Archive for the Comic Yuri Hime Category


Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫) September 2011

October 26th, 2011

The September 2011 issue of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫) is filled with many interesting things. And I’ve read about 5/6ths of them, so I’m going to punt on some of the stories, particularly the novels…it’s just been crazy and I really haven’t had time to read them.

In terms of the manga, I’m actally going to begin at the back of the book with a chapter of Uso Kurata’s Yuri Danshi. Hanadera-kun is in ecstasy – he’s going to a Yuri-only doujinshi event! Surely there he will see the Yuri behavior he so desires to see, the beautiful and pure love between girls that is Yuri!

(Quick digression: I have NO IDEA AT ALL what you guys mean when you write me and tell me you love the “pure love” between girls. I never have and frankly, I don’t delve into it too deeply. Love between girls is pretty much just as messy and complicated as love between a girl and a boy or two boys. No clue what you’re thinking it’s like…)

So, imagine his shock when Hanadera-kun realizes that the girls on the train are all headed to a Tiger & Bunny event on the other side of the space…and the only ones at the Yuri event are guys. He’s creeped out and falls into despair because…and then he’s spotted by a bunch of Yuri Danshi who invite him out to dinner, where they delve very deeply into why, despite Comic Yuri Hime‘s stated readership of 70% women, the only women at the Yuri event were artists. The conversation is one that I myself have had with so many, many people.This particular iteration of it is made more amusing by Kurata’s choices of names: Sakuragaoka-kun,  Musahino-kun, Kamakura-kun, Kagome-kun.

I had to laugh out loud at those at the confusion of these Yuri Danshi between that Yuri world of girls’ private schools and actual real women. And their analysis of whether Yuri is “for girls” or “for boys.”

Sorry guys. Yuri=fantasy, honestly. Nothing real about it. Poor Hanadera-kun has to come to that conclusion on his own…by himself…in the rain.  Really, I’m trying not to laugh at his/our pain.

Back at the front of the mag, Tanaka Minoru starts off what looks to be a off-beat story called “Rock it, girl!” in which a singer is told off for sucking, then invited to talk to an agent…about her guitar playing.

In Kowo Kazuma’s “ulacoi” (which I would have suggested transliterating “urakoi”) a girl quite literally falls for the back she stares at all day.

“Fu-fu” takes a step back to detail the everyday kisses and acts of affection in a “married” life. This series is so cute it makes me teeth ache. ^_^

Hiyori Otsu’s “Roundabout” had a pretty damn big handwave – Chiharu’s somehow forgotten the girl she went out with in high school, and now that they’ve been together for a few years…still hasn’t remembered. Asami’s angry enough that she feels it’s time to walk away from this otherwise perfect relationship.  Kids – this is how not to do it, okay? Just *talk* about things first. Hissy fits are never the answer.

Amano Syuninta’s “Otona no Onna ha Muri o Shinai” is also a pretty silly handwave-driven story, but the idea of challenging ones’ self in life by eating *really spicy ramen* and the ensuing swollen lips jokes were so goofy, that I enjoyed it anyway.

“Koigo Interactive” is a slightly too-intimate look at the affect of writing erotica on two members of a literature club. No sex, but, some overheating and blunt emotions.

In “Love Gene DNA” we once again deal with the ever-amusing mystery of “why do girls go to the bathroom together”…and we (and Matsuri) can see that there’s something to be worried about in Sakura and Aoi’s relationship. During a mixer of the Adam and Eve Top Stars, Aoi is confronted with what, in a more visceral way, Sakura being “engaged to” Erika means. She does not take it well at all…

Crisis looms in “Renai Joshikka.” Saki’s ex has inexplicably returned, just as she and Arisu were settling in together. What does that mean for them?!?

There’s other stories, very few of which I didn’t like and, of course, there’s “Girl’s Uprising,” the cover story, in which Tatsuki catches up with her lover Hyouko’s beloved sister, Chisato, and short stories “Aoi Yubisaki” and “Mahou ha Kotono o Kagesuteru: as short story chapters, none of which I have had a chance to read yet.

Overall, an excellent issue of Comic Yuri Hime, with more women in love with women (as opposed to school crushes, proto-Yuri or first loves)  per volume than ever before.

Overall – 9





Yuri Manga: Girls Love – strawberry milkshake

October 21st, 2011

In the beginning there was Yuri Hime and from Yuri Hime came Yuri Hime Wildrose, a series of “ecchi” (by which we mean “porn”) Yuri manga by artists that contributed to Yuri Hime or their cell-phone manga. Yuri Hime Wildrose was rendered into two “best of” collection called Remix disk A and disk B. (My review of the remix issues has links to all the original Wildrose volumes,as well.)

Now the series has been rebranded, again, as Girls Love. (Volume 1 review from March)

For readers, there isn’t a really significant difference between the Wildrose volumes and Girls Love – creators and content remain roughly the same. In this volume, Girls Love -strawberry milkshake- , we’re getting some of the best of the creators, including Nanzaki Iku’s ShizNat clones, (here called Youko and Hitomi), Amano Syuninta, Mikuni Hachime and others, each with a relatively “Plot, What Plot” one-shot that starts with attraction, moves to sex and ends with love.

It is this last that sets these stories apart from poorly concocted “PWP” stories. There’s nothing at all wrong with a story in which the story is merely the frame for the sex, but it’s infinitely more appealing (to me, at least) when actual caring and affection accompany desire.

I didn’t love every story in this collection, but I liked at least half, which is a pretty big leap from the distate with which I regarded most of the Wildrose volumes. In short – there were more adults, less school settings, more genuine affection and even a serious couple (thank you, Nanzaki Iku.)

Ratings:

Art – Variable, but let’s give it an 8 because most of these creators are good at what they do
Characters – same, 8
Story – N/A
Yuri – 9
Service – 8

Overall – 8

If you’re in the habit of looking for “ecchi” Yuri – i.e., you’re looking for lesbian porn, but don’t like saying it that way – I can actually recommend this volume. Far fewer distressingly drawn breasts than usual and some couples that I actually wanted to see together.

小松さんの要約: 大人の話が増え、好きな作品が半分になっただけでも、Wildroseよりは向上。





Drama CD: Love Gene Double X (恋愛遺伝子XX )

October 7th, 2011

The  Love Gene Double X (恋愛遺伝子XX ) Drama CD was included as an extra in the special edition of the first volume of the Love Gene Double X manga (which I reviewed in August 2011) Like the Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu Drama CD, this CD was essentially the manga volume performed by voice actresses. For people who like to hear characters given life, this Drama CD will suit nicely.

All the men of the world have died and women have rebuilt society along a new version of gendered lines. There are ADAMs, and there are EVEs. ADAMs are given the privilege associated with male roles and EVEs are the women of the world.  The story follows the arrival of Koshiro Aoi at the extremely elite school of Kingdom, her subsequent run-ins with the elite of the school and how she infiltrates the school leadership in order to take it down from within.

As I’ve repeatedly said, I have a LOT of problems with the premise, but also have great hope for the  resolution, as long as the creators are allowed the time they need to do what they *obviously* plan on doing with the story.

But, more importantly, and in the context of what I said about the GIRL FRIENDS Drama CD about CDs adapting a visual medium to a verbal medium) how is this as a dramatization of the story? Pretty good, actually. All the actresses do a decent job of their roles.  Taketatsu Ayana (K-ON!‘s Azusa, Yuru Yuri‘s Mikarun) sounds, I dunno, a bit girly as Aoi, but very thankfully, there is no attempt to masculinize the ADAM’s voices. So, after my initial surprise, she sounded perfectly normal in her role. Hikasa Youko (K-ON!‘s Mio, and a number of roles in other Yuri-ish series) actually sounded perfect as Kokonoe Sakura.  The only voice that didn’t work for me was Gotou Youko (Hiro in Hidamari Sketch) as Erika-sama. The character is over-the-top and she played her way over the top. It was meant to be too much…and it was.

The one downside to this Drama CD was that if you were not already familiar with the series, the brief set up might not be enough to fully convey the backstory. On the other hand, you can only get this Drama CD with the manga, so go read the manga first. There, problem solved. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

This was enjoyable as a performance of the manga, with a good dollop of service, and didn’t increase my frustration with the overall setup meaningfully. In fact, if anything, it served to convince me that the downfall of this system is the only possible resolution to the story.





Love Gene Double X Manga (恋愛遺伝子XX )

August 1st, 2011

Please note that I do not call Love Gene Double X  (恋愛遺伝子XX ) a Yuri Manga. That’s only because I’m not sure it is, yet. I’ll reserve my judgement for future volumes.

In the future, all men have died and women, able to procreate without them, have recreated a similar dual-gender society, splitting into ADAMs and EVEs, with an almost-expected propensity for dressing in Rose of Versailles-style clothing. The story begins when transfer student Koshiro Aoi enters “Kingdom,” one of the the most elite schools in society.

Aoi, an ADAM, is welcomed into the school with a typical mix of fascination and repulsion. She’s good at her studies, and is athletically inclined as well. But she carries around a dirty wooden sword, straps her breasts down with sarashi (instead of the protectors used by the other ADAMs) and has declared that she is there take over the top position.

She is befriended by Sakura, one of the “stars” of the school. And, as she blunders around, she finds she has other allies in the school elite, as well.

Aoi needs allies too, as she inadvertently offends the top EVE, Erika-sama. In the middle of the EVE and ADAM mixer ball, Aoi finds herself having to duel Erika’s fiancé, none other than Sakura…which is where the real trouble begins. It is absolutely forbidden for ADAMs to engage in relationships with other ADAMs and Aoi is starting to have some feelings for Sakura. Luckily, she’s not so bright about such things and one of her other allies, Matsuri is able to refocus those feelings…for the moment…into desire for friendship.

Matsuri is also our greek chorus in this series. She is the one who discovers Aoi’s secret and the source of her antagonism for the school elite. Aoi’s mother was an ADAM, who became an outcast when she took the taboo route of becoming an EVE in order to marry the ADAM she loved. Matsuri tells Aoi that she is not alone in wanting to take this restrictive system down and councils Aoi not to bash around Kingdom making threats, but to work subtly from the inside.

In the meantime, Aoi challenges Sakura to a “duel” in grades and while she loses, makes herself one of the top  academic lights of the school. Sakura, Aoi, Matsuri and the last of the school stars, Mizuki, all become friends and comrades as the first volume main story comes to a close.

The extra chapter is a rather silly dream in which Aoi “learns” that the others are all really men, and she spends the next day checking their breasts to make sure they are really women.

To say that I have a lot of problems with this story is a vast understatement.

I’m super unhappy that the premise is that women, when left alone to create their own society, immediately force an extra-restrictive dual-gender society upon themselves. Same-gender role relationships are taboo, gender-role switching is even more taboo. This was really hard for me to take, but….

…on the other hand, Eiki and Zaou are immensely talented and I’m still trusting them to handle this scenario. We’ve got enough of a set-up that, given time, they *could* bring this to an amazing conclusion. But…will they be given that time? I’m not sure that Ichijinsha has given any creators more than 2 volumes so far. 5 or 6 more chapters is unlikely to bring this story to a satisfactory end.

I’m ambivalent about the potential for taboo fakey BL, the potential for a story half-assedly brought to conclusion, the potential for bad, bad lessons here and generally vexed at the whole thing. ^_^

Only the implication that the “real” story here is that Aoi and her friends might destroy these restrictions (given enough time and page count) is keeping me reading. And the fact that the story is being told with a good sense of humor helps, too.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – I’m totally bipolar about it. Sometimes I’m giving it an angry 5 and others a hopeful 8. Let’s be vague and call it 7
Characters – The saving graces, definitely – 8
Yuri – 2 One kiss by Erika to a henchchick so far
Service – 5 Breasts shots mostly

Overall – I’m going with a hesitant 8

Basically, Volume 2 is going to make or break this series for me, I think. If it goes to a Volume 2.

The picture and link above are for the deluxe edition, with Drama CD. There is also a regular manga-only edition available too, for those of you not as helpless before the siren call of Drama CDs as I am.





Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime July 2011 (コミック百合姫)

July 27th, 2011

I hope you don’t mind terribly, but I’m switching the nomenclature I use for Comic Yuri Hime. From now on, I’m using the cover date, rather than Volume number. I’ll shift the back issues, so they match. Volume number was feeling pointless and forced. So, today we’re looking at the July 2011 volume of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫).

The cover jumps right into Fukami Makoto’s Justice for Girls with a bittersweet chapter about Yukimi, after her escape from Rapunzel’s Tower and the brief happiness she shares with half-breed Tatsuki, until Chanel No. 5 tracks Yukimi down and whisks her away. This is the what, 4th chapter of this story and finally, it’s starting to take some shape for me. Now I want to know if Tatsuki and Yukimi will be reunited and if Yukimi will ever see her sister Chiaki again.

There were a number of interesting stories this volume and, only a few I felt compelled to skip, which pretty much puts this firmly on the rising scale for me.

Outstanding among the many good was…are you ready? Takahashi Mako’s story “Cha no Ma no Hana.” Did you ever expect me to shower praise on a Takahashi Mako work? Me neither, but here I am, doing just that. I was warned that it was a pretty good story ahead of time (thank you Komatsu-san!) and I absolutely agree. Jitsuko comes out to her relatives and warns them she’s not planning on changing her mind. Lurking behind concern for Jitsuko is the affection one aunt feels for the wife of her late brother, and a discussion of youthful impetuosity becomes quite complicated and adult.

“Yuri Danshi” explores the role of cross-dressing as a typical Yuri trope, with a nod to straight girls that enjoy the Otoko no ko type.

“Fu~Fu” provides us all with simply stellar advice when we decide we really like another woman, First, Hayase tells us, hold her close, then whisper “I love you” into her ear over and over. I’ve tried this out – it totally works. ^_^

Saida Nica’s “Aoharu Runnings” was squee-worthy cute that, like “Fu~Fu” gives us all an awesome motivation technique to use. This time, the reward is a kiss.

The Ichijinsha Taikai is on and submissions of manga are being accepted. A few examples of winners are shown to keep us all positive.

“Nadeshiko Kimomo” is cute – it’s pretty inevitable that you’re gonna look at it and think “this began life as a Marimite parody.” Cute, but really extra super thin on Yuri for the moment. It is notable for having an American student who is a chanbara otaku, who speaks an interesting Edo-patois-ish Japanese.

Amano Shuninta’s story, “Watashi no Sekhai wo Kousei Suru Gomi no Youna Nanika” was a pretty frustrating story for me. Fue is a college student who has a girlfriend but, for a variety of reasons just finds the idea of sex sort of bleah. They live happily ever after, but I wasn’t all that happy about it.

“Gozen 6-ji no Jouhou” by Futagawa Shunma tells of a little, fraught, illicit time between teacher and student.

In “Renai Joshikka,” Ai realizes that she wants more of Hato than just to be co-workers. When Hato leaves her husband, Ai pushes the envelope.

The “Yuri Room” column this month talks to Takemiya Jin.

In “Sweet Temptation” by Takemiya Jin, a sweet scent and an even sweeter confession turns a “no thanks” into a “maybe.

The next pages are a preview of Aoi Hana’s Twin Cake volume which tells the story of a failed idol-turned-manager who falls for her client.

As always these are not all the stories in the volume, just the one I found notable. Buy this volume for yourself and find more to love.

In general, I consider this to be an excellent volume and as always, I’m looking forward to the next!

Ratings:

Overall – 8