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Archive for the Yuri Anime Category


Yuri Anime: Riddle Story of a Devil (English) End of Season Review

June 29th, 2014

akumaRiddle Story of a Devil, the anime based on Kouga Yun’s Akuma no Riddle manga has come to an end, and I think it’s worth a follow-up review to Eric P’s first look at it.

I watched Riddle Story of a Devil streaming on the Funimation site, which is always fraught with unnecessary frustration. (And I attempted their app, which was laughably, horribly, terrible and deserves a post of its own eviscerating its design  and lack of utility.) For non-North Americans in the audience, you can watch it streaming on Crunchyroll.

We are introduced to the mysterious “Class Black” at a very elite school, and told that 12 of the 13 class members are assassins, all of whom are targeting the 13th member, an apparently ditzy girl named Haru, in return for a reward.  Unexpectedly, one of the class members, the top star no less, chooses to defend Haru rather than buy into the game.

The engagement we’re forced to have with each character – and a few exceptionally well-written scenes early on – kept me interested in the outcome. The main reason I was interested in this story was that it was created by Kouga Yun and, like her other works, it is heavily dependent on the charactersto drive us forward, rather than the plot itself. In fact, it was strongly reminiscent of old Japanese game series, in which the characters were given their own CD singles, with short stories and songs that fleshes out the character without actually impinging upon the gameplay.

The heaviest service is laid out early on while the characters’ stories are building. The service is pretty significant, with not-very-veiled hints of horrible things throughout and a fair dollop of guro, without committing to being deeply emotionally scarring. Whether it will bother or entice you  is entirely personal. I was able to watch around it. ^_^

On the positive side, Haru is not what she appears to be at the beginning and neither is Tokaku. On the negative, neither of them ever really get a chance to embrace who they really are. We’re told flat out what their stories are, but they never really gel meaningfully and Haru – who could be a powerful and cool character – ends the series with the same lack of agency with which she began it.

As for Yuri…well, yay for the anime being marketed as such, but there’s damn little actually in it. Tokaku has feels for Haru, but they are tucked well away and Haru “daisuki”s Tokaku, but that could mean – especially in the context of the story – just about anything.  There is one other couple and they also are sort of presented to us as such, without any real feeling behind it. Here’s your Yuri couple, “kay? Enjoy. The Yuri equivalent of a small scoop of ice cream in a cup, presented without cherries, sprinkles or enthusiasm. ^_^ Had this series been not marketed as Yuri, the little bit that is there would have been a nice addition. As it was, I ended up feeling like an opportunity to develop at least one, and possible as many as three relationships, were wasted.

Ultimately, Riddle was a watchable 12 episodes, but lacked the depth of storytelling I’d hoped it would have. In effect, it felt exactly like what it is; a short, action- and empty emotion-filled formulaic Kadokawa series that was fine while it lasted, but is easily forgettable when it’s gone.

Ratings:

Art – 6 Fairly boilerplate
Story – 6 There are many holes, many things left unexplained, whole characters and scenes that served no purpose, but it’s not all that bothersome.
Characters – 7 The single strength of the series, everyone is appropriately sympathetic
Service – 7
Yuri – 5 Implied more than anything

Overall – 7

The riddles are not the only things that had no meaning. ^_^ I really hoped that Haru would embrace her unique qualities and she and Tokaku would take their rightful places at the head of the established hierarchy. Still, not a bad watch. I’ll see if I can pick up the manga used and give it a try.





Blade and Soul Anime, Guest Review by Grisznak (English)

June 25th, 2014

Blade and soulIt’s Guest Review Wednesday (yaaay!) and we once again have returning Guest Reviewer Grisznak with a heads-up on a series that may be of interest to you. Welcome back and take it away Grisznak!

If I said “fantasy series with female cast” you might think of  Queen’s Blade or Claymore. Well, when I saw trailers for Blade and Soul, (streaming on Crunchyroll) I had a feeling that it was gonna be another Queen’s Blade. When I saw first episode, I get a feeling that it actually might be quite good, maybe not as good as Claymore, but still… I’ve watched eight episodes now and my feelings are very, very mixed. I’d like to share them with you in this mini review.

The protagonist of the series is Alka. She has long, white hair and she is a very skilled assassin. There’s actually a prize for her head, because she’s accused of some serious crimes. Surprisingly, she is innocent, but who cares? There’s a generic very evil empire and a group of very, very evil (more evil than the empire itself) group of local SS, called “Flower Monks”, lead by the very, very, very evil (oh yeah, the evilness grows!) Jin Varrel. She is a one-man (or rather, one-woman) army and can use the very, very, very, very evil power known as Impurity. As you may probably guess, our Alka and Jin aren’t best friends at all… There’s also gang of good ruffians (in fantasy worlds all ruffians are good, aren’t they?) known as the “Pleasure Gang” – name that better suits a hentai anime. Their leader is a busty chick, too, and she has bad blood with Jin, like everyone else.

Alka travels over the world, helping people (although this sometimes ends totally wrong) and saying almost nothing. Like all female warriors in the generic fantasy worlds, her outfit is rather scanty – remember, girls, if you’ll ever have to go at war, a bikini or thong are your best friends. During her travels she meets some other girls who have some business with her. Hazuki is a head hunter with bouncing boobs and cool guns – her fights with Alka reminds me a bit those cool “knife versus gun” duels from “Noir” or “Madlax” a bit. Karen, owner of a well known inn, is a surprisingly conservatively dressed woman. She knows everything and appears wherever she should be. She’s probably most intriguing character in whole series.

“But hey, this a Yuri site!” someone may shout. Yeah, when I started watching Blade and Soul I had a feeling there should be some Yuri. Some episodes passed, nothing Yuri-like happened and I thought that I was wrong. Luckily, we have our lovely evildoers. As I mentioned, Jin Varrel uses some kind of dark something or other. She has her female sidekick and there’s definitely some kind of closeness between those two that moves further than simple friendship. We can see them naked, caressing each other in one of the episodes. Nothing more so far…

I have always said that it’s impossible or very hard at least to make good anime based upon video game. Blade and Soul is based upon MMORPG. And it’s not THAT bad. Graphics are surprisingly good, especially faces and animations. Also important, you don’t need to know that game itself to understand what’s going on. Plot… yeah, it’s somewhere there, but it has problems with some totally useless filler episodes in the middle of the series. Yes, 12 episodes series and it has fillers.  So, we have series that is not bad, but it’s not good either. What does that mean? Yes, just another, mediocre anime. We have lot of them every season.

If’ you’re looking for fantasy series with female cast, you’re better off with Claymore. If you’re looking for service based series, Queen’s Blade is your choice. If you want good Yuri anime, Akuma no Riddle might be good. What about Blade and Soul then? It’s just mediocre, with no highlights anywhere. I’m disappointed, because I really hoped it would be good fantasy anime. Well, maybe next time.

Ratings:
Art – 7 (nice design and animations, nothing stunning, but not disappointing)
Story –4 (generic + some fillers)
Characters – 5 (nothing new, nothing great, nothing terrible)
Yuri/Lesbian – 3 (Jin and her pal, no more)
Service – 6 (Hazuki’s bouncing boobs + some scanty clad warrior girls)
Overall – 4 (mediocre, just mediocre)

Christopher “Grisznak” Wojdyło is a Polish journalist and Sailor Mercury fanboy, he writes for “Otaku” magazine and Polish biggest and oldest manga and anime review site Tanuki.pl

Erica here: Thanks Grisznak. The art looks vaguely familiar. Mediocre anime with evil Yuri, I think I might even give this a try! ^_^





Yuri Anime: Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san (English)

June 3rd, 2014

InutoNekoInugami-san to Nekoyama-san by Kuzushiro-sensei is an entertaining, not very emotionally taxing manga series that runs in Comic Yuri Hime. I’ve reviewed the first two volumes of the manga here on Okazu: Volume 1 | Volume 2.

When the anime for Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san was announced, I had no compelling drive to run to see it, but since it is streaming on Crunchyroll (regional restrictions may apply), I had a chance to check it out while I was on the road this weekend – and I was pleasantly surprised. ^_^

The story,  such as it is, is the non-adventures of girls at a school who have animal names, and appear to have the temperamental characteristics of the animals they are named for. The leads are Inugami Yachiyo (a name which is mostly likely a pun on the famous faithful dog statue at Shibuya, Hachiko. 八千代 – Yachiyo ハチ公- Hachiko) and Nekoyama Suzu (whose given name implies to the small bells on a cat’s collar.) True to their names Inugami-san is dog-like, while Nekoyama-san is cat-like. Ushiwaka, (cow) Nezu, (mouse) Sarutobi (monkey) and Torikai (bird) have all joined the cast in the episodes so far.

The voice cast gives the characters a cuteness that I was not reading into their voices in the manga, a quality that lightens the mood and makes the anime more enjoyable than it might be. The gags in this series are low –  sexual innuendo, bad puns, and snort-ful cheap laughs, so I’m perfectly happy to have the tone lightened throughout. The one thing that really stands out in the first half of anime episodes is that Inugami-san and Nekoyama-san actually have an interest in one another. There’s a cheap laugh bit at the end of the 6th episode in which they find themselves clearly talking about themselves as a couple.

Episodes are 3 minutes long, and focus on some of the most suggestive scenes in the manga and you know, I’m not really going to bitch about that. ^_^ It’s being sold as “Yuri”, and the anime audience in Japan is a subtle as a brick to the forehead, so whatever works. As I said in the Kill La Kill ANNcast, it’s easier for me to deal with grossly overplayed service than coy pretend-innocent BS, of the kind one finds in Sakura Trick.

Ratings:

Art – 8 More consistent than the manga, sorry Kuzushiro-sensei
Story – 6 There isn’t one, but that’s okay
Character – 7 Whittled down to ther essence as they are here, I find I quite like them.
FanService – 6 Mostly lustful fantasies
Yuri – 7 Still mostly lustful fantasies, with the addition of the Inu/Neko and Ushi/Nezumi couples

Overall – 8

More entertaining than I expected and kind of cute in places; the anime captures Kuzushiro-sensei’s narrative style well.





Yuri Anime: Sakura Trick End of Season Review (English) Guest Review by Jennifer L.

May 14th, 2014

sakura trickOnce again it is Guest Review Wednesday and I am so excited to be able to welcome Jennifer L. back to Okazu to give us a final end of season review about Sakura Trick with a decidedly different take on this popular Yuri anime (that can still be streamed at Crunchyroll and Hulu with some regional restrictions.) Take it away Jennifer!

I am delighted to be invited back to Okazu to do a post-season review of Sakura Trick. Jocilyn did a good job of introducing it at the beginning of the season, but now, the twelve-episode run is concluded, and I asked Erica if I could say a few things about it.

Sakura Trick is an open and unabashed Yuri anime. It is all about girls, and their relationships with each other. And yet, I understand completely why Erica declined to watch it. Like Vividred Operation, though to a lesser extent, it suffers from “perverted camera operator” syndrome. There are many almost-upskirts, fig-leafed only by the girls’ own calves. And
there’s a great deal of bouncing boobage under school uniforms.

But… I love this series, anyway. It’s set in the first year of High School, though in many ways, it feels like it should be about junior high school, a time when girls start to become aware of our bodies, and of the desires of the body. When we want that special person to kiss us. And in this category, showing the awakening of love and physical desire, the show excels, while still remaining essentially innocent.

The show centers around Haruka and her best friend, Yu. On their first day of middle school, they cement their status as best friends by kissing in a deserted classroom. At first, it seems that Haruka is the driving force of the kissing hijinks, but as the school year goes on, and episodes roll by, Yu makes it clear that she is in no way being taken advantage of. She’s a partner in the business, and she wants the kisses, and Haruka, as much as Haruka wants her… and that this is more than just a pairing of best friends.

The hijinks, and the plans for the future that the two girls make, are absolutely on the level of junior high school girls. There’s silly “how can I get her to kiss me?” games, and “really, I just want to  make with the kisses all the time” games. There are “if you do this for me, I’ll reward you with a kiss!” games. I was not fortunate enough to have that first love experience until college, but all of the games that Yu and Haruka play together ring true to me. The insecurities that they face about their meaning to each other rings true to me as well.

Throughout the entire series, the only aspect of Haruka and Yu’s story that didn’t ring true to me was Yu’s instant acceptance of the idea that she and Haruka were going to get married… and even that is only a mild botheration, and the situation is only an exaggeration of the kind of plans that girls make when we’re young, and in love, and believe that we’re going to be with that special person forever.

And as for the bouncing boobage… well, I remember that from High School, as well. My body suddenly started changing, and for a couple of years, I, too, was constantly noticing the bodies of other young women; I was obsessed with boobies. From that standpoint, I can almost forgive the perverted camera operator.

Art – 5 Nothing outstanding, but better than Dragon Ball Z.
Characters – 8 Each of the girls in the series was someone I wished had been in my Junior High classes.
Story – 6 Stirred up memories for me of my awakening as a romantic being.
Yuri – 10 These are girls in love; it’s made clear that it’s love, not just lust, and that it’s not a passing phase.
Service – 8 A lamentable aspect that will keep many people from watching this fun series.

Overall – 8… 8.5. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the way it made me remember my own first love.

Jennifer Linsky is a nurse in the American South. More of her writing, including fiction and occasional thoughts on real life, can be found at her sporadically updated blog.

Erica here: Fantastic perspective Jennifer! This is pretty much why I can read the manga, but not watch the anime. I’m not a oogling sort, but the innocent first love is nice and with the manga I can cut the time and attention spent on service to a bare minimum, while enjoying the parts of the story that work for me. Thank you again for a great post. 





Yuri Anime: First Look at Riddle Story of a Devil Anime (English) Guest Review by Eric P.

April 30th, 2014

akumaWelcome to another Guest Review Wednesday here on Okazu. Returning to our community is Guest Reviewer Eric P., with a first look at Riddle Story of a Devil, streaming on Funimation.com for North America and Crunchyoll.com for other countries. Yay!

From Yun Kouga, the creator of Loveless, we get what has been overtly categorized as a Yuri Action series, Riddle Story of a Devil.

The story is set at Myojo Academy, an otherwise ordinary girls’ private boarding school, except for one specific classroom called the Black Class. Only on the surface do the students in said classroom appear to be normal and cordial, but beneath their masks is a group of professional calculating assassins in training, with the exception of one. Their mission is to figure out which student that is, and whoever is the one that kills her will have any personal wish granted, and whoever fails their turn will be “expelled”.

The assassin trainee we focus on, Tokaku Azuma, is as cold and distant as they come, and defiant in going with the flow of the classroom’s friendly façade. She figures it out almost right away that the target is Haru Ichinose who, out of everyone, does not have the smell of a killer, not to mention that she couldn’t betray a more innocently sunny nature (as a side-note, I can’t help but think of Nagisa from Strawberry Panic whenever I see her). As fate would have it, they are roommates, and later on Tokaku finds out about the grisly cuts that are all over Haru’s body. Not only that, but Haru is very much aware that her life is targeted for termination by the other students, even though she attempted to befriend those very people. It rightfully shocks Tokaku that Haru can maintain a cheery personality, even after shedding some light on a horrific past where Haru’s family was murdered because of her (the only explanation given so far is that  her family is part of a clan). Yet she makes it her firm belief and mission that she will graduate from this school alive for her family and live normally. Slowly but surely, Tokaku is drawn to Haru, her personal walls break down, and she sets her own new mission—to protect Haru from the other assassins.

Upon watching the first episode, my primary single thought was, “This is definitely way better than Sakura Trick.” For that reason alone I felt the need to check out the second episode before having an official first impression. As of these first two episodes, it’s definitely your basic anime series meant to be fun entertainment. All in all, it could be what one would mostly ask for from a Yuri Action series, one of which seems to be off to a promising start. The Action part of it has not quite started yet, but that is bound to change by the 3rd episode. Moving at almost the same pace is the Yuri part of it. Unlike most Yuri series, the two lead protagonists are not blatantly lovey-dovey from the get-go. Instead the story chooses to nurture their relationship more gradually, although viewers can still make out the first stages of their nascent bond as they balance out each other’s polar opposite characters.

That is just one of a handful of little things making for interesting hooks to the story. There must be more to Haru’s past than she’s revealed to Tokaku, more to find out how she can be able to emotionally survive through life the way she does, even if there is the chance she is just forcing herself and it may well partly be an act. There is still something behind Tokaku’s past about a temple she was taken to visit by her mom, something that helps abstain Tokaku from being a full cold-blooded killer even though she had chosen the life of an assassin. And the enigmatic Kaiba, Tokaku’s master who had enrolled her in the classroom, is clearly manipulating his trainee in a game bound to be sadistic with his own ulterior motives. I am genuinely curious in finding out what lays ahead in Tokaku and Haru’s journey together, and so far my only real nitpick is Haru annoyingly referring to herself in the third person.

Overall (thus far)-A cautiously optimistic 7

Thank you Eric! I’ve caught up on the first 3 episodes and I too am cautiously optimistic for several reasons. The story has much stronger writing than I expected, even from Kouga-sensei. Here’s hoping it has a strong ending!