Archive for the Yuri Anime Category


Crowdfunding begins for Riyoko Ikeda’s ‘Dear Brother’ Anime on Animesols

August 12th, 2013

AnimeSols announced the beginning of Round 2 of crowdfunding for classic anime DVD sets yesterday, Japan time. With several sets already funded (Creamy Mami,  Black Jack) they started round 2 off with a bang that’s sure to please classic Yuri fans – Riyoko Ikeda’s  melodrama Oniisama E, Dear Brother.

AnimeSols is streaming the anime (which is also available legally on Viki.com), Episode 1 is up already (region limitations may apply.)

Crowdfunding is open until November and it’s off to a strong start already, with a very decent chance of being 1/4 funded by end of the first day. (Of course I have already pledged. I love this series for all its crazy. Here’s my first review of the series and my most review of it. I make no apologies about my feelings about Saint-Juste. ^_^

I feel completely confident that all the Yuri and Shoujo fans out there will make this happen. We already have Rose of Versailles. I can’t think of anything better than sitting Dear Brother right next to those. ^_^

Please share the news with your mailing lists, Tumblrs, Blogs, Groups and the like. This is one of the oldest classic Yuri anime we’ll ever get a chance to own. ^_^





Yuri Anime: Sweet Blue Flowers / Aoi Hana Disk 1 (English)

May 6th, 2013

swbWhen Manjoume Fumi returns home to Kamakura to go to high school, she’s pretty much forgotten her childhood best friend, Okudaira Akira. But circumstance has brought the two together again in what, for many Yuri fans, is the most-anticipated anime release of 2013.

Fumi is a Nadesico beauty, tall, with long black hair. She was – and still is – a crybaby, who as child often turned to energetic, assertive Akira, A-chan, for help. Their meeting is accidental, but they fall back into their old pattern without even realizing it. And, in a moment, the two of them are best friends once again, even though they go to different schools.

Fumi is caught up in cross-school event, the Drama Club’s play for the school festival – and even more caught up by the lead actress, Sugimoto Yasuko. Somewhat to her surprise, Fumi finds herself dating Sugimoto-sempai and liking it, despite having recently ended a disappointing affair with her cousin.

Everything in this series is classic Yuri, redolent with the smell of old school hallways and libraries filled with old books, until Fumi confesses to her new-old best friend that she’s in love with and dating another girl. A-chan does her best to support Fumi. When Fumi tells Sugimoto, she realizes instantly that Fumi is exceedingly strong. She’s right, but she doesn’t yet know how strong Fumi is. Aoi Hana may feel like it’s set in the Showa period, but Fumi is a Heisei girl – a contrast we’ll see again and again in this story.

However. It wasn’t Fumi’s achingly adorable personality that brought a tear to my increasingly sentimental eye this time. It was the title of the first episode. As the words Hana Monogatari (花物語り) appeared on the screen, I got something in my eye, or maybe it was my allergies. (;_;) Or, maybe, it was the reminder that I’m not the only person to think of Yoshiya Nobuko as a beloved ancestor to this genre.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 10
Yuri – 9
Service – 2

Overall – 9

Disk 1 of Sweet Blue Flowers was incredibly beautiful, with the hyper-realistic backgrounds that are so popular in anime right now and the source of so much destination tourism for fans in Japan. Despite it being a “Lucky Penny” discount release, the DVD set comes with a booklet of promotional art, so we get a great extra even with the lower price.

You know how Fumi feels about the halls of Fujigaya? I feel that way about this anime. It’s recent chronologically, but it is a Yuri classic, nonetheless. I am so thankful to Shimura-sensei for writing this manga, and for JC Staff for animating it. And I am very, very thankful to Nozomi/RightStuf for releasing it in English!





Top Ten Yuri Anime of 2012

December 26th, 2012

Before we get started, I remind you that this is my opinion and no more authoritative than anyone else’s. It’s also my interpretation of the words “Top” “Yuri” “Anime” and “2012”. ^_^ As always, you are most welcome to disagree with me in the comments. I also invite you to share *your* top Yuri Anime for the year in the comments.  Okay then, let’s go!

10) Magic Knight Rayearth, Second Season – Damn, it was good to see this newly reissued by Media Blasters. Yuri is minimal, but Nova’s interest in Hikaru is just obsessive and persistent enough to make this list. There are some great moments in this series and until someone re-issues Card Captor Sakura, it’s nice to have a DVD release of an early CLAMP series.

9) Koihime Musou Otome Tairan – This sucked, but compared to the other two seasons, it was a work of art. Sonsaku and Koukin are a couple, so there’s actual Yuri.

8) Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb – While they are still in no way – other than in fans’ minds – a couple, the creators of Hidamari Sketch Honeycomb have at least realized that we like to imagine them that way and have added more Hiro x Sae service to the series. It even looks like they’ve got Hiro cluing in to her (oh-so-obvious-to-us) feelings, leaving only Sae as utterly unaware of how together they are.

7) Yuru Yuri – Not as record-shattering here as it is in Japan, this slice-of-no-life series is popular enough to have the second season streaming on Crunchyroll. Kyouko likes Chinatsu, Chinatsu like Yui, Ayano likes Kyouko and Chitose likes to fantasize about all of them.

6) Jormungand  – Yes, it’s about people who sell arms and kill people. It’s violent and nasty. But it’s also not at all coy about Valmet’s feelings for Koko and for that, it bumps up even further in my estimation. Plus its loads of fun. Streaming on Funimation.

5) Rose of Versailles – Currently streaming on Viki, you really should be watching this. Ground-breaking, award-winning, historical drama (something that rarely gets made into anime) this series set a lot of bars very high for…well, everything. Oscar cross-dresses beautifully and the girls go wild for her. There’s even a real bit of Yuri in there, small though it is. Honestly, go watch it.

4) Revolutionary Girl Utena – Rewatching the Apocalypse arc was, for me, a climactic moment. I still can’t believe we got the anniversary set. And the ring. Amazing series, amazing artboxes, amazing everything. Simply amazing. Once again, it says something that this is *not* my number one pick this year.

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3) Dear Brother – It was a  “holy crap!” moment for me was when Viki announced streaming this series. Dear Brother was a linchpin moment in my anime-watching life, a moment when everything else peeled away and I couldn’t catch my breath as Saint-Juste threw knives at the clocktower wall. I am beside myself with glee that you can all watch this series. Even if you don’t like it, if you care “about” Yuri, not just like Yuri pairings, you really need to watch this series. Like, Rose of Versailles, without this series there would have been no Utena.

 

2) Puella Magi Madoka Magica – I don’t have anything left to say about this series, except it is absolutely, positively worth watching.

In speaking to Bruce about it, I commented that the sign of a good series is that it holds up under repeated scrutiny. I have scrutinized the heck out of this series which streams on Crunchyroll (and still have a rewatch of the anime DVD release ahead of me) and the series holds up very well indeed. Above all, the thing that Madoka has that so few anime do, is that it tells a story from beginning to end. No unresolved issues, no threads left hanging. It ends and it ends well. In any other year it might be my number one pick, but not this year. ^_^

No, this year one series stood out for me above all others. It got me on one of my oldest hooks, and one of my newest, and a whole bunch in between. My number one top Yuri Anime of 2012 is…

 

1) Bodacious Space Pirates – Fun Space Opera – check. Great characters – check. Pirates in space – check.  Fabulous female characters. – check. Low fanservice – check. Great sweeping epic stories – check. Yuri – check!

Captain Marika and her crew are characters I loved spending time with and will be delighted to spend more time with. I can’t wait for the DVD/Blu-Ray release of this series. An amazing dark horse series all around. Jenny and Lyn for the win.

My number one anime of 2012 is Bodacious Space Pirates, available on Crunchyroll and in 2013 on DVD and Blu-Ray from Section 23.

For the first time ever in the history of this list, every single one of the entries is available in English. ^_^ Now that’s a good year for Yuri!





Funimation Licenses Jormungand, Ikkitousen GG, XX and more

July 1st, 2012

The news is in from the Funimation panel at Anime Expo – Funimation has secured the rights to Ikkitousen GG and XX and Jormungand. They have also licensed Michiko to Hatchin, which was a really interesting anime that kind of slipped under most people’s radar and Blood-C among other titles. For the full press release, check out Funmation’s site.





Nozomi/RightStuf licenses the Aoi Hana anime

June 30th, 2012

Fresh from their panel at Anime Expo 2012, Nozomi/RightStuf announces that they have licensed the anime for Shimura Takako’s Aoi Hana: Sweet Blue Flowers.

Originally aired on Crunchyroll, fans have long wanted to have this series available in English.

TRSI also added Hyakko, an anime based on a 4-koma gag comic that some Yuri fans liked, despite no overt Yuri. ^-^

Here’s the video trailer for Aoi Hana on Youtube via ashi.