Archive for the Yuri Anime Category


Yuri Anime: Kannazuki no Miko, Volume 1

June 13th, 2006

There’s a reason why fairy tales take place in places far, far away and a long, long time ago. It puts them in a space-time that isn’t real. In this not-real space, we can be free to enjoy not-real happenings without having to justify anything.

In a place called “Magic Place”, a beautiful place, with a little bit of everything – sea, mountains, plains, this fairy tale about two girls and their involvement with the gods  over and over, repeated through time – a destiny that can’t be avoided – takes place.

In this particular version of the story, the protagonists are blonde Himeko and the black-haired star of their exclusive school, Chikane. (A pair-type that is quite common in Yuri, as many people have pointed out.)

Chikane is hyper-competent, of course, because she is a brunette. Himeko is sweet and naive and slightly doofus-y, as befits a stereotypical blonde. ^_^

As one expects with a destiny-laden anime tale, the story starts on the day of Himeko’s and Chikane’s shared 16th birthday. The sky is dark, the mountains move, and from out of nowhere, the “Orochi” speaks. Orochi is the Japanese version of the Hydra – an eight-headed serpent. In this case, the heads or, necks (kubi) are represented by eight people with darkness in their hearts. Whether they are also dealing with a destiny, or they have chosen their roles, is never made clear.

One of the Orochi’s kubi is the other star of the school – Oogami Souma – whose name speaks of a huge, horrible destiny. So, we’ll call it destiny, then; nature, not nurture makes one a kubi. Souma, despite his fate to be one of the bad guys, manages to overwrite his programming and when Himeko is threatened by the Orochi, fights to protect her.

Chikane, who clearly has a thing for Himeko, tries to protect her, but pretty much doesn’t have the stuff. Souma does the fighting, while Chikane is busy getting the girl. She starts right in with kisses and a few well-placed gropes.

Chikane and Himeko learn that they share a fate to be the priestesses of Ame-no-Murakumo, a god of swordsman. (Incidentally, and not at all related to anime, Ame no Murakumo was one of the personal deities of the founder of Aikido.) Together they are supposed to re-seal the Orochi in the prison that t/he/y have escaped.

In the first attack, Himeko’s dorm is trashed, so Chikane takes her home to live with her – something that makes Chikane obviously very, very happy. But not the other kids in the school. Which brings me to a question I keep asking as I watch this volume: the two absolute massive, super-popular stars of the school constantly obsess over Himeko, and are there constantly to protect her. So…how is that no one in the entire school other than her ex-roommate has a clue who Himeko is? Okay, forget it. Fairy tale, right.

Himeko is worried that she is a burden and a trouble to Chikane and Souma – which she is, but you can’t fight fate like this, can you? Souma and Chikane both vow to protect her and at least one of them is successful in this. One at a time, the Orochi’s kubi attack and are defeated by Souma in his spiffy new giant mecha. This causes Chikane to desire more power, because she can’t actually protect Himeko as a miko. (Remember this, because it’s one of the things that sets her off on the wrong thinking path.)

The volume ends on a darkish note: Himeko is troubled that her abilities as a miko are falling short of the mark, she isn’t sure of her feelings for either Souma or Chikane and she has some nasty bad memories to work past. Chikane is fighting off serious jealousy of Himeko’s feelings for Souma, and Souma is torn between his desire to protect Himeko and his destiny as an Orochi. It’s a typical love triangle and, despite Chikane having gotten the kisses, at this point in the anime Souma takes the lead, slightly because of Himeko’s persistent blondeness.

In terms of packaging the DVD offers 4 episodes (presumably with three on the following three DVDs); a coupon for $3 off Volume 2 or 3, a mini-poster of art by the manga artist, Kaishaku, and a double sided mini-pencil board. So it’s pretty fair value for the money. No extras to speak of, just the usual clean opening/ending and Geneon credits.

One last thing – lots o’ fanservice. I’d forgotten how much. It really makes the Strawberry Panic anime seem very staid in comparison.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 6
Story – 6
Yuri – 9
Service – 7

Overall – 7

It’s a fairy tale with a *lot* of fanservice, giant robots and a dark undertow. I do wish we’d get to know anything about the kubi – who they are, why they are kubi, etc. It’s a big hand-wave to just accept a little girl who dresses like a nurse and carries a giant hypodermic having enough evil in her to qualify for a god of evil’s hench-neck. ^_^ Or the driven mangaka. The rest of them, I could make up decent enough backstories for. 6-6 But I quite like Miyako, the evil nun. Just because.

I also wish Himeko was less of a non-entity. It would so be like being in love with a person that had had a frontal lobotomy…oh well, not everyone finds intelligence and competence attractive. Obviously, not Souma or Chikane, anyway. ;-)

 





Yuri Anime: Madlax, Volume 6

May 30th, 2006

So much happens in Madlax, Volume 6 that I’m not sure where to start. So, as usual, I’ll start with the absurd. ^_^

Imagine if you will, two women running through a hot war zone. One is a hardened warrior, her skills bolstered by magic, the other…a maid. We can tell, because she wears the  ubiquitous ruffled apron over a dark dress. Now, I know Eleanor is a dedicated servant, attached by more than just duty to her mistress Margaret, but come *on*! Give the girl a pair of boots and pants at least – her legs are going to be a mess out there in the jungle.

The other absurdity in this series remains the same – Friday Monday is such a nerdbanger, I can barely credit his getting this far at all, except by dumb luck. And then there’s his exhaustingly over-used dream of a “pure” humanity , driven by hatred. Oh yes, that would be different, because? Has he LOOKED at the world recently? Enfant is wasting their energy – they could have let this particular civil war die, because sure as there’s tomatoes in my salad, another would have popped up. And Rimelda becomes horribly boring, but don’t worry, she’ll be back, better, than ever

Now, for the good side – we get actual, semi-contextual info on what went on 12 years ago! Yay! Of course, it’s not entirely correct, but at least we have a clue – a bunch more clues, in fact. What happened to Vanessa Rene’s family that has driven her to look for information? Who, exactly, is Callosur Dawn and what was his role 12 years ago? What actually *happened* that night? We have most – but not all – of it now.

Good – Madlax accepts what she is, and as a result gets a power up.

Good – we lose a friend and it’s permanent and powerful. If you don’t want spoilers for this, DON’T look at the “Extras” menu until after you’ve watched the volume.

Good – Margaret losing it. Finally, she has a personality. Even if it’s an evil, stupid one.

Good – We know know the reasoning behind the obsessive reptition of the red shoes, the “it’s going to rain,” the doll…but not pasta.

Good – Naharu actually *does* something. Yay her.

In general, a complex and fascinating volume, and a bit maddening, as we still need a few more pieces to figure out what the flying %^$! is going on. ^_^ Nice job for the penultimate volume. Thumbs up from me on that.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Music – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 3

Overall – 8

It’s getting better and better, but I want to know what the deal is with pasta. (And if you know, don’t tell me – I mean within the context of the anime, duh.)





Yuri Anime: Stellvia, Volume 7

May 29th, 2006

Even though Stellvia, Volume 7 doesn’t actually have any specific Yuri scenes (despite Ayaka and Yayoi prominently displayed on the cover), I’m still classifiying as a Yuri anime, both because the series has strong Yuri content – and because Ayaka, having found herself once again, uses what she’s learned to assist Kouta and Shima, in a way that still let’s you see where her actual interest lies.

This volume strikes a really nice balance between the plot, the characters and the larger body of humanity behind our immediate vision. For once we’re given something to hold on to regarding the threat of the “Cosmic Fracture.” It’s not just a vague thing with BEM (Bug-Eyed Monsters for those of you too young to have read any old school sci-fi) attackers. Destruction is actually imminent and the time-line is short, like a good space opera ought to be. The tension builds between different military and governmental factions – differences that will come to affect the people on earth, as well.

And meanwhile, our heroes are still just children. They are learning to figure out who they are, and where they want to go (or need to go) to be the people they have to be; both for the current crisis and for the future. In the middle of all this is Ayaka, who suddenly arises to the position that she never felt comfortable in before – guide, mentor, sempai. She repeatedly tells Kouta, Shima and us that she’s not “good with things between guys and girls”, well duh, darlin’. But it’s equally as obvious that having found her own center and rebuilding her relationship with Yayoi has given her greater understanding of human relationships as a whole.

The vibe between Kouta and Shima in this volume really rings true. Kouta is still clueless and Shima is still irrational and, as the others point out repeatedly, that’s pretty much the way it is between men and women. Jojo and Akira get a little extra screen time so we can see how they are doing – they seem to be doing pretty well, despite occasional setbacks. And the commander and the doctor are still kind of cute – there’s a certain awkwardness about their courtship that makes one feel that some things never really change.

Rinna becomes a lynchpin character for a little while, as we get a glimpse of the larger politics behind the formation of a last ditch effort by humanity to survive. As much as I find whiny little sister types annoying in anime, I wasn’t bothered at all by her in this volume. Perhaps the soothing influence of being with her parents again…another thing that reads pretty real to me.

Overall, as I said in the beginning, there’s a very solid balance in this volume of story, character and peripherals. If you haven’t enjoyed Stellvia up to this point, there’s nothing here that’s going to make you like it – but if you like it, you might begin to love it. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7 the noses are back, whee!
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Music – 7
Yuri – 1
Service – 2

Overall – a strong 7

It’s easy to appreciate this volume knowing that we’re heading into the final stretch. But even on its own, it’s easy to enjoy this volume for all the classic signs of the “battle is nigh” in the grand tradition of Seven Samurai and all its Western, War and Sci-Fi relatives.





Yuri Anime: Simoun

April 12th, 2006

Next up in our New Spring 2006 Yuri Anime Season reviews, Simoun. I touched briefly on the Simoun manga that premiered in Yuri Hime 3 in February. There wasn’t too much to say about it, as the publication is quarterly and we’ve only seen one chapter. (T-minus one week to Chapter Two in Yuri Hime 4) So, I had no specific expectations going into the anime.

The premise of the Simoun anime appears to be the same as that of the manga. Our protagonists are Neviru and Aeru, two female warriors from an embattled society. Everyone in this world is born female, but at some point (it was originally stated on the website that the choice was at 15, but it has since been changed to 17) that everyone chooses whether to remain female (which they must do to continue to fight) or to become male. Most Yuri fans appear to be a bit hesitant to embrace a story in which a sudden gender change might render a lesbian couple suddenly straight, but I’m not that concerned.

The main objection appears to be that in the middle of a really wonderful yuri love affair one character might suddenly decide to change her gender. This is reasonably unlikely for several reasons, based on what I have read and seen so far:

1) This decision is a once-a-lifetime choice. At 17, you go to the sacred lake and chose. Then it’s done. You don’t choose again, and the choice isn’t reversable.

2) The main characters we are following are all going to be female because they are warrior-pilots. To fight you have to be female. I expect one or two to change gender as the story goes on, but the bulk of any main relationships you’ll see are going to be lesbian.

3) The manga is running in Yuri Hime, which is a Yuri manga publication for a Yuri audience. I think it unlikely that they’ll piss the audience off by changing too many of the couples mid-flight, as it were.

Interestingly, all the characters in this anime, male or female, are voiced by women, which I thinks puts a very unique spin on the masculinity of the male characters. I though it an original touch. In addition, several of the leading male roles are drawn with very feminine features.

Let’s go over the bad first, as I frequently do when there is more good than bad. The thing I like least has got to be the character designs. The clothing is less annoying than it is in the manga, but in general, I don’t care for the characters’ faces – especially their eyes and mouths. Most especially our heroine Neviru, looks, with that mouth, just like a sex toy blow up doll. I find that very unpleasant.

That about covers the bad. Now the neither good-nor-bad, but it makes for good conversation:

The opening episode has several Yuri kisses, which are clearly not plot drivers. On the one hand, they are, to my realistic eye, Yuri service to sell the anime to the widest audience possible. On the other hand, I think that they might also represent a tradition.

One – the pilot pairs kiss each other before departing.

Two – the pilots then kiss a green gem-like thing that must be understood to be the energy source for their ship.

I conjecture that Neviru’s original partner and she were (I think it’s fairly obvious, actually,) much closer than just partners. Neviru’s partner and she shared kisses because they were lovers, and the other pilots, seeing their princess sharing a kiss with her partner were moved to do the same – and from there it became a tradition. It’s not entirely unlikely that the partner-pilots grow exceptionally close, as they hold each others’ lives in their hands. Think of them as Spartans. But now it has become a tradition and regardless of partner one shares a kiss, to remember the fragility of life, to remember love and peace and good things, before one boards for battle.

Now let’s look at the second kiss, the one that, perhaps, activates the ship’s power source. We know pretty much nothing about it, and personally, I hope we never really do learn anything about it. It’ll make writing fanfic easier. ^_^

So – let me just take a flying leap here and say that the technology does not have to be activated by a kiss. It might be both pilots touching the gem that activates it – or their intent brought to bear upon the gem but, like the kiss shared between pilots, the kiss on the gem focuses the mind and intent *directly on* the technology, and makes it activate. So it becomes part of the tradition – a kiss for your partner, a kiss for your ship.

In a sense – a very feminine way to approach battle. In another sense, a fun, cheesy way to gain instant yuri street cred. Whichever you want. It matters not. ^_^

Serge then pointed out that the kisses may well be an older/religious tradition quite apart from Neviru and her partner, as they all refer to God quite a bit in reference to the whole thing. So there you go, justification for the conjecture. ^_^

Now for the fantastic:

On the definitely good side, we have to start off with the background art, and the CGI of the mecha. The designs for the mecha are unique and the computer animation is lovely. The backgrounds are, like the picture above, watercolor-esque and very appealing. The two combined work for me, absolutely.

Also, story-wise, I absolutely ADORED the point of view in the first epsiode. Nota Mamiko (Shimako in the Marimite anime) voices an “enemy” pilot. A large portion of the first episode is from the perspective of a pilot from what is (to us anyway) a miserable over-industrialized world, which has demonized the protagonists’ society, Simoun. Simoun is shown as a garden-like, beautiful world, without taint of smog or grime, in which the technology is as beautiful as the people. I really, really liked how we first see Simoun through the eyes of someone who seeks to destroy it. This kind of writing is more important to me than any kiss will ever be, in an anime, at least. :-)

Music was good very good, I’ll have to consider getting the soundtrack

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – hard to tell, let’s go with 6 and revise later
Story – 7, with some genuine hope for more/better if the writing keeps up
Music – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 3

Overall – 8

After two episodes, I think we can, perhaps, look forward to a decent anime with some unique characteristics, at least. Time will tell whether it is actually *good*, but at least it’s not starting out from the gutter. ^_^

Oh, and P.S. – Simoun was the name of French-made series of airplanes. Just thought you might like to know. ^_^





Yuri Anime: Strawberry Panic

April 11th, 2006

I’ll do my best to make today’s post simple and straightforward, so you have less room for cognitive dissonance, but I have little hope of you all following the logic. So, with a deep breath and a dash of desperation, I bring you the first of the Spring 2006 Yuri Anime Season reviews.

I first encountered Strawberry Panic as a series of short stories published in Dengeki G’s Magazine. (These have now been collected into a single volume, which is NOT the same as the first volume of the manga.)I reviewed these stories as a whole in January 2004. These stories were all short, plotless vignettes. Each one gave the briefest glimpse into a “Yuri coupling” (the phrase used on the original website which is now gone) between two girls who attended one of three schools – the same schools with untransliteratable names as those in the anime.

Because Dengeki G’s is a magazine for fanboys who play dating sims and h-games with characters that all look unpleasantly young (and who, I am sure, call out “oniiii-chaaaan” at every opportunity,) in every short story, we meet a horribly lolified girl who does something exciting like trip and scrape her knee, or fall inexplicably into a pond, or make lunch. In each of these vignettes, the older, admired/desired girl is cool only by comparison with her partner who looks 6 years old. At the end of every vignette, we read a breathless thought of love, or perhaps a scandalous confession of like or, in some case, even a quick peck on the cheek! Shock!

Now here’s the part where you have to work hard to follow me. *Based on the aforementioned stories*, the anime is not that bad.

Don’t get all hairball on me – I am not saying that the anime is not bad or – heaven forfend – good. I am saying, in what I hope is a clear and concise manner that given the utter craptasticness of the stories from which the idea came, the anime is less horrible than I expected.

The anime, while moe (duh) and distinctly derivative of Maria-sama ga Miteru, and school uniform fetishy, and just plain stupid, is still better than I imagined it would be, because for however bad the Strawberry Panic anime is – it is *still better than the original stories.* (And incidentally, better than the manga, as well, in which Nagisa is one of those horrible creatures who refers to herself in third-person.)

Okay. So, I’m the only person on this continent whose expectations for the Strawberry Panic anime weren’t disappointed. But I had an a priori understanding of how dire it was going to be.

Now, let’s get the actual review over with quickly. Strawberry Panic is written for the lowest common denominator, will have as many cliche’s as possible crammed into each episode and the Yuri equals fanservice. This is a classic use of Yuri as a sales tactic. Yuri is the fetish du jour here.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Characters – 4
Story –
Music – 6
Yuri – 8
Service – 8

Overall – 6

Will I watch it, since it’s such crap? Hell, yes! I find crap as amusing as the next person. But the first person who tries to, say compare Strawberry Panic with something decent like Strawberry Shake Sweet, which is Yuri by a woman for women (and men), will be shunned.