Archive for the Series Category


Yuri Manga Whispered Words (Sasamekikoto) is On Sale Now in English

May 16th, 2014

Sumi is in love with her best friend, Ushio. Ushio likes girls but has publicly declared her interest is in “cute girls”. Unfortunately for Sumi, she’s not small and cute – she’s tall, athletic, and forthright by nature.  In Whispered Words, all the tropes of Yuri gather together in a solid dramedy that provides readers  the darkest depths and the highest heights of each trop possible

Whispered Words  is the English language release of popular Yuri manga series Sasamekikoto, by Takashi Ikeda, put out by One Peace Books.  Volume 1 contains the first three volumes of the Japanese series and will be followed by Volume 2 (JP volumes 4-6, which is now up for pre-order) in Autumn 2014 and Volume 3 (JP Volume 7-9). Here is the link on RightStuf.

We’ll be doing a full review here – and we’ll have a contest giveaway in a bit, but for all you Yuri manga fans who have said many time that if something good got licensed you’d buy it – here’s you big chance to step up.  Scanlations may have left you frustrated, but I guarantee that if you get all 3 volumes of Whispered Words, you will not be disappointed. The story is solid. ^_^

For my reviews of this story in Japanese, check out Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3.

Fly Yuri fans and support good Yuri in English! ^_^





Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica Homura Revenge! Manga, Volume 2 (魔法少女まどか☆マギカ ほむらリベンジ!)

May 4th, 2014

Back in January 2014, I reviewed the first volume of Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica Homura Revenge!, in which we meet Akemi Homura, cycling once again through another version of the story in which she meets Madoka, and desperately tries to keep her from becoming a magical girl. In Volume 2, we pick up as Sayaka and Kyouko face off about which one of them will protect the town.

After Mami’s death, things spiral quickly downward, with Kyouko, Sayaka and Homura in direct competition with one another, despite Madoka’s repeated pleas for them to work together. Sayaka falls first, the victim of over-reaching her limits, Kyouko falls on Walpurgisnacht, leaving Homura alone again to fight…only she finds herself not alone, as Madoka breaks her promise to not become a magical girl.

Madoka and Homura face Walpurgisnacht together (and for once, my timing worked out as I finished this book on Walpurgisnacht, in between dancing with the devil and flying about on my broom) and embrace, as Homura says farewell to Madoka and resets time one more time, to try again and keep Madoka from her fate.

The title is a bit misleading, Homura neither takes revenge, nor has revenge taken on her. This is, more or less, her story, one she has lived over and over again in hopes that she can stop it completely.  And, like so many other iterations of her story, it has no resolution. But for a moment, she and Madoka were able to be together and their hearts were as one.

Ratings:

Art –  6
Story – 7 I was hoping for a stronger ending, but the climax was good.
Characters – Is it just me, or Kyouko gaining prominence with every version?
Yuri – 1 It’s love because the two of them have such strong akashic ties by this point, but I would not say they are “in love”
Service – 1 Almost non-existent, which was kind of nice, especially as I saw some bits of the movie this week at a Japanese bookstore and in less than 5 minutes watched all their breasts bounce at least once and saw a lot of thighs.

Overall – Melancholy, but not bad. 7





Cardcaptor Sakura Anime on Blu-Ray

May 1st, 2014

ccs2 Waaayy back, right after Sailor Moon took the west by storm, almost all of the voice cast were in high demand. A few of them landed in an adorable magical girl anime created by the all-female studio that goes by the name CLAMP…and another blockbuster series was born.

Tokyopop licensed Cardcaptor Sakura, and did a very decent job with it, but it came out just slightly too soon for the big shoujo popularity wave. CCS was infamously licensed for TV as Card Captors, and hacked into pieces, to make the Li Syaoran the lead, instead of the titular character Sakura. I know people who are still angry about that. ^_^

More importantly, this series just had the worst timing ever in terms of the US market. It just sort of disappeared into the gap after Sailor Moon and before Fruits Basket. Then Tokyopop went under and CCS faded away.

But, having hit a major anniversary in Japan, a new premium box set was released there. I’ve had it on my personal wish list of licenses since it was announced and yesterday the news hit – NIS America is releasing a Blu-Ray Premium box set of the Cardcaptor Sakura TV anime, with a dub (that I will never ever listen to. ^_^) I will totally be getting this for a number of reasons:

CLAMP series on Blu-Ray

Yue

Voice actors who win the universe

Gender and age bent relationships up the wazoo

Fabulous story

Did I mention Yue? Really…he’s worth the entire series.

Stolen directly from ANN: The Premium Edition, will be US$249.99, will include all 70 episodes on nine Blu-ray Discs, a 76-page hardcover art book, clean openings and endings, and a collectable slip case. The Standard edition will include three 4-DVD volumes for US$59.99 each. This is slated for an August release.

I know what I’m getting myself as a birthday present.





Sailor Moon Anime Cast is Announced!

April 27th, 2014

SM_CLast night (US time) Nico Nico Douga hosted a live Sailor Moon event and, at last we have the cast announcements and character designs.

Tskino Usagi/Sailor Moon will be once again be voiced by Mitsuishi Kotono.

Mizuno Ami/Sailor Mercury will be taken up by Kanemoto Hisako.

Hino Rei/Sailor Mars is to be played by Satou Rina.

My beloved Kino Makoto/Sailor Jupiter will have the voice of Koshimizu Ami.

Aino Minako/Sailor Venus will be voiced by Itou Shizuka.

Also announced at the event is the lead cast for the second new Sailor Moon Musical, which will play in Tokyo and Osaka, and will include Chibi-Usa and Sailor Pluto (and, therefore, can be ID’ed as the second arc of the manga. ^_^)

Wrapping up PGSM news today, the Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Memorial Tribute Album is getting vinyl releases, which is an interesting retro appeal to old fans.

The new anime will be streaming on Nico Nico Douga worldwide in 10 languages in less than 3 months….it begins July 5th, 2014.

All in all, I am pleased as punch at the choices. ^_^ These women are all very talented and all likely to give us amazing performances. I’m very much looking forward to the cast announcements for the bad guys!





Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Manga, Perfect Edition, Volume 5 (美少女戦士セーラームーン)

April 14th, 2014

Volume 5 of the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Manga, Perfect Edition,  (美少女戦士セーラームーン) is amazingly chock full of…everything. New characters, secrets, cool moments, and, at last!, the Outer Senshi gather.

Yet again, the days of peace and tranquility after the defeat of the Black Moon are few. Usagi can be forgiven for wishing they’d continue. She and her friends are (or should be) studying for their high school entrance exams, when strange things start happening around town, all centered on a mysterious, elite school. In the meantime, Usagi is fighting off the arrogantly seductive famous race driver, Tennou Haruka, and is jealous to see famous violinist Kaioh Michiru flirting with Mamoru.

Total digression – some years ago I was staying in Tokyo on Tennozu Isle and suddenly realized that I was in the exact building where Haruka’s apartment would have been! There is a real Tennozu Isle, but no Kaiozu, Meiozu or Mugenzu.

Once again, I find myself flipping back and forth between anime, manga, musicals, and random media as I am reminded that both Haruka and Michiru are not particularly likable when they appear in the manga (unlike the anime, where they are captivating.) Haruka is way more genderqueer in the manga and I’m reminded again that Michiru and Haruka really are quite obviously a couple. It’s a little boggling to imagine in 1998, some folks just could not deal with the obvious and created elaborate fantasies to rewrite the narrative. (And, oh the drama when Takeuchi-sensei answered a fan’s question at Anime Expo and said they were lesbians.)

When Pluto comes back, she’s visibly different. Chibi-Usa recognizes it immediately. This started an interesting discussion, as I commented that seeing Pluto return after ostensibly dying in an earlier arc, might have clued Uranus and Neptune to the fact that maybe everything they thought was absolute might not actually be so. Of course, no one considers this. The oldest character in the book is, what, Setsuna at 23?

Outers and Inners are set against one another – even after the person they acknowledge as their future Queen asks them to work together. Kids. Sheesh. Can’t tell ’em anything. ^_^

But all this is set aside when first Sailor Saturn awakens and right on top of that, Mistress 9. Poor Hotaru, there’s so many people inside her head.

Ratings:

Art – The art is and always has been so wildly inconsistent as to practically be unratable, but boy can you tell when a color page is an artbook piece or a Nakayoshi color insert.

Story – 8 Best arc of the series, still.

Characters – 10 I love the Outers unconditionally.

Yuri – 9 Haruka and Michiru are so so so a couple.

Service – 4 Bits actually are service-y here and there.

Overall – 8

As Sailor Moon goes, this volume is a nail-biter. Which is to say I said “Yay!” a lot. ^_^

Thanks to Okazu Superhero Jye N. for his sponsorship of today’s review!