Archive for the Series Category


Yuri Anime: Maria-sama ga Miteru OAV 3, Suzukaze Satsusatsu

April 12th, 2007

This time, the picture and the title link will link to the Collector’s Edition. For those who might want, here is a link to OAV 3 without extras.

But, before I spend a review gushing about the third Maria-sama ga Miteru OAV, Suzukaze Satsusatsu, I want to finish some business from the second OAV.

My copy of the collector’s edition for the second OAV only just arrived yesterday (a delay that had to do with another item in the order, not the OAV itself.) I thought you might like to know what came with it. ^_^

The box for the second OAV has a plastic thin cover of Yumi and Sachiko superimposed on a red rose (The third, pictured above, has Shimako and Noriko over a white rose.) The film picture can be placed inside the box, which gives you a cute scene of Sachiko fixing Yumi’s collar in front of the statue of Maria-sama. Goodies include original art postcards by Hibiki Reine, and some rather amusing screenshot postcards from the anime. There’s white paper coasters, with both the Lillian crest and the series title. Last, but in no way least, Yumi’s red hair ribbons. ^_^ The last is plain silly, I think. I did not feel any desire to wear them while watching, but I fear that many fans probably did.

I have not yet ordered the third OAV set, since I’m waiting for something else to be available to place my order, but you can be sure that I will be doing so shortly – and I’ll report back, promise.

In the meantime, I’ve had the chance to watch the third OAV twice now…let the gushing begin! Is there be a single person in the world who does not love Sachiko after this? If you are one, I don’t want to know, really. Because she is just *so* wonderful. (The wife says that we should be able to say now, after watching this OAV, that saying you like Sachiko is like saying the sky is blue. lol) Itou Miki and Ueda Kana have really built their characters up from typical stereotypes to just about flesh-and-blood people. But really, eEvery character in this series passes my “would I have them over for lunch?” test with room to spare.

This OAV introduces first-year admirer of Yumi, Hosokawa Kanako, and covers the adventures of the Yamayurikai members as they attend the Hanadera school festival.

There are honestly so many things to like about this OAV, I don’t even know where to begin…the story is absolutely fantastic and the ending just about as ridiculous and romantic at the same time as it can possibly be.

I really liked the voice actress for Kanako. People who follow spoilers, fan art, etc, tend to think the worst of Kanako, so it was a real pleasure for me to see her portrayed at the beginning as a pretty normal person, so that her apparent sudden descent into madness strikes one as really extreme. I liked her voice a lot, as well. It’s very pleasant – when she’s not hysterical, that is. ^_^

The whole Hanadera festival was brilliant. From the extra board tacked onto the festival name (which was in the novel and something I thought was very funny) to the utter randomness of the goings on, I think the feeling of general wackiness was captured well. The look on the girls’ faces as the boys all rushed the scaffolding for the contest was pretty much perfect. (And I couldn’t help but notice that Noriko was the only one who wasn’t completely freaked. As we’d expect from our resident public school girl…)

The lynchpin scene where Yumi is mistaken for Yuuki is short but pretty scary, I thought. And the end of the story, as Sachiko throws off all social propriety and personal fear to run across a field crowded with men and straight into Yumi’s arms…seriously. Do I need to even *say* how wonderful it was? Okay then. It was wonderful. And it’ll be wonderful every time I watch it, I’m sure. When we show it at Yuricon’s 2007 “Yurisai” event, it’ll be just as wonderful as it was the first time. ^_^ If you’re not grinning just then, check your pulse. You’re dead.

Oh, and the moment when Yuuki kneels in front of Sachiko, and the guy who’d just got to the top of the tower does too, as Sachiko looks, speaks and seems so queenly…I thought that was a great touch.

I haven’t watched this yet with the seiyuu commentary, but I enjoyed that track on the first two OAVs, as they get distracted, talk about other stuff, then find themselves watching the anime, captivated, because it’s just so *good.* ^_^

Lastly – the new ending credits. Let’s just say that they up the Yuri rating a few points on their own….

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 6
Service – 1

Overall – 9

This one is the best of the bunch so far – but wait, because Ready, Go! is *bound* to be fantastic, with more Yumi x Sachiko moments. ^_^





Spring 2007 Anime Season: El Cazador

April 11th, 2007

It’s going to be very anime-heavy in the upcoming days, as the new 2007 Spring season has begun, and there are several series worthy of attention from the Yuri fan. And, thanks to the continued generosity of my readers, I have an even larger pile of anime to watch now. There’s also a greatly belated end-of-season review I really must do sometime soon. So, manga, live-action and Drama CD fans, I’ll try to get at least one thing in a week for you. But anime is where we’re at for the foreseeable future.

So, here we are just barely into the spring anime season. Which of the several series of interest do we with start with? Well, as the large bulk of attention is being paid to Nanoha StrikerS, let’s buck the trend and start with El Cazador instead.

El Cazador is the third of the “chicks with guns” trilogy by Machimo Koichi and Bee Train – the trilogy that began with Noir and continued with Madlax. (And, I’m of the belief that the latter will be hard to beat, given Bee Train’s preference for ambiguously yuri relationships.)

This series has all the “6 degrees of yuri” signposts: the aforementioned director and production company, Fiction Junction Yuuka and savage genius for EP and OP artists, Ai Shimizu (Mikoto in Mai HiMe/Otome, Hatsumi and Fuji-hime in Yamibou among others) and Itou Shizuka (Rei in Maria-sama ga Miteru, among others) voicing the lead roles. Also joining the cast are Hisakawa Aya (who was Chloe in Noir and Rimelda in Madlax making this a hat trick for her) and Toyoguchi Megumi (Sei in Maria-sama ga Miteru). So, cast, crew and music all scream “Yuri.” The big question now has to be – what about the plot?

We don’t yet know, of course. ^_^ Bee Train stories usually take a good 8 episodes to get going. I’m always willing to give any series about that to gain, keep or lose my attention. And we’re only two episodes in at this point. But I expect it to be in the same realm of ambiguously Yuri relationships as the first two entries in the trilogy – that is to say, I’ll bet there’ll be enough Yuri somewhere in here to make us happy. (I sincerely hope we don’t revert to the Avenger model, which was not at *all* the kind of thing I’m looking for.

Let me be lazy for a second and abstract some of my initial response to El Cazador from the Yuricon Mailing List :

El Cazador has so many of the elements we have come to expect from Bee Train that it almost seems a parody of itself. ^_^ The credits have all the same elements as the Noir and Madlax sequences did. It felt a bit like watching a James Bond flick when Cubby Broccoli was doing all the opening sequences. There was a…uniformity…even though they are all different. Same here.

The setting is different from both Madlax and Noir – this time the American southwest or perhaps a Mexico-ish place. The characters look different but again, they are similar – tough, competent, but slightly flaky gunwoman; cute, flaky younger woman with no memory of the past. Repeated murder in the past footage (without plinky musical theme, though…). Weird object with no meaning as of yet, and grand conspiracy in the background. This time, instead of Soldats or Enfant, we have Project Leviathan.

Last, but hardly least, the end credits give us annoying guy in a mask. Oh, and NOW we know where Friday Monday’s little brother got to. He’s the bad guy in this one. ^_^

I was a tad disappointed by the animation for the first episode. The people all look thin and featureless. But it does set off the highly detailed backgrounds of sand and office doors nicely…

Ratings:

Art – 5
Story – I’m deferring this until the story gets going
Characters – 7 (By episode two I kind of like both Nadi and Ellis…)
Yuri – 0 as of yet, unless you count the fact that Hisakawa Aya’s character is clearly an Evil Psychotic Librarian type.
Service – 3 (Crotch shots, maid costumes, I’m sure there’ll be bathing scenes.)

Overall – 7

Nadi’s the goofy, tough gal with a heart of gold type, Ellis is flaky with a distinctly sexual thing going on with her mysterious power. So, there is definite potential and a good track record backing it up. But only time will tell whether Bee Train comes through for us on El Cazador, or not.





Yuri Anime: Strawberry Marshmallow, Volume 2

April 10th, 2007

Volume 2 of the Strawberry Marshmallow anime makes me regret that I was such a good kid. Now I wish I could go back and be eviller….

And because I was watching this with Serge, the Cult of Miu now commands three loyal followers. Bwahaha. Or something.

The first episode of the volume, “Sleepover,” is the one that non-Yuri folks argue is not Yuri, and those of us who count ourselves among Yuri fandom argue is Yuri. I say to you, verily it is Yuri. Not on Nobue’s side, but on Miu’s – which makes perfect sense to me as I see her as the very epitome of an Evil Psycho Lesbian-in-training.

But while “Sleepover” is amusing and watching Miu openly vie for Nobue’s attention and love is cute, it is the second episode of the volume that leaves me breathless from laughing. In this chapter we get to enjoy Miu’s brilliant story-telling skills and, incidentally, get to see Chika play along…which reminds us that they are actually friends. (I’m actually sitting here chuckling at Miu and Chika’s version of rock-scissors-paper. Snort, flypaper.) Most importantly, we get a scene which is so visual it’s actually rather difficult to convey in text: Nobue has fallen asleep. Miu challenges the others to stay in the room, but write instead of talk. The contrast of Ana’s obsession about ginger ale, and its relation to frogs, and Miu’s gag art which simply slays Chika (and most of the viewing audience) is simply hysterical.

Miu’s continued sociopathic behavior makes the inevitable trip to the beach and summer festival episodes just about as enjoyable as those old tropes can be made. It’s not that Miu is just a sociopath that makes her funny – it’s that she’s a funny sociopath.

This is probably my favorite volume of the whole series. If you want a giggle or two on a down day, slap this volume in the DVD player…and don’t drink anything unless you want it coming out your nose.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 5
Service – 5

Overall – 8

You ever notice how often the Yuri and Service ratings are the same???

Also, keep food and drink away from your computer keyboard as you watch this volume or disaster is likely to occur. ^_^

Forget to mention, too – this DVD comes with a mini-pencil board which is nice if you like mini pencil boards. (I have converted many people to the gospel of pencil boards. They are just so darn useful.)





Yuri Manga: Cutie Honey a GoGo

April 9th, 2007

You really come to understand how inherently unfair the universe is when you learn that the impossibly dull, full of retread passive female sex object plot “complications” Cutey Honey Seed is on Volume 6, and the incredibly excellent, full of powerful females, and lots of yummy Yuri subtext Cutey Honey a GoGo failed to go past Volume 1 (update: This series was finally completed in 2007 in a Cutey Honey a-Gogo, Perfect Volume.) This is especially heinous considering the history of Honey, who was pretty much the first magical heroine who was completely self-sufficient and didn’t need a man to support her.

This particular iteration of the Cutie Honey Mythos comes from 2004, the same year that brought us the most awesome anime Re Cutie Honey AND the live action Cutie Honey movie, both of which were really great. (The movie, btw, is slated to be released here in the US this month. Here’s a link to it on Amazon.)

Well, Cutie Honey aGogo can easily be seen as the manga version of those fine anime and live action stories. While Na-chan’s character design is nothing like Ichikawa Mikako or the look-alike used in the anime, this is the Na-chan *I* would have created, had they asked me. (insert happy, yet slightly evil, laughter here.) In fact, the art was done by Itou Shinpei, the creator of Hyperdolls. I approve 100%.

In this version of the tale Aki Natsuko is a squad leader for the public safety bureau and her subordinates live in fear of her. Her butchy suit-wearing, chain smoking, gun wielding, impatient with everyone around her personality keeps all the guys working for her, in their place. She has her own personal butt boy, Todoroki, who lights her ciggies, gets her coffee, files her reports and is completely incapable of keep up with her on any level.

I think she’s perfect. ^_^

The story begins, as it does in so many of the other Cutie Honey adaptations, as evil Sister Jill and her Panther Claw gang have invaded the city. It is only the timely appearance of Cutie Honey that saves the city from total destruction. (Lots of blood and violence, as usual for a Honey story.) Of all the police and safety officers at the scene, the only one who has the balls to really involve herself is, of course, Aki Natsuko. Machine gun in hand, she throws herself into the mêlée.

When Butterfly Claw has been defeated, Na-chan takes it upon herself to arrest Honey for disturbing the peace. Honey likes this “reckless O-ne-i-san,” as she calls Natsuko. Like Sham-pu’s “Onee-nii-san” in Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl, this form of address recognizes the “two-heart” quality Na-chan has. (In fact, she is later seen in a dress, and seems as comfortable in that as in the suit. But no less muscular and confident. I really like this Na-chan.)

The second time the Panther Claw attacks, Na-chan is all over it. She’s also right there with the handcuffs for Honey, who cheerfully…a little too cheerfully…goes along with her. There’s a great panel as Honey gives Na-chan a very knowing look as the handcuffs lock into place.

After she’s released for the second time, Honey (in disguise) brings Na-chan back to her father’s lab, and all the basics are explained – Honey is an android, the i-system, Sister Jill, etc, etc. Prof. Kisaragi asks Na-chan to befriend Honey and help her become more human. When Na-chan arrives home that night – there’s Honey, who wants to help wash her back in the tub. ^_^ Resigned, Na-chan can only comment on the size of Honey’s breasts. Of course. Because I’d think the same thing, if a *transforming android* was in my bathroom…

…

The end of the volume is the inevitable loss of Honey’s father, and her reliance on Na-chan for comfort and support as she sobs in grief and eat lots of gyuudon. Na-chan, not so good at the softer emotions, is maybe not as kind as she could be but she does her best as the book ends, promising to continue the story in the next volume – which it never did. This is *me* sobbing with grief. I have no doubt at all that this would have been the Yuriest version of the bunch. It was set up perfectly for it. Honey definitely had some interest in Na-chan, and my god, Na-chan is so gay, there is simply no way she would have been able to stop herself. When I write the inevitable fanfic, it will be *this* version I will be working with, you can be sure.

/mutter/Stupid dorky otaku who like sex dolls better than women with balls. You suck. It’s *your* fault that stupid Cutey Honey Seed is doing better than Cutie Honey a GoGo did. I blame each and every one of you personally./mutter/

Ratings:

Art – 7 (I did tell you it was Itou Shinpei? I like his art)
Story – 7 – the same story as always
Characters – 9 (Honey and Na-chan 4tW!)
Yuri – 4 with lots of potential
Service – 7 – please, this is Honey, we’re talking about. Hell, this is Nagai Go we’re talking about.

Dear Mr. Nagai – Please, oh please, make more Cutie Honey a Gogo!





Yuri Drama CD: Kannazuki no Miko: Kimi no Mau Butai

April 5th, 2007

Are you sitting down? I hope so, because I’m going to say something that might shock you. Kannazuki no Miko Drama CD: Kimi no Mau Butai is…good, maybe even excellent. Seriously, it is. In fact, I can’t actually think of anything about this Drama CD that was bad, and parts of it are laugh out loud funny.

Since this DCD is actually made up of several interconnecting plots. I’ll do my best to summarize here:

It all begins with a bizarre gag with Souma and his brother Tsubasa, where they appear to be fighting but are actually playing baseball. Or maybe it’s the other way around. In any case – this gag with varying alternates on the gag part is repeated endlessly throughout the CD. Keep this in the back of your mind. It’ll be back.

It is school festival time. Both Souma and Chikane are starring in an original play as Prince and Princess. They are, of course, princely and princessly and everyone is squealing with delight as they swear their love, etc, etc. Himeko is also moved, even from her place as the person who cleans up backstage.

One night, after a meal (full of shitake mushrooms, thanks to Otoha’s loving care) Chikane asks Himeko to help her practice her lines. At first Himeko plays the prince, but Chikane asks her to play the princess, her role, so she can get a feel for Ohgami’s role. Himeko assents, and Chikane gets to swear eternal love to Himeko via her lines. There are several very amusing interruptions (complete with romantic violins screeching to a halt) by Otoha as Chikane attempts to get into the part. Himeko is freaked out by her reaction to Chikane’s embrace and muses out loud that it’s as if she’s in love with Chikane. Which freaks Chikane out.

Later, as the festival approaches, Souma asks Himeko if she’d help him practice his lines. Same scene, minus Otoha’s interruptions, but this time the tension is broken when Chikane appears and interrupts them at the crucial scene.

The play is a great success, but Chikane blows off her hordes of admirers to accompany Himeko around the festival grounds – to their great annoyance.

At this point, we get scattered scenes to let us know that the Orochi are all here at the festival and wreaking havoc wherever they go, some of which are rather amusing. In fact, throughout this CD, we get little vignettes which give us a pretty good idea of how and why these particular people became Orochi and what their major malfunctions are. Like the opening gag, put this concept on a back burner, but don’t lose it.

Chikane presents Himeko with a volume of manga by her favorite mangaka, and my third favorite Orochi, Reiko-sensei. Chikane has things to do, so she leaves Himeko on line for an autograph. During the signing, Reiko is really rude in response to Himeko’s fangirlishness, which puts Himeko in a sad mood. This is followed up by a cruel scene in which her former roommate, Mako-chan’s, sempai on the track team lays into her. Mako-chan pulls sempai away, but doesn’t have a word to say to Himeko. It is this moment that the Orochi choose to attack.

The Orochi who is a pop idol wannabe, Korona, calls this her ultimate performance. Korona throws herself at Souma, trying to seduce him to the dark side of the force and a little Orochi-doushi. Himeko’s screams breaks the spell and he rejects her forcibly, which pisses her off. Reiko-sensei who had her buttons pushed earlier joins in and of course, the rest of the Orochi jump on the chance.

Chikane runs away with Himeko, leaving Souma to fend for himself. Which he does, but pfft, who cares, Chikane got the girl – again.

After the carnage is over and the destruction is being cleared away, we get a framework of Reiko-sensei working on her next manga chapter. Chikane, in a separate but related scene, asks Himeko what she likes so much about Reiko-sensei’s manga. Himeko tries to explain but fails, until she tells Chikane all about the scene in which Asuka, the heroine, confesses her love for the princess. Chikane is all of a sudden much more interested in the manga, who’d have thunk it? Himeko acts out the part of Asuka’s confession of love to her dear friend. After she’s done, she asks why Chikane has that expression on her face and Chikane, in a moment of incredible genius says that she was thinking about something else and didn’t hear Himeko – could she go over that all again. Guileless Himeko complies happily, so excited that Chikane is interested in her manga now. ^_^ The framework ends with a bizarre scene of Reiko being extra super-duper rude to her editor. I really have to listen to this bit again, because I know there was important stuff I missed.

The final track is pure genius. Sister Miyako is holding confession for your sins. Each one of the “confessions” is funnier than the last and with each one, Sister Miyako loses patience sooner with the confessor and punches them out. The best one, by far, is when Himeko comes in to “confess”. Her hemming and hawing makes Miyako more and more impatient. When Himeko digresses into a long discussion of what Chikane is wearing, Miyako finally punches her out with a curt “Shut up already.” It’s hysterical, trust me. This track is where we really get a detailed glimpse of the Orochi and their issues. The whole track is really unique and interesting for that alone…but Sister Miyako whacking everyone just cracks me up.

After the end of this final track, we get a two minute long silence, and one last repeat of that weird gag with Tsubasa and Souma. Souma’s confused screams end the Drama CD.

Okay, so can anyone guess why I don’t dislike this CD? It’s not that it doesn’t have angst. It’s that it doesn’t have inexplicable behaviors. Everyone’s behavior and choices are entirely consistent with the personalities given to us in the anime. (And it is based on the anime, not the manga, for what it’s worth.) Internal consistency=win. The fact that my three favorite Orochi (Sister Miyako, Korona and Reiko, in that order) and Chikane and Himeko Yuri-service all get big spotlights helps, too.

The fact that it’s damn funny is icing on the cake. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – not entirely applicable, but I like what’s on the cover and in the booklet – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 3

Overall – 8

If only the anime or manga had been more like this.