Archive for the Series Category


Drama CD: Koi Shimai 2

June 15th, 2004

It seems only moments ago that I reviewed the first Koi Shimai Drama CD, but actually, it was already over a month ago.

The second CD picks up where the first left off. A new student teacher has come to school – Hiiragi Touko. As befits a good anime/manga lesbian, she arrives on a motorcycle and has an indescribably sexy voice actress. In fact, Hiiragi-sensei is voiced by Park Romi, the seiyuu that so brilliantly voices Aikawa Maki in Air Master.

Haruna and Chika are happy enough being together, but they have never really talked about their feelings. When Touko-sensei shows an obvious, and wildly inappropriate, interest in Chika, Haruna withdraws into herself and watches Chika pull farther and farther away from her.

Touko-sensei flirts with Chika, takes her for rides on her bike – she’s openly dating Chika and doesn’t hesitate to tell the girl that she finds her attractive. Chika can’t help herself; Touko is too sexy to ignore. She confides in her friend Akiho that she is concerned because Haruna isn’t fighting for her and seems to be creating distance between them.

Akiho confronts Touko-sensei about the situation. She accuses Touko of trying to break Chika and Haruna up, but Touko only responds with a counter-accusation, that Akiho is really jealous of Chika, of the attention she gets from Haruna, because she wants Chika for herself. Akiho is just projecting that jealousy onto her, Touko. Because this strikes close to home, Akiho is sobered, but she still feels that Touko-sensei should leave Chika alone.

Crisis looms when Chika spends a quiet moment with Touko-sensei. When Touko begins to seduce her, Chika can’t stand the pressure and runs away. She falls down a small cliff and twists her ankle, until Haruna comes running after her (egged on by Akiho) and slips down beside her. While waiting for help, the two girls have a honest talk – about how Haruna was feeling jealous, but powerless, and how Chika doesn’t want anyone else but Haruna. By the time Akiho and Touko-sensei find them, the two are reconciled.

After Chika politely rejects Touko-sensei, Akiho confronts Touko again and Touko tells her this story: When she, Touko, was in high school, she fell in love with another girl. They spent time together, but never really discussed their feelings, so she lost her lover when they graduated. As soon as Touko saw Haruna and Chika, she knew that they were exactly the same – and she didn’t want them to lose each other they way she had lost her lover. So she forced the issue. Akiho rightly thinks that Touko’s full of crap and lets her know it in no uncertain terms, at which point Touko asks Akiho out. ^_^ Akiho concedes so far as to “allow” Touko to hang out with her while she’s substituting at the school. I kind of like to think of the two of them as a couple – just because. ^_^ (My gut sense was spot on, as we learn in a third drama CD, Hatsukoi Shimai.)

Meanwhile, Chika is spending the night at Haruna’s and Akiho’s house, in Haruna’s room. Akiho very matter-of-factly enters and basically tells them to just sleep together already, but they argue about who will sleep where, eventually, awkwardly, deciding to share the bed. While laying in bed, holding hands, Chika asks Haruna directly what her feelings are. Haruna, in a stunning display of stupidity, says that she loves Chika like a sister, but more than that (from which the whole series draws it’s name – Koi Shimai, i.e., “love sisters.”) Chika seems happy with it, but I thought it was a copout. And no goodnight kiss. Bleah. I’ll just sit here and imagine Akiho sneaking out afterwards to go out riding with Touko and end up making out in a quiet spot somewhere. ^_^

On the whole, it was a well-done CD, and Park Romi is sexy as hell as Touko, but the ending was, IMHO, lame. A real kiss wouldn’t have killed them.

On a more amusing note, as a bonus track, all the seiyuu discuss their school years – about half went to all-girl schools and talked about same-sex crushes they saw or experienced, but the common thread was that they couldn’t think of anything to say – it was actually pretty funny. :-) The seiyuu for “Girl C” was excellent – telling all the girls who were listening who loved another girl to go for it and not give up! Yay “Girl C”! ^_^

The ratings are basically the same as the first CD – there were some sexy moments with Touko, but then end was a bit naff, so we’ll drop the overall down a point to a 7. But the Yuri definitely stays up at a 10 for this one.

In conclusion – a nice addition to a Yuri-focused Drama CD collection and very well voiced. ^_^





Maria-sama ga Miteru Manga Update

May 21st, 2004

It’s been about a month since the Marimite anime ended, and of course, we’re all waiting with baited breath to hear any news of a second season. In the meantime, however, I’m filling the void with the manga, running in Margaret monthly.

And since I have to kill about forty minutes here at work before the week ends, I figured an update of the manga story was in order. ^_^

As I’ve mentioned about a thousand times since this series exploded onto the Yuri scene, the manga is more detailed than the anime, and in some cases, more exact to the novels. Although for purists, any cut is a bad cut.

The first volume of the manga has been out since the end of February and we can probably expect a second volume pretty soon, even though the installments are coming monthly now and not biweekly. I’ve covered some of the differences between the anime and the manga of the first arc in my February 6th entry.

Well, now the manga is firmly into the second arc, aka “The Yellow Rose Revolution” and I wanted to share a few of the fun bits either changed in or left out of the anime with you, because I can. ^_^

Just to remind you (or introduce you to the story) the second arc deals with the repercussions when Yoshino (Rosa Foetida en Bouton Petite Soeur) returns her rosary to her oneesama, Rei (Rosa Foetida En Bouton.) This happens shortly after Yumi has become Sachiko’s soeur and she is still very new and uunsure of herself in her role. It absolutely shocks her when Yoshino returns Rei’s rosary, undoing their relationship…and poor Yumi is even more apalled when other girls do the same thing. In the meantime, Rei is training for a kendo match, at the same time that Yoshino is preparing to have heart surgery.

Here are a few of the more romantic/funny moments so far…

So, Yumi and Sei (Rosa Gigantea) are in the Rose mansion and Sei is coughing up the fact that Eriko (Rosa Foetida) is basically good at anything she tries to do, but is seriously unmotivated.

Sei throws her arms around Yumi, once again completely taken by Yumi’s cuteness. Yumi grimaces and says, “Why don’t you get yourself someone as a boyfriend?” and Sei laughs and says, “I couldn’t be faithful to some guy. Only Yumi-chan.” and kisses Yumi…just as Sachiko walks in.

The rest of that conversation is in the anime as well, with Sachiko telling Sei to play with her own petite soeur. Sei says, “Gee, I never thought of that…” and Sachiko yells at Yumi for not struggling to get away, and not to do anything that would make Rosa Gigantea happy. ^_^

While tying ribbons into Yumi’s hair, Sachiko calls Yumi Rei and Yoshino’s “carrier pigeon.”

Yumi is immediately distracted as Sachiko takes her hand, quite forcefully, and begins walking towards the bus stop. As they walk hand in hand, Yumi’s head explodes and her heart begins to pound and she desperately wonders if the other petite soeur have this problem of so wanting to be close to their onee-sama that they can’t quite cope. Her face becomes so red and distracted that, despite Yumi’s fervent wish that they stay connected a while longer, Sachiko lets go – she thinks she’s bothering Yumi. When they approach the bus stop holding hands – a few of the other girls see them and go all girly-squealy, but sotto voce, about how sweet it is that they Rosa Chinensis en bouton and her petite soeur are holding hands.

Later, at Rei’s shiai Sei wanders over with lots of snacks for Yumi, reassuring Yumi that she doesn’t need to be paid back, but Sachiko insists on paying for her. Yumi feels awfully contrite, because she didn’t think to bring her purse. Sachiko smiles gently at her and tells her that she, Yumi, should let her, Sachiko, act like an onee-sama every once in a while. Yumi sits, once again overwhelmed by Sachiko’s coolness. ^_^

One other difference is that Eriko’s absence is more notable – people at school have commented that she’s missing, and Yumi thinks she sees her, but each time, Eriko is gone when she looks again. At the hospital while visiting Yoshino, Yumi thinks she sees Eriko’s “ghost” because she looks so pale and is in all white – with further reflection Yumi might have realized that Eriko was wearing a hospital gown, but at the moment, she strikes her as ghost-like. It is from these things that the weird rumors will presumably begin about Eriko. ^_^

In any case, the manga is more satisfying than the anime, if what you crave is more interaction, more story, more personal details, etc. I imagine that I’ll write another update at the end of this arc and by then, we ought to have some news of the new anime season! ^_^





Yuri Manga: Blue

May 20th, 2004

Before I write today’s review, I just want to let you know that I’ve changed the “Comments” field below so anyone can comment – you no longer have to be registered.

Now, today’s review:

Blue, by Nananan Kiriko, was published by MAG Comics in 1997. Stuck as it was in the limbo space between the tough girl epics of the 1980’s and the new wave of yuri in the early twenty first century (that would be now…), this manga reads like a tentative probe into a sensitive spot.

Blue has a simple storyline – Kayako is a recent transfer student to a seaside school, still tentatively making friends. She becomes interested in the girl who sits in front of her and never really interacts with anyone. One day, on a whim, Kayako invites the girl, Masami, to join her and her classmates for lunch and a new friendship is born. Masami seems nice enough and she and Kayako start spending more and more time together.

One night, Kayako goes out with a few friends to an arranged drinking party with some guys. She ends up at a hotel with one of the guys, but afterwards, she realizes that it was pretty pathetic of her, because she’s fallen in love with Masami. Shortly therafter, she and Masami share their first kiss.

Their relationship becomes a little more exclusive, so when Kayako’s friend who had set up the drinking party comes in screaming at Kayako, she’s really taken aback. The friend is appalled at Kayako for sleeping with the guy *she* liked…for sleeping with him at all, really. In the following days, Kayako is quietly shunned by her circle of friends, but she and Masami become closer than ever – they decide to move to Tokyo together when they graduate, etc, etc.

But summer vacation comes and Masami disappears with no word to either her mother or Kayako. As Kayako’s happiness collapses around her, she’s forced to learn more about the Masami she didn’t know, and face her own fears and jealousies…and be more honest with her other friends.

In the end, Masami and Kayako do not stay together – there really is never any reason to believe they might, to be honest. If either one of them were male, this entire story would simply be a “first love” story and disappear into oblivion. The entire manga seems to be balanced on a pinhead of tension. There just isn’t much there, except the usual day-to-day stuff of adolescence. From my lofty perspective (adolescence was a *long* time ago now) it’s sweet, but not compelling, stuff.

In 2002, a live-action version of Blue was made. I haven’t managed to see it, yet, but I would like to, despite the fact that the movie seems like a slightly blander version of an already bland story. Despite the fact that I strongly believe that the movie-viewing audience is more than ready for a more robust story than this one. Nonetheless…Blue is not a hateful story, just sort of a nondescript, bittersweet “first love” story.

The one thing the does stand out about this manga is the art. To call it stark would be an understatement. There are no screentones, almost no shading and the characters are drawn realistically – not manga realistically, but actually realistically. This makes the story feel more real, but it makes it damn hard to tell some of the characters apart, if they have similar hair styles. Let’s face it, most mangaka can only draw one face and they stick different color hair and eyes on everyone, so we can see who is who. Take away weird hairstyles or distinct physical attributes, and all colors and most of the shading and all you have left is a bunch of nearly identical shapes. This makes Blue a little tougher than usual to follow, unless you can actually read the conversations. I was able to follow it alot better this time than I was the last time I attempted it. Assumably, one day I will actually be able to read every word with ease and it’ll all make sense. ;-)

So, Blue is only okay, but if you’re a completist and are trying to build a collection of all the Yuri manga ever, you’ll want this one too. ^_^





Drama CD: Maria-sama ga Miteru 1

May 6th, 2004

It is no secret that I am into voices. All my favorite actors and actresses are distinguishable as much by their voices as anything else. The same is true for anime – it is the fact that I can hear my favorite characters come to life, as opposed to seeing them do so, that appeals to me.

As a result, I absolutely love drama CDs. Not only can you hear your favorite voices, there are – as I wrote a few entries ago – many drama CDs of series that will never be made into an anime – or with other, sometimes better, actors and actresses in the roles.

So, while I was picking up the Koi Shimai CD, I also got myself a copy of the first Maria-sama ga Miteru drama CD.

All the characters are played by the same actresses that portray them in the anime – so Toyoguchi Megumi’s unusual voice is still Sei’s voice, Shinohara Emi’s sweet voice is stil Youko’s and Itou Miki’s polished Sachiko is the same. In a way, it’s already getting to be like listening to old friends.

The story follows the anime closely – so closely, in fact, that I wondered if they actually had to do any extra voice sessions for the CD at all. Yumi’s introduction of herself and the school – and its early twentieth century sensibility – are exact replicas of the anime opening.

One of the challenges of this particular drama CD is the language that the girls use while at school. Yumi is not, naturally, a formal speaker – her thoughts are couched in reasonably casual language. But if I wasn’t already familiar with the scenario, Sachiko’s sentences would be nigh on impenetrable, they are so formal. ^_^

This CD, which is the first of the series covers the first novel, wherein Sachiko and Yumi meet, Sachiko claims Yumi as her petite sour and Yumi refuses. The CD ends with the end of the second episode of the anime (or chapter of the manga) where Yumi breaks down in tears as she’s questioned by well-meaning friends about her refusal to take Sachiko’s rosary.

The scenes follow the anime progression not the manga, which is moderately closer to the original novel. I think that that is a shame, since the manga is a little gentler to Yumi in this arc. In the manga, when Yumi shows up for dance practice Youko takes her in hand and asks for a volunteer, rather than Sei stepping up, then abandoning her. On the other hand, since the scene is mostly for us to get to know all the Rosas, I guess it hardly matters….

In both the manga and the anime, the second chunk of the arc ends with Yumi crying from stress brought about by her feelings of inadequacy, the pressure she’s feeling from everyone at the school and the pressure of having to be in the presence of not only the Yamayurikai in general, but especially her idol Sachiko-sama. Although she tries to be cool like Sachiko, she can’t maintain the emotional distance and breaks down in front of her friends (who have the decency to feel awful about it.) Yumi thinks that the real problem is that she has real feelings for Sachiko and, so, it was alot easier to adore her from afar, where her feelings could be safe. Now, close to Sachiko as she is, she’s become vulnerable. In the anime and manga, Yumi leaves it at this, but the Drama CD takes it one step further.

Yumi admits to herself that she likes (suki) Sachiko, and that it was easier to admire her from afar. Because Yumi likes her, it’s too painful to be this close. At which point Yumi stops and admits that she *really* (daisuki) likes Sachiko. The CD ends with Yumi repeating, “Daisuki, Sachiko-sama, daisuki” over and over.

IMHO, that puts their relationship one clear step further away from akogare and closer to love. Since we know from the manga, if not the anime, that Sachiko no longer has any feelings for her cousin (who, along with her father’s and grandfather’s callous disregard for the feelings of the women in their lives, has soured her on men in general), I think we have confirmation that Yumi and Sachiko are as a classic “S” couple, in a platonic, but romantic, relationship.

The CD itself is very slickly produced, with background music reminiscent of the anime – without the Utenesque eyecatch theme. The sound quality is good and in general was totally worth the price. It even comes with little plastic Yumi and Sachiko stand-up dolls. (I love the fact that Japanese goods almost always come with an omake. It makes it ever so exciting to open a DVD or CD up to see what else you get!) The CD comes oddly packaged in a DVD-type case, not a jewel case, and the credits look like a personal journal in which Yumi has written – or more correctly, has her thoughts printed in it. There’s also a nice sketch of the Yamayurikai and Yumi in the middle, with the seiyuu and characters names listed by each character. All in all, a very nice addition to a growing CD drama collection.

Ratings:
Story – 8
Yuri – 10
Characters – 8
Voice Acting – 9
Music – 8

Overall – 8





Drama CD: Koi Shimai 1

May 4th, 2004

Drama CDs are all the rage these days (well, actually, they’ve always been the rage at my house) – not only does every anime have a few floating around, but many more games and manga which have never been made into anime do as well. Of course, there’s a Maria-sama ga Miteru Drama CD (which I will review later this week.) And now, from Sun Publishing, the people who brought you Yuri Shimai, comes Koi Shimai, the first “Girl’s Love” drama CD.

Koi Shimai is the sound drama of the first story of the first volume of Yuri Shimai, the tale of Haruna and Chika and how they met and fell in love. (This story was the printed story in the first volume – not the first manga. The cover is an illustration of Chika and Haruna.) Their story is melodramatic and predictable – pretty much like all the stories in Yuri Shimai, but as it had pretty color pictures, I have to give it a thumbs up.

The CD begins with Chika, as the new kid in school. She’s feeling a little out of her depth when cool upperclassman Haruna shows up and offers to help her. It turns out that Haruna has been sent to find Chika and take her on a tour of the grounds. They get along really well immediately, so Haruna takes Chika to a quiet, pretty spot that she knows. Of course, Chika falls pretty hard for Haruna while sitting with her in this romantic place. So, when Chika falls and Haruna bandages her with her handkerchief, Chika’s in seventh heaven.

But, when she tries to give the hankie back, Chika realizes that she likes Haruna, but the older girl isn’t sure of her feelings. When Haruna offers to tutor Chika, the younger girl thinks things are going well – but her score on the test is so high that she is accused of cheating! Haruna tells Chika that she believes in her – that Chika is her most important person…

The voice actors are pretty good – fairly typical of their kind. Cute girly voice for Chika, polite sweet voice for Haruna, kiddy voice for Haruna’s little sister Akiho (and one of Chika’s classmates) and a deep, cool voice for Hiiragi Touko, the plot complication for the next CD . ^_^

If you can understand basic Japanese – and I mean *basic* – you’ll be able to understand this CD. It’s that predictable.

Nonetheless, how many Drama CDs do you know that are girl/girl romances, with a kiss scene and everything? For that reason alone, Koi Shimai is totally worth having. ^_^

Ratings:
Story – 7
Yuri – 10
Characters – 8
Voice Acting – 8
Music –

Overall – 8