Archive for the Series Category


Puella Magi Tart Magica Manga, Volume 1 (魔法少女たると☆マギカ The Legend of “Jeanne d’ Arc”)

March 30th, 2015

91RxF+0Ue0LYen Press is releasing the Puella Magi Tart Magica manga in April and, as I am wont to, I wanted to get a good look at the Japanese version in order to compare and contrast. So today, let’s take a brief look at the Puella Magi Tart Magica (魔法少女たると☆マギカ The Legend of “Jeanne d’ Arc”) manga.

For anyone already familiar with the Madoka Magica universe, Tart is an intriguing idea. We know from historical records that Joan of Arc testified to talking to angels and saints, that she was charismatic, passionate about France, driven, and used by every one in power at the time for their own purposes. It’s almost a no-brainer to see her in the context of a “magical girl” focused on her wish, not needing to distinguish between Witches and England in order to fulfill her contract with Kyuubey, and ultimately overwhelmed by her desire.

The story begins with Jeanne and her team of “pucelle” fighting a Witch (and the English) and freeing  a castle. We then look back to Jeanne and her sister Katrine attacked in the woods and saved by Lise, a Homura-like girl who is accompanied by Kyuubey. Instantly, Kyuubey pegs Jeanne as having magical girl potential, but it’s not until Katrine is killed that Jeanne makes her contract with Kyuubey. She and Lise set off to fight Witches…and the English.

The story is layered with actual historical events, and chilling narration, such as this line, after Jeanne meets Kyuubey, ” 1425 – A young Jeanne first hears an angel’s voice.”

Masugitsune, the artis,s has a clean, utterly typical moe style. It’s not quite rough enough to handle the horrors of the world Jeanne inhabited and not stylish enough to give us the amazing Witches the medieval mind would have imagined. I was genuinely disappointed that we weren’t getting illumination-style medieval horrors.

Yuri is little to none, but Lise’s attention to Jeanne, despite Katrine’s open admiration (and better sword handling) can be cheerfully misinterpretated any number of ways. ^_^

The thing that is vastly different in this Magica spin off series is that we already know the ending. And it is not a good one. Even if we the reader in Japan, did not know the ending of Jeanne’s story, the manga opens with it in color, so there is no way to avoid the inevitable knowledge of the brutal ending to Jeanne d’Arc’s short, but incandescent life.

Jeanne d’ Arc was 19 years old when she was burned at the stake.

The idea that Jeanne d’Arc, the Maid of Orleans, was a “magical girl” is not only appealing, but intriguing.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 5 Neither as obsessively Christian as they should have been nor as ignorant, they read like any character in any manga.
Yuri – 1 *Someone* will see something between Jeanne and Lise, because.
Service – Shockingly little, except some moderate, almost coy violence, with the exception of Katrine’s death, which was not subtle.

Overall – 8

I’m looking forward (well, no, but yeah) to reading Volume 2 and the English release of Volume 1 next month.





New Edition of Iono-sama Fanatics to be Released in Japan

March 23rd, 2015

Ionothumb According to Comic Natalie, Fujieda Miyabi’s Iono-sama Fanatics has been picked up by Ichijinsha for a new edition release, slated for June 2015.

Additionally, a spin-off story will run in  Comic Yuri Hime. A Special Edition of the manga will also include a Drama CD.

Before you get too excited, Seven Seas made it very plain on Twitter that they do not intend to license this. The conversation was interesting, because it was made plain that when they say they “orders” they do not mean sales of individual copies to people like you, they mean bulk pre-orders from chain stores. So, despite the absurdity of relying on the old comics model for sales viability, it’s clear that the industry is still hoist by that particular petard.

But, for those of you who have taken the opportunity to learn a little Japanese, this will be a wonderful reason to restart that practice, to help support one of our favorite creators and encourage Ichijinsha to continue the series. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Whispered Words, Volume 3 (English)

March 10th, 2015

ww31Yay!! Woo!! Other terms of exuberance! We have reached Whispered Words, Volume 3, out in English from One Peace Books! Whee!!

But before we celebrate, let us take a look back at how far we’ve come.

In Volume 1, we met Sumika, who is tall, athletic and hopelessly in love with her best friend, Ushio who never even considers Sumika as a possibility. Ushio isn’t trying to be cruel, but she is sure that Sumi is “normal” as she terms it and doesn’t want her to get roped into the negative treatment she’s come to expect from the other students.

In Volume 2, it becomes increasingly obvious to everyone even, eventually, them, that Sumika and Ushio are in love with each other. Even as they start taking tentative steps to be together, life gets in the way.

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In Volume 3 as Sumi, Ushio and their friends all start thinking about graduation, Ushio’s grandmother is injured and asks for Ushio to come and take care of her, potentially splitting her and Sumi apart just as they are starting to have something to stay together for. Ushio’s brother reunites with an old flame and their grandmother puts pressure on them to marry.

While all that is going on, Sumi runs for Student Council President. When rivals for Student Council President use dirty tactics, and a member of the Karate Club gets in a fight, Sumi feels her best action is to remove herself from the contest. To everyone’s surprise, Ushio steps up and takes her place in the election. There can be no underhanded tactics, after all, Ushio’s been out since middle school.

The end of this volume is everything we could really have hoped for. Recognition that life is not easy – it even has some real-life homophobia, so when love wins the day it’s just that much sweeter. It’s a story we’ve been told a million times since we were kids, but it’s rare that we get to see it in a Yuri manga – sure, the real world can be awful, but love makes us strong. And so it does. Also weak. And stupid. But sometimes it works out  and when it does, it’s totally worth it. Just like this manga series.

The third volume goes on sale officially on March 17th. Pre-orders have already shipped.

I promised you – I swore to you – that this manga was worth it. Trust me, the ending is just as much fun in English as it was in Japanese. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Yuri – 10
Service – 1

Overall – 10

Thanks very much to Robert of One Peace books for the review copy, it was even better than I had hoped. ^_^ If you’re still waiting to get a copy of this series, take this opportunity to check the offerings out on the new Yuricon Store, where Volume 1 and Volume 2 are currently listed with multiple vendors and Kindle Editions are also available!





Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Manga, Perfect Edition, Volume 8 (美少女戦士セーラームーン完全版)

March 5th, 2015

smpe8 41-xaVC2gGLI know, it’s been about 8 months since I last reviewed a volume of the Sailor Moon Perfect Edition, but this seemed as good a time as any to pick it up once more. We started up the Sailor Moon ‘Super S’ arc in back in July. And I talked honestly about my complicated feelings for this arc.

In Volume 8 of the Sailor Moon Perfect Edition (美少女戦士セーラームーン), the fourth arc of the series comes to a climax. For the first time ever, all the Senshi of the Solar System fight together against a common enemy…or not, really, but we’ll get there in a moment.

The structure of the story is pretty much identical to the last two arcs – a crystal hidden inside, this the time Mamoru, and the bad guy has another bad guy behind her and in that bad guy is another bad guy who is similar to the other top bosses. Power-ups happen, love and Sailor Moon save the day, the Earth and the kingdom inside the earth that is supposed to protect the earth, but ended up needing protection instead.

There is a word in Japanese, mangekyou (万華鏡) – kaleidoscope. If you know the words to the opening for the original anime, Moonlight Densetsu, you’ll know the line “Heart ha mangekyou” – “my heart is a kaleidoscope.” And in this volume, the Senshi themselves are trapped in a vision that is similar to a kaleidoscope, Michiru even comments on it.  I think a kaledioscope is an excellent analogy for this series as a whole. The arcs are reflections, similar, but not quite the same, of each other, with elements that have much in common but look slightly different every time you look at them.

The one big reveal (remember, we called a “20 year old series can’t really have spoilers rule”) is that the Senshi of the planets are not, in fact, the only Senshi…something we’ll want to keep in mind for the next volume. Chibi-Usa really comes into her own here and it should not be much of a surprise then to find that, when she matures a bit more, the Asteroid Senshi will be her protectors, as the Inners are her mother’s..

The final chapters are more shorts focused on Chibi-Usa who, suddenly, is somewhat less irritating, apparently she’s not the only one who has grown up), Makoto and a “popular for all the wrong reasons” Minako/Rei story. It should be popular for the Yuri, instead it’s popular because Minako says the word “fart.” Tee. Hee.

The other truly notable thing in this arc is that the friendship between Chibi-Usa and Hotaru, which was one of the catalysts for the third arc, has survived Saturn’s rebirth, revival and aging and is stronger than ever. It is not unreasonable to see that Asteroid Senshi aside, Chibi-Usa, that is Princess Lady Serenity, will always have the protection of the most powerful Senshi of all.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 1
Service – 1 on principle

Overall – 8

So, despite my feelings of “ugh” going in to this arc, I actually enjoyed this volume quite a bit. It had a real Avengers Assemble moment, when we had all the planetary Senshi (do not give me guff about Pluto, I am not listening) lined up, ready to fight. ^_^

planetary





Yuri Manga: Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, Volume 2 (あの娘にキスと白百合を)

March 3rd, 2015

AKnSw2Last June I read and reviewed a somewhat typical, but surprisingly enjoyable, little school life Yuri manga, Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo. I was frankly amazed to learn there was a second volume. This first ended tidily and I’m always kind of loathe to believe that there are that many female couples…even a girl’s private school.

In Volume 1, we met typical hper-competent Shiramine Ayaka and annoyingly talented slacker  Kurozawa Yurine. Despite their rivalry, well, probably because of it, they fall in like.

In  Volume 2, we turn to other students; this time, Chiharu, Ai and their crush, Hoshino-sempai. They are friends first, so love feels almost like a distraction and yet, there it is. Chiharu has it bad for Hoshino, who is graduating at the end of the term.

Chiharu and Hoshino are locked in a storage room. Feelings are acknowledged, even if they can’t go anywhere. The second half of the book introduces Izumi, who makes it possible, for Chiharu to say good bye to Hoshino with her whole heart.

We get a brief cameo of Ayaka and Yurine in the main story, but the end chapters introduce Yurine’s younger sister who is jealous of their relationship and is taking it out on Ayaka, but fails to win Yurine back.

Generally speaking I liked the character of Chiharu more than either of the protagonists in the first volume. Where their feelings seemed sort of rote, Chiharu struck me as a fairly well-developed character. You can imagine her outside the school. And her feelings for Hoshino are not fully developed, nor is there a presumption of them ever potentially being a couple. The second volume felt more like a real story than the first.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8 Definitely more realistic than the first volume
Yuri – 5
Service – 1 on principle only

Overall – 8

If you like Canno-sensei’s art, check out this Pixiv page where you can gawk at art, including some for this series, doujinshi and other illustrations. If you’re a fan of the schoolgirl Yuri it’s worth a visit.