Archive for the Series Category


Yuri Manga: Strawberry Shake (ストロベリーシェイク)

June 28th, 2015

downloadIt was the beginning of 2004. The magazine was called Yuri Shimai. The comic was an actual comedy, with physical gags blown way out of proportion. There was an idiot and a doofus and they fell in love, but didn’t realize it. The comedy was manzai-style, with blood and tears and extreme over-reactions to silly jokes. It was Hayashiya Shizuru’s professional Yuri debut. She’d been drawing doujinshi in that same style for years, and made her pro debut previously, but for those of us who were or would become fans, Strawberry Shake Sweet was the first time she was a pro “Yuri” artist.

Yuri Shimai was cancelled and in 2005,  Yuri Hime picked up the series. In 2006, a collected Volume 1 was released, followed by Volume 2 in 2009. Hayashiya-sensei left Yuri Hime and has gone on to do great things with Shuiesha. And so it is with both delight and trepidation that I review Shueisha’s re-release of this series as a one-volume collection, Strawberry Shake (ストロベリーシェイク).

The story follows Tachibana Julia a young “Talent” in Japanese TV. (Which is to say she does everything and anything, from starring in TV dramas, to advertisements, to quiz shows.) She’s asked to mentor a newcomer to the agency, Asakawa Ran, but instead, falls in love with Ran.

Ran isn’t the brightest bulb in the box, and Julia isn’t much better. Between the two of them and very much despite the objections of their manager, they’ll have to figure it all out on their own.

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Strawberry Shake is very much played for the laughs. Touching or romantic moments are frequently marked by massive nosebleeds. If you’re not used to Hayashiya-sensei’s style, or classic manzai, the amount of violence might surprise you. The other thing that might surprise you is the ending. As I said when I reviewed Volume 2, “I absolutely refuse to spoil the rest of the chapter, except to say that you will probably be outraged and/or disappointed by the end.”

So, here we are over a decade after the comic was originally begun and a lot of things have changed. Yuri is a genre of it’s own. Hayashiya-sensei is a star among Yuri artists. And same-sex marriage is a thing that is discussed in the news, in the courts. Even in Japan, where Shibuya is the only part of the country that allows same-sex marriage, the conversation has begun.

What does that mean for a comic like Strawberry Shake? It means that some of the jokes just don’t hold up that well. Saeki Ryouko, Julia and Ran’s manager, in 2004 was a comedic figure. In 2015, she seems just like a closeted homophobe. Sorry Saeki-san, but you protest *way* too much. ^_^ Comedy is harder than tragedy. In Strawberry Shake, the comedy is vaudevillian, and so, a relic of the past, rather than a joke we’re all laughing at now.

The essential love story is still cute and maddening and adorable and sweet. ZLAY is still absolutely fucked up hilarious. The climax of the manga is still fantastic. And the new extra chapter? “I absolutely refuse to spoil the rest of the chapter, except to say that you will probably be outraged and/or disappointed by the end.” ^_^;

Should you get it? Yes. This is an important book for Yuri fans. Will you like it? Maybe. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9 It’s striking to see just how much better her art is now than it was in 2004. This volume has been touched up, but look at the first and final chapters to see a difference.
Story – 7 It has worn a little around the edges over time.
Characters – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 2

Overall – 8

Again I will quote myself from 2009: “As funny as this manga is, I’m forced to conclude that this story is not *quite* as perfect for Hayashiya-sensei as Hayate x Blade. The action component just catapults that series to perfection.

But hey – this is a groundbreaking series. A Yuri series for Yuri magazine by a woman who has been drawing Yuri comedy for a long, long time. A must-have for any fan of Yuri.”





LGBTQ: Steven Universe Season 1 (English)

June 26th, 2015

SUlogoIn 2013, Cartoon Network ran a pilot for a possible new series that received rave reviews. As a result, it was launched for a full Season of 49 episodes that same year. In 2014, it was announced that Steven Universe had been picked up for a second season.

The original premise was described as a “magical boy” series because creator Rebecca Sugar, a former writer for Adventure Time, was looking to make something that anyone could enjoy and she was a bit fed up with the gendering of “magical” series.

In fictional Beach City, Steven Universe is a little boy whose mother was a “Crystal Gem”, Rose Quartz, and who now lives with three of his mother’s former compatriots – Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet (above, left to right.) His father lives nearby and runs the town car wash, while Steven trains to be able to use the Rose Quartz gem embedded in his body that he inherited from his mother.

This is all presented with a handwave and a declarative sentence. “Steven is….” But the whole story actually takes all 49 episodes to play out. We learn slowly, over time, as Steven unlocks new abilities and learns new facts about the true nature of the Gems, what his mother was, and what it all means to him.

Steven at the beginning of the series is rather annoying, in the time honored fashion of magical series protagonists. But almost stealthily, he starts to grow and mature. He makes friends with a local girl, Connie, and they two of them have some pretty great adventures together. With Connie at his side, Steven starts to unlock some of his abilities.

Each of the Gems has a distinct personality and skills, as well as magical weapons. Pearl is a bit of a pedant, and a stickler for the rules. Garnet is badass, and Amethyst is an Id on legs, causing chaos as often as shes helps resolve issues. It’s very apparent that all three Crystal Gems care for Steven, for himself and because he is Rose Quartz’s son.

About halfway through Season 1, we start to get an idea that the Gems do develop various levels of intimacy between them. When they are in sync, they can “fuse” into stronger, larger Gems, although clashing personalities can make that dangerous. We know right away that fusion is an act of intimacy, but when Steven  manages it for the first time, the look on Garnet’s face – Garnet, who never smiles –  is brilliant.

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Garnet confirmed my thoughts on fusion with her advice to fused Steven – “You are not one person…or two. You…are an adventure. Go out and make it a good one.”

We also learn that Pearl’s feelings for Rose Quartz went way deeper than just friends. This is confirmed later in the season, when she tells Steven just how much Rose meant to her.

In the season climax, we get another glimpse of fusion being an act of intimacy between gems, but I’m not spoiling that, except to say it involved a kiss (the series forums exploded trying to dismiss or deny it had any meaning, which was hilarious) and a reveal so good I completely did not see it coming at all. (If you know it, please kindly do not spoil it in the comments. If you do, I’ll delete the comment- – it was too good to spoil. ) Some fans are adamant that the Gems are gender neutral, but I’d say that’s not a fixed state, since Rose was able to have a child with a human.

Remember what I said about musicals? I lied. I guess I really like musicals after all. Maybe I only like cartoon and comic-based musicals. I dunno. I do know the music in Steven Universe plays an actual role in the show. It’s not the same kind of singing to one’s self one represented by “Bacon Pancakes”…the songs add meaning and depth, and occasionally critical expository commentary and character development. So, just on the strength of character and storytelling, I’d say Steven Universe is a must-watch. But there’s also music!

 

It takes no effort at all to see that Steven Universe is probably the queerest cartoon on American television right now.  And it’s really good.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Fun and fanciful
Story- 10 Really.
Characters – 9
Service – Not as such, no
Yuri – 5

Overall – 8

I’ve been binge-watching this series this week. It’s really quite good.





Light Novel: Tabisuru Shoujo to Shakukunetsu Kuni (旅する少女と灼熱の国)

June 24th, 2015

TsStSnKIt is a hallmark of how predictable Tabisuru Shoujo to Shakukunetsu Kuni (旅する少女と灼熱の国) is, that 20 pages or so before I have completed it, I am writing this review. Or, as I like to describe it to other people, this was written with the help of the “Big Book O’War Novel Tropes.”

Do you remember the end of Madlax? No? Neither does anyone else, so don’t worry. It was a great series, and had a lot of everything, happening all at once, so it’s not surprising that you don’t. Well, the main point to remember is that at the end of the series the entity known as Margaret Burton at the beginning of the series, doesn’t really exist any more.

But her maid, Eleanor Baker, who has been traveling around war-torn Garth-Sonika for ten years, does not know this crucial fact. In those ten years she has been looking for Margaret without success. And it is into her (somewhat fruitless) quest we find ourselves catapulted in the beginning of this Light Novel.

Eleanor is looking for Margaret, without success. 10 years have passed, but she remains undaunted. Right away, this fact depressed the hell out of me. We know Margaret doesn’t exist as such anymore. And here’s Eleanor still looking for her. How depressing is that?

So, while looking for Margaret, she meets Dieu, a woman whose husband wandered off to war ages ago, and has struggled to keep her little cafe running, while being used and abused by local guerrilla fighters. Eleanor brings both hope and despair, but helps Dieu beat off the guerrillas long enough to be reunited with her husband. In addition to kicking guerrilla fighters in the balls, Eleanor cleaned the cafe for many pages.

Eleanor meets Nigel Wingate, a British Intelligence Officer who is too clever for his own good, and with whom she rescues a kidnapped child, Alissam, from a group of kidnappers. We were treated to many pages of the cleaning the filthy kitchen in the kidnapper’s apartments. After this segment, if you did not recognize the Japanese word for “roach” you were not paying attention.

In the third section, Eleanor and Wingate foil more bad guys, this time at a resort casino. We learn that, along with her amazing fighting and cleaning skills, Eleanor also is a casino-class card dealer.

The books ends (will end) with her and Wingate coincidentally traveling together.

There was, of course, as much service as could be crammed into a book that included guerrilla fighters intimidating the owner of a small cafe, kidnappers having kidnapped a female child and casino pool scenes. And, we learn details of cleaning in a war zone, which surely will be useful one day.

I can’t even say this book was bad. It was *exactly* what I expected from the official post-series Madlax novel. “Big Book O’War Novel Tropes” is ever so popular. Which is to say, who else but me and a bunch of freaks would ever read this? ^_^

Ratings:

Art – Meh
Story – Absurd
Characters – Ridiculous
Yuri – Of course
Service – Gobs

Overall – Laughably awful, unless you actually liked Madlax, like I did. Then it’s a depressing, dismal, 3.





Sailor Moon Season 1 Part 1, Disk 3 (English)

June 21st, 2015

SM1P1LE

On the third and final disk of Sailor Moon Season 1, Part 1, we settle in to a pattern of a sort. Usagi gets involved in a situation – and it takes Sailor Moon to get out of it.

Which leads me to think that if the Generals just stopped targeting Azabu-Juuban, they might have slightly better luck. It’s not like Usagi and the others are gonna hop a train to Akita to deal with a monster outbreak….

This series is not fair to Nephrite at all. Jadeite gets two disks worts of screwing up before he’s decommissioned, and as soon as Nephrite steps up, there’s Zoisite up his nostrils. And then Nephrite does something extra idiotic;, he falls for the normalest girl in the series, Naru. We spend slightly more time on this than you might imagine. Naru is able to see through his glamour almost immediately, which in any other series might indicate that she is meant to be part of the team. But not here. Here, Naru represents the Ur-girl. The non-magical, not-extra stupid, extra-smart, extra-psychic girl, and who, perhaps surprisingly, sees the most clearly.

Tucked in between this drama, we digress for a moment back into the nascent Sailor Moon x Tuxedo Mask romance. For those of us watching Sailor Moon Crystal, which, in taking it’s cue from the manga, is almost single-mindedly focused on their romance, this seems like a small enough nod, in between watching Nephrite struggle against his own idiot Queen, his rivals Zoisite and Kunzite and that damned Sailor Moon.

Ratings:

Art – 4
Story – 6 (Naru and Nephrite actually works better for me than Usgi and Mamoru)
Characters – 6
Yuri – 0  Although we don’t really know what Ami and Rei are up to, as they barely have any screen time  ^_^
Service – 1 on principle

Overall – 6

The most ironic episode must surely be the one in which we learn all about how much animators care about making a great anime…even as the already stretched-thin budget of this first season hits a low point. ^_^

Previous Reviews of Sailor Moon, Season 1, Part 1:

Sailor Moon Season 1 Part 1, Disk 1

Sailor Moon Season 1 Part 1, Disk 2

Thanks to Viz Media for the review copy and the chance to revisit old friends. ^_^





Okujou no Yurirei-san Side A; Mou Hitotsu Yuritopia (屋上の百合霊さんSIDE A もうひとつのユリトピア)

May 31st, 2015

Originally released in Japan in 2012, Visual Novel Okujou no Yuri Yurei-san is an extremely popular Yuri series.

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As you know, I do not play VNs  – and I now understand why I don’t. /blink/

 

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It’s not the “game” aspect that bores me, it’s the excruciatingly slow reading mechanics. /unblink/

 

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Having to page forward after every sentence makes me want to stab my eyes out with frustration. /blink/

 

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The two or three facial expressions that change back and forth seem as ridiculously silly to me as me posting my own face at the end of every single sentence in a review. /unblink/

 

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Not every sentence needs an illustration. Much less the same illustration repeated over and over. /blink/

 

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And, so, as much as the story in Okujou no Yurirei-san seems kinda cute. I just can’t bring myself to attempt it. I already know I’ll get 5 minutes in and want to scream.

The thing is, the series is extremely popular in Japan. In fact, it’s spawned several Yuri-only doujinshi shows of it’s own…called “Yuritopia,” for obvious reasons, as you will see.

Okujoumou1In the VN, at a elite girl’s school,  Shouka Kokonotsuboshi Joshi Gakuen, Yuna is able to see the ghosts of two girls who watch over the school. They were in love, but were not able to be together in life, so in death, they long for the school to become a Yuri Utopia, i.e., “Yuritopia.” During the course of gameplay, several couples are formed, to bring the school towards the Yuritopia they desire.

In the first part of this two-manga set, Okujou no Yurirei-san Side A; Mou Hitotsu Yuritopia (屋上の百合霊さんSIDE A もうひとつのユリトピア) we meet Shiori, a quiet, unassuming student, who is friends with one of the original game characters, Maki. The school festival is coming up and Shiori does not want to be dragged into acting in their class play so she, Maki and Hina (who also appears in the VN) all volunteer to work on the set.

But the conflict of the story lies in Shiori’s fractured relationship with her childhood friend, Mako. Mako has already confessed her love to Shiori who, in a panic, ran away. She hasn’t been able to face Mako since.

Hina, who is on track team with Mako, can see the problem immediately. She encourages Shiori to make up with her friend. Shiori tries, but when Mako again confesses, she again runs away…even though this time, she’s not at all upset.

As the festival nears, Shiori learns that Hina and Yuna are an item, and at the festival meets Maki’s lover Miki (one of the VN couple plotlines). Having heard about the two ghost girls on the roof, Shiori pulls herself together just long enough to let Mako know she likes her back. The two ghost girls appear, glowing with joy, as another couple is added to their Yuritopia.

There is nothing “wrong” with this book, per se. Itou Hachi’s art is moe, but not at all in a fetishy way, the story is comfortable and untroubling. The only thing that strikes me as weird, is that in Yuritopia there are no men of any kind. Not so much as a male teacher or parent. There is, in fact, only one adult shown in the entire volume, a female teacher in one panel. All other parents or teachers are off-stage voices and no one in the audience for the play is an adult. It’s a clear indication that, like Thomas More’s Utopia, this is a not-place. Nowhere real, not obtainable, not really even all that desirable, Yuritopia is a fantasy only.

Interestingly, these volumes are being put out by Hirari comics and I’m betting Ichijinsha’s kicking itself in the butt for not grabbing up the idea. ^_^) Go Hirari!

Ratings:

Art – 8 Cute, without being teeth-grittingly sugary or in any way creepy
Story – 7 Predictable, but still nice, as one might expect from such a series
Characters – 8 Likable, a little thin in development as one might expect from such a series
Yuri – 9
Service – 1 Pleasantly free of thigh-staring

Overall – 8

Like the ghosts watching over the school, we can be perfectly happy for these not-real girls in their not-real world. ^_^ At least Yuritopia is fill of cute, happy Yuri couples.