Archive for the Series Category


Sailor Moon, Season 1, Part 2, Disk 2 (English)

September 4th, 2015

SMS1P2 There are some really good things about Sailor Moon, Season 1, Part 2, Disk 2. Plot just happens to not be among them. ^_^

First of all and most importantly, Sailor Venus has arrived! She’s so cool, having been a Senshi for a whole year or more without any help. So as to not have to respect her too much, she is a bubblehead. I’ll take the Venus of the manga (and Crystal) over this Minako any day. (I’m in a minority I know, but I hated “Nurse Minako”. Blecch.)

Secondly, Zoisite steps up to be the new baddie after having dispatched Nephrite, then blows it almost immediately. The best part of Zoi is his death, in which we get confirmation that he and Kunzite were an item, and it wasn’t our imagination. In 1992, this was huge, let me tell you.

The third thing that happens is that MamorugetskidnappedbyQueenBerylandishypnotizeintofightingSailorMoon, but since I do not care even a little, I like to call this part of the season, the “OH GOD, WHEN WILL THIS END?” arc. ^_^

So one the good side, all the Senshi are gathered. On the bad side, filler episodes, auuuuggggh. Remember the time Usagi goes to Princess School? No? There’s a reason why we wiped this out of our memeories. On the good, Zoisite is dead and he had a very beautiful, very gay death in Kunzite’s arms. On the bad side, Kunzite’s a bore, Mamoru’s a bore, Queen Beryl’s obsession is  a bore (sorry Beryl, but really…) and Metallia…6 episodes to go and I know it will feel like 60. Much of Usagi’s character development was wiped away after she discovers she is the Moon Princess so we’re back to whiny, crying Usagi all over again. On the good side…did I mention Zoisite’s beautiful death? Well, yes, that was the volume’s high point. I guess for other people it might have been the Moon Princess reveal. I am not other people.

I’m still entirely fascinated as I stack up the complaints about Crystal against the reality of Season 1. We didn’t actually get much time with any of the Inners and they have very little personality a mere handful of episodes from the end. So, no…Crystal did not erase tons of character development. The first season is just weak all the way around. We’re not being rational when we compare 200 episodes, 12 volumes of manga and megatons of fanfic we read and wrote to the actual story.

Ratings:

Art – 5  It’s not getting any better.
Story – 7, then filler episodes from hell – 3
Characters – 7 Minako fits right in, Usagi and Rei get a tad more development.
Yuri – 1 Usagi and Rei get a tad more development ^_^
Service – 1 on principle

Overall – 6

Best character of the Volume? Umino. I give that boy serious props.





Yuri Game: Okujou no Yuri Yurei-san / Kindred Spirits is coming to Steam

September 2nd, 2015

kindred-spiritsGood News Everyone!

In July we reported that Manga Gamers was bringing the massively popular Yuri game Okujou no Yuri Yurei-san to the west as Kindred Spirits.

Now, Kotaku (with excessive vulgarity) has announced that Kindred Spirits is going to be available on Steam! Not surprisingly this is a really big deal. For a number of reasons.

First, the fact that we’re getting such a popular Yuri Game localized is big news on its own. Secondly, it’s getting distribution on Steam, which will make it available to a much wider audience than a straight-up download or hard copy distribution stream would otherwise garner.

Thirdly, Kotaku reports that it will remain uncensored. Since Valve is known for censoring explicit games, this may either indicate a change of policy, or it may be that this game gets an exception. There’s also a case for since it has no penile penetration, someone is relying on archaic definitions of “sex.” Or, that precisely because it is two girls, that Steam expects the always-presumed-male audience will be enthusiastic about it in a way that they definitely would not for an Otome game. We don’t know what the actual justifications for it are. We may never know.

I was asked by someone sane how it could be a high school girl sex game and in good taste at the same time and the answer is that I have no idea. I can tell you that for the past few years this game has been a major obsession of some Yuri mangaka, and I haven’t seen any really explicit fanart (but, too, I was not looking for it.) The two manga volumes based on the game (Side A and Side B) were surprisingly and pleasantly free of service of any kind. I frankly had no idea the game even has sex scenes. Apparently, the Yuri manga artists I followed were more interested in the relationships. ^_^

In any case, this is big news for Yuri fans!

Open comments. Discuss!





Drama CD: Iono The Fanatics Ah, Kokorone ni Hahago ari「ああ 心根に 母御あり」

August 25th, 2015

ItFCDAKnHAs I mentioned yesterday, the new Special Edition of Iono The Fanatics is bundled with an original Drama CD, entitled “Ah, Kokorone ni Hahago ari”「ああ 心根に 母御あり」. Written by Fujieda-sensei, this Drama CD does not have a plot, per se, but is a set of light-hearted vignettes following Iono-sama, the charasmatic Queen of a small unnamed Western country, her incredibly talented staff, including the same set of gags that makes us laugh in the manga…until it segues into something quite different.

Main Cast: (Character names are my interpretation/translation at the moment. Subject to change. Roles mentioned are always skewed in favor of the Yuriest I could find, even if it’s not what they are best known for.)

いおの・ミト・アルシュライン：茅野愛衣
Iono Mito Arceline: Kiyano Ai (Kanae Mitani in Tamayura)

鉢辺絵兎（絵兎・ミト・アルシュライン）：日高里菜
Hachibe Eto: Hidaka Rina (Last Order in A Certain Magical Index)

みおと（いおの母）：早見沙織
Mioto (Iono’s Mother): Hayami Saori (Chihiru in Morita-san ha Muchi)

アルジェント・エフェメール：加隈亜衣
Argent Ephemel: Kakuma Ai (Nina Klein from Aldonoah Zero)

キャス・ルーセンス：洲崎綾
Cass Lucence: Suzaki Aya (Mako Mankanshoku from Kill la Kill!)

アイダ・ブルーメール：西明日香
Aida Bleumare: Nishi Asaka (Rika Suzuki from The Devil is a Part-timer)

フレシェ・ヴァンセット：瀬戸麻沙美
Flèche Vancette: Seto Asami (Takatsuki Yoshino  from Hourou Musuko)

There were a number of inconsequentials going on, such as the agonizing gag with poor OL-san and a cute little number in which Eto introduces everyone to takoyaki and suggests that Argent and she think of each other as sisters.

There was a more dramatic track in which we meet Mioto-sama, Iono-sama’s mother and learn where the Queen gets her heartfelt affection for her sobame. Mioto-sama was clearly a good role model – as Queen she was beloved by all her subjects. This track gets very melodramatic; it includes Mioto-sama’s final words to Iono-sama and her death.

The longest track is the cast talk in which the actresses above, and the others I left unmentioned, discuss what would you want a sobame to do for you. Most of them seemed to want a personal secretary most. ^_^

The voice actresses do a nice job, but based on the character we see in the manga, I felt that Eto’s voice was a little breathy and girly. I expected a more grounded, even slightly morose, voice. But everyone else sounded pretty much as I’d expect them to. ^_^

Ratings:

Characters – 8
Story – 6
Yuri – 4
Service – 0

Overall – 6

Not, IMHO, the best CD from Fujieda-sensei. That award goes to
Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majyo to “Madrigal Halloween”, but as always a nice way to get a better sense of the characters through voice acting – and a way to spend a little extra time with them.

I hope this edition shatters Yuri Danshi sales records.





Yuri Manga: Iono The Fanatics, Special Edition Volume 1 (新装版 いおの様ファナティクス 特装版 1)

August 24th, 2015

specialiono1-e1435708804900Ten years after she premiered, Iono-sama is back and in a shiny new edition from Ichijinsha!

The story is the same adorable little ditty about a Queen of a small, unnamed western country with a fondness for women with black hair and Japan, generally, that we fell for the first time. Her adventures as she meets and recruits heartbroken and slightly forgetful Hachibe Eto as a lady-in-waiting makes up the first part of the book. The second half is filled with her efforts to recruit more ladies-in-waiting, with some amusing results, one excruciating running gag and one assassination attempt. This story is ten parts comedy to one part awesome cool.

In my 2007 review of the English-language edition, I got something wrong. My major complaint was the translations of names. I was particularly incensed at the translation for Iono-sama’s driver and special police captain. I felt that the choice of “Fletch” was, well, ugly and out of tone for the story. And I stand by that. Freshi, as I first translated it, wasn’t correct, and “Frechet,” which was my second choice, isn’t right either, however. Her name should have been Flèche, which is French for “fletch” and would have been a correct transliteration for her katakana name. So, I was wrong and I apologize, but I still think Infinity did a generally half-assed job on the translation. (Does this matter, you may ask? Obviously, it does to me. Names are important. I am reading a translated manga right now set in medieval France and a name that has an obvious French version has been transliterated in the ugliest way possible. It makes me unhappy every time I see it. )

You would think there was nothing left for me to learn in the older chapters, but you’d be wrong! One of the candidates in the lady-in-waiting contest is fortune-teller Shishio Teru. I hadn’t noticed this before but her bio mentions that her little sister is into jinxes. At which I screamed “A-HA!” and bounded out of the chair, at which my wife looked up and said “Crossover?” since she knew I was reading a book by Fujieda-sensei who does love his crossovers. ^_^ I reached for Ame-iro Kouchkan Kandan and found that Shishio Haru is the full name of Sarasa’s friend who runs a jinx website. How did I miss that crossover the last 18 times?

New for this volume are a few extra pages at the end, including strips on each of the characters and an afterword by Fujieda-sensei on the tense negotiations for this new edition. (I’m joking. Ichijinsha said, “How about we do a Drama CD?” and Fujieda-sensei was all “Yipee!”)

This edition is packaged with an original drama CD, which I’ll take a look at tomorrow. ^_^ Overall, it was *so* nice to be able to revisit Iono-sama and her staff. Especially as there are new chapters following Iono-sama and Eto’s daughter running in recent Comic Yuri Hime issues. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 10
Service – 1 Just some implication of making out

Overall – 9

Don’t bother commenting that you hope this will be picked up for license. Seven Seas has already flat out said they won’t. If you want details on that decision, take that up with them. In the meantime, learning to read Japanese is still an option. ^_^





Hayate x Blade 2 Manga, Volume 2 (はやてxブレード 2)

August 19th, 2015

615EVWBRbLLI gotta be honest with you. Every time I finish reading a volume of Hayate x Blade, I award myself a little mental achievement badge. Partially because for a goofball comedy, this is some of the most difficult Japanese I read on a regular basis, but also because it’s such a tremendously excellent series that I feel I have gained something critical with each volume. ^_^

In Volume 1 of the new series, Amachi Hitsugi rolled out the new dorms and the new Hoshitori rules. In Volume 2 of Hayate x Blade Nyan (はやてxブレード 2), she commences the Summer Festival, in which she turns the Tench Academy students’ lives into an unending extreme obstacle course.

First, there’s the entrance to the resort island where the festival will take place. The ladder game used for decision making, Amidakuji, is reproduced as a thin scaffolding crossing the ocean. The bars are coated in oil, so students may slip off into the water. Only those students who make it across will be part of the Summer Festival.

Those who make the crossing successfully find themselves assigned to cottages which include members of both the Tenkuu and Daichi dorms. Right away, cottage members are assigned as teams to run the multi-part obstacle race to gather food and utensils in order to make their evening’s dinner, which is of course, curry. They collect seafood from the ocean, carry heavy portions of rice through the jungle, spelunk to find equipment to cook with and are, if they gain the required items in the time allotted, awarded with the curry powder they need.

To celebrate achieving their first goal – and eating dinner – the Tenchi students annoy the shit out of the Black Group by having fun and lighting fireworks.

Character development-wise, we finally start to crack open the safe that is Nagi. Nagi’s mask slips a bit when she’s paired with Ayana who already knows her weakness for the dark from Hayate. And she is further challenged when Hitsugi basically rips the emotional mask off her in the blunt, but decent manner she has. “Do you love the sword?” she asks…and Nagi doesn’t really have an answer.

While Hitsugi challenges Nagi’s worldview, Hajime does the same to Hayate. You are weak, the Black Group leader tells Hayate, you are dogs who come at Hitsugi’s call. Hayate fights back with – we’re not dogs, we’re having fun, duh.

Hayate thinks she’s weaker than Nagi, but in this volume, it becomes ever more clear that it’s probably the other way around.

A bonus chapter has Visual Band ZLAY (Strawberry Shake crossover!!!) visiting the island and performing in all their Yuri glory, which confuses the heck out of some of the students. Ayana’s all in when they start to play a series end theme she really likes. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Character – 9
Yuri – 0
Service – 1 We get a little Hitsugi dress-up.

Overall – 9

As always, the action is top notch, the characters are complex, multi-facted, complicated and interesting and the comedy is low and broad. What a great read. More please! Never stop! Achievement unlocked!