Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Roid, Volume 1 (ロイド)

October 12th, 2018

In Volume 1 of Roid (ロイド), by Shiroshi, we meet Futagami Yui, a genius android developer, dedicated member of her school robotic club. Due to an attack by a malfunctioning android when she was young, Yui uses a wheelchair. She and her kouhai in the club, serious, glasses-wearing, Kazumiya Reina who is a talented AI architect, are working on a lifelike humanoid android that looks remarkably like Yui. In fact, the original idea had come from Yui looking into ways to build new legs, but instead they end up with what they all are forced to think of as more like a sister. 

The story has to, almost immediately, delve into the bottomless pit of what makes us human – what is identity, what is humanity, what are morals and ethics and how, when we cannot define them for ourselves, do we program them into artificial intelligences?

The android starts off a little tentatively, but when Reina unfreezes and offers a name, Futagami Anna – Futagami is Yui’s family name, ‘An’ from android and ‘na’ from Reina – Anna accepts both the nod to her existence as a unique individual, and as an addition to the family. 

Anna almost immediately encounters humans at their worst, and robots that hurt and are hurt by their humans. And we can see that there is some…organization or group, maybe?…with a very uncomfortably intense interest in Anna. Who they are, what they want and how it will play out awaits us in the future.

But here we are in Volume 1 and we might ask ourselves, so where is the Yuri? Well, honestly I hope it’s between Reina and Yui, but I have a feeling that’s not where it’s going to go. Why do you say that Erica? Because Yui and Anna are virtually identical (with some functional and aesthetic “improvements.” Anna is taller than Yui would be if she could stand and has a slightly larger chest, we’re told)  and people who are not me go there. Almost every time.

In the meantime, I genuinely enjoy this comic and it’s discussion of the ethical and moral boundaries we make and break all the time, through the eyes of an android trying to understand why she was created and what she is meant to do. 

Yui and Reina are also excellent characters and I look forward to spending more time with them. I wouldn’t mind at all if Reina fell for Anna, instead (or as well, because that would also make sense.)  We’ve also met a police detective and club president, as well as shadowy stalker group. This is a solid Volume 1, and I look forward to Volume 2 as the plot develops. I honestly have no idea what’s going to happen – and that’s exciting.

Ratings:

Art – 7 Good but not outstanding
Story – 7 with great deal of potential
Characters – 8
Yuri – 0 at the moment. I honestly don’t know where it will be found.
Service – Not really, only as a joke here and there.

Overall – 8 And I really want to know more.

This is exactly the kind of story I want more of in Comic Yuri Hime – not a romance, and a definite departure from ‘Story A.’

I’m reading a lot of AI-centric novels and comics this week, so it seems like I’m on a boom. I’m just about to start the next Murderbot novel, Exit Strategy by Martha Wells.  I still don’t know if the trend is general, or I’m just reading a lot of it. ^_^

 

 





Yuri Manga: Goodbye Dystopia, Volume 1 (グッバイ・ディストピア)

September 24th, 2018

I love Goodbye Dystopia (グッバイ・ディストピア) by Hisona. Lovelovelove. Of the manga running in Comic Yuri Hime magazine that I adore, this is by far and away one of the best. 

It begins with a girl waking up after having fallen asleep on a train. She finds her head in the lap of completely strange woman. The girl and the woman get off the train and start to walk together. Where? Why? Who are they?

The girl has left home, because home has left her. The other woman is a wanderer, hunting down mysteries. They walk through abandoned landscapes, find empty homes filled with other people’s possessions, and they speak of very little of importance. After they have traveled together, the wanderer tells the girl that they haven’t shared their names. She, the girl is told, looks like a “Mizuki.” And she can call the other woman “Asami.”

And, so, Mizuki and Asami travel together. They find places to sleep and eat, they take the train and shop at malls, they talk on the phone, and are completely alone with the landscape more often than not, even when there are people around them.

By the end of volume 1 we know almost nothing of substance about either of them. Except, though, that both of them have memories of women in their lives who have, we assume, broken their hearts. Mizuki seems to be running from a failed love, perhaps Asami is running from a loss. We don’t know anything beyond what we see.

Hisona’s art is the exact kind of loose sketchiness I like best, with a heavy focus on plants and overgrown roads and rails as a constant companion to the two women. 

I love that we know so little of them and that they still know so little of one another. I love that, in current chapters, Mizuki is trying to fill in the missing spaces in Asami’s story, and Asami is doing the same about Mizuki, without asking anything, without prying – without ruining what they have right now. 

And I love that, because of the title of the story and the two women’s reliance on themselves, it came as a blow to the head when we saw that phones work and net cafes exist and the mall sold fashionable shoes. Suddenly dystopia looked just like anywhere with (perhaps) more abandoned houses. 

Ratings:

Art – 9 YMMV, but this is right in my wheelhouse 
Story – 10 There is none. I love it.
Characters – 8 
Service – 0 
Yuri – 2 At the moment, it’s in flashback and memory only

Overall – 9

On shelves that are dripping with stories that look and sound eerily similar, this book stands out as truly unique. I will be content to travel with these two as long as they are on the road.





Yuri Manga: Model-chan to Jimi Mane-san, Volume 1 (モデルちゃんと地味マネさん)

September 19th, 2018

Model-chan to Jimi Mane-san, Volume 1(モデルちゃんと地味マネさん) by Taneko, is a collected volume from Comic Yuri Hime‘s Pixiv site. The story is a simple one – top fashion model Yuria has a reputation for being aloof. When young manager Okabe Ayumi is assigned to her due to the previous manager being injured, she can barely get the model to acknowledge her, much less anyone else.

But Okabe is kind and persistent and, without warning, one day find Yuria listening to her, asking her for compliments and even pats on the head!  A pat on the keppi is my family’s highest accolade, so I was able to empathize with Yuria even when she seemed extraordinarily flakey. ^_^ Yuria is flakey, too. Okabe has to remind her to greet people on the photo shoot when they arrive or leave. But under her guidance, Yuria is softening up.

When the agency president takes Okabe off of Yuria’s roster, returning her to the care of her former manager, Yuria reverts to her previous self. It’s only when the former manager has to take leave once more and Yuria gets reassigned Okabe that she realizes the change in her is directly due to her manager.

The final chapter is a surprising look at Yuria’s life. The half-Japanese daughter of a top-model and fashion designer, she was all but fated to be a top model herself. Life has been kind to her in terms of fame and finances, but her relationships with people are tenuous. Her parents mean a lot to her and, now, she finds that Okabe Ayumi does, too.

Taneko’s art is good, with one striking exception….Yuria is drawn rather more bland and slack-faced than I’d like to see for a character meant to be a stunning beauty. It’s supposed to be representative of her cold exterior, but she just looks kind of dull.

The story is continuing on Pixiv – you can read current chapters (in Japanese) I’m really glad about that! With the absence of gratuitous sex every chapter, it feels like an old MIST comic, where the aloof idol’s cool exterior is worn down by the enthusiastic genuineness of the young manager.  I am 100% okay with this. ^_^ Yuria’s not likable per se, but as we get to know her, she’s sympathetic. We want Okabe to warm the cockles of that cold heart. ^_^

Ratings: 

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 3 No more then blushing and a little charming codependency as of yet
Service – 1 if you count “Yuria in pretty clothes” asservice

Overall- a solid 7

All that said, I’m actually rooting for Yuria to make Okabe notice her for real. ^_^





Yuri Manga Anthology: Avalon ~bitter~

September 17th, 2018

There’s something to be said for judging a book by it’s cover, sometimes. ^_^ Avalon ~bitter~ is a Yuri anthology of troubling, distressing and bitter stories by extremely talented artists. It’s not that the stories are bad, it’s that this is not the collection for you, if you’re looking for happy endings. 

I found Mikanji’s “Sukininaru nante arienai” to be typical of this collection. A girl who had been a bully, is sexually harassed by the girl she bullied when they were younger. But it’s okay now because they can bully each other. … … …

But the story that encapsulated the whole anthology for me was Shoukabuki’s “Bara bara” about a lesbian and the woman she seduces. The lesbian’s kouhai is a little appalled at her sempai’s casual disinterest in the woman afterwards, but when she hears the woman dismissing the sex, because she’s not really queer, she understands a bit better that people use each other for their own ends.

This volume is pretty much a collection of stories in which people use each other, with some manipulation, sexual harassment and a bit of light betrayal, in a variety of settings, both realistic and fantastic. Overall, both writing and art is very good, which actually serves to increase the bitter flavor of the work. ^_^;

Ratings:

Overall – 8 Although I didn’t enjoy it, per se, it was very good.

The publisher is “girls x garden” which is a new imprint for me. I’ll be interested to get the other available Avalon collection, which seems to have a similar roster of contributors but perhaps a different focus.





Yuri Manga: Oya ga Urusainode Kouhai (♀) to Gizoukekkonshitemite (親がうるさいので後輩(♀)と偽装結婚してみた。)

September 13th, 2018

Today we’re looking at Oya ga Urusainode Kouhai  to Gizoukekkonshitemite (親がうるさいので後輩(♀) と偽装結婚してみた。) by Kodama Naoko. Compared to her last series, NTR: Netsozou Trap, this isn’t problematic at all, but that doesn’t meant there aren’t problems! ^_^;

Machi is a fairly typical office worker. She’s got a male co-worker who keeps regaling her with tales of domestic bliss with his girlfriend and questions about her own future. Doesn’t she want to get married? Machi doesn’t particularly want to get married, but her parents aren’t listening. They are pounding her with eligible men and demanding she do the right thing. Machi is painfully aware that her parents have always demanded she do what will embarrass them least and she’s always acquiesced. But not this time.

Machi’s roommate and kouhai, Hana, thinks she has a solution. Shibuya is now offering same-sex partnership certificates. If they sign up, then Machi’s parents will have to get off her back, right?  Unsurprisingly, Machi’s parents do not feel that this acceptable and they are instead very rude to Hana, which finally forces Machi to take a stand. She demands her parents apologize to Hana, and the two women leave. 

But if the idea of a fake same-sex marriage of convenience isn’t going to bother us, then the idea that the actual relationship between Hana and Machi is horribly unfair, is just fine. (-_-) 

Because Hana is actually in love with Machi. And Machi is, but has no idea she is. Yes, she likes that Hana is there when she gets home, that there’s food and companionship. She’s pleased that Hana’s design business is taking off, but she’s taking her time figuring out that Hana means more to her than just a roommate. 

It’s not until Hana goes out to drink and speak with a former girlfriend that Machi finally groks her own feelings. But now, she’s got to cope with the embarrassment she’s feeling. She’s legitimately embarrassed at how’s she treated Hana, BUT, because if Kodama-sensei can’t make us feel uncomfortable, she’s not doing her job, apparently, Machi’s even more embarrassed because she’s has no idea what a same-sex relationship should be like. When Hana starts to make love to her, Machi immediately reacts with detachment, so Hana backs off. Hana’s the real hero here – she understands Machi in a way that Machi herself has no clue about. And, unlike “nice” guys everywhere, she’s very clear right from the very beginning about her interest in Machi, so there’s no confusion AND she accepts Machi’s boundaries without question.

Slowly, Machi unravels her discomfort, her embarrassment, her emotional armor and Hana’s perfectly content to be there with supportive love. As the story ends, we can see them with a relationship that is no longer a sham.

A second story about an athlete in a slump and the best friend who is there for her is nice, and reinforced the problematic narrative of “just wait and eventually they’ll come around to noticing you.”

I enjoyed this volume, despite the fact that the plot drivers aren’t really appropriate in the real world. 

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 9 for Hana
Service – 2 Some light romance/sexual discomfort
Yuri – 7
LGBTQ – 4 Mention of the real-world same-sex partnership certificates, but no discussion around it

Overall – 7

In comparison to her previous work it was a light-hearted gag, a comedy movie, a lark.