at the point loss on cool.

Following this melee, the second day of the festival begins quietly. Hayate, Jun and Ayana have a frank, but no less violent than usual, conversation about Ayana’s feelings for her ex partner, Yukari. And over on Yukari’s side, she’s wondering why her current partner, Maki, chose her in the first place. Maki’s own thoughts on the subject are rather sweet – she wants Yukari to look at her the way she used to at Ayana. And we see happier moments from before Yukari and Ayana broke up.

Maki and Yukari face an incredibly difficult match. The gong will sound today, and in the enclosure for A-rank fighters, they will be taking on the formidable “Special A’ ranked pair – En Suu and Mei. This is a particularly poignant bout for Yukari – it was this pair that she and Ayana were fighting when she was wounded and scarred.

Back at Ayana’s class’s cafe, Ayana is asked to leave when her reminiscences about that past battle gives off an evil aura that is scaring away the customers. Ayana thinks that she and En Suu share a darkness within them – and that darkness scares her. When she hears the bell, Ayana, then Hayate and the others go running off the to “A” enclosure, but are stopped at the gate by Sae, Akira’s partner.

Inside the enclosure, the battle is fierce. Techniques are fast, and advanced. Maki is hurt in her right arm, while Yukari is pinned to the ground by a ruthless Mei. After a moment, Yukari and Maki both find something important in themselves – and in their relationship – and stand up to fight again.

Who will win…?

You’ll have to tune in next volume! (Uunless you read the monthly chapters, like I do, because I can’t go that long without an episode of this manga. )

Action, love, friendship, violence, deep emotion, incredibly dumb physical gags. Hayate x Blade is the *best* manga on the market and it’s criminal that it’s not an anime yet.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 5 (Ayana x Yukari for the win here)
Service – 4
Overall – 9

No, really, I don’t think it gets better than this.





Ninin ga Shinobuden Manga, Volume 2 (English)

April 22nd, 2007

Ninin ga Shinobuden Volume 2 wins, hands down, as the manga with the most use of the words “boobs” and “boobies” that I have ever read. And given the number of shounen manga I read, that’s pretty much a feat.

There’s very little ninja-ing going on in Ninja Academy in this volume (something the author comments on in one of the author’s notes, in fact.) And the wackiness has sort of solidified into “Onsokomaru and the ninjas try to be pervs, but fail at everything.”

At one point, after Onsokomaru’s language was a little rough, I checked the age rating on this manga. It’s rated at 13+. I thought about that for a bit and decided that, yeah, that was about right, since the guys all exhibit 15-year old behavior. (It’s a standard of mine that all written works, magazines, manga, books, etc, are designed for people two to three years younger than the protagonists of the work or the stated audience. No seventeen year old, for instance, would be caught dead reading Seventeen magazine. But you’ll see plenty of 14-15 year olds with copies.)

So, bad points – the misbehaving wackiness gets a little tiring after a while – something that Kaede notes first, and Miyabi soon after. Mostly because I’d like to see more of Shinobu and Kaede, and less running around screaming.

Good points – the best point had to be when all the ninjas voted Kaede as the best ninja in the group. ^_^ Also, there’s notably less actual service with the girls than in the anime, for all the underwear flying through the air.

There’s a teeny weeny bit of Yuri in the love potion chapter where, despite not having taken the love potion, Shinobu “falls in love” with Kaede and a few moments with the dream monster where Shinobu is unable to say the right thing to support Kaede, because she likes the monster’s taste in maid costumes. All other moments are similar one-panel gags. Yup, Shinobu’s got a crush. Nope, nothing comes of it.

Ratings:

Art – 7 pretty good, actually, for what it is
Story – 5 there’s only one story, with different set-ups
Characters – 5
Yuri – 3
Service – 3 yes, there is some service, but there’s more lambasting the fanboy than there is catering to him.

Overall – 6 and I am being generous

Also, for no reason at all except that it just occurred to me – do manga artists take classes on writing incredibly dull author’s notes? ‘Cause, wow…I really needed to know about the stray cats wandering around the creator’s new home…





Yuri Anime: Best Student Council, Volume 1

April 18th, 2007

The first of *many* thanks to Ted for sponsoring today’s review! Give him a round of applause, will you? /round of applause/ Thank you kindly, sir.

As a counter to a day of heavy-duty thinking and talking about work-related issues, Best Student Council, aka Gokujou Seitokai, Volume 1 is a perfect way to unwind.

Volume 1 follows the adventures of Rando Rino, a slightly less average than most girl, as she leaves behind her life after her mother dies, and moves – with the assistance of a mysterious penfriend – to the exclusive Miyagami Gakuen. With no money and no where to live, Rino is at a loss, until she runs for the position of class representative and, in a bizarre upset, wins. Now she has room and board for free.

Because of a successful attack on an arsonist by the puppet Rino wears on her arm, Pucchan, Rino is further inducted into the Gokujou Seitokai, the supreme student council, which runs the school.

And *then* wackiness ensues. This includes giant nuclear cannons, a curry battle, a mysterious puppet disemembering and most of all, payapaya.

The supreme leader of the Supreme Council, the supremely admired Jinguji Kanade, seems to have taken a very keen interest in the newcomer. So keen, in fact, that when she’s spotted leaving Rino’s room one morning, rumors fly about the two of them doing “payapaya.” This meaningless word is given a very ripe meaning by sheer force of repetition. ^_^ The relationship isn’t Yuri, sadly, but the rumors sure are.  Assualt Squad member Rein even describes “payapaya” as “Yuri,” which the guys at ADV inelegantly translated as “girl on girl.” Thanks ADV, for rendering the genre I live and love into a porn term.

After Rino gets settled, she is assigned to patrol with Assualt Squad member Izumi Kaori who, despite initial over-reactions to and continued rivalry with Rino, turns out to be a competent, intelligent and honorable character. As we learn a little bit about Kaori’s difficult past, we also get the first of many clues to Kanade’s true abilities, as well. And, we also get a honest reflection by Kaori about her feelings of admiration (and possibly more) for Kanade-sama.

Lastly, based on nothing but their weird interaction and the fact that I have an overactive imagination, I still maintain that Vice President and Assault Squad leader Nanaho and Vice President and Covert Squad leader Kuon have a thing going on. ^_^

Good things about the DVD: 5 episodes, Pucchan stickers as an extra.

Bad things – “girl on girl” – feh, Pucchan stickers as an extra.

Weird thing – Ayumu gets the honorific “Ayu-chan.” All other honorifics are cut. Huh?

Ratings:

Art – 6 Silly, but not meant to be more
Story – 6 Goofy, yet charming
Characters – 7 – ditto
Yuri – 4 – You mean “girl on girl” don’t you? Grrr.
Service – 2 The cover seems to be the worst offender

Overall – 7

Entertaining, not taxing, with surprising moments of hysterical. Plus, Seina. She’s a great character, especially as no one even remembers her. ^_^





Yuri Anime: Noir, Volume 5

April 17th, 2007

Wow, there’s nothing like taking a step back a few years to really appreciate both what went before and what we have now. I recently sat and rewatched the volume with the most awesome episodes of Sailor Moon (106-109, in case you care) and on the train on the way to a professional conference, I rewatched Noir Volume 5 for the first time in many moons.

Volume 5 of Noir is not high art. It makes the art of Madlax look stunning by comparison, but story-wise, it’s pretty much the lynchpin moment, the moment at which the entire story alters.

It begins with one more foray into Mirielle’s past where she learns the horrible truth about herself – that she is a child of the organization who now hunts her. Turning away from her own past, she now decides to focus on Kirika’s. Kirika, in the meantime, when faced with a choice of knowledge about herself, Noir and Soldats, or saving Mirielle’s life doesn’t hesitate to chose her friend over herself. I say “friend” here, because it seems that that alone is enough of a revelation for both of them, that they might, perhaps, be becoming friends.

When Mirielle reminds Kirika of the promise that they made – that when they both understand who Kirika is and what, exactly Soldats wants, she will kill the younger woman, there is a edginess to it – we can see that that promise is now a lie, even if they can not.

Just as they start to deal with this change in their relationship, it all comes to a crashing halt. Chloe, who has been stalking Kirika from the beginning, shows Mirielle, in an impressive and incontrovertible display of skill, that she and Kirika are the True Noir. Her explanation of what Noir is, and why Noir is, only serves to highlight the gulf between Mirielle and her partner. When Kirika begins to respond to words that Chloe utters, it becomes obvious that Mirielle has lost the battle, if not the war.

This is a very “having loved and lost” kind of volume. We watch Mirielle gain knowledge of her past, but lose some of her understanding of what her childhood meant to her. She gains Kirika as a friend, but loses her as a partner. And she gains understanding of Soldats and Noir, but loses herself in the process.

I found the Noir/Soldats manuscript lines just as silly this time as the last, but somehow – and really, I don’t know how – it all sort of seemed to make perfect sense. Above all, the sense of loss that Mirielle was experiencing at the very end was very poignant and very powerful. And because El Cazador de la Bruja has already begun, I found myself hoping that I care half this much about Nadie and Ellis by the end, as I do about Kirika and Mirielle.

What makes the story here so interesting, is watching Chloe take everything that Mirielle has fought so hard to gain. What makes the rest of the series so interesting is watching Mirielle fight even harder to get it back.

Ratings:

Art – 4
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 2

Overall – 7

I still think Chloe’s character design looks weird and out of place, but I guess that kind of works…





Spring 2007 Anime Season: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS

April 16th, 2007

I was going to wait for a few more episodes before I wrote about Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, but heck, I’ve speculated on less than two episodes, so… (three, now, which made me rewrite a bit in the middle. ^_^)

I was not the biggest fan of the original Nanoha series, but I didn’t hate it, either. It was a perfectly fine, completely derivative magical girl series, without the captivating characters or seiyuu of Card Captor Sakura from whence it came. It also had the unfortunate addition of an extremely distasteful nude transformation scene, which appealed to a particular sector of the anime viewing audience which is not me.

The second series, Nanoha As, had a much stronger story, great characters and even better character development…and that unnecessary henshin. In fact, aside from that one thing, the series was pretty darn good. ^_^

And now Nanoha, Fate and Hayate are all adults (yay!) and in uniform (yahoo!) and all working as commanders in the Time-Space Administration Bureau. I have already joked that after my bitching about the last two series catering to a fetish that is not mine, they sort of lumped a bunch of mine together into one anime, just to shut me up. ^_^

The anime starts with Fate, Nanoha and Hayate working as commanders of three separate divisions of the Time-Space Administration Bureau. After a particularly grueling and difficult rescue operation, Hayate asks the other two to collaborate with her on a new division that would handle all the “other” issues that come up, like Lost Logia retrieval and special rescue coordination. Of course Fate and Nanoha want to be a part of this. And so Nanoha StrikerS begins with the recruitment of several new team members for the new division.

Yuri in Nanoha has always been speculative, and mostly about Fate’s pretty much one-sided feelings for Nanoha. I cannot beat Zyl’s brilliant post on Fate’s feelings, so I won’t try. Episode 3 (which I *just* watched) lets us know that Fate and Nanoha are at least sharing a bed, so I’m rewriting my initial speculation that Fate’s feelings are one-sided, and have now decided to assume that they are an established couple. I’m glad to see that, honestly. It makes me happy to think that. (And really, as commanders, they should easily be able to afford their own places, so if they are not only living together, but sharing a big, pluffy bed, I think we have to assume it’s not just “roommates.”)

There’s the easily pairable new recruits Subaru and Tiana. Time will tell if they have something more than just a strong partnership. Personally, I see no yuri there, but they touch each other, so fandumb will undoubtedly pair them up. ^_^

Let me suggest, just for fun, an unreasonable, yet amusing, alternative. Not a pair, but a troika. Hayate does not pop as a Yuri candidate, (unless one looks back and considers her history of forming a household with her female knights Signum, Shamal and Vita, and makes a few illogical leaps.) Instead, let me offer this unreasonable piece of “proof” as all we in Yuri fandom call it:

Why, I ask you, does Hayate own a bed big enough for the three of them? (Four if you count Reinforce, which I don’t.)

I invite you to think about it at your leisure. ^_^

Send the fanfic links to the Yuricon Mailing List. ;-)

And there’s always Signum who, with her lack of social skills and intrinsic butchiness always pings my gaydar.

Other random thoughts about this anime: The second law of thermodynamics need not apply for this series, thanks. And I really like all the sentient weapons. They have consistently been one of my favorite things in the series.

Ratings:

Art – I quite like it – 7
Story – Remains to be seen, but I have high hopes – 6
Characters – The More the Yurier – 8
Yuri – 6 (upped after the “incontrovertible proof” in Ep. 3 that Fate and Nanoha sleep together.)
Service – 5

Overall – 7 with potential for better.

Adult women in uniforms…me so happy…