Archive for the Series Category


MURCIÉLAGO Manga, Volume 10 (ムルシエラゴ)

June 19th, 2018

Giant shark. Murder. Kidnapping. Creepy priest/nun combo. Lovecraftian chapter title. Excessive seafood consumption. Did I mention a Giant SHARK? MURCIÉLAGO , Volume 10 (ムルシエラゴ) has it all…depending on your definition of “all,” obviously. ^_^

After a little soujourn in school designed only to contain a peeing one’s self scene, news of a 7-meter shark has Hinako bouncing out of her skin to see the wonder. So the gang packs up and visits the aquarium. Hinako consumes a great deal of seafood in the cafe, while Chiyo and Kuroko have a surprisingly romantic moment together. Then the giant shark coughs up a hand and dies, so that’s the end of that. 

The dead shark leads the (what’s a good nickname for a Scooby Gang, only full of murderers, yakuza and the criminally insane?) gang on a mission to a fish market, to track down the ship that caught the shark where we meet Suiren, an attractive young female fisher on the lookout for her missing father.  And, the uber-creepy priest/nun son/mother combo at the local church who are clearly part of the kidnapping of random people in the local area. 

Kuroko’s vaguely interested in the murder of the left-hand’s owner, but she’s very interested in Suiren, so away we go! We get some quality time with police pathologist Yuria, and the whole package is tied up with the Lovecraftian title “The Deep Ones” for a satisfying whole…depending on your definition of “whole,” obviously. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – Well, it’s not getting worse
Story – 8
Characters – 8, although Hinako has been given an extra helping of weird along with her maguro
Service – 4 Shockingly low for this series
Yuri – 7 Chiyo and Kuroko’s moment was so sweet…until the shark yacked up the hand and died.

Overall – 8

Not *quite* as awesome as Giant Snakes, but Giant Sharks are cool too. ^_^ 





Yuri Manga: Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Volume 5 (English)

June 14th, 2018

Volume 5 of Kiss and White Lily For My Dearest Girl, is predicted upon the idea that a promise made at 5 years old is still valid a decade later. Let me assure you that they are not. ^_^

Nishikawa Itsuki keep glaring at Itou Sawa and Sawa doesn’t know why. When Itsuki turns out to be  long-lost childhood friend, the penny still doesn’t drop. Of course, eventually they manage to  figure out how they can face the future together. Phew.

We spend some time with Shirahime and Kurosawa, and finally get insight on what actually drives Ayaka to be so competitive. It’s an emotional and frustrating moment for her and us, but for Kurosawa, it’s a moment of of clarity and she steps up and is just the pillar of strength that Ayaka needs.

I will never be the audience for the lost-childhood dream, but for Ayaka’s arc is very poignant. It also provides the the missing piece to her personality and for that, it’s an important volume.  And if you like poignant, emotional stories, Kiss and White Lily For My Dearest Girl is a series that’s worth reading. 

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Yuri – 8
Service – 1 on principle

Overall – 7

No, seriously. Any promises made in in kindergarten are no longer valid. ^_^





Sailor Moon Musical ~Le Mouvement Final at AnimeNEXT 2018

June 7th, 2018

AnimeNEXT badge holders! Join me tonight at 8PM at the Showboat Casino Bourbon Room, for a screening of the Live Action Sailor Moon Musical Le Mouvement Finale.

I’ll be presenting a very short intro and settling in for another watch of what has been my favorite musical to date.





Yuri Manga: MURCIÉLAGO, Volume 6 (English)

June 1st, 2018

Volume 6 of MURCIÉLAGO, by Yoshimurakana, is a particularly nasty volume. Oddly, I found it easier to take in English than in Japanese. I do not know whether that is a function of the translation or simply because I read through the nastiest bits more quickly in my native tongue. 

A bomber is threatening a school and Kuroko and the team have been called in to investigate. What she finds is that a ring of kids have been bullying a girl practically to the point of a psychotic break. The keyword is “practically”. Although Minako is sure that her lover is responsible for her abuse, she’s not all that angry because she’s a “get even” kind of gal. By the end of the series, Kuroko has left Minako with a penchant for domination, a slave and a desire to commit controlled violence. 

The bomber, it turns out, is also looking for revenge for a one-sided same-sex crush gone toxic. All in all, a school full of terrible people. 

Kuroko gets to kill a few inconsequential children, Hinako gets her kunoichi on, and everyone lives happily ever after, except for the people dead, beaten, abused, raped, and otherwise emotionally and physically traumatized. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6 
Story – 5 I still prefer adults beating the crap out of one another
Characters – 8 Violently insane, so thumbs up from me
Service – 10 
Yuri – 8  Extra Psycho Lesbians for your money! ^_^

Overall – 8

My review yesterday of Cutie Honey Universe seems to have surprised some new readers. Let me assure you that while I find tiresome service tiresome, I am wholly fine with horrific violence and psychotic lesbians. ^_^





Cutie Honey Universe Anime (English)

May 31st, 2018

Cutie Honey Universe is the most perfect version of the original Cutie Honey manga ever made and it is a treasure that should be instantly enshrined in whatever Halls of Fame anime may have.

In 2005, I reviewed the 1985 collection of the original 1970s Cutie Honey manga, which I described as “…one of the grimmest, most violent and depressing stories I’ve ever read!” and “On the whole, I really liked it, except when…oh, hell, I’ll admit it. I thought it was brilliant. Brilliant, disturbing, weirder than anything I could come up with on acid, Cutey Honey was, and is, a lesbian manga icon.” 

Ans since then, there have been dozens of anime, manga and live-action (both movie and TV) reinterpretations, some of which have been good, like Cutie Honey-a-gogo and the live-action TV series, and others which have been brutally awful, like Cutie Honey Seed. 

But we’ve never before see anything like the story in the original manga in anime format. And so I tuned into to the newest iteration of this series, Cutie Honey Universe, currently streaming on the HiDive platform, with no particular expectations. Imagine my delight, then, when we meet Kisaragi Honey, a student at St. Chapel girl’s school, with the most horrific, ugly, sadistic teachers.

…

No, wait, forget I ever wrote that sentence.

Imagine my delight when we meet Jill-sama, a sadistic, lesbian psychotic and her alter ego, Inspector Genet who is everything awful and wonderful about 1980s anime, from her blue eye shadow to her seductive creepiness. 

  … 

Okay, forget everything I just said. Once more from the top.

Cutie Honey is pervy in a wholly tiresome way, with dissolving clothes and T&A and creepy gropey guys as “comedy” and an evil psycho lesbian bad guy and a very likely love affair between Honey and Na-chan and horrible lesbian teachers and extraordinary violence. It’s awful in a dozen ways , as we must surely expect from Go Nagai’s vision. 

I love it so much I can barely express it.

This is the Cutie Honey the world has been waiting for. Well, it’s the Cutie Honey I’ve been waiting for and clearly my love and admiration is more important than anyone else’s.  

Ratings:

Art – 10 
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Service – 10
Yuri  – ? TBD, but I have my eyes on 10

Overall – 10

It’s perfect.