Archive for the Comic Yuri Hime Category


Comic Yuri Hime June 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年6月号)

June 9th, 2022

The June issue of Comic Yuri Hime magazine is an issue of transition. Old series are wrapping up, or moving to new arcs and new series are beginning.

Firstly, we have another fantastic, textured cover with ambiguous scene, this time a rainy city night, in a city where the lights never go out.

Then we move to a fabulous new series, “Natsu to Lemon to Overlay,” by Ru, which is, right out of the gate, intriguing and strange and I love it. An aspiring seiyuu is hired to read a last message at a woman’s funeral. What the woman’s story is, she isn’t told, but she takes this strange job.

“Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” wraps up the fisrt volume of the Light Novel and as we turn away from one arc, we’re about to head into the main part of the story.

“Kimi to Shiranai Natsu to Naru” settles down a bit from the scattered wackiness of running away from society to take a job at a local seaside place. The pace has slowed, but it remains charming.

Color pages for “Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru” my new favorite ballroom dance manga, by Utatane Yuu. This chapter moves the healing of past traumas forward. Kiki and Michiru had found their place and for a moment, everything is good.

The second half of this volume contained a number of one-shots one of which was outstanding – “Tsuihou wo Tsukamu” by nanimowakaran. This mermaid story was the first and only one of it’s kind that I have ever really liked. A woman is visited by a half-woman, half-sea creature from her past who has loved her for hundreds of years. This manga was beautiful and haunting and will stick with me for a while.

As always there are many other stories, some of which I read and enjoyed and others I did not, or did not read, which means it’s a decent selection all the way around. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Looking forward / not looking forward to the already-out  July issue, which will contain the final chapter of Usui Shio’s “Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts.” Yay, boo. ^_^;





Comic Yuri Hime May 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年5月号)

April 28th, 2022

Comic Yuri Hime May 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年5月号) had a few great zOMG moments, so let’s dig right in!

“Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau” by Takeshima Eku relaxes into festival mode, with yukata, and fireworks and kisses.  This series is just so darn sweet, it hurts my teeth, but I’m hooked. ^_^

“Watashi no Oshi h Akuyaku Reijou.” is hard this (and next) month, as we face Lene’s banishment. The next chapter is gonna be really rough. At last, we meet Salas Lilium….and, okay, he’s pretty. We’re going to see a lot more of him as the story progresses. da-da-dummmmmm~~~

OMFG, Miman’s “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” has done something I could never have expected. Holy shizzballs. The whole cafe is currently dancing to Youko’s tune and has no idea. I can’t see the climax here, but I’m on the edge of my seat for it. Poor Sumika. Poor Nene. Poor Kanako. I hope they gang up and defeat the evil that threatens to tear them apart.

Both of Usui Shio’s stories take leaps forward…

As “Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts” heads towards it’s climax, Hinako has the first real conversation with her mother that she’s probably ever had. It’s a key moment, and they both come through it just fine. It’s the “look Mom, I like someone and that someone is a woman…” talk, which isn’t quite coming out, but is darn close. Now all we need is Asahi to be honest with herself…and the two of them to share some realtalk.

In “Onna Tomodachi to Kekkonshitemita” Kurumi and Ruriko spend the day together deepening their bonds and you know what? It was really nice. I could use more of this…a lot more of this.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

As always there are stories I don’t read and stories I read that I haven’t mentioned, but all of the ones mentioned are doing some pretty interesting things and had a couple of yowza moments!

The June issue is already available and I am so looking forward to it. ^_^





Comic Yuri Hime, April 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年4月号)

April 3rd, 2022

Comic Yuri Hime, April 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年4月号) starts off with an evocative cover image. I very much continue to enjoy this year’s cover design, with it’s patchwork of color and texture. Great design work there! It’s always nice when Comic Yuri Hime chooses creative design for their annual theme.

The first story of interest to me this issue is inori-sensei’s “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” We’ve come to the climax of the commoner movement arc, which means we’re almost at the end of the first novel. I hope you’re all filling out the monthly questionnaire and letting them know you want more of this series! I can say that, for this series, an international audience is recognized. Let Ichijinsha know that we want Drama CDs and anime and all the things. ^_^

In “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” Kanako is in crisis. So much of her identity has been wrapped up in Hime that now that Hime and Yano are reconciled, Kanako is floundering. What direction will this desire for Hime head in? It could get ugly, but by now I completely trust Miman-sensei to take care of these characters. (Although I’ve got my eye on Nene…she’d better be okay, is all I’m saying. (-_-)

Kashikaze’s “Lonely Girl ni Sakeraenai” was absolutely adorbs this month. Ayaka finds her path in life, she and Sora eat cookies. I’m going to jump here and also mention, Inui Ayu’s and Ohi Pikachi’s comic essays on life with their girlfriends. After decades of high and low dramas, I like having an iyashikei manga or three to read and just be happy. More wholesome Yuri please!

Life as a married couple is going well for Kurumi and Ruriko in “Onna Tomodachi to Kekkonshitemita.”

“Kimi to Shiranai Natsu ni Naru” continues to be one of my faves, as Haru and Hinoto craft a homemade marriage certificate and decide to get jobs to keep up this beach house lifestyle. With this, they have fully thrown away the business suit lifestyle and they are positively glowing.

I have to tell you that “Odoriba Skirt ga Naru” just NAILS the landing here. 10/10 Michiru and Kiki are always so tenuous and now they might be on the edge of a breakup, but they talk…and then they dance. The three page set where their counting slowly comes together and eventually shows them in perfect synch was an outstanding use of word balloons. You could practically hear the music swell behind Uttane-sensei’s art.

Taguchi Shouichi’s “Futari Escape” is so goofy that I can’t possibly dislike it. In this chapter, they create a fictitious cat for themselves and really lean into the fiction hard.

In honor of the re-release of Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu and Love Gene Double XX by Taishi Zaou and Eiki Eiki, the first chapter of each is included this month. These manga originally ran back in the late 2000s, early 2010’s in Yuri Hime. I’ve reviewed them all here on Okazu (Love Gene Double XX Volume 1 | Volume 2  and Haru, Natsu, Aki, Fuyu)…they were both problematic. I still don’t know if the problems stemmed from primarily BL creators creating Yuri, but it sure seemed that way at the time. I’m not sure they’ve worn well, but YMMV.

Inui Ayu and Kon-san discuss negative things about each other, to temper all the lovey-dovey in her essay comic so far and Ohi Pikachi let’s us in on when she and Fuuka spent the night together for the first time.

As always, there are stories I read and have not mentioned and stories I do not read. (Like, there was a manga that ended this issue with both characters dead and my thought was, “that’s okay.” It’s not worth it to me to mention some of these.) But for the things I am reading, there’s more to like than ever before, overall, a fantastic issue of Comic Yuri Hime!

Ratings:

Overall – 9 (“Odoriba” put it over the line. ^_^)

The May issue is already in my greedy little hands, and it’s so good. ^_^

 





Comic Yuri Hime March 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年3月号)

February 24th, 2022

Comic Yuri Hime March 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年3月号) is another solid issue.

To begin with “Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata” finally comes to the climax we had been expecting – Shizuku learns that Kaori is terminally ill. Her feelings may never have time to reach the other girl.

Following this, in “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau” the SS Girls decide to up their game, while Yori and Hima try to make time for each other, even though they are on opposing teams for the big battle of the bands. Gosh, this manga is just so forgivably innocent, it makes me use the word “gosh,” unironically. ^_^ And, oh, they kiss.

“Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” dives deep into social justice issues this chapter, as a noble gets away with almost killing a commoner. The commoner movement takes this as a cue to get protesting, in exactly the same way we saw in the real world. This chapter cuts a little deep. As it should.

Speaking of deep cuts, “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” was rough. Nene finally meets up with Youko who plays our poor chef like a keyboard. Nene is looking to find sincerity in a completely insincere person, and makes mistakes she hates herself for. Personally, I hate Youko for them. Sumika takes the wrongest position possible and I realllllly have to hope Nene comes out of all this with her life intact. I’m pretty angry for (not at) her right now. I trust ya, Miman-sensei, but this better be worth her tears.

“Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts” takes the jousei route, as Hinako’s mother comes to visit. Hinako tells her flat out that she likes Asahi, but then runs off and calls the other woman. Now that she has admitted to herself that she likes Asahi, will she admit it to Asahi?

In a Usui Shio two-fer, in “Onna Tomodachi wo Kekkon Shitemita,” Ruriko and Kurumi spend a day together to patch up some holes they have and Ruriko gives Kurumi a hug, which sets her thinking about their “friendship.”

“Kimi to Shiranai Natsu ni Naru,” by Keyyang is rapidly rising into my top several stories. Haru and Hi-chan wake up to find themselves engaged and happier than they have ever been. They decide to get rings and talk about wedding dresses. But first, breakfast!

Inui Ayu and Kon-san talk about their exes and how they approach dating so differently and Kon-san takes a point a step too far in “Kyou mo Yane no Shita.” And Ohi Pikachi shares the story of her first kiss with Fuuka in “Pillow Talk ha Fuku wo Kite.”

As always there are other stories I’m not mentioning and some I’m not reading. Basically, the middle third of the magazine is “meh,” to me, which gives me a 2/3 good or great percentage…more than satisfactory IMHO.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

I’m also always interested in the editor’s recommendation pages, in part because they often suggest things I don’t know and in part because I’m interested to see what they think is good (subtext: even if I disagree. ^_^)

The April issue of Comic Yuri Hime is out now in Japanese bookstores!





Comic Yuri Hime, February 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年2月号)

February 2nd, 2022

Comic Yuri Hime, February 2022, was full of surprises, not the least of which there were no excruciating boob mechanics in semelparous. Not one. But there was a lot of new stuff and old stuff and good stuff!

It begins with another great faux-collage portrait by Isshiki, of two unnamed protagonists who tell us not to decide if it’s requited love or not on our own.

The book opens with a surprising chapter of inori’s “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” The tone of the story shifts from love comedy to political intrigue as we meet the commoner movement against noble privilege and income inequality. Following this is the first chapter of the new edition of the original Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou. -Revolution- (私の推しは悪役令嬢。-Revolution-) now out from Ichijinsha!

Takashima Eku’s “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau” is always a breath of fresh air, as Himari and Yori go one a date in between their various obligations and the members of Lorelei talk over their pasts…and their futures.

BIG question answered in this chapter of “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu.” We get the beginning of the story when Nene and Youko met. Youko also likes women she says and offers to be a sounding board for Nene’s unrequited like for (an entirely clueless) Sumika. We know this will end in chaos. But at the end of the chapter, in the present day, we see Youko’s text to Nene that she misses her…and Nene’s response that she does too.

Toribami begins to understand that her job as lead in the dance is going to have to be outside the dance too, as Kiki continues to doubt herself – and their partnership – in “Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru.”

Sempai closes the gap in Usui Shio’s “Onna Tomodachi to Kekkonshitemita,” bringing both Ruriko and Kurumi back on the same page about simply enjoying each oher’s company…and money and other big decisions.

In ” Lonely Girl ni Sakaraenai,” Sora celebrates quite probably her first happy Christmas party with Ayaka’s family and their friends…and is a little overwhelmed by it.

There are no weird boobs bouncing or painted on clothing in “semelparous” and more people are smiling in “Citrus+.”

And Kon-san remains magically sensitive to Inui-sensei’s needs in “Kyou no Htitotsu no Shita.”

Ohi-sensei draws her and Fuuka’s first meetup and their subsequent first time hanging out for a while together in “Pillow Talk ha Fuku o Kite.”

As always there are many stories I have not mentioned, some of which I enjoyed, others I didn’t. You may notice I almost never mention the 18+ content that is running in the magazine. I’ve kind of gone off porn, but that doesn’t mean its bad. So far it hasn’t been for me. But Comic Yuri Hime is holding steady at 500 pages, three out creators and a lot of great stuff for just about all tastes.

Ratings:

Overall – 9 An excellent volume. Here’s to a year of excellent Yuri!

The March issue is in stores now in print and digital. ^_^