Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Even Though We’re Adults, Volume 1

February 4th, 2021

Takako Shimura’s Even Though We’re Adults, Volume 1 is a very strong opening to a series I still have no idea in what direction it is going. Ayano, a teacher, meets Akari when she stops by a place for a drink. They end up sleeping together. Both Ayano and Akari want to see each other again, but when Ayano does come to the restaurant Akari works at, she’s accompanied by her husband.

Ayano tells her husband that she’s interested in Akari and he basically has no idea what to do with that information. He’s in love with his wife, and he’d like a child with her, but thinks (fears?) that she’s slipping away. Ayano isn’t sure what she wants, except that she is sure she wants to see more of Akari. Akari is in a worse spot; with a history of failed relationships, the last thing she needs is to be falling for a married woman…but that is definitely what is happening.

Quite a lot of manga people I know who are also queer, including myself, have very ambivalent relationships with Shimura’s work. She does seem to focus quite a lot on gender and sexual minorities, with varying degrees of verisimilitude. In my personal opinion, this story feels equal parts solid and kind of icky. It may also be that I’m not particularly thrilled to have either another “messy relationship with a married woman story” or a story that makes the lesbian performatively self-loathy. At the same time, there are elements here that keep bringing me back to this story, which is at Volume 4 now in Japanese.

One of the best things about the series so far is the art. There are moments, especially when Shimura-sensei is using the watercolor style she often relies on for covers and color art, when she really shines. I talked about this a little in my review of Volume 2 in the Japanese, as well.

As always, the team at Seven Seas has done a great job. Shimura-sensei is great with *moments,* but has a harder time sustaining conversations over a scene. Translator Jocelyne Allen and adapter Casey Lucas allow the conversations to flow naturally. Everything about this book – the lettering and design, as well as the writing and art – is given room to get out of the way of the characters and let them tell their story. I’m  not at all sure where that story is heading, but I guess I’m here for the ride!

Ratings:

Art – 8
Character – A not-sure-yet 7
Story – Same 7
Yuri – 8
Service – 1 Hardly any, in fact. The 1 is mostly on principle

Overall – 7

Thanks very much to Seven Seas for the review copy! Volume 2 is slated for a summer release. I’m definitely going to have to bump up Volume 3 in Japanese on the to-read pile and see what happens.





Comic Yuri Hime February 2021 (コミック百合姫2021年2月号)

January 31st, 2021

Comic Yuri Hime, February 2021 (コミック百合姫2021年2月号) was a bonanza of delight. 

Starting with the new cover novel, which is a fascinating little science fiction story, in which two young women are communicating across time – I really enjoy this story, but deeply resent that it is crammed into a ridiculously small type size. (The worst thing is knowing that if they published it in a volume as a novella, Ichijinsha probably wouldn’t make the type size any larger. ^_^;) But it is charming so far.

“Watashi no Oshi ha Akujyaku Reijou” follows the LN pretty closely, so this chapter we get to watch former game-loving otaku Rae screw with the Princes and Claire. ^_^

Usui Shio’s “Onna Tomodachi to Kekkon Shitemita” and, later “Kaketa Tsuki to Doughnuts” provide life lessons on the different kinds of shapes affection and relationships take.

In “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” by Miman, Hime and Mitsuki are past the wailing, but not yet at a place where they are communicating. But they are getting closer.

I could not stop smiling at this chapter of “Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatteiru” as we see them start a whole new chapter of their relationship…as wife and wife.

Tons of other great continuing stories in this volume, too, including  “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, “Lonely Girl ni Sakaraenai,”  “Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru”. “Kudan Folklore,” appears to be jumping straight to the conclusion, so if you’re reading the VN, you may wish to skip it.

Ratings for the stuff I’m reading. The stuff I’m not reading is in many cases distressing enough to me that it would be points off.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

Overall, a fantastic issue (for the stuff I’m reading), with enough to keep anyone entertained, whatever you’re looking for. Unless it’s a sports story. Those still seem to be on short supply. /sad face/ With all the sports series we’ve seen in the last couple of years, I’m guessing that gaying up the Olympics is not looked upon favorably. Shame, seems like a perfect time to do a sports Yuri between competitors at a major international sporting competition to me, but what do I know. /eyroll/ Instead, we’re all getting married these days. Which I guess is also a kind of competition. ^_^

The March issue is on shelves and waiting for me the store, but a storm this week means it’s going to have to wait a while longer.





Totsuzen Nantonaku Tonari no Seki no Douryou to Kiss Shitaku Narimashita.(突然何となく隣の席の同僚とキスしたくなりました。)

January 29th, 2021

I am so pleased to be reviewing this book today. Miura Kozumi’s Totsuzen Nantonaku Tonari no Seki no Douryou to Kiss Shitaku Narimashita.(突然何となく隣の席の同僚とキスしたくなりました。) is the first Yuri collection I have by this prolific contributor to Yuri anthologies. We’ve seen her work in the White Lilies BRIDE’s Anthology, and several issues of Galette MEETS, Ichijinsha’s Yuriqueur alcohol-centered anthology and Shueisha’s Yuritora Jump anthology. Her work is clean and stylish and often adult in several senses of the word. This collection also marks a new imprint to look out for, Taiyotosho’s Lily Love imprint. You know how happy it makes me when we get another player on the field.

The first story follows a workplace sempai and kouhai who find more than work in common. The title story follow Kobashi, a straight-laced office worker and Hayami, her colleague who sits next to her, as they realize that they both want to have sex…and decide that having sex with each other works for them.  Both these stories come back in later pages and we see that Hayami and Kobashi, despite trying to not let their personal lives ooze into their work relationship, really can’t. They like each other too much, These stories are wrapped around a few shorts that cover a vast array of set-ups from school to work to a woman picking up a stranger on the street.

The stories here occasionally have some angst, but generally they are all very pleasant, nicely drawn and many of them feature things that appeal to me, personally, like dinners out and couples being blissfully happy.  Just the kind of collection, I’ll return to to re-read and re-enjoy.

Ratings:

Art – 9 Just my type
Stories – Variable, but let’s say 8
Characters – I adore Hayami and Kobashi, so 9
Service – 2 Sex scenes are sensual and stylish, rather than fanservice-y. There is some partial nudity
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

I’m ridiculously happy to have this collection from a creator whose work I enjoy. Thank you and welcome to Okazu, Lily Love Comics!





Hana ni Arashi, Volume 5 (はなにあらし)

January 21st, 2021

While we’re able to enjoy Makoto Hagino’s slow-burn high school Yuri romance, A Tropical Fish Years for Snow in English, there is another Shogagakukan title with a similar feel – the ongoing story of two young women in love for the first time. Nanoha is outgoing, Chidori is a bit more reserved, but they are both happily ensconced in their group of friends and doing fun things together. And, they are in live.

Hana ni Arashi, Nanoha to Chidori, Volume 4 provided another new flex when confronted with the “sempai turned me gay” script. Where Sayaka just flat out gets pissed off and is extra gay at sempai when they meet later just to freak her out, Nanoha is there for Chidori and the two of the let sempai know that they are, in actual fact, an item. So there. At the end of the volume, while fireworks explode above them, they kiss.

In Hana ni Arashi, Volume 5, (はなにあらし) they obsess about that kiss to the point of distraction, in the most adorable way. Then the school festival comes and huddled together under a sheet waiting to scare customers at the haunted house, they are wholly distracted by one another. But once they have a moment to talk about their feelings about the kiss, they end up kissing again.

Nanoha looks for all the world, like a cute energetic femme, but she was a boyish basketball star in middle school, we learn, as an old kouhai of hers transfers in. Mai was injured playing and has decided to distance herself from sport. Mai’s familiarity with Nanoha makes Chidori feel a bit jealous, but we can see she has good cause, as Mai is planning on stealing her beloved sempai away. I’m not that worried, conflicts in this series don’t last more than a few chapters, and Nanoha is more likely to state plainly how she feels about Chidori. We’ve dealt with Chidori’s past….now it’s time to set Nanoha’s past behind her, and move on to the future.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 6
Service – 2 Less service, but the gaze is still creepier than I like. But I feel that way about almost everything these days.

Overall – 7

I find this series less overwrought  and more service-y than Tropical Fish, but just as earnest, and a little bolder, ultimately. It’s hard to not like watching Nanoha and Chidori overheat at the memory of that kiss. ^_^ If Viz were to pick this up, I think it would do quite well for them.





A White Rose in Bloom Volume 1

January 20th, 2021

Periodically (pun intended) I subscribe to a manga magazine named Rakuen Le Paradis. It’s technically a Jousei magazine, but is an unusual one. Hakusensha lets their artists have a pretty long leash and so, one finds both men and women creators in its pages creating things that are not conventionally “for adult women.” The stories I’ve seen in the magazine range widely from cute school drama to BDSM. The stories have been straight, BL and Yuri. Some years it was heavily Yuri, and others less so. One of their best known BL names turned their talents to Yuri and so in 2019, we were treated to Nakamura Asumiko’s Mejirobana no Saku.

Now, in 2020, we’ve gotten a chance to read this series in English as A White Rose in Bloom, from Seven Seas. This volume is a perfect blend of a classic Yuri at a private girls’ school story with highlights of the modern world intruding at every turn.

Ruby Canossa’s parents are having trouble and she’s very much caught in the middle. Tossed by their selfishness into an uncomfortable and lonely holiday break nearly alone at school, Ruby find a cause to believe in. But her relationship with the only other girl who stayed behind for the holidays, school star “Steel” Steph, is still awkward, uncomfortably intimate and hard to navigate. As Ruby starts to build some stability, her parents make it impossible for her to stay, but she doesn’t want to leave.

YMMV, but I like Nakamura’s balance of overly dramatic expressions on Ruby, to Steph’s almost complete lack of expression. Nakamura’s got a Goya-esque style that gives everyone a long, lean look that suits the halls of a storied school for wealthy girls. Kudos to translator Jocelyne Allen and the entire Seven Seas team for another excellent job on a book that I hope people won’t overlook, thinking it’s just another school romance.

This book is marked volume 1. There is no Volume 2, yet. Rakuen Le Paradis (楽園 Le Paradis) magazine is only released 3 times a year and the magazine is pretty chock full of top talent, so not every story is featured every issue. I’m so far behind in Rakuen issues (the last one I read was Issue 30)I don’t even know what happens! I’m clearly going to have to make some time to catch up. But it definitely is continuing. Issue 34, the current issue (available in Japanese on Global Bookwalker) lists a new chapter in the table of contents. Good! I really want to know what happens!

Ratings:

Art – As I say, YMMV, but 8 for me
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – There is a little, but not what you might expect.
Yuri – 7

Overall – 8

In the meantime, you can enjoy Nakamura-sensei’s great nonplussed facial expressions and slapfighting in the hallways of a staid old institution…and wonder what on EARTH is going on with that headmaster, because she honestly looks so untrustworthy I am sure she’s a blackmailer in her spare time. ^_^

Thanks to Seven Seas for the review copy!