Archive for the Yuri Anime Category


Yuri Anime: ROD The TV, Volume 5

March 29th, 2005

I will never get tired of writing about ROD The TV – are you tired of hearing about it? Too bad! In fact, I may have to rewatch it in about 6 months, just to write about it again. lol

In a nutshell, ROD The TV is, by Volume 5, full on into the second “season” and neck deep in complicated plot. This is not an anime for people who like to do something else while watching TV. You really need to *pay attention.*

Amazing action, wonderful storytelling, the plot deepens without becoming mired in tediousness, even when it’s all backstory and confession. Wendy and Joker are consummate baddies, if only because they otherwise seem perfectly normal, and our gang of heroes turn out to be some of the coolest, most admirable and bitchin’est women in anime. All of them. While the backstory definitely fills in some blanks, it actually serves to make the plot more complicated – and the characters as well. Did I mention good storytelling? For once, I feel that the writers really did an excellent job in crafting a plot and carrying it through to the very end. Every episode ends on a damn decent cliffhanger – something that is not easy to do at all.

But what really stands out in this volume for me is the poignant and apparently unresolvable love triangle of Yomiko, Nancy and Nenene. And they make no bones about it – it’s shown for what it is, two women who want nothing more than to be the emotional prop for a third, who doesn’t have the fortitude to decide between them. And oh my *god* is it good! I’m not a big fan of unresolvable sexual tension, but…oh yeah baby, this volume rocks, for that one thing alone.

The art is pretty consistent, which was a nice change, but the translation was *terrible*. Very dubtitled. There were quite a few scenes I found myself correcting the subtitles mentally, which I think does a terrible disservice to the fans. “I didn’t want to get you involved” and “I didn’t want to get you in trouble” are NOT the same thing at all. They are the same syllable count for the dub – why didn’t you translate it the right way, Geneon? Lazy, lazy, lazy. Points off for that.

The packaging is, as always, good, with double-sided cover and mini-poster. The pencil board is, once again, highly distressing. Not criminal so much as awful, awful, awful art. What exactly is Nancy’s left breast doing? And why is Junior’s torso so horribly elongated? These are questions which will likely never be answered…

If you haven’t watched any of ROD The TV don’t start in the middle. You can do that with, say, Sailor Moon, but not this series. Wait for the final volume to come out and get the box set, then turn off the phone and computer, invite intelligent friends over and marathon as much as you can watch. (We’ve done all of the Sailor Moon S season in one day and all of Marmalade Boy in two, so a mere 26 episodes should be easy!)

Ratings? 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10.





Yuri Anime: Ikkitousen DVD Volume 3

March 24th, 2005

Gods help me, I *really* enjoyed Ikkitousen Vol. 3. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I’m seriously thinking about going home and rewatching it again. Today.

In a nutshell, this volume of the anime version of Wani Comics’ offensively fanservicey, trashy, faux-historical/martial arts epic, details the transformations of Housen Ryofu from psychotic lackey into honorable uber-warrior and Shimei Ryomou from psychotic loner into super-vassal. And despite myself, I really enjoyed the hell out of it.

Ryofu wakes up with the realization that she is dying, and decides to go out with a bang. She’s determined to take Toutaku out before she goes – a fine goal, in my opinion. She heads off to a mountain hot spring to train with *the* master and gain an undefeatable technique and the strength to go with it. Before she leaves, she explains to Chinkyuu why she has to do this, and Chinkyuu responds by explaining why she will stay with Ryofu until the very end. In a single volume, Ryofu goes from being a superficial baddie, to a surprisingly deep heroine.

In the meantime, Goei has brought Hakufu and Koukin (who remains the most annoying character in the series) to the same hot spring, in order to train. Well – they are there to train, she’s there to “take the water” as they say in Jane Austen. Hakufu almost immediately runs into Ryomou who has been drawn there for reasons that remain obscure and convenient.

At the hot spring Ryomou has an epiphany. Well, one epiphany and the beginning of a second. Firstly, she meets and is wowed by Goei, whose casual sensuality simply blows her away enough to remove the stick from her ass for a second.

Then, when she and Hakufu meet Ryofu on a mountain path, Ryomou realizes that her true fate is, was and always will be to serve Hakufu and protect her. In a single defiant gesture, she stands before Ryofu to protect Hakufu with her life. Ryofu laughs, says she doesn’t have the time and runs off.

In the meantime, Chinkyuu makes a bad decision which ends up getting her raped and tortured at the command of Toutaku’s lackey, Kaku Bunwa. Bunwa is one of those second-in-commands that you enjoy watching being taken down, because she thinks she’s so clever, but she ain’t. I’m sure you know the type. When Bunwa tells Ryofu about Chinkyuu, Ryofu goes off to save her lover/vassal in a stunningly impressive display of coolness and ki. Ryofu notches up several ranks of wow as she blows the life out of Bunwa’s enforcers without hardly moving. Waaaahhhhh….coooollll…. I just love a woman who can blow a man’s heart out of his chest.

Ryomou, having determined to serve Hakufu to the death, runs off to see “her” again. Not Hakufu…Goei. Bing Bing! We got a winner here! Ryomou discovers Goei falling to her knees in the street, as she has just met the Fighter that, historically, killed Hakufu. Goei begs Ryomou to protect her daughter and, Ryomou, in her second epiphany, swears to make sure that Goei is never sad. From vassal of the daughter, to serving the mother in one smooth move. Yay Ryomou!

Some other stuff happens – we learn why Toutaku always has bandages on his body, but you know…who cares? And we’re supposed to care about the dragon that is awakening within Hakufu, too. But we don’t, do we? Because *we’re* watching the Yuri-fest going on in the background. ^_^ In any case, Koukin will do all our worrying for us, so we’re free to watch the cool chicks.

The Yuri goggles are getting dusty on the shelf while we watch this volume, I can tell you. The Yuri is so blatant, starting with Ryofu’s waking up naked next to Chinkyuu right down to Ryomou vowing to keep Goei from ever being sad.

Yes, there’s fanservice, but I simply tune it out now. And for once, there’s actual nipples instead of that wretched convention of clothes that have exploded but conveniently hang down *just* to cover the nipples and groin, which I find absolutely tedious. In some ways, the fanservice was *less* stupid because it was more overt. At least it was more honest and less coy.

One final rave about this particular volume – the pencil board did not actually suck! Can you believe it? On the one side is Ukitsu (the Fighter who is supposed to destroy Hakufu) looking seductive and sweet as opposed to kick-ass, which I always find to be a disservice. But! On the other side is *my* favorite character, Goei. Yes, Hakufu’s mother. ^_^ What can I say? I adore her. Anyway, there she is mostly dressed, while her kimono falls sexily around her. She looks just as sensual and aware as she does in the actual show – no frontal lobotomy here. So this pencil board wins. I may actually use it, instead of locking it away with the ROD The TV boards in the “please don’t think I like these” collection.

I’ll be honest, Ikkitousen is not a *good* anime. But given this series’ general suckiness, this DVD is a good volume. (And, for the record, the anime is significantly superior to the manga, which you’ll notice I have not reviewed. Be patient.)

The Yuri rating for Ikkitousen, Vol. 3 is an easy 9. All the other ratings remain as before.





Yuri Anime: Stellvia of the Universe, DVD Vol. 3 (English)

March 15th, 2005

Volume 3 of Stellvia of the Universe marks the end of the first arc – and was suprisingly more interesting than I remembered the first time around.

One of my complaints has always been that Shima, our heroine, follows that weird “idiot savant” pattern so common in female-lead shounen anime. You know, she’s a failure at a thing the first time she tries it, but after a “Gamabare!” or two from whomever is her emotional prop, she masters it immediately.

Well, upon rewatch, I find that I was mistaken. In fact, Shima spends an enormous amount of time in Vol. 3 practicing her skills, which result in her improving. Perfectly sensible, and how on earth did I miss that the first time around? Not only that, but the lesson is pounded home when Rinna points out that the only reason she herself is so good is that she had no friends, so practiced pretty much all day every day since she was a child.

Leila-sensei even comments that Shima’s seemingly irrational emotional ups and downs make sense – after all, she’s very young, and it stands to reason that she’ll vaccillate between being hyper-energetic and completely self-conscious and unsure of herself. Heck, I do that now, and I’m hardly young any more… lol

So, okay, okay, I was wrong! Sheesh…

So, where does that leave me? Rewatching this series has forced to me turn my dislike on Kouta, Shima’s soon-to-be love interest. I will never like him, on principle. ^_^ But I will grudgingly admit that, at the end of this volume, he becomes an interesting red herring/plot complication.

On the yuri side, we get only a little of the dynamic between Yayoi and Ayaka in this series, as we’re all focused on the resolution of the Second Wave. 20/20 hindsight leads me to believe that Yayoi was attempting to find some closure before Ayaka leaves on the mission, but chickens out at the last second. (Which makes for a nice place to write a fanfic, I think.) I have completely moved over to the Arisa is in love with Shima camp, but even Arisa can see that it’s hopeless, so it stays at low-level crushiness, for which I think Arisa deserves snaps.

Again, the absolute *best* thing about this series is that all the characters act their ages, and the dialogue *sounds* their ages, too. I really feel like these characters are exactly what they appear – something I rarely get from an anime. (Can anyone say Haruka and Michiru? I mean, really – they were suppose to be *16* when we first meet them. LOL)

I won’t whine about the bare packaging and scant episode count again…you’ve heard it before. I’m just getting into the DVD when it’s over. But other than that, I honestly think I’m enjoying this series *more* this time around than I did the first time.

Once again, if you like space opera, good characterization, a catchy, yet unsingable opening theme and a lovely Yuri relationship, Stellvia is still a good watch.





Yuri Anime: Mai HiME Update

February 23rd, 2005

I have very little time today, so I will be as brief as possible – Mai HiME is gay, and its good. Go watch it.

Pairs to watch out for:
Yukino’s not-quite-unrequited love for Haruka

Shizuru’s quiet obsession with Natsuki (please, gods, don’t let them be sisters or anything naff like that!)

Mikoto’s desire to protect Mai (does this make Mai her “most important thing”? If so…)

Excellent series – worth watching raw, worth watching any way you can get it. 6 episodes to the end and I’m absolutely hooked.

The manga has significantly less dignity, more nasty-feeling fansevice and the schlub Tate is the protagonist. Everyone I know is rooting for cool, hunky Reito-sama to get Mai. He won’t, but we can always hope. I’m also rooting for Yukino to get some courage and plant a big one on Haruka, while Shizuru takes Natsuki someplace quiet and…

Forget reading reviews – just go watch it! ^_^





Yuri Anime: Bubblegum Crisis/Bugglegum Crash

February 15th, 2005

Funny how I never seemed to get around to this series….

Way back, in the dawn of time, I was writing anime reviews for a newsletter that no longer exists, called Metro Druid News (It’s now transmogrified into News From the Other Grove, for which I no longer write, but it’s still pretty fun.) I was writing, specifically, reviews of anime with pagan/magical/spiritual content. So, of course, the companies kept sending me shounen action stories with guns. I suppose it made sense to someone. More likely, it was all they had.

In the middle of the piles of samurai and scifi, was a series called Bubblegum Crisis. I had *heard* of BGC – one could hardly avoid it since, along with Dirty Pair and Project A-ko, it was one of the earliest anime to make it to western shores. This is one of those anime series the old-timers talk about when they talk about huddling over Nth generation videos with mimeographed copies of hand-typed translations, well before fansubs existed. (My personal experience with this was 9th generation copy of a volume of raw Sailor Moon.)

BGC, for the three of you who have never heard of it, is a cyberpunk action story, about four women battling corporate corruption and mutating androids. A very Akira-period anime without the nuclear fallout feel. There was the inevitable yuri implications between the four female leads: Motorcycle-riding, tough, dark, angsty Priss; loli computer genius Nene; bland Lina and; slick, sexy rich-girl Sylia. For the women, there was an effeminate gay cop who flirts valiantly with straight male lead Leon. Even as I think back to my first watching of BGC,I can remember just how *much* this series had something for everybody. And, of course, a lot of mutating androids, guns and explosions. Not surprisingly, it’s still a fan favorite after all this time.

But, even as I watched and suffered through the soundtrack, (a comment for which I *know* I will recieve hate mail) I thought, well, you know Priss is butchy as hell…but ‘m just not seeing the Sylia x Priss thing everyone else is seeing. I tried, I really did! ^_^

But then Episode 5 rolled around and Sylvie – a motorcycle-ridin’ sexaroid with a noir storyline shows up and I simply took the yuri goggles off, because there was plenty to be seen without ’em. This was my first experience with rampant shounen yuri implication, so it sidelined me a bit.

Here’s a piece of obscure trivia – Priss was voted best overall anime lesbian in the first Yuricon Poll, which ran back in 2000. It caused a huge Usenet stink, because a bunch of people were offended that she was even considered to be a lesbian. I say, if it wears leather like a duck, and rides a motorcycle like a duck and hangs out with sexy lesbian sexaroids like a duck….

Don’t get me wrong – there is no happy ending here, but it’s still a pretty damn good story. Just enough dark and grim to give it atmosphere, lots of action, the requisite sexy chicks (at least, what passed for sexy anime chicks in the 1980s…bad hair alert!) and poor Priss’s excruciating Pat Benatar-like music, which were pretty much the perfect beat for walking on a treadmill. The old VHS tapes I had also included music videos made from clips of the arcs and the songs Priss sung in them…whether this was a “bonus” will directly depend on whether you *liked* the music or not. ^_^

If you haven’t watched BGC – especially if you’re a relatively recent Yuri fan – I strongly recommend that you do. It’s good to know where we’ve been to see where we’re going – and how far we have yet to go….