Archive for the Staff Writer Category


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!





Pink Candy Kiss, Volume 2

June 20th, 2025

A woman with long hair leans over the shoulder of a woman with short hair. They wear the same teal color and accessories and it looks as if they are looking into a mirror.Having now read two volumes of Pink Candy Kiss, I have come to the conclusion that I need more josei yuri in my life, but perhaps maybe on a different theme than “married woman falls for another woman.” Although the premise instantly reminded me of Even Though We’re Adults by Takako Shimura, this series is definitely different enough to be worth checking out as well. It somehow feels softer and more delicate, less obviously dramatic than Even Though We’re Adults.

As Erica said in their review of volume 1, ““What am I feeling?” goes only so far to carry a story.” Whilst Pink Candy Kiss, Volume 2 does also suffer from this to a certain extent, we do at least get a confession of feelings from Taka, and Ema thanks her for telling her. So they’ve both realised they’re in love, but what are they going to do about it? Hopefully we’ll find out sooner rather than later. Unlike in Even Though We’re Adults, Ema seems to enjoy her relationship with her husband, but I get the feeling she’s not in *love* with him. How the story figures this triangle out will make or break the series and I look forward to reading more.

The last chapter takes us somewhere rather different. Taka visits a lesbian bar and receives some wisdom from an elder butch lesbian that yes, her feelings are totally normal because she’s in love, and it’s OK to be in love with another woman. What she will do about these feelings, and Ema about hers, remains of course to be seen.

Ratings: 

Art – I really like it, particularly the colour palette and slightly sketchy feeling.
Story – Lots of feelings. But the lesbian bar chapter is excellent.
Characters – I’m rooting for no one to get hurt. And for them to just kiss dammit.
Service – None. It doesn’t need it. This is a story about feelings, written by a woman for other women.
Yuri – So much yuri.

With thanks to Viz for the review copy. I will definitely be buying my own when it’s released.

Overall – 8





Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Volumes 3 and 4

June 18th, 2025

by Luce, Okazu Staff Writer

Well, I guess I need to get around to reviewing more of Young Ladies… Wait, I reviewed Volume 2 review back in 2022!? And now there are 7?! With an anime coming up soon!? Looks like I need a training montage! Over the next few reviews, I’ll try and bring us back up to speed with double bouts, back to back. Ding ding!

Volume 3 cover of Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games. It shows Aya, a girl with long brown hair and bright orange eyes, looking determined. In Volume 1 and Volume 2, we met Aya and Mio, or ‘Shirayuri-sama’, who love fighting games but attend a school where games are banned. Having found a group  with Yuu and Tamaki, they even have a little fighting games club going. What next, but a tournament?

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, Volume 3 has the girls realising that if they flunk their exams, the make up tests will be on the weekend of EX-Japan, the tournament they’re desperate to go to. Should be fine… But they’ve been spending all their time gaming, and Mio has a visceral reaction to studying – getting her up to speed in time is going to take some doing. At the tournament, the girls get into their first day of matches.

In Volume 4, they have another run in with the smart-mouthed kid who nearly tries to use physical violence, only stopped at the last second by Tamaki’s sister, who’s also in the tournament! Yet their sibling relationship isn’t exactly roses, when Hana is so damn terrifying. Finally, we follow Aya and Mio’s matches against two pro-gamers, Gekido and Café au Lait. Can they move on to the second day?

Volume 4 cover of Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games, showing Inui, a girl with brown hair in pig-tails and bright green eyes, looking cocky., cupping her chin with her thumb and finger in a 'v'

This manga takes a sports manga approach to e-sports, and within the tournament, you can see the plethora of people who live and breathe fighting games. It’s nice to see people making connections because of the things they love – everyone at EX-Japan loves fighting games, and I can’t even imagine the atmosphere. This manga does a pretty good job of conveying some of that, the energy and hubbub of not only a convention but a tournament too. Unlike a lot of sports manga though, we see lots of little matches. With individuals only needing to sign up to get in, we see everyone from pro-gamers to pretty new players, and plenty of styles of play.

I must applaud the mangaka, Eri Ejima, for the amount of thought and love of the genre put into both the manga and the fake fighting game for it, Iron Sempai 4. The shortening is great. π4. So simple! All the different characters, their moves and hit boxes… I honestly feel like this could be a real game, considering how much they talk about the hit boxes and weaknesses of each move. I’m not familiar with any fighting games, so maybe this is based heavily on another game (there are nods to Tekken, at least), but it acts very much like a sports manga in that way, too, where the sport, or the e-sport in this case, very much is the plot. The strategies, the players. It isn’t fantasy, just people playing a game really, really well. (Although what is fantasy is smacking your head that hard with a game controller and being mentally fine afterwards.) As per the trailer, the upcoming anime will instead have Street Fighter and the gaming animations look as though they will run in the game engine. I’m sure they’ll make it work, but I actually really liked the character designs of π4. That said, it’s a pretty big thing for a franchise like that to come on board for a Yuri anime, so I’m hoping this will translate to some good animation, both in the fighting games and out.

Most brilliantly is that while the game is taken seriously, the characters are not. Mio will spout something ridiculous like ‘while studying for this school, I only vomited once a week’. Aya is often too lesbian to function. It handles the ridiculousness really well. There are little asides between the matches (and around them) that are comedic. But once the tournament restarts, it’s mostly matches – three official, and one not – between Tamaki and her sister. Here we see the root of Tamaki’s issues with fighting games that she’s been trying to work through, and why she is playing them. And dear lord her sister is intense. It does seem to be a complicated relationship, so I’m glad we’re getting some background on it, but the resolution of all the matches will have to wait for Volume 5.

Ratings:

Art: 9 (so many good facial expressions!)
Story: 7
Service: 0
Yuri: 6 (Aya is pretty gay and there are some yuri-esque moments, but nothing concrete. I’m not sure if there will be, but I live in hope)

Overall: 8

If you didn’t enjoy the first two volumes, this is more of the same. If you did, this is more of the same. Sit tight, though, since the next two volumes are still in the tournament. Can any one of our heroines win? Or even make it to the second day?