Archive for the Series Category


Ride or Die on Netflix

April 16th, 2021

Ride or Die on NetflixIf you are a regular reader here at Okazu, you know that I have loved the darkly violent Yuri manga GUNJO from the day I received a message about it on Japanese social platform Mixi, back in 2008ish. I’ve written reviews of various chapters I read in Morning Two magazine and all three of the volumes in Japanese in my GUNJO category here on Okazu.  In 2018, I was able to meet with Nakamura-sensei (over what was possibly one of the hilariously worst lunches I can remember. This was supposed to be a BLT. It was inedible.) At the time, we worked out how we might do a translation for GUNJO into English. And she mentioned that she was in talks about a live-action adaptation.

Translator Erin Subramanian and I have completed the translation for Volume 1 of GUNJO, into English, which is purchasable by the chapter on Nakamura-sensei’s website. We’re hoping to see a collected Volume 1 on ebook sellers near you one day soon. As we completed Volume 1, the pandemic hit and the project was paused. Today’s review was, in large part, why it paused. Last night Netflix released Ride or Die, the live-action movie based on the manga by Nakamura Ching.  Ride or Die, directed by Hiroki Ryuuichi, is not GUNJO. It is, however, within spitting distance of it.

Like GUNJO, (I ended up using this spelling when Morning Two magazine chose it over Gunjō, so forgive me) Ride or Die contains graphic violence and marital abuse. Unlike the manga, the movie also contains several explicit sex scenes, both straight and lesbian. If any of this makes you feel uncomfortable, you may well want to give this movie a pass. Interestingly, for the lesbian sex scene at the end of the movie, the staff brought in an “intimacy coordinator,” which Max Gao writes about in his article on NBC, Stars of Netflix’s lesbian thriller ‘Ride or Die’ on their on- and off-screen connection. This intimacy does change the end of the story considerably, but whether you think it works better or worse will be an entirely personal decision. In my opinion the end of the manga is very hard to beat for perfection. ^_^

Another change from the manga is that the characters – who remained nameless and were referred to as “Megane-san” and “Lesbian-san” by Japanese fandom – here are named. They get to share moments of genuine joy in this movie, which was probably the most disconcerting change for me. I don’t think it was a bad change, it merely signaled that we would not get that manga ending. Overall, I think both Sato Honami as the abused Nanae and Mizuhara Kiko as Rei, the woman who loves her enough to kill for her, did an excellent job. There were moments when Sato looked so like Megane-san that it was quite extraordinary and I found myself commenting on it every time.

As you may remember in my other movie reviews, I dislike the slowdown of pacing that seems to be to be a common occurrence in Japanese live-action manga adaptations. In the case of Ride or Die, it was the sex scenes that I felt went on too long, and the movie would have benefited from them being cut slightly. But this was pretty much my only complaint. This, I think, came from the choice of director whose career began in pink films and whose body of work tends to favor graphic sex and violence. 

Some of you may wonder about the title, Ride or Die, which I’m sure many of us see as an already tired trope. Nakamura-sensei mentioned that the title change was something she approved of and I’m inclined to agree. It allows us to view the movie as something separate from the manga…but also to see this is a subversion of the trope itself. This is not a “ride or die” scenario in the most typical sense. The characters are, yes, being followed by the police, but not hot on their heels. There’s just no urgency as they wander randomly through their lives together until they and we have all the pieces.

Ratings:

Cinematography – 9
Story – 9
Characters – Portrayed beautifully, so 9 but they are sometimes deeply unlikable
Service – 10
Lesbian – 10

Overall – 9

I’ll watch it again, for sure. If you get a chance to watch it, let us know what you think in the comments!





I’m in Love With the Villainess Manga, Volume 1

March 31st, 2021

If you’re reading this, you’re probably aware that this particular isekai series has been given a lot of space in Yuri fandom’s head these days. With the successful light novels (Volume 1 and Volume 2 of which are available in English, Volume 3 on the way in July and Volume 1 through Volume 4 out in Japanese), a 5th place win in the recent survey asking what series fans want most to see as an anime, as announced at AnimeJapan, I think we can just agree to call this series an iconic series for Yuri in the early 2020s. ^_^ This point is key to today’s review, because this series, written by inori, with character designs by hanagata, has almost instantly become important to us. This emphasis will become relevant shortly, as we take a look at Volume 1 of the I’m in Love With the Villainess manga which was released this week digitally on Global Bookwalker.

Like the LNs on which the manga is based, we begin with Ohashi Rei, a worker at a company who finds herself reborn in to the world of her favorite otome game where she, as the protagonist, is finally free to romance the villainess, Claire François. There are a lot of things to like about this series. Much of fandom is thrilled to have an openly (and as it goes on, increasingly) queer Yuri work. I’m delighted to have an isekai work that addresses social and income inequities, government accountability, as well as surfacing gender and sexuality minority issues. Additionally, I really like that the protagonist is an adult, so their thoughts about these issues aren’t too simplistic. All of these things are part and parcel of why this particular series has made such a huge splash in Yuri fandom.  The fact that fandom has embraced this series with such passion is, in part, why the editing issues that lead to a excision of a passage in the first Light Novel (which has been restored already in digital editions) caused such a major uproar.  As I discussed in my recent article about Queer Representation, when we get more and better representation in media, we become more demanding, not less.

I really enjoy the manga iteration of this story overall. The art seems more lively/less moe than the original LN art, and there’s enough inconsistency in that art to highlight the comedy aspects. The nudity is entirely egregious, but it is also relevant to the story…not because the nudity itself is important, but what it says about the character. This is the core of the passage which had been deleted, in fact; the motivation of why Rae is the way she is. Those of us who have read past Volume 2 of the LNs will understand that this feels so long ago and almost irrelevant, but it had an impact on readers who were just beginning to love the story. To be perfectly honest, I assumed the story was originally a “comedy” that just morphed into a drama, and never felt Rae’s behavior needed explaining. But that’s just me.

Which is why it pains me to say this: The translation for the manga is not, in my opinion, very good. (Ironic, as I was just accused of being an apologist for Seven Seas last week. ) Jenn Yamazaki does such lovely work on the Light Novel translation.  Rae and Clarie’s voices are clear and appropriately translated.  As I read this manga volume, I became increasingly uncomfortable with the translation here. Given how absolutely critical Claire’s awareness of herself as a daughter of the nobility is to this story, some of the things that she says are crude, things said about her are uncouth and, ultimately in one of the final pages, she is seen to say, “bloody commoner.” 

I hate to be that person, but I am about to be that person. Not only is that not what she says in Japanese, which was 「本当にこの平民は・・・」 and not what is implied,  which I understood more as, “Really, this commoner is [just so]…”, it is wholly, unpleasantly vulgar. I  do not know if this was a failure of translation or editing, but it left me feeling absolutely bereft.

I’m with Rae. Claire high-handed arrogance is incandescent and her descent from that arrogance is a magnificent story which does not deserve greasy fingerprints of vulgarity. It left me thinking that neither translator nor editor care about this story and that is something I have not felt about a Seven Seas book in a very long time.  As I said at the beginning, this series has become important to us. It needs to be important to Seven Seas as well. I was so distraught at Claire saying “Bloody commoner” I woke up this morning and immediately composed an email to Seven Seas, letting them know what I would be saying here, so they were not blindsided. This translation did not feel as if it was done with love.

Surely one might assume that someone there would have thought to go over this before releasing it this week, after the problem last week?  A deleted passage is a problem that is fixable. An entire volume translated by someone who missed the point entirely may be fixable, but could have been prevented, if someone had been paying attention.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 9
Story – 8 It will improve over time. ^_^
Service – 5 Nudity and bathing
Yuri – 10

Overall – 8, with 1 off for the translation, which makes it a 7

If you don’t care about “voice” the way I do, it might not rub you the wrong way.  And, translation aside, this is still a fun manga, with great expressions and fun art and, of course, a terrific story. I’m still very eager to see the school festival cafe drawn by Aonoshimo-sensei. It was a scene that we all deserve to see realized. ^_^





Otherside Picnic, Volume 4

March 24th, 2021

At the end of Volume 3 our protagonists, Sorawo and Toriko have managed to free themselves from the clutches of an Otherside cult centered around the figure of Toriko’s mentor, Uruma Satsuki. In doing so, they uncover the cult headquarters, a remote building complex called The Farm.

Otherside Picnic, Volume 4 begins with Toriko and Sorawo accompanied by members of the DS and military contractors to clear the Farm of cult-built gates to the Otherside. This gives us a lot of space to encounter weird and threatening situations, and the general aura of not-rightness that contact with the Otherside brings. Sorawo asks DS to gift them the Farm, so they can manage it – and not incidentally, have a salary for doing so. She and Toriko provisionally get control of the Farm, and they hatch a plan.

But first, there some stuff going on that they have no idea what to do with, so they are avoiding what is happening to them…and what is happening between them. First and most pressing, it has been more and more obvious to me and to Sorawo, that the Otherside is targeting her, personally. Originally, she thought it was because of Satsuki, but she’s gone and it hasn’t gotten better. More phenomena are directed at Sorawo, specifically, and it’s clearly linked to her past. Every moment we get more of Sorawo’s backstory, everything about her makes more and more sense. And holy shit.

The second matter is no less pressing. As Sorawo and Toriko relax at a hot spring resort, they get very close to addressing what is building between then, but an Otherside phenomena occurs – a scene which is in my opinion, one of the very best in the books to date. Great use of everyday creepyness to create the Otherside’s signature threatening aura.

At last it is time to put their plan into action – Toriko and Sorawao plan an overnight trip on the Otherside. The preparations were actually quite interesting; soothingly banal, which was was a perfect setup for the final scene of this book in which all of the many issues mentioned here collide in an eerie grand finale. With the sole exception of Japanese writers’ newest grotesque body fetish – which I can live without ever encountering ever again – this ending was as least as least as strong as the Kotoribako and, like that ending, will undoubtedly send us into a whole new direction with the story. Miyazawa’s narrative arcs are tight here. shirakaba’s art in this book is way less goofy and much more moody…I like it. Translator Sean McCann and editor Krys Loh do a fantastic job of communicating unreal, not-things in a way that are the right kind of inexplicable. 

Ratings:

Story – 9
Character – 9
Service – 7 – Onsen bathing and /spoilers./
Yuri – 7

Overall – 9

Now this story is really ready to begin. Otherside Picnic is a beguiling tale of personal trauma intertwined with paranormal horror.

Otherside Picnic is available on Kindle, Global Bookwalker and wherever J-Novel Club books are sold. ^_^





“I’m in Love With the Villainess” Translation Controversy – What Does it Mean For Readers?

March 19th, 2021

UPDATE: Seven Seas has responded to this issue:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Those portions of the text were removed during the editorial process at the time, but we have since changed how we edit these books to make sure important lines are not lost. We’ll be revising the ebook within the next few weeks to add the cut portions back into the book, and the revision will also be reflected in all future printings of the paperback.

Thanks to everyone who wrote them politely.

SECOND UPDATE: Someone on ANN Forums asked a couple of questions about this post. I have clarified those comments on that forum, if you are interested.

THIRD UPDATE: Setting aside editorial choice for the moment – typographic errors are not a personal attack. There are a lot of moving parts in publishing. There’s no rational basis for assuming either that a company cannot be trusted because a typo occurred OR than there was intent. I read three books this week. I found three typos. I wrote one company and privately told them about the typo, in case it can be fixed. One was in a Japanese book – they have typos, too, and the third was not important enough to care about. I have found errors in books for which I know absolutely more than5 pairs of eyes went over the copy. Typos happen. Being angry about them is just not healthy for either you, or fandom.

****

What a day! I woke up this morning ready to face an AMA on reddit as part of a Women’s Month celebration with my publisher (the thread is ongoing, feel free to drop in). I had a review lined up. 

I almost instantly found myself facing links to a thread on the J-Novel Club Forum, about a potential problem with Seven Seas’ I’m in Love With the Villainess, Volume 1. I’m not quoting the thread here, because after some conversation, the OP calmed down a lot, so I don’t want to make it seem like they are still spitting angry. You can click the link if you want specifics.  The thread title is a fanwank, Seven Seas is not in trouble. I am aware there was a recent issue with a translation that they did and human nature being aligned to pattern-recognition, caused some readers to recognize a pattern. (I’m of the belief that you need three things to form a pattern, but that’s me.) So instead of a review, we’re going to talk about this.

To summarize, there is a passage in Volume 1, where Rae speaks about internalized homophobia from LGBTQ representation in Japanese media, and, as a result, overplayed her love for Claire as hyperbolic comedy.  It was a good passage, and the OP was incensed that it had been deleted. Of course, whenever a fan shouts “censorship!” there’s always a mob of people ready to pull out pitchforks and torches.

I’ve written to Seven Seas to see if they would like to have an official, on the record, response to this, but in the meantime I have a few thoughts I want to share. These are in reverse order to their appearance in my responses on that same forum thread, with some thoughts from Twitter interspersed. Before we talk about appropriate responses to this issue, let us understand the issue itself. Since I never read Volumes 1 or 2 in Japanese, I am coming to this the same as you are.

The OP was comparing the Japanese Volume 1 with the English Volume 1. I pointed out that we, the readers cannot truly know where the disconnect was. It may have been Seven Seas who deleted the scene – which frankly makes no sense to me. GL Bunko may also have sent Seven Seas a bowdlerized copy with that scene deleted, as there has been a serious crackdown on Japanese media freedoms and, while it is hard to imagine that the Abe government would care about a US published edition of a web novel-based light novel, maybe someone at GL Bunko thought it sensible to remove the line.

Secondly, we do not know what decisions were made at Sevens Seas or why. The passage seemed to me to clearly be discussing “representation” like Hard Gay, which was hyperbolic and extreme. If one wasn’t familiar with that sort of “comedy” the passage could be misunderstood. It might have been removed to avoid confusion – if indeed it was removed by Seven Seas.

To be clear – I hope this was a fixable mistake. I thought the missing passage made sense and clarified some of Rae’s early choices…and I genuinely enjoy every glimpse we get of Ohashi Rei in the story. But we may never know what happened, because we may never be able to know. Being fans of a series does not grant us access to the contracts. Unless we are involved in making this particular sausage, we might never know what goes into it. 

We may not know why this happened, but there are something that are 100% under our control. We can always control our response to the controversy. Here I am going to quote from my own comment on the thread:

…ascribing any changes to malicious intent is not all right. Of course you are welcome to not read anything they sell, but what good does that do? Then you don’t get to enjoy the rest of these wonderful books. Tantrums are not the way adults handle problems. Hateful rhetoric leads to hateful behavior…we do not want someone taking their frustration to a KyoAni level. We cannot allow that.

Take moment and write Seven Seas a polite, firmly worded email expressing the problem. Ask them to restore deleted passages. If they get enough feedback, they might (probably will) change their position. There’s no guarantee, but there’s a much better chance than if you rant on a forum. When Viz made some decisions that in aggregate seemed very trans- and homophobic, I and a lot of folks wrote them and asked for the decisions to be fixed…and they were. They even fixed an issue that had hurt someone for decades, when their deadname had not been removed from a credit. THAT is how we make change, not harmful rhetoric. We know where that leads.

There is no place in Yuri fandom for hate of any kind.

So I’m asking you all, as another fan of ILV, don’t speak of this as an attack on you or on fandom. It’s a very unhealthy way to think of anything. We don’t need to be angry. We can be disappointed and let Seven Seas know.

Yuri fandom must remain a friendly, welcoming and intelligent place. If I have to physically wrangle individuals back from a ledge, I will. ^_^

Additionally, some well-meaning person tagged the creator on Twitter and dragged them into this mess. Please don’t tag creators when you’re posting about unpleasant stuff. It’s so hard being a creator, it’s a terrible feeling to have someone dump some problem you can’t do anything about in your lap. I hate getting a notification that says, “Hey @OkazuYuri, what do you think about this?” What do I think? I think the person who tagged me is a jerk, frankly. Is it my problem to have an opinion on? Can I do anything about it? Do you do this in real life? Why? Are you 12? “Hey, Jim, what do you think about the argument two other people are having in the bar?” Don’t do this.

Lastly, please consider this:

We can and should approach media critically, not with an angry, entitled attitude.

So, what does this deletion mean for us, fans and readers of I’m in Love With the Villainess? It means, we have the opportunity to show ourselves as the best, most thoughtful, kind and loving fandom. We can write Seven Seas, politely, thank them for their LGBTQ content and express disappointment and concern that some content was left out of Volume 1 and if at all possible, ask if it can be restored in the Kindle version and future printings.

That is what we can – if you feel strongly about it, should – do, whenever you feel that there is an issue.

 





Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou. Volume 4 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。)

March 15th, 2021

Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 4 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) is a wild ride of a novel that has more twists and turns than the newest roller coaster at your local amusement park. It was awesome.

At the end of Volume 3, we left Rae and Claire in the Nur Kindgom, having made a heck of an impression on the despotic rule of Nur, Queen Dorothea, in a battle against the Demon Rulers. They also made an impression on the Demons.  Both of these are understood to be ambiguous in nature and will surely come to a head. But first, we have some much more important stuff to deal with….

…including an Iron Chef-like cooking contest between the greatest chefs of Nur, and Rae and Claire’s 6-year old daughter Aleah. And a formal ball. Also a act of incredible magical skill handled by their other 6-year old daughter, Mei. Rae and Claire help foment rebellion, change the diet of the entire army, solve a murder mystery and three other mysteries, only one of which was in the least predictable. Then a kidnapping. And then, about 2/3 of the way through this book, the story slams down on us with a vengeance.

Inori carefully weaves their way through the various plotlines and pulls out exactly the right ending for the book. It could not have been handled better without making concessions to what we knew of everyone.

This felt like a long book, and we had a number of new characters, several of which are undoubtedly going to be key in Volume 5. It was no surprise that I like Hilde, the hyper-competent bureaucrat with a monocle, but almost despite myself, I also like Frida, the Princess’s “Merikan” friend.  This story still remains wholly queer and deeply rooted in social and political activism. This volume takes some time to get there, but when it does, it does.

Every single one of my questions from Volume 3 were answered, save one, and that clearly is going to be a plot in Volume 5. There are a lot of loose ends yet to be tied up. I’m constantly fighting with myself whether to read the chapters on inori’s Pixiv Fanbox or not but I have chosen to not do so, and hope you will respect that by not spoiling anything for me, as I have tried to not overly spoil this for others. Thank you. ^_^ I still have hope that two of the things left undone will be done by the end of the series and one other new thing also gets followed through with, but I admit that this last is simply because I really like Dorothea and want to see more of her.

The art was the best so far of the series. I’ll never adore moe-fication of characters like Dorothea, but I felt that everything in this book was way more finished and solid than in previous books and a few of these were extra lovely. (I did mention the formal ball, yes?) ^_^

Volume 3 is slated for a July release in English, which feels so far away, and Volume 5 is not yet listed in Japan, but I remind you that Volume 3 and Volume 4 are available in Japanese on US Kindle. They are so worth it.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 10
Service – Yes. Still perfectly okay.
Yuri – 10
Queer – 10

Overall – 10

Oh, the boot I kept waiting to drop in V3? It dropped in V4. And it wasn’t a main plot point, just one more crazy arc that lead somewhere else entirely and was even worse and better than I imagined.

If you’d like spoilers or have read it and want to shout with me about it, please join me on the Okazu Discord. ^_^