Archive for the Staff Writer Category


Assorted Entanglements, Volume 6

November 20th, 2024

A woman in a business suit with short dark hair, holding a beer, hugs her younger sister in a white blouse and dark blue skirt her black hair in pigtails.

by Matt Marcus, Staff Writer

Last we left our ragtag crew of sapphics, dates were “enjoyed”, feelings were revealed, emotional wounds were bonded over. We were left just short of a handful of plot payoffs: will Kujou give in to Sugimoto’s trial date idea? Will Heke-sensei be able to game hard enough to earn the right to date her boss? Will Shizuku and Saori just hook up already?

In Assorted Entanglements Volume 6, three of our four pairings arrive at significant inflection points. One couple is embarking on a new adventure as a couple, one is pretending to do the same, and the third
well that one is about to get complicated.

For Saori and Shizuku, the twin-tailed “normie” decides to sneak out of the house at night for doughnuts and deadpans her way into Shizuku’s apartment (this time choosing to be let in through the door instead of smashing the window. Character growth!!). She continues to find herself drawn to the delinquent, and has begun to see through some of Shizuku’s self-loathing. While escorting Saori back to her house, Shizuku recognizes a woman from her past. This is setting up a Shizuku character arc, and I’m surprisingly here for it. Never would’ve thought I’d say that about Shizuku of all characters, but here we are.

As for our mangaka/editor duo, Heke-sensei finally achieves her level goal in the online FPS game, putting her on “even footing” with her gaming oshi. This means she can finally ask Shinohara out! However, she nearly chickens out after spending the day together on a date. Heke-san clutches out the “win” and the two finally come together as a couple. I’m satisfied that this didn’t get dragged out for another who-knows-how-many volume. Now, the real question left is will Heke-sensei be more capable of hitting deadlines now that her editor is her girlfriend?

And for our third major turning point, Kujou and Sugimoto go on the long-threatened trial date. Naturally, it’s at the most sapphic of date destinations: the aquarium! Sugimoto continuously props up Kujou in the face of her gym teacher’s unrelenting defeatism and emotional self-sabotage, which is, honestly, kind of sweet. Sugimoto isn’t actively putting the moves on her teacher (in fact, she doesn’t seem to recognize her long-growing feelings), but by the end of the date, Kujou has the realization that the two of them have gotten too close for their own good. I was starting to worry that Kujou would remain oblivious for a good while longer.


Also Iori and Minami are there. There’s a silly miscommunication that gets blown out of proportion, complete with the obligatory punch (on panel this time!), but it ends with a sweet moment together. At this point for me, these two are mostly here as supporting cast for the Saori x Shizuku storyline.

Again, I have to say I’m impressed with the improvement of the storytelling from the early volumes. It’s a direct result of the shift to longer chapters allowing the characters more space to interact and to make something resembling plot progress. Hell, it’s making me invested in Shizuku’s backstory, and how the past’s resurfacing will affect her relationship with Saori in the present. A deep character drama this ain’t, but it has become much more than the series of gag strips it began as.

Ratings:

Art – 7 Continues to be solid
Story – 8 We’re actually starting to cook here, with each of the three “active” plot arcs developing
Characters – 8 There is the right amount of angst injected with the humor, allowing for good chemistry
Service – 4 For a real payoff for our Best Couple
Yuri – 8 / LGBTQ – 8 Aquarium date!

Overall – 8 Would invite this volume to go on a shopping date to Yodob*shi 

Volume 7 of this ensemble story of sapphic misfits is coming our way in February.

Matt Marcus is a cohost of various projects on the Pitch Drop Podcast Network, as well as the writer for the blog Oh My God, They Were Bandmates analyzing How Do We Relationship in greater depth.





Throw Away The Suit Together, Volume 2

November 13th, 2024

A woman with pinkish collar length hair wearing denim shorts and a green tee shirt, holds up a can of beer, while next to her a woman with long black hair, wearing running shorts and a white tank top sucks on an ice pop, as she takes their selfie in front of a deeply blue ocean.

by Matt Marcus, Staff Writer

In the first volume of Throw Away The Suit Together, college students and partners Haru and Hinoto decide to ditch the city and the pressures of job hunting and escape to Hinoto’s aunt’s island summer home. Sure, it was an impulsive decision, but they can certainly make a new life here with no degree, no employment, and no money. Right?

Throw Away The Suit Together, Volume 2 opens as the girls finish writing up a marriage contract. It would be a feel-good moment if either of them had any plan on how they will make a marriage work. Haru immediately says they need to make a lot of money to afford a wedding, but even before that, they are nearly flat broke and need to make some money now.

Luckily, they had met local dive instructor Naruko via lost scooter. She offers them part-time work, and the girls feel like they’ve been thrown a little bit of a lifeline. Sure, they are literally living paycheck-to-paycheck each day, but it’s a start.

We spend a lot of time with Haru and Hinoto as they anxiously kill time between shifts. They do laundry at the local laundromat. They sleep in late on a day off. They go to a diner. They have plenty of conversations, except for the one they really need to have: what is their backup plan. Each of them is harboring doubts.

However, even before they can think long-term, Naruko mentions that they only have about three weeks of work left in the busy season. What that leads to is
going back on the job hunt. Given their remote location and high expectations of what kind of job they think they qualify for, options seem nil. In a hail Mary shot, Hinoto again uses her aunt, who has a connection to someone high up in a medium-sized company. This does not pan out, since the job requirements include a college degree. The volume ends with Hinoto calling her college about reenrollment, with Haru eavesdropping.

Like with the first volume, the book ends with a bonus story with a bit of spice, but it’s honestly pretty off-putting. I could do without ever seeing a bit where a partner gets jealous and so decides to cover their lover’s body with hickies so that they are forced to cover up. It’s never been a good trope.

I had some concerns with this story in volume one. Most of it focused on the nagging feeling that this whole plan is a house of cards, ready to fall with the slightest gust of wind. It made for very anxious reading, and it seems now that the feeling was the intended experience. But worse, I’m not sure what the story is really driving at. Sometimes love is not enough? There’s no escape from capitalism? That college degrees are important? I feel like I’m watching slow-motion Yuri Uncut Gems, with the girls gambling with their future.

The other thing that is bothering me is that we don’t get any view into Haru and Hinoto’s life before the story begins. Had they fought through adversity before? Are there any shared memories that they hold dear? Do they, uh, like things in common?? They clearly know each other well enough to give (loving) critiques on their personal quirks, but Keyyang-sensei’s got to give me something more to hold on to here.

The art also somehow seems worse this volume. The characters just look sloppily drawn to begin with, and then there are wild swings in style used for humor that causes even further whiplash. The one drawing I would say really hit for me was a full page spread of the girls job searching on their phones while sitting in the dark living room (which raises the question: how are they paying for their phone service?).

By the end of this volume, I am bracing for disaster. The girls are one missed paycheck away from ruin, and yet they seem to leave those envelopes of money lying around without much concern. The island dream may be over soon, but will a new dream follow it?

Ratings:

Art – 5 It’s getting more distracting as it goes
Story – 6 Things don’t appear to be getting better, but to what end?
Characters – 6 Haru and Hinoto continue to make bad choices
Service – 3 Only for the bonus story
Yuri – 9 / LGBTQ – 5 Gonna leave this here

Overall – 6 Would possibly be put on a PIP, if they even had a job

The third and final volume of this island “escape” story hits shelves in February.

Matt Marcus is a cohost of various projects on the Pitch Drop Podcast Network, as well as the writer for the blog Oh My God, They Were Bandmates analyzing How Do We Relationship in greater depth.





Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl: The Complete Manga Collection

November 6th, 2024

An androgynous woman lights a cigarette, while a flustered woman looks on taking a picture with her phone.by Eleanor Walker, Okazu Staff Writer

When Okuma Satomi’s friend seeks her help wrangling guys for a crossdressing cafe, Satomi winds up with a boyfriend! Sort of. After asking her handsome and aloof classmate, Kanda Mizuki, to help out in the cafe, Mizuki agrees, but on one condition: the two of them must go on a date. Satomi eagerly agrees, delighted to have such a good-looking guy interested in her, but Mizuki realizes that Satomi has completely misunderstood something crucial: Mizuki is a girl!

Will this case of mistaken identity blossom into something beautiful, or will the truth leave both girls brokenhearted in Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl?

I’m a big fan of handsome/prince types in my yuri manga, so I was very much looking forward to this one.

This release combines both the original Japanese volumes into 1 omnibus English edition, and I have to say I enjoyed the second half much more than the first. The first half is mostly them getting to know each other, and a few awkward misunderstandings where Mizuki tries to stop Satomi discovering she’s a girl, whereas the second half has them actually confronting their feelings for each other and Mizuki telling Satomi she’s really a girl. For something described by the publisher as “light hearted”, I found it to be surprisingly sincere and accepting. I get the feeling that if this had been published a decade or so ago, the other characters might not have been so accepting of Mizuki’s cross dressing and tricking Satomi into thinking she’s a guy. As it is, Mizuki’s friends encourage her to tell the truth and promise to support her, as do Satomi’s friends when she tells them later on that Mizuki is a girl and they are still dating.

When Mizuki finally tells Satomi she’s a girl, Satomi doesn’t believe her at first, which conveniently leads us to a bath scene where she can confirm this revelation and oh boy does the service start from this point. The two of them finally admit their attraction to each other, regardless of gender and we all live happily ever after, apart from a few classic misunderstandings along the way.

Overall, I enjoyed this series and I would recommend it, but the pacing could definitely use some work. As is, it’s too slow in the beginning and too fast towards the end.

Ratings:

Art – 7. Nothing spectacular but the artist can at least draw naked bodies pretty well.
Story – 7. More heartwarming than you might expect for a goofy cross dressing/misunderstanding premise.
Characters – 7. Mizuki understandably feels bad about tricking Satomi.
Service – 8. Full frontal nudity with censoring down below. I’m legitimately surprised 7S rated this 13+.
Yuri – 7. Two women showing us that love can transcend gender.

Overall – 7. If the first half had been a bit shorter and the last few chapters had felt less rushed this would’ve been an 8. Especially recommended if you like this specific set of tropes.





Affair, Streaming on Youtube

October 30th, 2024

Promotion poster for the Thai yuri series Affair, showing the two characters Wan (Lookmhee) and Pleng (Sonya) holding each other.

by Frank Hecker, Okazu Staff Writer

After GAP and Blank we now have Affair, a recently completed Thai live-action yuri series available on YouTube. Like those series, Affair is based on a novel by Chao Planoy, interconnected with the other two, although the connection is rather minimal and barely touched on. It tells the story of Pleng (Sonya Saranphat Pedersen), the pampered daughter of a wealthy family, and Wan (Lookmhee Punyapat Wangpongsathaporn), the daughter of Pleng’s family’s housekeeper.

The two girls are fast friends, and perhaps more than friends: Wan is besotted with Pleng and openly declares her love. Pleng—though clearly in love herself—is more hesitant, and pushes Wan to get a boyfriend, in the person of fellow student Ek (Pop Pataraphol Wanlopsiri), who doggedly pursues Wan every chance he gets.

Then their life together is interrupted by a series of tragic events that separate the girls. Wan goes on to become a doctor while Pleng tries to make a living as a musician, until their paths cross again thirteen years later. In a perfect world the two women would mutually declare their love, resume their relationship, and live happily ever after. However, at this point we’re only four episodes into an 8-episode series, and there’s a lot more drama (and melodrama) to come, courtesy of Wan’s and Pleng’s bruised feelings, battered by the circumstances of their separation, the presence of Ek, who’s still hanging around like a bad case of the flu, and Wan’s mother (Um Apasiri Nitibhon, as toxic here as she was as Lada’s mother in The Secret of Us).

Lookhmee and Sonya (collectively “LMSY”) play well together, one of the better couples in Thai live-action yuri. Lookhmee has a delicate beauty that the camera loves, and particularly excels in portraying Wan’s times of anger and despair—which occur fairly frequently. Sonya has more of a “girl next door” vibe, a vibe she subverts as Pleng and Wan tease and flirt with each other—again, the show has a lot of that, and they do it well. Lookmhee and Sonya both do a good job of portraying characters who are flawed in various ways: Wan, traumatized by her separation from Pleng, is overly possessive and prone to fits of jealousy, while Pleng often hides her feelings and is reluctant to commit.

Affair was produced by Change2561, a sister company to BL powerhouse GMMTV and the same company that produced Love Bully. The production is high-quality, with often inventive cinematography, good background music, and a blessed absence of annoying sound effects and “comic” relief. However, being based on a Chao Planoy novel, Affair has more than its fair share of over-the-top drama, including a would-be kiss interrupted in the most melodramatic manner possible. Like season 2 of Blank, Affair also hits its peak short of the finish line, frittering away some of its remaining time on a pointless BL moment and one last bit of interpersonal drama.

Ratings:

Story — 5 (not one [redacted] by [redacted] scene but two, and a [redacted] subplot to top it off)
Characters — 7 (some of both Wan’s and Pleng’s behavior is hard to understand at times)
Production — 8
Service — 4
Yuri — 10
Overall — 7 (1 point deducted for the Ek subplot)

Affair is a worthy companion to GAP and Blank in the Chao Planoy Extended Universe, although those allergic to melodrama should note that Affair goes harder on it than either of those series.





Spoil Me Plzzz Hinamori-san, Volume 1

October 11th, 2024

On a background of bright yellow and white radiating stripes, a girl with long dark hair grabs a girl with lighter collar-length hair by the waist, surprising her.I’m Luce, one of the staff writers here at Okazu! I hope you enjoy my review of this new Yuri manga!

Yaya Suo is the darling of the school: admitted by everyone, she is academic, athletic, and kind, to boot! Ichigo Hinamori is one of her admirers, even though they’ve never spoken, and Suo doesn’t know she exists. However, later on, Ichigo hears some pathetic crying coming from the nurse’s office – on investigation, she finds Suo, desperate for some relief from being the model student! Turns out, she’s actually quite needy in private, and wants someone to dote on her. Now the secret’s out to Ichigo, the illusion of the perfect Suo is broken… But Suo won’t leave her alone!

Spoil Me Plzzz, Hinamori-san, Volume 1 is undoubtably a gag manga about the gap between the public and private personas, the joke being the especially wide gap in this case. However you could argue that it’s also a very real thing that the pressures of society can be suffocating. Why Suo is putting herself under such pressure to be perfect at school isn’t explored in this volume, but clearly she’s attached her self-worth to being liked, and to her, that means being perfect.

Surprisingly, her behaviour doesn’t annoy me. Maybe it’s just so over the top, or that each individual episode of it only usually lasts a few panels… or maybe it’s just that, imperfect as I am, I can sympathise with the weight of expectation and societal norms being too much. It’s also quite funny seeing how quick Ichigo, faced with a pretty girl in tears, will do as she asks.

Ichigo doesn’t say the word ‘lesbian’, but she states on the page that she’s ‘into girls’, and was turned down by her senpai in middle school because she was too immature, essentially. This has stuck with her – the reason she admired Suo was that she appeared mature, and she wanted to be like that. Safe to say, that quickly changes, but even by the end of this volume, she’s catching feelings…

I was expecting to dislike this, but I actually really enjoyed it. The only gag that didn’t quite land for me was the love letter, but only because I didn’t quite get the issue. I think the point was it wasn’t on the right kind of paper, rather than the text itself – I think the flower with a spiral in it is a symbol used for ‘well done’, so considering it’s a rejection, possibly not great – I would have liked a translation note on that, but there are none at all, so.

Speaking of which, I wanted to call attention to the translation, lettering and such, as it’s not a ‘straight’ translation, but it really works (ie, having a girl says ‘oklie doklie’ really amused me). They’ve also gone to the effort of having different handwriting for the two girls, as it’s a gag, which must have been some effort for the retouching and lettering teams. I don’t normally notice this kind of thing unless it’s done badly, but I wanted to praise them!

Ratings:

Art – 7 (it’s the right level of exaggerated and comic for this kind of manga)
Yuri – 8 (it’s established in the first chapter that not only is Ichigo attracted to girls, but even confessed to one)
Translation, Retouch, Lettering etc –  9
Service – 3 (the only thing I can think of is Ichigo licking Suo’s finger, and it’s more cute than salacious)

Overall – 9

This is not a manga that is taking itself too seriously, and I mean that as a sincere compliment. It’s because of this that I can recommend it – even on second viewing, I laughed at some of the panels. If you enjoy a silly Yuri, this is definitely worth checking out!