Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu., Volume 7 (兄の嫁と暮らしています。)

June 23rd, 2020

Kuzushiro’s Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu. (兄の嫁と暮らしています。) lurches along, awkward, uncomfortable, neither a romance nor something else, and yet, I cannot look away. I last reviewed Volume 5, in which Nozomi has been struggling with her unexpressed feelings for her sistet-in-law, Shino. I did not review Volume 6, during which Nozomi’s mother’s drama took up most of the space between them. Shino eventually goes back to their home, while Nozomi sticks around her childhood home, moping because Shino is having fun without her. In actual fact, Shino is going to school and working and moping because Nozomi isn’t there and her friends are helpfully distracting her.

Now they are reunited in Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu., Volume 7 (兄の嫁と暮らしています。) and Nozomi has decided that, as sisters they should just relax with one another more. Shino is not objecting, but finds it very hard to relax when Nozomi and she touch. Especially when she is musing about a thing she’s heard that the underside of one’s arm is as soft as a breast and Nozomi let’s her test this theory out on her.

All the pieces in this 1000-piece puzzle are in play and it’s just a matter of filling in that complicated bit and this other. What the picture will be, though, is as yet unknown. Neither we nor Shino and Nozomi truly know what relationship they will have at the end of this series.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 2
Service – 3

Overall – 7

I have some weird soft spot for this story and I’m not even sure what I want for Shino and Nozomi at the end of it. ^_^;





Syrup: A Yuri Anthology, Volume 1

June 19th, 2020

Today we’re looking at Syrup: A Yuri Anthology, Volume 1, in English this month from Seven Seas. By the time I considered reviewing Syrup Shakaijin Yuri Anthology ( シロップ 社会人百合アンソロジー), Seven Seas had already announced that they had licensed it. And, because a number of Yuri anthologies by Futabasha, Kadokawa and Ichijinsha had been pushed out at the same time, (many of them indifferent,) I never previously reviewed the Japanese edition here. ^_^

Syrup is notable for two reasons. One, the collection is entirely stories about adult women (indicated in the Japanese by the word Shakaijin – people in society. We might half-jokingly say “productive members of society” – i.e., adults. Within the limitations of each artist’s style, the characters can be seen and understood to be adults.

The other, more notable, reason is that there are a lot of notable names in this collection. Kodama Naoko, Yoshimura Kana, Amano Shuninta, Mocchi_au_Lait ,Ohi Pikachi, Kurogane Kenn and Morinaga Milk all have entries here, as do names you may be less familiar from Okazu, but who have been around a while, like Ito Hachi, Yukiko, Shioya Teruko, Goumoto and others.

The stories are a nice selection of doujinshi/short-story tropes and most have positive ends,. The only minor, but nagging, issue I have is that many of these stories feel very like not-gay, not-women are writing. Those kinds of stories were women are behaving in or saying or doing things that they don’t typically do. Like answering “I like you” with “I’m a virgin!” Uh…ohhhkayyyyyy…. I’m not saying no one has ever done that, and heaven knows that lesbians can be really awkward about dating…these just felt off the mark if you know what I mean. There was a lot more male gaze perviness from the female characters than is, in my opinion, usual for women. But none of the stories were unacceptably off-putting and several were very sweet. ^_^

Unexpectedly, my favorite story was by Kurogane Kenn. I know, I know, that’s crazypants. But his melange of otaku fervor, lesbian life and Comic Market hit the spot for me.

Ratings: Everything is variable, but this is art from some of the top names in the Yuri business.

Overall – 9

Syrup is a very good Yuri anthology for your growing Yuri anthology section of bookshelves and a great way to add work by some of the best in Yuri for your Pride month purchases.

Many thanks to Seven Seas for the review copy. ^_^





MURCIÉLAGO, Volume 16 (ムルシエラゴ)

June 18th, 2020

Well. I didn’t expect that. When I told the Square Enix folks that I enjoy MURCIÉLAGO because it has some of the ugliest lesbian sex I’ve ever seen, I did not expect them to take that as a compliment – which it was totally meant as, mind you. MURCIÉLAGO, Volume 16 (ムルシエラゴ) begins with an extended, explicit ugly lesbian sex scene between the former high school bomber and her sex slave. Well, okay then.

Then we drop back into the storyline of the “Comedy Writer” and the Elder God-inspired Bugg Shash Circus. BUT, far more importantly we finally see something we knew had to be there, but we’d never seen it before. For the first time ever, we see Hinako completely unhinged and murderous. It’s been implied a number of times that she is capable of extreme violence, the police have talked around it. We’d seen Hinako be reckless and unhinged from reality, but we’d never seen the combination of all three. And it’s as ugly as you might imagine.

I would, therefore, expect a Hinako storyline in this series’ future. But in our present, Hinako is once again returned to the loopy and only slightly (within normal parameters for this series) violent person we know. We have a little breathing room until late July when Volume 17 is on the market in Japan.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 10,000
Yuri – 10, but its ugly

Overall – 8

This series has it all…if by “all” you don’t mean literary value.

It does have, as I said, an explicit lesbian sex scene, some generic bathing scenes, and extraordinary violence and a creepy murderer. Oddly, not one of these things involve Kuroko. She spends the volume having a polite conversation before killing someone neatly and quietly.

Huh.





Éclair Bleue: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart

June 12th, 2020

Éclair Bleue A Girl's Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart, from Yen PressIt feels like a lot longer ago, but it was only 2018, when I reviewed Éclair Bleue: Anata ni Hibiku Yuri Anthology (エクレア bleue あなたに響く百合アンソロジー) and today, thanks to Yen Press, just a hair over two years later, I am able to tell you that the third Éclair Yuri anthology from Kadokawa, Éclair Bleue: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart is imminent!

Just like the previous Éclair volumes, Éclair and Éclair Blanche, this collection features a variety of pro and semi-pro (i.e., doujinshi) Yuri artists. Among them are names that are well known to you, such as Canno (Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl), Miman (Yuri is My Job)  and Nakatani Nio (Bloom Into You) and hopefully you are becoming familiar now with some of the other names, like Kitao Taki and Fly, both of whom have had works reviewed here.

Éclair Bleue is a hefty volume in English with 250+ pages of Yuri content by over a dozen creators. The opening illustration is a welcome return to published Yuri by Reine Hibiki, the illustrator of the Maria-sama ga Miteru novels and early Yuri manga magazine Yuri Shimai covers, among other things. Also notable was U35, whose name I hadn’t seen for many years!)

Aya Fumio’s “Unfinished Prologue” and Kitao Taki’s “Sato, Tears, a Woman and a Woman” both appealed to me as best of volume this time. In a sense they are both similar, as the triggering event is someone seeing a person being melancholy or sad. But they are otherwise different, in both style and content. And yet, both left me feeling positive. (Note to Christian: You will be pleased that Canno’s series about Hazumi and Mao continues. ^_^)

The translation by Eleanor Summers is very good. A special shout-out has got to go to letterer Alexis Eckerman, who had to find new and exciting ways to communicate a dozen different forms of shouting, pouting, confessions and lovey-doveyness. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 7 All ratings are variable, as it is anthology

Éclair Bleue is a a decent Yuri anthology with a nice variety of stories and styles. I’m always super excited that we’re getting an anthology series in English! This volume comes out at the end of this month and the Éclair Rouge pre-order is up for Kindle & Comixology or in print with a release date in late September.

My sincere thanks to Yen Press for the review copy!





Shinyaku Ribon no Kishi, Volume 1 (新約・リボンの騎士)

June 11th, 2020

Today’s review is in part thanks to the constant evangelizing of Raybon No Kishi on Twitter, who alerted me to some interesting plot complications in this recent reworking of the story of Sapphire, the Girl Prince. Shinyaku Ribon no Kishi, Volume 1 (新約・リボンの騎士) is…well…it’s kind of interesting.  Written and drawn by Bureido (the pen-name for a three-person team of Miyamoto Loba,  Hamamura Toshiki, and Muramasa Mikado (many thanks to Hamamura-sensei for the correction_ whose work otherwise seems to be pedestrian and pornish – it’s a not-terrible homage to the iconic character created by Tezuka Osamu.

The story follows the outline of Princess Knight‘s origin, with some interesting changes. In Silverland, the rule of the Kingdom is entailed and can only be passed on to male heirs, so Sapphire reluctantly pretends to be the dashing Prince. It does not make Sapphire happy at all to do so. Upon saving a young woman, Sapphire takes the girl’s beribboned hat as a reward and wears it, gaining the moniker “The Ribbon Knight.” Really, Sapphire just liked the pretty hat.

Duke Lester wishes to dethrone Sapphire and doesn’t really care how he does it. He hires Willema, an assassin, to either prove Sapphire is a girl or to kill the Prince if he is a boy. Instead…Willema and Sapphire find themselves attracted to one another.  After she and Willema sleep together, Sapphire rides to confront Lester, while Willema rides off to talk to her mother, with tragic consequences.

Lester immediately begins working on a new plan…a weapon to destroy Silverland! And there will be pirates, as once might expect, if one has read the original.

As you can see, while basic plot idea is the same, pretty much everything else is different. Sapphire definitely does not like pretending to be a boy…and in this story she is pretending, there is no dual heart or a fairy who gave it to her. It is still Sapphire’s nature to be princely and she certainly is dashing, but she’d really rather not have to lie about her sex or gender.

This iteration has a fair amount of nipple-less nudity and the principal women are busty, which seems to be the style Bureido prefers. But even with that, it doesn’t feel too skanky. Honestly, this volume held up pretty well for a more modern retelling. What it loses in Disneyfied innocence, it gains in Yuri. ^_^ I’m not gonna lie, I wouldn’t mind watch this Sapphire wreck Lester’s stupid face.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 6
Yuri – 8

I mean, I get it, Willema’s doomed, and no Sapphire isn’t going to be living happily ever after as a boyish girl, but I’m actually still interested to see what happens in Volume 2, so that’s good. ^_^