Archive for the Sasamekikoto Category


Yuri News This Week – July 11, 2009

July 11th, 2009

I was in NYC last night at “Passion Fruits,” the Lesbian art show that is running as part of the Fresh Fuits Festival this month. Rica Takashima has some pieces in the show. It was a really, honestly an amazing opening, and tomorrow I’ll be posting some pictures I took of people with her art.

In the meantime, here’s this week’s Yuri news!

Yuri Anime

It’s an anime kinda week this week!

First of all, as I announced yesterday, Afterellen.com will be streaming the Aoi Hana anime series, which is really amazing – and will get Yuri in front of a lot of people who never heard of it, but need to see it! There’s a lot of positive response for the first episode, so hopefully it’ll be a successful venture for all.

Anime Network has announced that Revolutionary Girl Utena will be shown on their online channel. Since ADV rescued some of the CPM properties, this make loads of sense – and it’s nice to know that this classic anime won’t disappear entirely from the world.

Katherine is pleased to shout out that the voice actresses for Sasamekikoto have been announced. Like Aoi Hana they seem to be favoring new voices.

Crunchyroll is really hotting up the Yuri pot with new anime Kanamemo, a series based on a Mangatime Kirara 4-panel comic. There are two characters that are said to be a “Yuri couple.” I will withhold a final decision until I actually see it. ;-)

And another new anime of interest, Canaan has just started in Japan – it has a Yuri-ish air about it, and is about two women with guns. Noir fans take note!

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Snatches of Yuri

Nekomimi Days is getting tons of press on the Japanese blogs. It is about moe school girls with cat ears, so it will appeal to people who are completely unlike me. I should warn you that it is from Gum Comics, which means it isn’t as innocent as you want to pretend it is.

Yuyu Shiki is exactly what it looks like – another “cho-kawai” 4-koma from Mangatime Kirara. The connecting theme this time is that all three have name that begin with “Yu.”

And Arisu no O-chakai takes featureless moe faces one step further into “circles with eyes” territory. It tells the story of 3 girls who are members of the “Chado” club – the tea ceremony club.

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And there you have it, guns, 4-koma, moe, schoolgirls and sword duels. Sounds like Yuri to me. :-)





Yuri Manga: Sasamekikoto, Volume 4 (ささめきこと)

April 13th, 2009

Sasamekikoto (ささめきこと) Volume 4 is the story of a misunderstanding. In fact, it is the anatomy of a misunderstanding, built up from the bare bones of misapprehension, attached by ligaments and tendons of high-school drama, and filled in with the muscle of self-doubt, covered in the thin skin of self-awareness.

(I’m not sure if the above paragraph is accurate, but it is impressively disgusting, isn’t it? ^_^)

The days immediately following Ushio’s and Sumi’s confrontation in Volume 3 are awkward and increasingly painful for both of them. We learn that Ushio was seen to have kissed Sumi, but she vehemently denies this, claiming that Sumi is – obviously – a “normal” girl, as opposed to her own publicly, repeatedly, stated perversion.

Sumi is, of course, not “normal” at all, but beset by fear and indecision, she makes no attempt to breach the gap between her, Ushio and their true feelings for each other.

The book them takes a look back once again, continuing the story of Ushio’s arrival in middle school and the fallout after her proclamation that she likes cute girls. It comes as no surprise that the girls around her mock her, call her “Lez-ko” and are generally unkind. Sumi makes an awesome Prince, standing by Ushio, befriending her and eventually making it possible for Ushio to become part of the crowd once again.

It is on a class ski trip that Sumi is suddenly faced with the disturbing fact that her feelings for Ushio are not merely friendship.

Back in “real” time, Ushio and Sumi are >this< close to saying something, to touching, to breaking through the wall, but when the book comes to an end, nothing has been said or done. The volume begins more lightly, with a side story about the president of the Joshibu, Tomoe, who turns out to be from an extremely wealthy family. Her lover, Miyako, is seen as an affront to the family dignity as much because she is the daughter of the chauffeur as because they are both girls. But Tomoe doesn’t care – she lives openly and happily – the complete opposite to the veil of lies that have trapped both Ushio and Sumi. Volume 4 is more serious than the previous three, but that is not a bad thing. The overall impression I had is that we’re now allowed to take Ushio and Sumi a little more seriously, and the accept that this is not “just a phase” or a whim or a crush.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 8
Story – 8
Yuri – 7
Service – 4

Overall – 8

Will it turn out okay in the end? I don’t know, but I feel a few more plot complications coming on before we find out.





Yuri News This Week – March 21, 2009

March 21st, 2009

Off we fly, into the wild Yuri yonder!

Yuri Anime

Sasamekikoto anime has been confirmed. I’m flabbergasted, gobsmacked and tickled. Hopefully, those of you who see Sumi and Ushio will be moved to buy the manga, which is absolutely delightful.

And speaking of delightful, there is a trailer up for Aoi Hana. No animation as of yet, but you can see the pretty watercolors from the manga and say “oooh.”

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Snatches of Yuri

Looks like a new web-based Mai HiME property is on the way: Mai HiME Rebundei Nekohime Blog. Based merely on a superficial glance at the web page, I already hate it. lol

George R points an enthusiastic finger at the novel Memories Off 2nd ~ Precious Hearts, which has unexpected and not entirely craptastic Yuri. He has provided a review which will surely be used at some time in the future. :-)

Otoshite Apri-gal is also something that, based just on first glance is nothing I want to read. But those of you who disagree with me on mostly everything will surely like it!

And last for today is yet another Mangatime Kirara (KR Comics) series called Manken which is in every single Yuri list, so I guess it has Yuri, huh? As it’s KR, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s probably a 4-koma, with a wacky girl, an average girl, a butchy-ish girl and the other girl. :-)

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That’ll give you something to chew on while I take a few days off and go do other, completely non-anime/manga things that involve people who don’t read any of this crap. See you when I get back!





Yuri News This Week – March 14, 2009

March 14th, 2009

Happy Π Day!

Yuri Events

You are invited to join Rica Takashima, J.D. Glass, Althea Keaton, Jessie B. and the cast and crew for a Yuri Mongatari 6 for a Launch Party on April 18th, 2009 at the Rare Flix store in Secaucus, NJ. This event is co-hosted by Yuricon and Media Blasters, and will include the premiere of our “Yuri Monogatari 6” video trailer, and plenty of Yuri anime on the TVs! We’ll be there from 7PM til will throw you out, so stop by! Bring friends! Buy Yuri!

Sakuracon announces Serial Experiments Lain‘s Yoshitoshi Abe as a guest. Ask him whether Lain and Alice were a couple – I’m sure he’s never been asked that, before. :-)

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Yuri Manga

y_y let me know that the doujinshi circle Sakuraike will be publishing a mass market collection of their adorable Yuri series, Tact. It’ll be available in July. This is honestly very, very cool news for them. As soon as there’s info for purchasing the book, you can be sure I’ll make it available to you.

You’ve probably heard of this already, and I think I even mentioned it before, but – Moonphase says that there may be Sasamekikoto anime, and 2chan is all over it, endlessly. Will it be reality? Who knows.

Comic Yell, the “Shoujo magazine for Boys” from Hobunsha (publisher of Tsubomi,) is ending, leaving no competetition is Comic Hai (home of Morinaga Milk’s Girl Friends.) I wonder if Tsubomi is meant to take up that slack….

Here’s some Yuri Manga you want to pick up this month!

Rakka Ryuusui 4

Sasamekikoto 4

Ichigo Mashimaro 6

Yuri Hime S, Volume 8

Of course all of these have been added to the Yuricon Shop, as well.

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Other News

I attended the KRAZY! exhibit at Japan Society a couple od days ago. The exhibit is very small and, because of the lack of context for it, it appeared to me to be the zOMG! moments of a person’s anime/manga interest. As it turns out, there was a huge western component to it that had to be cut out for space. The original exhibit was much larger and talked more about the evolution and convergence of visual culture and zeitgeist to make an explosion of concepts that defy cultural hegemony to create a kind of translocal modernism. (Words from Ueno-sensei one of the lecturers the night I attended.) It might seem a tad pretentious, but if you take a moment to parse it – so exactly right. :-) I want to thank translator Mari Morimoto for asking me to accompany her.

I got to meet Roland Kelts of Japanamerica, who did a very very good job of speaking to an audience that was half Japan Society members with no understanding of anime or manga and half anime and manga fans with no understanding of Japanese art.

Lastly for today, Riyoko Ikeda has been awarded the French Legion of Honor for her efforts promoting French history through Rose of Versailles. Hopefully that will inspire everyone involved to get that movie completed already!

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It’s also Einstein’s birthday today and White Day, so take a moment today to celebrate art and science, math and language and the power of the human mind.

See you next week. :-)





Yuri Manga: Sasamekikoto, Volume 3 (ささめきこと)

October 13th, 2008

Today we turn our attentions once again to the trials and tribulations of Murasame Sumika, aka Sumi, and her hopeless love for her best friend forever, Ushio.

Volume 3 of Sasamekikoto (ささめきこと) begins with the advent of the school sports festival. Someone appears to be targeting Sumika in an attempt to sabotage her class’s chance at victory. As Sumi lines up for the final race, a shoo-in for her, she runs off to save a “kidnapped” Ushio. Sumi and Ushio – now in penguin costume – are happily reunited.

The school erupts in wonder at the arrival of Lotte, a cute little German girl who transfers into the school in order to experience Japanese life. Resisting Ushio’s attempts at dressing her like a doll, Lotte idolizes Sumi’s strength. In order to train Lotte in karate, Sumi picks up her own training for the first time since she met Ushio. We learn that she quit it because Ushio likes cute girls. Now back in the dojo, Sumi remember just how much she loves karate.

In trying to become strong like Sumi, Lotte over exerts herself and collapses. Ushio blames Sumi for not allowing for Lotte’s size and condition. Sumi responds that Lotte *wanted* to train hard, and likes Sumi’s size and strength – that yes, she is NOT cute. Sumi goes running out into the rain and promptly falls ill. (Once again causing me to speculate on Japan’s bacteria-endowed rains….)

Ushio comes to Sumi’s house and nurses her back to health, but pays the price and gets the cold herself. We spend a little while in Ushio’s backstory, learning how she and Sumi became friends when she transfered in, as a result of the rest of the girls in the class ostracizing her when she admitted to liking girls.

Sumi comes to visit Ushio – seeing Ushio upon the veranda, Sumi’s expression says volumes about her feelings, but Ushio runs away. Sumi bangs on the door and demands to see Ushio who, after extracting a promise that they will always be friends (despite the fact that, at this point, neither of them want to be just friends anymore) falls sobbing into Sumi’s arms.

What will happen in the exciting volume 4 of this manga? I don’t know! But I’m very much looking forward to reading more of this really quite excellent tale of best friends in love.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 5

Overall – 8

My favorite moment was watching Sumi watching Yabase Takemi fighting. The tension in her body, that desire to be out there, to test her strength against another champion…awesome. Like Lotte, I enjoy watching Sumi being not cute at all.