The first Ichigo Mashimaro OAV was very Miu.
I particularly liked it when Miu, and Nobue.
The teacher was very Miu, which was also quite funny. Even Matsuri managed a few scenes in which she was Miu.
The overall Miu was great, there were many moments of Miu and hardly any fanservice, except for Nobue in the ugliest underwear ever, which was also pretty Miu.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 9
Yuri – 1
Service – 1
Overall – totally Miu.
I originally reviewed the Japanese edition of Read or Dream, Volume 2 in 2004 and found it, like all of the Read or Dream series, amusing, but not deep. This is rather meaningful, because the TV series had been so very deep, and the manga will, in future volumes, head in that direction as well.
But in the meantime, this volume remains fun, slightly silly, comedy action fare with a little dash of romance.
The stories are, of course, the same as they were in the Japanese volume, so none of my comments on those are any different. Please read the 2004 review (linked above) if you want a synopsis of the stories.
The reproduction quality is quite high, sans the color mini-poster included with the Japanese volume. The honorifics have not been added in, as I had hoped they might be, since the current trend in translated manga seems to be more on the side of keeping them.
Like the ROD The TV Anime, the heroine is Anita, a character who annoys me a lot less now than she did at the very beginning of both anime and manga. Since the character has not changed, it must be me. ^_^
Ratings:
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Art – 8
Yuri – 4
Overall – 8
For overall goofy fun, this is not the best of the Read or Dream/ROD series, but it’s still an afternoon’s solid entertainment.
While we waited breathlessly for the anime 3rd season OAVs to be released, the cast and staff of Maria-sama ga Miteru were working hard to keep fandom stimulated.
There were, of course, the Marimite Drama CDs that I love so much, and live events were held in which fanboys were able to write haiku as if they were one of the characters, among other things. Also filling in the gaps were web radio programs, which were released on a semi-regular basis at the Animate TV site. The web radio program host is Ueda Kana, the voice of protagonist Fukuzawa Yumi.
In each “episode” Ueda Kana chats with one of the other voice actresses, they eat cake and tea, and giggle a lot. ^_^ Fan mail is read and responded to, and for many of the episodes an original radio drama completes the set. The web radio shows were originally distributed as streaming audio.
The “DJCD”s are collections of the web radio shows, which is especially nice as I know I missed three or four in the middle there.
The segments of the DJCDs are split into the chat with one of the other seiyuu, a segment called “Tell me, onee-sama” in which each VA is asked which character she would pick as the best sister, bride, teacher, high-class woman, friend, etc. And, of course the radio dramas which are often insane and frequently laugh out loud hysterical. If you have seen fanart over the last several months of “Magical Girl Shimako” – the radio dramas are where that comes from.
Along with “Mahou Shoujo Shimako” segments (always sponsored by Satou Sei-sama), there are many and varied Yumi x Sachiko stories that considerably up the Yuri factor between them, and also provide a chance for Yumi to be heard giggling in a terrifying way, and Sachiko to sound scared for her life. ^_^ But the winner has got to be the very wrong story in which Rei dresses in a bear costume in order to appeal to Yoshino. I KNOW I was chortling in a way that made my work neighbors worried as I listened to that one.
You can of course get these CDs through Amazon JP: DJCD 1 and DJCD 2, but in this case, they were part of my questionably large purchase of CDs from Animate in Ikebukuro.
The voice actresses talk very fast (and giggle alot, did I mention that?) but the radio dramas and the “tell me onee-sama” segments are easy enough to follow.
One thing I want to mention, just because I found it fascinating, was that several of the VAs do impressions of other VAs as their characters – and by and large they are very good at it. It’s kind of funny, and definitely fun.
Ratings:
Art – Original covers, to make them more appealing to hardcore fans – 6
Story – Casual, giggly chat, and crazy, yurified dramas – 9
Characters – Did I mention that the Yuri quotient was upped? – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – We have seen fandom and they are us – 7
Overall – 8
Oh, and “roll cake.” That’s all I’m saying about that. If you want to know what I mean, you’ll have to listen to the CDs. ^_^
Some series are simply too good to let die. Not just franchises like Gundam, but the actual series themselves. I don’t think it’s any accident that all three of the insanely popular girl-gang series that I love, Yaji Kita Gakuen Douchuuki, Sukeban Deka and Hana no Asuka-gumi keep coming back like Asuka’s gold coin.
Sukeban Deka began life as a manga, which was then made into an anime OAV and, in the 80’s, a popular three-season live-action TV show, all of which I have reviewed previously. For the basic plotline, general Yuri-ness and links to manga and anime on Amazon JP and Amazon respectively, click the link to the past review.
Last year, Sukeban Deka came back once again as a new live-action movie. And I was *dying* to see it, let me tell you. :-) It took a while, but I finally did manage to watch it and it was probably the best 90 minutes I’d spent in a long time that involved me doing nothing more than staring at a screen.
The movie starts with a young woman chained and gagged in a cage. Her rage at her condition is apparent, and she does everything she can to escape, eventually dislocating her own shoulder to escape the strait jacket she’s been put in. She does escape, but a momentary fit of humanity as she stops to comfort a lost child puts her back in the hands of the coppers.
We never learn the girl’s real name, but the cops offer her an ugly deal – her mother is in New York illegally and will be deported back to Japan, where all sorts of warrants are out for her, unless the girl helps them out. She’s given a yo-yo with the police’s chrysanthemum seal as a weapon and a new name…Asamiya Saki. Armed and decidedly dangerous, Saki heads back to Japan to infiltrate a high school at which several mysterious deaths have occurred. She’s also warned that there is another undercover operative – but they haven’t heard from that other operative in months.
Saki runs into institutionalized bullying almost immediately and, also immediately, saves the damsel in distress from same. The leader of the bullies is Reika, a girl with classic shoujo evil girl ringleader hair. I completely approved.
So, Saki takes on the entire school, from teachers, to pathetic manipulated geeks to evil henchmen and women, all the way up until she faces Reika once again in a battle of the yo-yos. This scene was SO awesome, I cannot express it in mere words. Where Saki is wearing full body armor leathers, Reika is kitted out in studded pleather miniskirt. I said to the screen, as she pulled out her own evil yo-yo, “Please let it have blades…” and you know, it did! I was so happy, I stood up and cheered.
Of course the final battle is meant to be poignant, as Saki faces a guy who kind of sort of was her love interest, and it was an okay fight until he, quite inexplicably, pulled off his nice hair to reveal and incredibly stupid looking wig underneath. I guess he wanted to die blond. I don’t know.
In the end, Saki and the damsel in distress actually had a sweet moment, where said damsel admitted that she liked Saki, although I really think it was in a “friend” way. But it was still sweet and more heartfelt than the bad guy’s quasi-sexual schmoozing.
Amazingly, this movie almost completely lacked any of the usual Japanese live-action pacing problems. I was quite impressed.
Throughout, the cop who becomes Saki’s keeper keeps saying things that implies that Saki is the daughter of the “real” Asamiya Saki. So it was a pleasure that Saito Yuki, who played the first Saki in the TV series, appears as this Saki’s mother. Total “fanboy casting” but it worked.
This movie did such a great job of capturing all the qualities of the original (manga) series, while still having a personality of its own. And even as it updated the myth, it never once lost sight of its roots. An outstanding adaptation of a classic story.
Ratings:
Cinematography – 7
Story – 9 for the sheer faithfulness to the original concept
Characters – 9, ditto
Yuri – 3, but just right
Service – 6
Overall – 9
This movie is da bomb. A great way to resurrect what was the grandmother of all girl-gang series. (Now if I could only get a picture of Matsuura Aya with a lowball and a cigarette. ^_^)
One of the more unique things about Japanese copyright laws is the ability for “parody” works to be made with little to no legal consequence. (Of course, that may change in the future, and a recent article about an exceedingly popular Doreamon doujinshi has an interesting example of what can easily be cited as an abuse of the privilege.)
Maria’s Wink 2, is one of a seemingly endless supply of Yuri doujinshi anthologies in existence for Maria-sama ga Miteru. It is available through Amazon JP (click the cover picture or the title link) and/or various manga and used manga stores.
The advantage to a doujinshi anthology is obvious – it’s a collection of many different stories by many different circles. Like ALC’s Yuri Monogatari series, that means that you’ll get a wide variety of art, story and tone. The other advantage is that an anthology will cost a lot less in time and effort than trying to track down all of the original doujinshi individually.
There are some adult anthologies, but most of the ones I picked up in Tokyo this time were “gag” anthologies. Maria’s Wink has a definite Yuri strain running through the stories, but little more than a kiss here and there. Nonetheless, no Yuri goggles are needed to see that the couples are, indeed, couples.
This particular anthology has selections by some circles I quite like including K-Do, and about three whose names are too long and difficult for me to translate, but whose work I have in doujinshi form and really like. (Nice and specific, there, I know. Very helpful….)
What makes Maria’s Wink a good place to start in terms of Marimite anthologies is that there is really something for everyone. Pretty much every popular pairing has at least one story. The obvious soeur couples, and the most popular non-soeur, like Youko x Sei, Sei x Yumi, Yumi x Touko, all are represented. There’s even a Kanako x Touko story. Kei makes an appearance in a few stories (that’s for you, Sean), as does Yuuki, and even Kashiwagi gets a naked cameo. So, really, there’s something for everyone.
In particular Rei x Yoshino fans will like a few of the stories, which really focus on the explodingly cute aspect of their relationship. There’s also a fairly well-known Rei x Yoshino story called “Treasure” that portrays them both as pirates. It’s based on a single line from one of the novels where Rei thinks that Yoshino’s surgery scar makes her look like a pirate. :-) (I find this story appealing because I too wrote [an incredibly silly] story in which the Yamayurikai and friends are pirates. ^_^) So, as anthologies go, there’s quite a bit to like about Maria’s Wink.
Ratings are variable, but I don’t think there was a story I disliked or art that skeeved me.
Overall – 8
If you’ve always wanted to dip a toe into the vast pool of Marimite doujinshi, an anthology is a nice way to start in general, and this volume of Maria’s Wink in particular. :-)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Please do not email or comment asking for or posting links to scanlations or fansubs. Okazu readers overwhelmingly support the artists, writers and publishers of Yuri by buying anime and manga series in English and Japanese.
This is a review site. Objectivity is a fiction.
Guest Review Submission Guidelines
Community Standards
& Commenting Guidelines
Okazu by Erica Friedman
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non, Commercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. © 2013
Layout design by Lissa Pattillo