Archive for the Series Category


Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta Drama CD, Special Edition (ドラマCD 気になってる人が男じゃなかった)

September 30th, 2024

Pictured: On a green background, a person in a hoodie, glasses and a mask, with a wrist tattoo of a musical frequency, crouches down to look at us, while a high school girl with long, wavy hair stands above them, looking down at them with a shocked expression.Last week, I was able to review the upcoming Yen Press release of Sumiko Arai’s popular manga The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All. It was a pleasure to share that review because Yen had done a very good job.I hope you’ll all read that review, and pre-order the book.

While I was on vacation, I took the Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta Drama CD (ドラマCD 気になってる人が男じゃなかった) with me to listen to on the plane.  And it, too, was fun. The cast did a terrific job, with the OTT reactions of the story. Ise Mariya as Mitsuki and especially Kito Akari as Aya really carried the narrative.

Going into this, I was very interested in how they would handle the issue of the music, since 90s 00s music are at the heart of this story. As popular as this series is, there was no way they were going to license every song mentioned in the manga. The approach they took was interesting. We mostly hear the music as if we are listening to someone else listening to them on earphones, so the notes are muted and the tune is implied by a short riff or a bass line. It worked well if you are familiar with the songs in question.

At the climax of the CD, they did license one song, Radiohead’s Creep – a great choice for the story and for Ise’s voice.

The Special Edition includes an booklet with a new, short manga showing us little Aya’s discovery of western rock, and a cute scene between her and Miysuki in story time.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Music – 9 The climax is on point
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 7

Overall – 9

Like most Drama CDs, nothing new is added to the story, but it gives us a new perspective on the characters as we hear them now as they torture themselves. ^_^ It was a fun time with characters we’ve already grown to like, which is what we want from a CD. And if Ise and Kito are the voices used for the anime…they’ll be great. 





Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 8 (ささやくように恋を唄う)

September 26th, 2024

Two girls in Japanese school uniforms stand back to back, visibly pouting at one another.In Volume 7, Shiho finally addressed the elephant in her room and admitted that the source of her bad temper was unrequited love. Having shot her shot, it remains for Aki to respond. In Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 8, (ささやくように恋を唄う) she does, in a very public way.

Remember – it is still the Battle of the Bands during the school festival. Aki chooses the intro of their final song…a song she changes the set list to include…to explain to Shiho that she has never rejected her, and would actually be happy being together. Their rivalry was mostly created out of whole cloth by Shiho as a way to deny her feelings and Aki’s response is to do a cover of a song she and Shiho performed when they were in their original band together. Once again, Himari has to be the crowbar that makes Shiho’s immovable object move. Of course Shiho was going to run from Aki…because that’s what she’s been doing for this entire time. Thanks to Himari, Shiho was right there to jump on stage and accept Aki’s feelings.

And then we learn that despite that added bit of show, the SSGirls still came in second to Lorelei. Boo. But it was all in good fun and now Shiho has got to learn how to be a human again. ^_^

This volume has fantastic paneling, absolutely wonderful. When contrasted with the sad little affair of the anime, the pages here are even more vibrant, fluid, varied and imaginative. How frustrating to have had one’s work mauled by a low budget and uncaring production committee. I really feel for Takeshima-sensei, the animators and seiyuu who all worked so hard. The battle of the bands would have been terrific musically, even if the animation was basically PowerPoint slides. Instead of gnashing my teeth, I’ll recommend reading this volume and imagining how amazing it might have been.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 8

Himari and Yori are a couple, now Aki and Shiho…who is even left at this school unpaired? Well, there is someone. But first, Shiho has got to learn to be a human again. ^_^

Whisper Me A Love Song, Volume 8 is out now from Kodansha, so we’re caught up to this point in English. Volume 9 and Volume 10 are out in Japanese and I have to catch up!





The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All, Volume 1

September 22nd, 2024

Because Sumiko Arai’s school life rom-com is absolutely one of this year’s most-anticipated Yuri series in English, I’m going to give it straight to you right up front. You know I have never pulled punches when I review Yuri before and I will not now.

I have read this edition through twice now and Yen Press did a REALLY GOOD job.

I can say with absolute conviction that you should run right out and pre-order The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All, Volume 1, which will be headed your way one month from today. ^_^

Aya is a popular and fashionable young woman, who has a secret. She finds comfort in listening to western rock music of the 1990’s and 2000’s. When she’s by herself, lost in her music, she finds her own rhythm. She can’t share her musical tastes, they are too obscure and she kind of likes it that way. One day Aya walks into a grungy CD store and is blown away by the cool guy behind the counter. As days pass they share music and Aya realizes she’s got a full-on crush. But she’s not the only one with a secret. Sitting next to Aya at school is nerdy background-type Mitsuki….who is the “guy” in the CD store. It’ll take some intervention, but Mitsuki and Aya will start to open up to one another in the first volume of this popular online Yuri manga.

What most first-time readers will notice right away is the unique color scheme. As I noted in my review of this volume in Japanese, “With its uniquely visible color scheme of black, white and a vivid green, new pages of this comic were always super noticeable whenever they came across my feed. The art in this manga reflects the online sensibility too, I think. With unique perspectives on panel structure, body language and expression, this comic feels somehow grounded in street art and manga art at the same time.” You can see how the angles (what we in my house refer to as “Batman angles” after the kitschy 1960s television show) and the breaking of the panel walls, create a dynamic feel to a story in which, realistically, people are mostly not “doing” anything. It’s a great look that I’ve already seen adopted elsewhere.

The plot is not new, but the handling of it is gentle and kind-hearted. Nosy classmate Narita is rooting for these two just as we are – he pushes them into each other’s way in a fun way. Both the angst and the comedy notes hit just right. As the volume comes to a close, a classic plot complication is revealed, which is resolved in a not-classic way, thankfully.

Volume 1 is a fun read that leaves you wanting more. As I said, Yen did a terrific job reproducing the story. The color is vivid and so is the language. Ajani Oloye did a fantastic job on the translation, really nailing the core concepts in English. It felt natural and fun all the way through. I have no criticisms except Yen’s house style for lettering. Brandon Bovia does amazing work and should have been give the chance to retouch more. That’s an ongoing whinge though, nothing to do with this book, particularly.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9 Even the side characters are fun
Service – Admiring the cool onii-san that turns out to be a chick is always great service.  Oh, and page 49. ^_^
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8

As highly-anticipated series go, this may well be Yen’s best effort to date. Fun, colorful, charming, you’ll definitely want this book.





Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Volume 5

September 20th, 2024

The end is nigh in Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Volume 5.

There were never many humans in Ashinano Hitoshi’s story, and now most of them have left. The grass has filled in even more of the space around Cafe Alpha, fewer and fewer people visit. Long days pass in which Alpha reads and thinks about the humans who used to occupy this space. Why are there lights that look like streetlights along the unused paths? She spend time with Maruko, who is working with Kokone now and Kokone whose love for Alpha is visible to even Makki-chan.

Takahiro is gone, Makki follows after him, they have a child. Alpha remains. And when she goes home, Kokone is there to welcome her.

In this final volume we learn nothing new at all. We’ll never know why humanity is dwindling. All we know is that there is a world out there and it’s our choice to see what there is of it. Perhaps we should stop at a local cafe, greet the woman behind the counter and think of Cafe Alpha, a place we can never visit, but which will life with us for the rest of our lives.

May the night of humankind be one of utmost peace.

Ratings:

Overall – 10

From the bottom of my heart, I thank the team at Seven Seas for this omnibus edition. I never imagined I’d be able to share my love of this series with you all.





Hana no Asuka-gumi! ∞Infinity, Volume 9 (花のあすか組! ∞インフィニティ)

September 8th, 2024

A young woman with short brown hair, wearing a read long coat and pink scarf looks up at us through half of a gold infinity sign on a gold background at a crow with wings and claws extended as it fights.Once again, we come to the end of the longest-running girl-gang manga series. I say “again,” because this series has ended several times before. This first time when the final gaiden volume of the original series, Hana no Asuka-gumi (花のあすか組！, which began in 1985, was published in 1992 (Wiki says ’95, but I looked up the date in the edition I have and it says ’92.) This was followed by the completion of Shin Hana no Asuka-gumi! (新・花のあすか組！) which ran from 2003-2009 – which I have spoken about at length for  doing something inexplicable and wonderful.

Hana no Asuka-gumi! BS (Black School) (花のあすか組! BS(ブラックスクール)編) ran for two volumes in 2018. I have long guessed that those two volumes were a test run for the longer, more epic Hana no Asuka-gumi!  ∞Infinity (花のあすか組! ∞インフィニティ) of which this is the final volume. In Volume 8, the School Wars have ended, but the battle of the gods has begun and once again Asuka is the target.

If you are new to this series, you may wonder why the head of the girl gangs in Tokyo, the melodramatic gothic spider at the center of the web, Hibari-sama, has been pursuing a single girl for nearly 40 years in our time. Well..it’s because Asuka walked away from her. Hibari offered her power (and what passes for in Hibari’s weird little heart) love and lust, and Asuka rejected her. A woman spurned indeed. You’d think the gangs might question what the fuck, but no one does, because the way to power in the Zenchuu Ura organization is taking down Kuraku Asuka.

Which almost happens.

The gods and their henchgangs are all out fighting – each other, the Area Masters, whoever gets in their way. Phantom, with her drones (both actual mechanical ones and her fighters,) and Jesus and her disciples are having a all-out war to see who is the best fighter. When Shibun, the head of Phantom takes the lead, she and Asuka duke it out. For a while it looks Phantom will win and Asuka will finally be defeated. But.

In that moment, a young women Asuka had saved – much against her will – steps back into the story. Mamaharu is a girl who was starving herself in order to become a pop idol. Asuka saw that world and asked Mamaharu to reject it. In this volume, Asuka drags Mamaharu to see her world, something she has never done before with a damsel in distress. In a pivotal moment, Mamaharu distracts Shibun and saves Asuka. The battle concludes with Asuka walking away once again from the Zenchuu Ura and it’s leader.

Back in Zenchuu Ura HQ, Hibari releases the rankings and, for the very first time, Asuka’s self-proclaimed arch enemy, Kurenai, is not on it.  Hibari shuns Kurenai completely. Almost 40 real-years, maybe two in-story years, after Asuka scarred her face and took her crow (yes, that crow on the cover,) Kurenai is outta here. Buh-bye~!

There a are a ton of old-series pairs that show up to provide greek chorus commentary – Saishuu and Baba from the Ranjuku Detention Center (I was so excited I recognized them, but they were named and so was Ranjuku, since that was a lot of decades ago.) Kiryuu and Bara no Miya make a late appearance, together, just to remind us that they still come as a matched set – they are my favorite headcanon ship, both so jaded from street fighting back in the 80s. ^_^

Asuka walks away with her bestie (and late lover/mentor/abuser, Yohko’s, half-sister) Miko along the river bank as they have done so many times before.

Will there be more fights in Asuka’s future? No idea. If so…I’ll be there, like Dead Yohko haunting Asuka’s thoughts.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

This series is one of the most toxic and bizarre series I have ever loved. And so, so gay, for having no non-violent relationships.

Reprieving my notes from Volume 7 of this series for context:

My reviews here about this series have been sporadic and mostly incoherent as I try to explain the complicated structure of the Zenchuu Ura and the whole series, but there is a category for it: Hana no Asuka-gumi. Of these reviews, let me suggest these two for fun.

2006 – Drama CD: Hana no Asuka-gumi Gaiden (花のあすか組外伝) – this was one of two Drama CDs for the series. I still haven’t found time to listen to the other, but this one is one of my prize possessions for reasons that will become obvious if you read the review.

2011 – Yuri Artbook: Kuraku Asuka Mairu! (九楽あすか参る!). This was another item that absolutely centered my obsession with Yohko and Asuka’s relationship, in a literal sense. As well as giving space for Hibari-sama to be a complete freak.

So, look, I know none of you are running out and reading 52 volumes of an untranslated 40 year old gang girl series…but IF you want to read a 40 year old gang girl series with 52 volumes of manga, two movies, a live-action TV show, 2 anime OVAs, 2 Drama CDs and 2 novels, make it Hana no Asuka-gumi!.