Archive for the Series Category


Drama CD: Kindred Spirits, Rain Kick (English)

August 28th, 2016

Drama3_BG1Let’s talk about representation. Let’s talk about canon and subtext and identity.

Years ago, I threw out a definition for recognizing “Yuri,” as opposed to “lesbian” content. Yuri could be seen as lesbian content without lesbian identity. I said this because if a character identifies as lesbian, there’s a higher chance that the story is LGBTQ, rather than Yuri. This is not a hard or fast rule, but an observational guideline. A predatory character identifying herself as a lesbian in a shounen manga hardly shifts the narrative to LGBTQ, but in most of the kind of things we watch and read here, identity is a key factor in the narrative being seen as lesbian or Yuri.

We’ve seen a lot of melding of the two labels over time, as artists like Takemiya Jin and Nakamura Kiyo poke and prod and overlap at the boundaries. And we just talked about how a cartoon can provide a lesbian narrative that is canon…but still subtext.

Today we’re going to talk about a series that has pushed “Yuri” as far as it can go by providing identity and overt text…without ever identifying as lesbian. Kindred Spirits on the Roof Drama CD Vol.3, Rain Kick (屋上の百合霊さんドラマCD第3弾「夕立キック」) manages this.

The story follows two of the popular Yuri Visual Novel’s couples – Maki and Seina and Matsuri and Miyu on a short summer vacation. Maki begins with an expository discussion with Yuna, the game’s protagonist, setting up the fact that Yuna is likely to take over president of the council next year. Maki confides in Yuna that a shop employee recently thought that she and Seina were sisters and that really bothered her. This refrain repeats several times during this CD.

Matsuri and Miyu have already graduated and are now living together. They set up a few days at a resort bungalow for the 4 of them. During the first few tracks I was delighted as the four spoke of the most banal things like who would cook what and their personal schedules (training for the runners, studying for almost third-year Seina.) It was so normal and human and a conversation that might actually happen it took me by surprise. But I should really stop being surprised at Kindred Spirits by now. It does “real” and “human” better than any other series ever.

The story has little drama, but is pretty chock full of identity.  We spend time with Matsuri and Miyu, discussing Maki’s concern about being seen as sisters. Miyu logically suggests that “sisters” is a guess by a stranger to make the close relationship of Maki and Seina make sense. Matsuri wants the two of them to be seen to “fit” together naturally in that way, they they belong together. Matsuri mentions her concerns when she confessed to Miyu, and says that by then, she had pretty much become comfortable with the fact that she was always going to be attracted to girls. (Aki also had a similar admission during the game.) They have  touching moment and a sneaked kiss.

Maki and Seina also discuss Maki’s concern. Ultimately she admits that she wants them to be seen as “lovers.” Seina is moved by this, and they discuss their lives in the future, together.

So, when we look at these relationships, they are canon AND overt text and, although the word “lesbian” is never used, there is awareness of identity in Matsuri and awareness of the way their relationships appear to others. And I find myself marveling at how sneakily this adorable Yuri series gets to talking some real shit to an audience that, in part, probably never thinks about this stuff at all. Damn.

As with Kindred Spirits Drama CD 1, Playing Girlfriend and Drama CD 2, Friendship Plans,  Rain Kick is available by download from Mangagamer’s website in 2 digital downloads, one with the full Drama CD, subtitled as a video file – so no Japanese comprehension needed-  and one with the CD insert images, extra voice tracks, original raw voice CD track, and translated credits and notes.

An excellent way to develop the characters. I’m absolutely looking forward to the 4th Drama CD, Kyuusei Radio!

Ratings:

Overall – 10

Unrelated to the issue of representation and identity, I fell in love with this series all over again when Seina was given a conversation about how she could tell the beams in the ceilings were for decoration only. I grinned my way through the “contractor’s daughter” talking about the way the building was constructed. The conversation is meaningless, unless the writers really gave a rat’s ass about character consistency. Which they did. And I love them for it!

I may bring back the Stargazer Award and award it to Okujou no Yurirei-san writers for exceptional writing in the face of industry tropes.

As we’re rounding the corner into the final quarter of the year, I’m looking at this series for my best of and thinking it’s going to be hard to beat it.





Otaku in Paris, Pilgrimage to Versailles

August 22nd, 2016

20160816_161131I am back from the third of my three vacations this summer and once again, I come with pictures and thoughts and things, this time from Paris, France.

You may remember that in 2015, I was in Japan and had the chance to see a Takarazuka show, Hakushaku no Reijou. During the post-show postmortem, we all decided that the show was set in “Paris of the Imagination” rather than a real time or place. I now understand why. ^_^ Paris is a city that has a great deal of historicity, much of which is still functioning as business places and homes. While the 21st century has made it’s mark, it’s been kept at bay, both literally and figuratively, with construction of skyscrapers kept mostly out to the edges of the city. So, when sitting in a cafe, one can be forgiven for allowing one’s self to believe that one is, for a moment, feeling the “true” pulse of Paris. Of course, one is fully delusional at that moment, but it’s forgivable.

20160816_173142To begin with, we ended up staying in the geek central part of Paris, so one afternoon we spent a few hours digging around the various Album and Pulp stores for bande dessinée, (French-language comics. I picked up a few and will review them someday,) manga in French, figurines, artbooks, American comics and the like. Among these was the lovely complete set of Lady Oscar pictured at the top of the post, with character designs, character backstories and commentary. Despite the fact that it was in French I almost bought it. ^_^

fryuriI knew there are any number of Yuri titles available – I was particularly looking for Fleurs Bleues, the French-language edition of Aoi Hana, but did not find it. I imagine it’s too old to be in the shops. But I did see some Yuri on shelves. Saburouta’s Citrus was clearly marked “Yuri.”

froutAnd I managed to snag a free preview booklet of Tagame Gengoroh’s Outoto no Otto, which is getting a release in France. An English release is in the works, as well.

We are also waiting on the official release of Rose of Versailles in English from Udon Press, so my wife and I took one day to visit Versailles. Of course, we brought with us the mythos of Oscar and Marie, Fersen and the rest of the cast of this great epic manga. I tried, as we walked around, to picture them walking these paths and hallways. Not always easy, as the only people in Versailles now are tourists.  I joked about the horror with which Marie would view her Chateau now, crawling with plebs as it is.

Versailles is…big. Not space big, but really big.

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I kept thinking of scenes from Rose of Versailles, in which Oscar rode up to the palace, leapt off her horse and stormed through the halls to whomever’s apartments. That would have been a 40 minute trip and let me tell you, she’d be tired when she got there.

It’s almost impossible to grasp the scale of Versailles from the inside, as all the rooms are relatively small, but so cluttered with multicolored marble and paintings and gilded features that there’s nowhere for one’s eyes to rest. It would be almost impossible to capture the muchness of the place, but I see that the anime did a decent enough job, considering. A background like this:

Image result for "rose of versailles" ballroom

actually looks more like this:

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We both thought that the place would do well to have either cosplayers in the distant rooms, or an augmented reality app that would show the place full of people who were actually living and working there, rather than as the dead museum of the past that it is now.

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We didn’t have a chance to see Marie’s Petit Trianon or her little fake village, because it was just too much to do, but I imagine I will come back once again and once more imagine Oscar and Andre and Marie walking these halls.

Let me remind you that if you’re looking for a good excuse to visit Versailles, Paris’ own Yuri and Yaoi event, Y/Con 5 will be held on November 12 & 13!

Au revoir for now, France, but I have no doubt that I’ll be back to once again to enjoy the Paris of my imagination. ^_^





Kannazuki no Miko, Volume 2

August 9th, 2016

t_x200In Volume 2 of Kannazuki no Miko we come face to face with a centuries old prophecy meeting self-inflicted homophobia of a young woman. Through no effort of the creative team, we recognize that should Chikane have had a single person to speak with who was gay, very little of this story would have happened.

But, as Chikane’s desire is meant to represent “forbidden,” and therefore dangerous, love, instead of finding solace and acceptance in Himeko’s arms, Chikane nearly destroys the world.

Luckily for everyone, Himeko ignores all of Chikane’s behavior, and sees through the emotional and physical abuse, for what it really is…

..no.

Nope.

I just can’t do this.

This *could* have been a good love story, but it’s really just not.

Kaishaku had no interest in understanding this relationship, or “love” in general. They just handwaved away all the many horrible things in the name of “love.” But Kannazuki no Miko is just not a good love story. Its just a list of fetishes, clothed in names, and handwaved past what would have been a decent ending into another fetish they could shove in there.

I wonder if this book had been written 10 years later, would it have been different? I think it might, honestly. Yuri still wasn’t regularly getting happy endings in the 2000s. Would it have ever been “good”? I don’t think so.

Mad props for the Viz team. The story makes sense, the dialogue makes sense, the motivations, (while still super-duper annoying) make sense. They deserve a “Soup out of Stone” award for their work on this manga.

And, if you lovelovelove this manga and always wanted to read a decent English-language version of it, Viz Media and Global Bookwalker have finally given you that opportunity. Take it, before this slips back into the oblivion it so richly deserves once more.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 5
Characters – 6
Yuri – 8
Service – 9

Overall – 6

Giant Robots who are ancient Gods of Japan and Yuri. What a fantastic series this might have been.





Yuri Manga: Kannazuki no Miko, Volume 1 (English)

August 1st, 2016

t_x400Well, here we are again. ^_^

In 2005, I wrote that the Japanese edition of Kannazuki no Miko manga, “is a piece of utter, plotless dreck, wrapped up in frisson of hormonal angst, senseless screaming and a rape scene that has no meaning or context.”

In 2008, I said of Tokyopop’s edition, “Why, one has to ask, if both Souma and Chikane love Himeko so much, do they allow her to be bullied, outcast and victimized instead of stepping up and claiming their friendship publicly?”

Here it is in 2016, and once again, I come face to face with my old nemesis the Kannazuki no Miko manga, this time localized by Viz Media, and made available digitally on Global Bookwalker for a mere $6, so if you have never yet read it, you can do so for the price of a fast-food lunch. Which is a good analogy for the quality you’re getting.

It may not be obvious, but I always go into watching or reading media for Okazu with the idea that I will give it a fair chance. Even this series, which has had more than it’s share of fair chances. So, yes, there I am reading Kannazuki no Miko by Kaishaku, for the third time. And for the third time, I am convinced that Kaishaku are a pair of hacks. ^_^

The story, which takes place in a town called “Magical Place” is imbued with magic and mecha. Himeko, an average student, with little to recommend her, is the object of attention for both of the school’s stars, beautiful, rich Chikane, and handsome, Souma. Both Chikane and Souma have secrets they are keeping from Himeko.

As Himeko and Chikane celebrate their 16th birthday all the secrets come to light – they are the key figures in an ancient legend of their town. Himeko is Priestess of the Sun, Chikane is Priestess of the Moon and Souma is one of the 8 necks of the fearsome Orochi, the harbingers of destruction. Souma defies his fate and decides to protect Himeko against the rest of the Orochi. If you have ever seen any of Kaishaku’s other works, several of the Orochi will be familiar to you, as they get recycled in other series, like Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora (Shattered Angels) and Zettai Shoujo Seiiki Amnesium.

Chikane too, promises to protect Himeko, but almost immediately rapes her, so not so much on the protection. There will be explanation, but we already know it will be lame. ^_^;

On the positive side, Viz has done miracles with the messy writing of the original, wrangling what I clearly remember as being almost-incoherently bad narration into something that makes sense. And the art has been reproduced so cleanly, it’s impressive, while remaining amateurish. So yay translation and cleanup/lettering folks. You deserve extra cookies for an excellent job. I thought as I read this, “Hey, I understand what’s going on! That’s never happened before with this series!”

Had the series chosen either Chikane or Souma as lead, it could have been a very interesting look at how good intentions get warped or how lying to one’s self can makes good people do terrible things, but instead we focus on baby seal Himeko, and watch, irritated and horrified, as everyone takes a whack at her.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 5
Characters – 6
Yuri – 8
Service – 8

Overall – 6

As the books ends, I am left once again, thinking that this could have really been a decent story…but was clearly never designed to be one, by a team of creators for whom rape is a matter of course, and who have no particular knack for writing or art.

If you want to see how this whole series just eventually breaks down completely, check out my review of Zettai Shoujo Seiiki Amnesium in 2010.





Takarazuka: La Rose de Versailles 2001, Oscar et Andre (ベルサイユのばら 2001 – オスカルとアンドレ編)

July 19th, 2016

RoVOeA2001Welcome back to Takarazuka Week on Okazu! We’ve got another interview coming up and a review of Chicago at Lincoln Center in our future, so check back regularly!

There are several Takarazuka productions that I have seen on VHS or DVD that I have never reviewed…for many reasons. One was so awful I needed my brain scrubbed and as the Top Star couple is very popular, I didn’t want to deal with the backlash. ^_^; One was just very complicated and I will one day review it. One was brutally dull. But among these many Takarazuka shows I have not reviewed is the very first one I ever saw. It seemed to me that this is the perfect time to revisit it.

In 2003 or so, I obtained a copy of  La Rose de Versailles 2001, Oscar et Andre  (ベルサイユのばら 2001 – オスカルとアンドレ編). Of course, Takarazuka has done this show countless times, and written versions that focus on Fersen and Marie Antoinette, as well as Oscar and Andre. I knew of Takarazuka when I got the VHS, but I had never actually watched any. (How did we survive before Youtube?) So this was my first experience with the idea. Sure, I was open to the idea of women in uniforms, and I knew the story of Rose of Versailles, so it seemed like the perfect fit.

My wife and I sat down to watch it and after 15 minutes of an opening number that mostly consisted of the word “Love” repeated over and over over and over and over and over, I thought….”Are you kidding me?”

My wife took another tack and started making up her own lyrics to the songs. They were hysterical and it got us through the first bit. I couldn’t help but notice that Minoru Kou as Oscar had to duck down to be shorter than Kouju Tatsuki as Andre every minute and my enthusiasm was slipping….until Aran Kei walked out on the stage as Hans Axel von Fersen.  She started speaking and I remember saying out loud, “Oh, now I get it!” ^_^

I’m never going to love the music for this show, it had all the the weaknesses of music written by the Takarazuka staff – one (or no) musical theme, no peaks, just a slow crescendo then it sort of peters off, nothing catchy. And while I’ve been a fan ever since, I’m really glad that my first live Takarazuka show was Elizabeth, not Rose of Versailles.

Ratings:

Overall – 7

It’s not as bad as the Fersen and Antoinette focused version, but not stunning, except for Aran Kei, who was stunning. Here’s a bit of the show for you to enjoy and make your own decisions. Yay Youtube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_ceVwfDE8