Archive for the Staff Writer Category


My First Love’s Kiss, Volumes 2 & 3

July 10th, 2025

Two girls in summer Japanese school uniform, white blouses with robin's egg blue ties, blue skirts, sit on a floor under windows. In the foreground the girl with medium-length brown hair smiles as she looks at her phone, the blonde watches her with a dissatisfied expressionCW: Heavy spoiler and content warning. As with Book 1; Underage sex work is a prominent theme of this series, although nothing is explicitly described. But now with more incest!

To quote myself from my review of volume 1 “I’m not really sure what’s going on here.” 2 volumes later and I still have no idea what’s going on other than surprise incest. At the end of volume 2, “Chiki”, the older woman Umi has been working for, reveals she’s actually Umi’s long lost big half-sister. Was this necessary? No? Did anyone want or ask for it? Probably some creepy men (maybe including the author) and that’s why we’re here.

Book 2 of My First Love’s Kiss opens with Takasora secretly watching Umi and Chiki kiss in a park after she follows Umi to see what she’s up to, and because we’re trying to make this as cliched as we absolutely possibly can, Chiki takes not just Umi, but both girls to a hotel room for the night. Where of course Chiki suggests they all bathe together, and it all goes downhill from there.

The big reveal comes at the end of volume 2, and it just doesn’t seem to bother anyone other than Takasora, who we know doesn’t like Chiki anyway and almost seems to see this as an inevitable next step considering how terrible she thinks the relationship between them is already.

Two girls, one with blonde hair, the other with brown, wearing white Japanese sailor-style school uniforms with bright blue ties, lay next to one another, as they smile into the camera. The blonde looks at us, the brunette looks at the blonde

Volume 3 is just Umi (and all the adults around them) not even caring that it turns out she’s shagging her half sister, and of course they then run away together. It’s already been established that Chiki is wealthy so that’s not an issue. Takasora goes to visit them and Umi might as well just be a sex doll at this point, her hair is cut how her sister likes it, and what little of her personality there was is just gone. I still don’t understand why Takasora even had a crush on her to begin with other than her boobs, which are mentioned several times over the course of both books. Hino and Nagafuji from Adachi and Shimamura pop up at some point but their role is so minor that I can’t remember it and they might as well not be there so I can’t even recommend this to fans of that series on that basis.

It’s very rare that a book series actively makes me angry, but this one did. If you want to write “a love comedy involving an evil woman” (from the afterword of volume 3), then try actually giving your characters a personality rather than just resorting to the worst cliches and stereotypes. This isn’t even “so bad it’s good” car crash reading, this is just plain bad, and there’s nothing funny about any of it. The incestuous predator wins and nobody lives happily ever after.

Please, for the sake of your own sanity, read literally anything else and if you must read something of Iruma’s, read the Regarding Saeki Sayaka novels.

Ratings: 

Art – 5. I enjoy Fly’s art style but these series is nothing special. The covers are totally misleading as well, volume 3 especially gives the impression that Umi and Takasora are happy together but oh no, couldn’t be further from the truth.
Story – 2. If you can call it a story.
Characters – 2. Again, to quote myself from the volume 1 review:
I have come to the conclusion that his (Iruma-sensei) works are much more enjoyable when he’s writing about someone else’s characters instead of his own.
Service – I don’t feel comfortable rating underage sex work and incest as service.
Yuri – 0. Incest is not yuri.

Overall – 2 . I deeply resent having spent money on this. At least I was gifted the first 2 volumes of Netsuzou Trap so I didn’t have to spend money on that.





Into the Baiheverse: When We Met and The Clouds of Past Millennia

July 4th, 2025

Poster for the short baihe film When We Met, written and directed by Wu Chuanxin. The poster shows the two main characters embracing, the top half showing a younger woman (He Lei as Jin Qingqing) facing the camera, the bottom half showing an older woman (Ni Jia as Peng Yun) facing the camera.by Frank Hecker, Staff Writer

The baihe (百合) genre, sapphic media in Chinese, is becoming increasingly popular in China and elsewhere, but, as with yuri manga and anime in the early days, translations of baihe works into English and other languages have thus far been mainly produced by fans. That situation has been slowly changing. For example, Seven Seas Entertainment has followed up their publication of danmei (BL) novels by licensing the baihe historical novel The Beauty’s Blade: Mei Ren Jian (美人剑).

Now comes Baiheverse, a recently launched site proclaiming itself as “Your Gateway to Baihe . . . Literature and Media.” It features a variety of licensed baihe works in English translations, including two manhua/webcomics, two audio dramas, one novel, and a short film. The last two of these are particularly worthy of note.

The film When We Met (去年烟火), written and directed by Wu Chuanxin, is a drama set in present-day China. It’s available in an “official” version and an “uncensored” version that’s ten minutes longer; both are free to watch if you register with the Baiheverse site. (The official version is also available on YouTube.) When We Met is the story of two women in a (relatively) small Chinese town, 32-year-old Peng Yun, who owns a small shop she runs by herself after her divorce, and 22-year-old Ji Qingqing, who sets up her BBQ stand outside the shop. (Avoid reading the official synopsis of the film if you don’t want to be spoiled about their back stories.) The two women find themselves growing closer together, but ultimately face a decision on the future of their relationship. I won’t spoil the ending, except to say that the uncensored version provides a clearer resolution.

Ni Jia as Peng Yun and He Lei as Ji Qingqing both deliver solid performances. Ni Jia is especially good in portraying Peng Yun’s conflicting emotions: recognizing her growing feelings for Ji Qingqing but afraid to break out of the comfortable but confining cocoon she’s spun for herself as a single woman in a small town. The writing, direction, and production are also of high quality, and the English subtitles are idiomatic and grammatically correct; however, with a couple of exceptions, on-screen text is not translated. This can especially cause confusion for viewers who can’t read the Chinese text at 1:51 (in both versions) and 30:53 (in the official version), and thus may not realize that the main body of the story is a flashback from the opening and closing scenes.

Ratings:

Story — 7
Characters — 8
Production — 7 (one point off for not translating important on-screen text)
Service — 5 ( a scene involving bras)
Yuri — 10
LGBTQ — 4
Overall — 8

Despite its relatively short length, When We Met tells a complete and satisfying sapphic story. It’s especially recommended for fans interested in realistic contemporary dramas that avoid manufactured melodrama and excessive angst.

Cover of the baihe historical novel The Clouds of Past Millennia. It features a full-length portrait of the main character Wei Tai in traditional dress in the foreground, with a portrait of the other main character, Xu Jianyu, in the right background.Unlike When We Met, which solely depicts lives in present-day China, The Clouds of Past Millennia (白云千载), written by popopo, straddles past and present. Originally published as a web novel, it comprises 28 chapters plus an afterword; the first three chapters are free to read while the rest can be purchased using a coin system ($1 US for 100 coins).

Wei Zai was the supreme ruler of an ancient Chinese dynasty, but now she’s dead. Even worse, she‘s stuck being a ghost in her own mausoleum. She decides to take a rest, wakes up after a long sleep, and finds that the world outside her tomb has utterly changed. Being a ghost, no one can see or hear her, except for Xu Jianyou, a university student who’s the spitting image of Xu Qingchu, Wei Zai’s previous right-hand woman and lover, and even shares her courtesy name. The remainder of the novel alternates between Wei Zai and Xu Jianyou’s life in the present (including Wei Zai’s amusing encounters with Chinese social media and shipping culture) and the story of Wei Zai and Xu Qingchu a thousand years ago. Is there a way for the two lovers to be united once more? And does anyone doubt what the answer will be?

The English translation of The Clouds of Past Millennia (by hazevie) is generally readable. Its main quirk is that many Chinese terms, especially those involving kin relationships, are left unlocalized and glossed with a translator’s note. However, fans of Asian media have shown themselves willing to acquire a fairly extensive vocabulary from other languages, and it’s possible that they’ll one day recognize and use terms like a-jie as easily and freely as they do now with terms like onee-san.

Ratings:

Story — 6 (I would have liked more contemporary scenes)
Characters — 7 (present-day Xu Jianyou is less fleshed-out than the other two characters)
Service — 8 (a couple of steamy sex scenes)
Yuri — 10
LGBTQ — 2
Overall — 7

The Clouds of Past Millennia is an entertaining read targeted at fans interested in the historical settings and court intrigues that are the stock in trade of many Chinese novels, enlivened by the interspersed contemporary scenes and their occasional metatextual humor.

The Baiheverse site itself is a young enterprise still finding its way, and is dependent on support from fans to allow it to acquire and host more baihe works. I encourage all fans of sapphic media to check it out. For updates on new works, follow @baiheverse.com on Bluesky or @baiheverse on X/Twitter.





Assorted Entanglements, Volume 7

June 30th, 2025

The cover of Assorted Entanglements volume 7. Shizuku and Saori lie in bed together in their school uniforms, both looking at their phones. Shizuku has her arm around Saori's shoulders and is looking over at her. You can see their matching gorilla phone charms hanging from their phone cases.

by Matt Marcus, Staff Writer

I ran into an ex once at the public batting cages in Arlington, VA. Well, she wasn’t really an ex, more like the other half of a pseudo-situationship. I spied her out of the corner of my eye as my then-girlfriend-now-wife and I looked for an open spot. If I were punching up this story, I would say we locked eyes through the wire fence. In a moment frozen in time, I’d be shot through with the pain of regret of decisions not made sooner, words left unsaid. My date would notice I had become quiet and distracted; I would shrug off any questions about it despite my soured mood, kicking off a downward spiral that ruins our date. But nothing so dramatic happened; we simply found an open cage, hit some dingers, and had a lovely rest of our evening.

In the previous volume of Assorted Entanglements, Shizuku was rattled by seeing a woman we haven’t seen before while walking Saori back to her house. Saori noticed, but couldn’t bring herself to ask. Turns out that the garishly-dressed woman is Shizuku’s ex.

A notable amount of Assorted Entanglements Volume 7 is dedicated to Shizuku’s past with this woman, Miki, and what Saori decides to do in response. This is the most seriously dramatic tone that Mikanuji-sensei has gone for in this series and I think that it pays off. We thankfully get no more detail about the abuse she suffered from her parents (and the violent reaction that landed her in juvvie), but her story with Miki, a hairstylist who took Shizuku in after she ran away from her foster parents, is tantamount to grooming. We don’t know much about how Shizuku extricated herself from that relationship or how she feels about it now (though she still wears her hair with the cornrows that is Miki’s personal style), but the effect of the encounter in the present makes her retread into her prickly Bad Girl shell.

Thankfully, what could prove to be a setback in “progress” turns into the opportunity for Saori to finally admit her honest feelings–that despite all her bluster and dismissal, she does indeed love Shizuku. Shizuku tacitly accepts this, and another ship sails. To be honest, I’m still iffy on the recurring theme that these so-called delinquents (read: abused young women) who have severe self-worth issues need to be whipped into shape by the normie girls/women who happen to love them. If I am being charitable, I’d highlight that the point being made is that they (Shizuku and Minami) are indeed worthy of the love they receive, which is good and true. I just wish they weren’t punished by their lovers for struggling with accepting affection.

Let’s not forget that this is still an ensemble story. Iori and Minami are up to their normal hijinks (this time they go to an onsen!). We get one short chapter of Sugimoto at her part-time job glowing about her aquarium date and not taking heed of her boss’ advice not to get her hopes up. Unfortunately, Heke-sensei and Shinohara-san finally succumbed to Mikanuji-sensei’s love of “slapstick” violence for one gag, but otherwise their chapters continue to be a sweet love story of a failgirl nerd and her blunt-but-secretly-tender lover/boss. It’s all solidly entertaining stuff.

If you have been waiting, nay, shouting at the pages for Shizuku and Saori to finally just get over themselves and have it out, then you will be pleased as punch here. With 3 out of 4 couples established, that leaves one last problematic pair to wrap up.

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 1
Yuri – 8 / LGBTQ – 8

Overall – 8 Somehow made me “happy” for the worst couple here

The story of these mismatched women continues in Volume 8, coming our way in August.

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.





Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, Volume 5 & 6

June 27th, 2025

Volume 5 cover. Tamaki, a girl with light brown hair and yellow eyes stares at the viewer, tears in her eyes, looking stricken. It’s Luce with the ‘2’ of the 1-2 punch of reviews, so let’s get down to business on the series that can be best described by removing the ‘don’t’ in the title. Volumes five and six, memorise your combos and hit player select!

Well into the tournament by Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, Volume 5, Aya, Mio, Tamaki and Inui all have their battles to play, and hopefully win. Into the second pool battles, the opponents are more difficult. Mio is 1-1 against Cafe au Lait, a pro-gamer with a grudge match he wants a rematch on. Aya is in the same position with his previous opponent, Gekido, and struggling to keep her composure. Inui is trying to get the vitriolic kid Arisa to eat her words through the screen, while Tamaki battles her demons – or rather, her sister.

In Volume 6, Mio faces down Arisa in the loser’s bracket… . But, due to a viral tweet about her previous match, it’s been moved to the main stage! Who will win, between Mio fighting on instinct and Arisa with rage?

Do not smack yourself in the head with a game controller. Aya and Mio did break through a window escaping detention, so they clearly have anime sturdiness, however! Despite how metal it might look, it is not a proven strategy for… anything. Other than a trip to hospital with possible concussion. Also, never, ever tell people to ‘kill themselves’. Even in the heat of tournament. It makes sense for Arisa’s character and shows her immaturity, but even still. Just don’t. (The commenters are clearly shown to also disagree with her, so there is push back in canon). Sorry, had to get that out of my system. Onwards.

It’s somewhat odd to have the girls in a more anime style, and then most of the men in a more realistic style. That said, it’s nice to have ‘not perfect’ looking characters? Some characters that look closer to how Japanese people look? I just wish this could be extended to some of the women. Although the implications that those drawn in a more manga style are the prettier ones, so… I do like the art, it just stuck out more in these volumes, where we have a lot of different people commenting.

Volume 6 cover. Girl with bright green eyes and reddish brown long hair elaborately braided at at the top, Arisa glares at the viewer, tears in her eyes and looking frustrated.

Speaking of the art though, the rage faces in this area off the charts. Arisa is just a small ball of rage, all of the time. Her back story is probably pretty relatable to anyone who’s tried to connect with someone over something and had it gone badly. Gosh, she was just so desperate to impress Miyu, but it backfired. It’s really difficult as a kid when you’re good at something – most normal adults would be able to go ‘it’s impressive you’re so good at this’ and any jealousy is (should be) kept behind the eyes. For kids though, that’s a lot more difficult. In Miyu’s eyes though, I can see how she thought Arisa had flat out lied to her. I hope they get some resolution, actually.

The match between Mio and Arisa is just absorbing. Between the commentary of the crowd and online (I particularly like ‘nani the fuck?!’ as a comment) and their thoughts, it felt engaging in a way I haven’t felt with the other matches. Part of that is that we know a bit more about these two, and why they play fighting games, but it’s also panelled really well, flitting between them, the crowd, and the commentators without losing focus on the action. The visual of being underwater, not breathing, just living completely in the game works fantastically. I won’t spoil who won, but if you have enjoyed the series so far, volume 6 is the peak of the fighting game action.

Outside of this, Aya gets some of her gayest lines in these volumes. ‘I want to mean more to you than anything else’. If this series doesn’t have a moment where Aya kisses Mio in the heat of victory/defeat, I’ll be disappointed. That said, Aya has some thinking to do, when seeing Mio and Arisa’s match, and realising that she might not be Mio’s biggest rival, and being really upset by that. I want gamer girlfriends by the end of the series, dammit! Is that too much to ask?!

Ratings:

Story: 8
Characters: 8
Service: 0
Yuri: 9

Overall: 9

 

Volume 5 was good, but volume 6 was great. If you’ve enjoyed any of the series so far, highly recommended. In the imMortal Kombat words, Fatality!





A Tithe in Blood

June 25th, 2025

A woman with long silver hair wearing a yellow kimono, holds hands with a woman with long, dark-hair, wearing a blue jacket over a white blouse, as they lay head to head in opposite directions.by Ashley P, Guest Reviewer

As I desperately try to get more of my friends to try out visual novels I often emphasise the ‘novel’ part and not really mentioning or even reducing the ‘visual’ part. This is a bit of a disservice because some of the most affecting visual novels I have read have merged both fantastic prose to the rhythm of matched visual elements such as sprites and artwork to create an experience that matches the fun of any comic or puppet performance. I’m not talking about just having good art or sprites, but using those visual elements to create a feeling unique to the medium.
A Tithe in Blood is a recent new visual novel from Studio Élan and it is easily their most visually appealing game yet. Showing a levelof craft that I wish more games would strive for.

Asakawa Honoka is a Sapporo resident and university student who has tragically lost her family. Her despair and loneliness has led to an obsession with the blood magic writings of actual Renaissance poet Isabella di Morra. As long as she is willing to spill her own blood, Honoka can journey to seemingly Meiji era Sapporo and meet with the kind and graceful performer Yasue.

The withdrawn and depressed Honoka finds herself inexorably drawn to the sociable Yasue who performs whole kabuki plays on her own thanks to her incredible illusion magic. But to visit this alternate Sapporo, Honoka must pay a very literal blood tithe. This frequent bloodletting puts such a strain on her body that Honoka’s life continues to deteriorate even as she falls deeper in love with Yasue.

This enmeshment of both the healing power of connection after grief and the draw of control that self harm can bring is the core of the story and it is what gives Yasue and Honoka’s relationship so much bite. Honoka is so clearly happier when she is with Yasue but the only way to see her is for Honoka to hurt herself.

So often in stories about self harm the reader is not given a way to understand how this fundamentally bad idea can be so seductive. In A Tithe in Blood the whole yuri we are here for comes with a clear cost to our main character.

The high definition artwork and fantastic sprite direction that makes every interaction between Honoka and Yasue so wonderful is also used to show us Honoka’s scared arms. The perfect use of sprites and high definition artwork used to show Honoka and Yasue walking together in a cute scene is used to show the painful magical journey Honoka took to get there.

If that was the full story of this novel then I would have nothing but praise. The only issue is that the above is only about half the story of A Tithe in Blood. This is not bad in of itself. The other part is more of a magical underworld/detective story staring three other characters hired to observe Honoka. We get a beta couple in Tatiana and Kaoru, along with another narrator in Shino. I have no complaints about these characters, in fact, they are so charismatic I hope there is a sequel with more magical detective shenanigans with everyone. The downside is that the theming from this half that is more of an urban fantasy, does not match with Honoka’s story. If anything it reduces Honoka’s pain and it plays up misunderstandings between the two groups in ways that detract from the drama rather than intensify it.

Other than that though this is easily the most beautiful visual novel ever produced by Studio Élan who I hope continue to raise the bar into the sky.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 6
Character – 8
Service – 1
Yuri – 9

Overall – 8

I truly hope we get a sequel or spiritual successor to A Tithe in Blood, so that the team can really show off what they are capable of.

Thank you very much to Studio Élan for the review copy!