Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 8 ( 私を喰べたい、ひとでなし)

September 23rd, 2024

There is no way to review this volume without a few spoilers, so if you would like to skip them, please jump down to after the asterisks.

Kitsune, the legendary shapeshifting yokai have a rival among creatures in Japanese folklore. The other well-known, shapes-shifting yokai, known as the tanuki, and the fox-like Kitsune have a long rivalry.

In Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 8 ( 私を喰べたい、ひとでなし), Hinako gets caught in the middle of this age-long hatred.

Hinako knows who her best friend Miko is. She understands that Miko is dedicated to protecting her and she trusts Miko. When a new girl shows up with a clear desire to destroy Miko and Hinako’s relationship, even Shiori is unable to do anything.

Before we get a climax, we get a poignant look at Miko’s life long ago, when she was in fact known as a murderer, a human-eating monster. But her life is different now  – her affection for Hinako is undeniable. Nonetheless, Miko clearly harbors guilt about her past. Miko tries to warn this menacing newcomer away from her friend, but the girl, Tsubaki is focused on pushing Hinako away from Miko with fearful hints about her true nature.

Unfortunately for our interloper, Hinako knows the truth. When Tsubaki’s ploy isn’t enough, this mischievous tanuki clearly is not above violence , but she’s forgotten that Hinako is not just protected by an ancient kitsune – she is also protected by a sea monster. But Tsubaki is as wily, as one might expect from a tanuki, and she knows one more secret. Will Miko be able to remain human in the face of this animosity?

***

I know I say I love this manga every volume, but, wow, do I absolutely love this manga. It is steeped in darkness that is wholly Japanese  – these are the things that make weird noises in the night in Japanese folklore. To have a tabula rasa as plain as Hinako as the center of the story, it requires the story to stay very tightly wound around her. Naekawa Sai’s writing is on point and the moe cuteness of the art really sets one teeth on edge as we more deeper and deeper into terrifyingly inhuman Yokai lore.

Where can this story go? I have no idea at all. Hinako might bring Tsubaki into her protective circle of deadly bodyguards, or maybe drive her away…we’ll have to wait until Volume 9, which is coming out at the end of October (Halloween Yokai!) to find out. I can’t wait!

Ratings:

Art – 9 really, really good
Story – The menace is palpable
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – Both Shiori and Miko have intense feelings about (and maybe for?) Hinako

Overall – 8

In the meantime, don’t miss the English edition, This Mosnter Wants To Eat Me, Volume 1 (reviewed last May) and Volume 2 (reviewed last month) out now from Yen Press!





The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All, Volume 1

September 22nd, 2024

Because Sumiko Arai’s school life rom-com is absolutely one of this year’s most-anticipated Yuri series in English, I’m going to give it straight to you right up front. You know I have never pulled punches when I review Yuri before and I will not now.

I have read this edition through twice now and Yen Press did a REALLY GOOD job.

I can say with absolute conviction that you should run right out and pre-order The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All, Volume 1, which will be headed your way one month from today. ^_^

Aya is a popular and fashionable young woman, who has a secret. She finds comfort in listening to western rock music of the 1990’s and 2000’s. When she’s by herself, lost in her music, she finds her own rhythm. She can’t share her musical tastes, they are too obscure and she kind of likes it that way. One day Aya walks into a grungy CD store and is blown away by the cool guy behind the counter. As days pass they share music and Aya realizes she’s got a full-on crush. But she’s not the only one with a secret. Sitting next to Aya at school is nerdy background-type Mitsuki….who is the “guy” in the CD store. It’ll take some intervention, but Mitsuki and Aya will start to open up to one another in the first volume of this popular online Yuri manga.

What most first-time readers will notice right away is the unique color scheme. As I noted in my review of this volume in Japanese, “With its uniquely visible color scheme of black, white and a vivid green, new pages of this comic were always super noticeable whenever they came across my feed. The art in this manga reflects the online sensibility too, I think. With unique perspectives on panel structure, body language and expression, this comic feels somehow grounded in street art and manga art at the same time.” You can see how the angles (what we in my house refer to as “Batman angles” after the kitschy 1960s television show) and the breaking of the panel walls, create a dynamic feel to a story in which, realistically, people are mostly not “doing” anything. It’s a great look that I’ve already seen adopted elsewhere.

The plot is not new, but the handling of it is gentle and kind-hearted. Nosy classmate Narita is rooting for these two just as we are – he pushes them into each other’s way in a fun way. Both the angst and the comedy notes hit just right. As the volume comes to a close, a classic plot complication is revealed, which is resolved in a not-classic way, thankfully.

Volume 1 is a fun read that leaves you wanting more. As I said, Yen did a terrific job reproducing the story. The color is vivid and so is the language. Ajani Oloye did a fantastic job on the translation, really nailing the core concepts in English. It felt natural and fun all the way through. I have no criticisms except Yen’s house style for lettering. Brandon Bovia does amazing work and should have been give the chance to retouch more. That’s an ongoing whinge though, nothing to do with this book, particularly.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9 Even the side characters are fun
Service – Admiring the cool onii-san that turns out to be a chick is always great service.  Oh, and page 49. ^_^
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8

As highly-anticipated series go, this may well be Yen’s best effort to date. Fun, colorful, charming, you’ll definitely want this book.





Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Volume 5

September 20th, 2024

The end is nigh in Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Volume 5.

There were never many humans in Ashinano Hitoshi’s story, and now most of them have left. The grass has filled in even more of the space around Cafe Alpha, fewer and fewer people visit. Long days pass in which Alpha reads and thinks about the humans who used to occupy this space. Why are there lights that look like streetlights along the unused paths? She spend time with Maruko, who is working with Kokone now and Kokone whose love for Alpha is visible to even Makki-chan.

Takahiro is gone, Makki follows after him, they have a child. Alpha remains. And when she goes home, Kokone is there to welcome her.

In this final volume we learn nothing new at all. We’ll never know why humanity is dwindling. All we know is that there is a world out there and it’s our choice to see what there is of it. Perhaps we should stop at a local cafe, greet the woman behind the counter and think of Cafe Alpha, a place we can never visit, but which will life with us for the rest of our lives.

May the night of humankind be one of utmost peace.

Ratings:

Overall – 10

From the bottom of my heart, I thank the team at Seven Seas for this omnibus edition. I never imagined I’d be able to share my love of this series with you all.





The Executioner and Her Way of Life Manga, Volume 5

September 16th, 2024

A girl with blonde hair tied up in a black bow, in blue and yellow, holds her hand up and out, palm facing us, as she powers up for a spell.As you know if you read Okazu regularly, I have been following the Light Novel series by Mato Sato, The Executioner and Her Way of Life, and the resulting anime. I haven’t, however, had a chance to read the manga at all and wanted to see how it holds up. Since I know the story, I felt it was perfectly acceptable to jump in at any volume. Thanks to the generosity of Yen Press, I have a review copy for just that purpose. So, here I am, beginning with The Executioner and Her Way of Life Manga, Volume 5, with character designs by nilitsu, illustrated by Ryo Mitsuya. 

Also, as you may remember, I have not been a fan of the art for the Light Novels, as they until recent volumes favored portraiture over illustration – a common enough issue in Light Novels and artist alleys alike. Overall, I find the manga artists for Light Novels have to do a great deal of work – especially in early arcs – to build up the look and feel of a world. I say especially, because in many cases, Light Novels that began as webnovels aren’t really fully featured in the writing, either. But now, having gotten to the 8th volume of this series in Light Novel and finding both story and character settling in to a fairly rich narrative, how would it feel to step backwards to those early days?

It wasn’t bad, honestly.

Mitsuya-sensei does a very solid job of conveying both the horror of the Human Error “Evil” and the action of the fight, in a way that the narrative did not fully communicate. The art still does not portray Menou as an unusual beauty, although Akari’s chest is portrayed as prominent. I do think that going forward the use of the word “boobs” is going to have to be a point off, though. Like “spicy” for a book with sex scenes, breasts, chest, decolletage even, but boobs will always feel infantile to me. As does the portrayal of said breast tissue moving in ways that they certainly do not naturally move. That said, due to the original character designs being followed pretty closely, it was easy to recognize everyone on sight.

A story like this, with a great deal of fighting, action and dramatic spellcasting really seems to do better with a more visual medium. I had enjoyed the anime, which did a decent job of paring down some of the early story building. Jumping into the manga at this point, might not be something a new reader could do, but I was able to skip a lot of the clumsiness of the early arcs.  This story still is an isekai, but it is not just a “game world” or a simple reflection of generic feudal life. The history and politics – and the magic use – in this world are worth delving in to.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7 (not my favorite arc, the story will get better from this point on)
Characters – 7 People’s motivations are still a bit muddy, something else that will become clearer as the story progresses
Service – Besides the aforementioned breasts, shockingly little in this volume
Yuri – 4 Momo’s feelings for Menou, toxic as they are, Menou’s feelings for Akati, as unfocused as they are

Overall – 7, but I hope to move quickly past this arc into the Mechanical Society arc, which I quite liked.

 





Ayaka-chan ha Hiroko-sempai ni Koishiteru, Volume 3 (彩香ちゃんは弘子先輩に恋してる)

September 12th, 2024

A blonde wearing an off-the-shoulder red blouse looks intimately up at a dark-hared woman in a button down shirt as they smile at one another.We left Ayaka in full “hitting on Hiroko-sempai” mode in Volume 2. In Ayaka-chan ha Hiroko-sempai ni Koishiteru, Volume 3 (彩香ちゃんは弘子先輩に恋してる), we finally get some backstory on why Hiroko is fighting so hard to not give in to Ayaka, despite her coworkers’ apparent support (or, at least, lack of negativity.) It’s not an uncomplicated situation.

When Hiroko was a newbie, she too had a supportive sempai in the workplace. Rumors of their relationship forced Chinatsu to leave in order to protect Hiroko’s career. Hiroko is still haunted by those days and watches her colleagues and bosses to see if they express the kind of homophobia she remembers destroying Chinatstu’s career. Weirdly…she isn’t seeing it in among her peers who generally seems to be accepting, curious or shockingly uncurious. A few of the older bosses express dismissive “it’s a phase” commentary, which Hiroko takes as a reminder to not hope too much for happiness.

But Ayaka, still convinced that she is not gay, just gay for Hiroko refuses to be stopped by the specters of Hiroko’s past. The ending of the manga differs a little from the live-action, and feels a little more authentic, as Hiroko finally puts her fears to rest.

Much like Cheeful Amnesia, this is not a series one takes seriously, but it takes itself – and it’s audience – more seriously than the former, taking time to address and resolve some issues. The main concern of homophobia in the workplace is absolutely handled with a handwave of “or, what if there wasn’t any?” Frankly, that’s a handwave I can get behind.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 10
Service – 2
Yuri – 7
Lesbian – 9

Overall – 8

In the end, this story is cute, silly, over-the-top and both very gay and kinda not all that gay, somehow? In the final pages, the story addresses a major “thing” (imagine me flailing my hands as I struggle to fin the right word here) that does NOT happen… then it does. Hiroko and Risa are definitely gay, Ayaka is still working on being in love with Hiroko. One hopes that she’ll wake up one day and say. “Oh, wow, I am gay (or bi or pan…).” In the meantime this series ends with the kind of happily-ever-after that eludes most people in real-life office romances, which is how we know that it is a fun office romance fantasy.

I know Black & White: Tough Love At The Office by Sal Jiang is intense and not for everyone. I think this would make a good license  that is funny, a little poignant, and ultimately satisfying.