Archive for the Series Category


Maria-sama ga Miteru Sixth Novel, Part 2 Continued

August 11th, 2005

Valentinusu no Okurimono Atoben
Part 1, Continued

Main

10) Yumi and Sachiko are in the jeans shop. Yumi hears the rustling of Sachiko’s clothes as she changes, and Yumi goes all “doki-doki”. She begins to imagine Sachiko undressing, then stops herself and blames Sei’s “dirty old man” influence.

Yumi wonders how long the cuffs of the jeans are for Sachiko. For her, there’s enough extra to make a purse – on Sachiko it might only be enough to make a pen case. Yumi then wanders off into a mental rant about how Sachiko’s waist is slender, her legs are long, her bust is bigger than hers, Yumi’s. She complains to God that it’s so unfair. lol

When she sees Sachiko in jeans, Yumi is surprised, because she’s used to seeing her in socks/stockings. She thinks Sachiko’s legs are very grown-up looking and for a brief moment, Yumi understands leg fetishists. (Seriously – that’s what she says!)

11) When Minako questions Tsutako, the photographer covers for Yumi’s first date, not wanting the newspaper club president to know that Yumi and Sachiko are here.

12) Yoshino, in an attempt to make herself feel better, buys herself a book, then orders herself an expensive lunch set (which, if Rei and Chisato ordered, would have blown their whole budget for the date.) She realizes that she just feels lonely without Rei – doing anything with Rei is more fun – even just sitting under the kotatsu reading. Rei fills a hole in her life. With Rei, a breakfast of toast is fine, she doesn’t need fancy food. Without Rei, everything feels empty.

13) We learn that there are several security guards that patrol Lillian during the week but on Sunday, there is only one and the main gate is closed.

To get in to the school, Shizuka tells the guard that they have left books in their classrooms. She tells Shimako that she actually did have that happen once and it get her back onto the grounds, so she’s used it once before to come to the school just to be there when its empty.

Several of Shizuka’s lines in the anime are actually things Shimako thinks, like the line about sudden words being close to the heart.

Shimako resents Shizuka for reaching into the darkness inside her heart and touching it.

14) When Yumi and Sachiko meet up with Yoshino, Sachiko asks Yumi how much money they have left, then asks Yoshino to give Yumi the right amount for the cake set they are going to have at the cafe.

(Let me digress a second again – this is the second time I’ve used the idea of a “set” and I want to explain it briefly. Most Japanese restaurants have price fixed meal choices which they call “sets”. The cake set is probably a choice of one of a limited selection of cake and coffee for a fixed price.)

Yumi is *mortified* at Sachiko for asking Yoshino for money, but Yoshino, while she hands over the money, tells Yumi that she thinks Sachiko is right. It makes her part of the date, and she doesn’t feel as if she’s intruding, or that she should treat, or they should. Yumi, overcome with emotion, rushes over to Sachiko and hugs her arm, then tells her that doing things together with Sachiko today has made her incredibly happy. And it doesn’t bother her one bit that there are people around or that Yoshino is there watching.

Sachiko (have I mentioned how romantic Sachiko is???) reaches down and takes Yumi’s hand in her own and entwines their fingers as they walk. Yoshino, on seeing this mutters “Go! Go!” under her breath. LOL

15) When the three arrive at the café, the woman tells them that it’s so busy that they’ll either have to sit at the counter, or share a larger table with other people. Sachiko had asked Yoshino to join them with “The more the merrier”, which was exceptionally un-Sachiko- like. She now tells the lady to seat them with the strangers – another very un-Sachiko-like thing to do. It shows just how far she’s lightened up.

Of course, the “strangers” are Tsutako and Minako.

In the end, Yumi completely forgot to get the dried cod her mother requested that she buy while out shopping. lol

16) Shizuka’s interfering classmates actually went so far as to create a date schedule book for her and Shimako, with bus schedules, movie times, good places to eat in the area… (these are the same classmates who made her run for Student Council, so they sound like a fun group.)

Shimako thinks that the white card was really her heart and that she hid it to protect it, but was really wishing that someone would find it, and understand it. (Shizuka shows exceptional understanding of Shimako’s heart.)

Shizuka takes her leave of Shimako, and tells her that she can have all the cheesecake they bought for dessert as a reward for having to clean up the mess herself. Shimako grumbles a bit at the cleaning part (of course to herself).

17) The scene with Chisato and Yoshino was hacked to pieces in the anime.

Chisato begins by telling Yoshino that she and Rei met in town, walked a bit, then took in a movie, ate handmade lunches they had brought and parted. Rei claimed a lack of budget for the skimpiness of the date, and needing time to write up the report for not lingering.

Yoshino apologizes, because she realizes that it was Rei’s polite way of rejecting Chisato’s interest.

Chisato says that she picked the movie, knowing it really wouldn’t be Rei’s thing (again, that mixed-up questionnaire! Rei likes romance films, but Chisato doesn’t know that.)

At first Chisato is very prideful, telling Yoshino all of this almost as a boast. She starts to cry a little as she talks. She admits to having seen Yoshino on the pedestrian bridge and taking Rei’s arm on purpose to make her jealous.

Yoshino tells Chisato that she really wanted to hit her when she saw that – Chisato admits that she dislikes Yoshino, and thinks of her as a tragic maiden who keeps requiring her knight Rei to save her over and over again. Yoshino says that Rei never *had* to be by her side – she did it out of love.

Chisato asks Yoshino why she calls her “Rei-chan,” then says that Rei called her “Yoshino” 5 times.

As they stand in the foyer hugging, Yoshino thinks that they look like idiots – and they look like best friends.

Dessert

18) Yuki comes into Yumi’s room as she’s practicing the many versions of her phone greeting (depending on who answers the phone). He tells her that it sounds like Buddhist chanting.

And, when she shows no sign of actually dialing, he grabs the phone and dials. She gets it back before he connects. As we know, the phone rings before she gets a chance to dial. :-) It’s Sachiko – she had fun, we’re all happy, see you tomorrow.

After she gets off the phone, Yumi rolls back and forth across the bed in sheer happiness. LOL

End of Part 1





Maria-sama ga Miteru Sixth Novel: Valentine’s Gift, Part 2 (Part 1)

August 10th, 2005

Valentinusu no Okurimono Atoben
Valentinusu no Okurimono, Part 2
Valentine’s Gift
Part 1

The sixth novel picks up immediately following the last line of the fifth novel (which means that there is no usual opening…something author Konno Oyuki comments on in her Afterword.)

There were few surprises in this novel, and those were small surprises. The anime pretty much killed this novel in a death of a thousand cuts. I think that if I had read the novel first, then watched the anime, I’d have been pretty livid, since the anime made everyone seem completely out of character and kind of stupid in comparison to the novel. Especially Yumi. The anime made her seems really doofy, but she’s not at all like that in the novel – and no lame “cliffhanger” where she thinks Sachiko has walked off, thank heavens.

For the record – 16 pages of notes this time – THAT’s how much was changed, cut, or just plain interesting. Again, some of the many things I will comment on were in the anime (no manga is available yet, and I have not yet had the pleasure of listening to the CD Drama), but for whatever reason, if I thought it of note, I jotted it down.

Notes will be in three parts, since there were three parts of the novel. :-)

“First Date Triangle”

The section heads of this particular story were food-related: Hors d’ouevre, main course, etc…

Order

1) As Shimako falls apart in Sei’s arms, crying because Sei will leave when it becomes spring, Sei comforts her with the thoughts that the rest of the Yamayurikai love her and that time moves on, she’ll find a soeur, etc. Shimako thinks, but does not say, that although her friends in the YYK are fine, they are not Satou Sei!

Sei jokes that Shimako seems cranky.

Boy did they leave THIS out of the anime: Sei then comments that, after the school elections she and Shimako embraced. If Shimako wants, now, Sei will kiss her…or do anything else she’d like. (!)

Shimako declines, thinking (again, not saying out loud) to herself that Sei offering such a thing is enough for her. They are too much alike – if they got to close, they’d end up being dependent upon one another to lick each other’s wounds. For Shimako, Sei and she are mirrors reflecting each other’s existence. Shimako’s wish is that RG remain there for her. That Sei was there in her life is enough for Shimako; she doesn’t need to be held.

As in the anime, Sei then puts Shimako’s hand in her pocket and begins to walk. When they reach the statue of Mary, Shimako stops, as customary. However, Sei grabs Shimako’s hand and pulls her past, saying, “For today, don’t.” Shimako goes along with Sei, but it’s the first time she hasn’t stopped and put her hands together in front of Mary. She thinks that Sei is the cranky one, now.

2) Yumi and Yoshino are alone in the Rose Mansion. As in the anime, Yoshino is writing out a list of girls who gave chocolate to Rei, so she can return the favor on White Day (March 14, when boys give girls they like – and return the favor of obligatory V-Day chocolates – with white chocolate.) Yoshino’s pretty pissy about having to do it and complains because Yumi doesn’t have to. Yumi apologizes that her
onee-sama is so fastidious, in a very fond tone. Yoshino is extra pissed, because Rei not only asked Yoshino to do this since she’s really busy, but its extra burdensome because when students found out that last year she gave white chocolate back, it encouraged even more gifts this year. Yoshino grumps that that’s what she gets for having a sexy and soft-hearted onee-sama.

All of this was in the anime, done just slightly differently. Yumi is hoping to ask Yoshino advice for her date with Sachiko. However, what was cut out (or washed out in the anime version) was, Yumi leaning forward and quite suddenly asking Yoshino if they could become closer friends. Yoshino responds by getting all embarrassed and a little gruff. Yumi tells Yoshino that she likes her and, since they are going to be en bouton and one day Rosas together….

Yumi asks, “Do you dislike me?’

(Let me digress for a sec. As I mentioned in my notes for Kibara Kakumei, the second novel, it is quite apparent that, other than Rei, Yoshino has no friends at all, really. So this is a really key moment for both of them.)

Yoshino wonders why it embarrasses Yumi to ask this, and Yumi admits that she can’t just come out and ask Sachiko if she, Sachiko, loves her, Yumi, although she wants to. Yoshino admits that she and Rei tell each other all the time that they love each other. The two girls look at each other and laugh at their mutual embarrassment. Yoshino stands up and puts a hand out and Yumi takes it. With a shake and few ritual words “Yoroshiku,” “Kochira koso” they move from being acquaintances to close friends.

Now that Yumi is more comfortable, she says, “So, can I ask you something – about my date…”

I loved this scene and wish it had been included in full in the anime.

3) A Tsutako scene, like all others where Tsu shows off her understanding of human nature and Yumi boggles. Lol

Tsu, rather facetiously, tells Yumi to look up the word “date” in the dictionary (which she does, which leads from a Japanese dictionary to an English one to a French, which they don’t have on hand. Tsu boggles at Yumi doing this the entire time…) Tsu comments that Rei and Yoshino would, naturally, living next to each other and being cousins and soeur, go out all the time, so Yoshino most likely really
can’t help Yumi with her issues. If Yoshino and Rei go shopping, it’d be a kind of date, so…

Tsutako offers to go on a dry run date with Yumi so Yumi can “practice” her schedule. Yumi thinks she doesn’t have the time as the date is this Sunday. But more importantly, this is the 2nd time we get a glimpse that Tsutako likes Yumi a little more than she lets on.

Tsu suggests going to ask Shimako.

4) Shimako seems listless. Minako wants a preliminary budget for each date and a report by each en bouton and contest winner – Yumi thinks it all sounds oppressive.

When Yumi asks Shimako if she’d asked Shizuka about the date, Shimako falters and Yumi rushes to keep her from falling. Yumi asks her what the matter is, Shimako says that she doesn’t understand Shizuka’s true intentions.

5) This leads Yumi to see Shizuka, who accuses her of coming because Shimako or Sachiko suggested she do. Yumi denies it, but breaks out in a cold sweat.

Shizuka tells Yumi that she’s not a god, or a psychic – she happened to find Shimako’s card entirely by accident.

Hors D’ouevres

6) When Sachiko smiles, Yumi thinks that she looks like Maria-sama, but then she decides that she likes the hysterical Sachiko, too. We get a moment of Yumi being besotted – a long look at Sachiko, admiring her outfit, then thinking that what was in the clothes is even better. (!)

As in the anime, they have decided to go Dutch on this date, because they couldn’t agree who would pay. The final agreement is that they would each put in half and Sachiko will give Yumi something for White Day – to keep it all even.

The first place they stop is a bookstore. Yumi sees Yoshino following Rei and Chisato.

7) Yoshino spends a huge chunk of this section reproving herself for following them. Disgusted with her own behavior, she berates herself for scene after scene.

8) Tsutako, who is hoping to get a picture for the newspaper, is hungry. In a cut-out scene, (gosh, I wonder why they cut this?) she spends about two or three pages fantasizing about eating something with rice. lol It’s an entire chapter of Tsu thinking about lunch!

9) Shimako and Shizuka get off to a bad start, which is pretty fairly done in the anime. BUT, we didn’t get to see Shimako wondering if Shizuka picked their meeting place because there were many places to buy food. In fact, Shizuka picked it because she knew Tsutako would be there and thought that it would be fun to try and dodge her, “Playing with fire” a little.

Shizuka points out that Shimako picked the school as their “date” place for the same reason. Bull’s-eye. In fact, as the bus pulls out of the station, Tsu sees Shizuka in the window, and Shizuka sees her as well.

To Be Continued…





Yuri Manga: Ichigo Mashimaro, Volume 2

August 9th, 2005

I’m woman enough to admit when I’m defeated. And there is no doubt in my mind that Ichigo Mashimaro has won by a knockout.

I originally caved back in May, when I reviewed Volume 1 of the manga, but now I’m full blown moe-geeking at the utter cuteness and wacky humor of this story. Look, Ma, I’m a genuine otaku now!

Volume 2 is more of the same nothing that is usual for Ichigo Mashimaro. Miu and Nobue treat everyone – especially each other – with unusual cruelty that somehow manages to be adorable even as its being eviler than just about anything else I’ve ever seen. And that, in a nutshell, is what has got me hooked. I just adore psychotic women. lol

So, in Volume 2, we are introduced to the last of our main cast, the European doll-like Ana, who hails from Cornwall, but has about as much English as the average Japanese elementary school student. In other words – almost none. Watching as Ana tries desperately to pretend to not know Japanese or any of the right customs is just plain hysterical.

The rest of this volume is taken up with several fanservice-y shorts, a bath episode, a Christmas episode, a running gag about a local vending machine that serves up random objects and other goofball stuff that’s funnier than it has a right to be.

And, at last, there’s a hint of the yuri that I just haven’t seen until now. Okay, its true that Nobue hugs Ana when she meets her, but she is drunk at the time. And she clearly thinks of Matsuri as a pet, not as a girl. After reading Volume 2 (and 3, but that’s a later review) I’m sticking with the Miu x Nobue combo. Miu has it bad for Nobue and frankly, I can see Nobue being okay with that. Remember, manga Nobue is 16…not so huge and uncomfortable a gap between that and Miu’s 12. I’m pretty sure we *all* had crushes on older women at that age. (In retrospect, mine was probably my babysitter, Biz Ann.) So, yeah.

The final chapter traces a cold that begins with Chika, but ends up being Miu’s. In her eternal desire to gain Nobue’s attention, Miu demands that Nobue see if she has a fever (she doesn’t….but she will.) As she lifts her face to Nobue, Nobue leans over and kisses Miu on the lips. A little surprisingly, Miu freaks. They then go on to play doctor, in a way that I’m pretty sure I never did as a kid. But I digress. Oh, and the best gag of the chapter is Chika sneezing messily on her older sister. Twice. It’s infantile, and gross, but really, really funny.

Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Yuri – 5

For sheer bizarro wacky humor and psycho babydyke-in-training Miu, this manga is a serious win.





Yuri Manga: Transistor ni Venus, Volume 4

August 5th, 2005

Transistor ni Venus, Volume 4 is one long gag about smoking. Or, more accurately, about how unsexy smoking is.

Enus is assigned to guide and protect Mag, a 21-year old who looks significantly younger, and a professor who happens to be one of the ferret-like sentient race that inhabits the Transistor universe. As usual, they are followed, attacked and generally harrassed by other spies trying to gain the information Mag and the Professor have, but Enus always comes through and saves them. The gag begins when Enus wants to collect an appropriate reward from Mag…who is fine with a little sex, but wants to have a ciggy first. The Professor joins her. Enus goes to sleep infused with second-hand smoke and an attitude.

About halfway through the book, Enus loses Mag and the professor, but picks up Tes, from whom she gets a few kisses, but is almost immediately interrupted by the arrival of rival spy Kara, who promptly steals Tes. We regain Mag and the Professor and the smoking club has now grown by two.

The whole story ends with a big kissfest, but Enus goes to bed alone. I imagine the others are outside for a cigarette break.

As with all the other Transistor volumes, this one is good, wholesome fun trash. The emphasis is on comedy, with a little light yuri.

While I was reading this volume, I showed it and the artbook to a friend who has no interest in anime and she perked right up! “Why didn’t you TELL me about this?” she asked when, of course, I’d been telling her for years.

If you know a lesbian who thinks all this yuri is crap, show her this series – I bet she pays a little more attention. ;-) Partially its the art – the artbook in particularl looks like pin-up art more than manga art. A couple of the pictures would make nice tattoos. ^_^

So the yuri quotient is a little lower in this volume than the others (which I have reviewed previously, use the search feature up top on the left to find the entries) but is still a fun read.

Once again, many thanks to Touko_no_doriru-san for opening my eyes to this wonderful series!





Aqua Manga Volume 1 and 2

August 1st, 2005


How bizarre…the cover pictures for Aqua on Amano’s website are not the ones on the actual covers.

In any case, my apologies for leaving you so long having to read my whiny, self-indulgent last post. I just didn’t have the energy to write reviews, so I sat around, re-watched Devilman Lady (on the premise that no matter what’s going on in my life, Jun’s problems were infintely worse) and worked on the up-coming Yuri Monogatari 3 which will, gods willing, be premiering at Onna! in October.

But all this has nothing to do with Aqua – which is okay, because Aqua has nothing to do with anything in particular.

Aqua is the two-volume prequel to Aria, which I reviewed in February and May of this year. Aria is being made into an anime which is slated for this fall sometime, for those of you who missed that news on the Yuricon Mailing List.

So, if you are familiar with Aria, then you know exactly what Aqua is like. In these two volumes we meet Akari as she comes to Mars for the first time. Mars, now known as Aqua, has been terraformed and humans have, quite naturally, recreated the same places that they loved on Earth. Or that they destroyed. Either way. :-)

Akari meets and collects almost all of the characters who will return in Aria, so its kind of nice if you want to know about the first time she meets the postman, or Aika. The adventures are sweet and unstressful, there was way too many cats, and everything is pretty.

So, since there’s nothing earth-shaking (or mars-shaking) in the plot, let’s get down to business…Yuri?

Well, Aika’s crush on Alicia is way pronounced, but it is a very schoolgirly crush. So Yuri, no, akogare/admiration, yes. But hey, if you’re desperate, go for it. I don’t care. lol Alicia has, right from the beginning that undefined sensuality that makes her and Akira so much an item later in Aria, and which is probably what Aika is responding to.

So, pretty much, Aqua is more of the same as Aria, or vice versa, since Aqua came first.

It’s not lesbo sex, but its quite pleasant in a back rub kind of way. :-)

Same ratings as Aria.