Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Yamada to Kase-san (山田と加瀬さん)

August 14th, 2019

Yamada and Kase-san have officially begun their lives as college students in the big city. It’s a life full of challenges; getting around, meeting people, balancing their relationship and the physical distance separating them against the rest of their lives.

Yamada makes a friend, Hana, a girl whose family runs a flower store. Hana is very similar to Yamada and feels equally as in love with the school program, as she is overwhelmed by city life. To help Hana, Yamada agrees to go to a meet-and-greet event. Kase-san forcefully asks her to decline, but Yamada wants to live her own life, as well as be with her lover.

The defining challenge of Yamada to Kase-san (山田と加瀬さん) is jealousy. Both Yamada and Kase-san are threading thin needles, keeping up with their work, forming peer groups and trying to fit each other into these new lives. When Kase-san shows up to the meet-and-greet, Yamada knows that Kase-san wasn’t wrong, but stands firm on her own motivations. Kase-san backs down – probably the single most important moment of the book. And of course, Hana, innocent that she is, is appalled at the party becoming a drinking party and bails. ^_^

All is well, as they get together with Mikawacchi and Yamada is recruited to a job at a Garden Center – where she is greeted as a savior. Then it his her turn to face down jealousy, as it suddenly dawns on Yamada that Kase-san is sharing her dorm room, with a woman who will know more about the day-to-day life of her lover than she does. Kase-san’s birthday forces her to confront her jealousy.

There’s another conflict brewing in the background, too, but that is saved for another time.

This was an exceptionally strong volume of this series. The translation of Kase-san and Yamada from provincial high school into a more adult world is not without its sacrifices….sometimes the humor comes of as a bit facile, but, more often its a welcome relief to an otherwise difficult emotional situation. It is delightful to have kept Mikawacchi’s chaotic influence in the story and a triumph to see Yamada with a peer of her own.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 8
Story – 7
Service – Does Kase-san in a suit count? Yes? 7
Yuri – 9 With the slightest frisson of the real world edging in

Overall – 9

Ultimately, my desire to see them happy continues unabated.

The English-language volume, Kase-san and Yamada, is slated for winter 2020 release.





Yuri Manga: Macaron Idol Yuri Anthology (マカロン アイドル百合アンソロジー)

August 11th, 2019

I’m not going to lie – I was not looking forward to reading Macaron Idol Yuri Anthology (マカロン アイドル百合アンソロジー). But my wife said to me, “You never know, you might enjoy it.” I believe I made a rude noise in reply.

My wife was right. I enjoyed this anthology, despite myself. The stories were, I suppose, predictable for an idol anthology, but more importantly, they were pretty sincere.

The first story by Sakagi, “Ponytail and Aoi Uso”  was a moving little story of an idol “graduating”  – that is to say, being forcibly retired by management – but leaving a deep impression on the kouhai who loves her.

Also entertaining, was a trio of idols who were being sold as a “Yuri” concept group, but in real life, are an actual threesome, story by Tsuji Yuzuna.

There are stories of fans and idols, idols and their idol partners, even an “evil” idol group recruiting a “innocent” idol,  and a surprising (to me) number of stories about the people behind the idols. Perhaps that should not have surprised me, but my impression of the idol industry is that they carefully do not want us, the audience, to ever think of the idols as humans, with lives and thoughts beyond just entertainment. I think that is a brutal and inhuman way to treat people. and I’m kind of glad to know that the creators in this anthology, at least, are willing to look past the curtain a little and explore the inner and off-stage lives of the entertainers.

Ratings:

All ratings are variable, but all were good to excellent.

Overall – 8

It’s not world-changing, but I was both surprised and pleased by this anthology.

 





Yuri Manga: Shigoto no Ato ha Koishiyou (仕事の後は恋しよう)

August 6th, 2019

When you think about it, there are only a few office romance scenarios possible. Coworker x coworker, boss x employee or two people who don’t work together. Because the power differential is so one-sided when it comes to boss x employee, there’s a lot of potential for abusive relationships. And yet, Yuri tends to kind of not go there. (Of course exceptions exist.)

Recently I was discussing how tachi and neko don’t line up with seme and uke (something I have written about before.)  In particular, butch characters are often portrayed as reticent in lesbian media, afraid of abusing any physical or social power; simply unwilling or uncomfortable being aggressors. While this is not always true in Yuri, those series that have featured an uneven power dynamic come across as trying to replicate BL tropes – unsuccessfully, overall. (A new generation of adult Yuri manga has had to find other tropes to… use *.  As I’ve noted in the past, Yuri readers tend to be invested in the couple being happy with each other, rather than a sexual act as payoff. It was, therefore, with some interest, that I read Shigoto no ato ha Koishiyou (仕事の後は恋しよう) by Iwashita Kei, which falls into this familiar-to-western-readers pattern.

Kurashita appears to be a very typical clumsy, uninspired, unispiring career woman. She works under Suzuya Asahi, who is everything Kurashita is not – cool, classically attractive, an exceedingly  competent worker and a leader. Kurashita find herself being helped by Suzuya and…oddly, finds herself living up to the level of Suzuya’s example. She’s also finding herself attracted to the other woman, but unwilling to even address that in her own thoughts.

Here’s where it all goes Xena.. Suzuya is torturing herself. She’s fallen for Kurashita, but there are so many things that make their relationship unequal, she just cannot bring herself to be honest. Even as the company president is encouraging – even manipulating – them to work together, Suzuya’s in the middle of the kind of mental torture any number of women who have found themselves in love with women they think they cannot have would be familiar with. A happy accident ends up forcing them both to deal with their feelings, but a lot of stuff has happen before they can get there.

The climax of the story has absolutely nothing to do with their relationship, and I thought it absolutely delightful. This manga also addresses some real-world issues in the office, casual sexism, systemic sexism, and what it means to be good at your job. Again, the climax is more about work, than love, which was outstanding.

Kurashita and Suzuya are adorably awkward (especially Suzuya, as she should be) and they deserve every page of their happy ending.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story  – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 9
Service – Not really

Overall – A very strong 8.

But here’s the point I want to make about this – the dynamic in this volume reads “lesbian” to me, rather than Yuri, even though nothing else about this volume has any lesbian identity, because of the qualities I spoke of above.  It is, in this western lesbian’s experience and experience with media, that the butch is almost never really the seme. Except accidentally. ^_^ This manga is an East Press publication and to be honest, that’s another reason I read Iwashita Kei’s Yuri manga debut tankoubon as “lesbian.”

* YOU try and finish this sentence without finding yourself in the middle of a metaphor for sex.





Yuri Manga: Yuriqueur – Alcohol Yuri Anthology (ユリキュール アルコール百合アンソロジー)

July 30th, 2019

Welcome to a look at Yuriqueur – Alcohol Yuri Anthology (ユリキュール アルコール百合アンソロジー), (as Sooz noted, “Yuliqueur,”) a book with an awkward name and an even more awkward premise! What can one expect from a collection of stories that all center being drunk? Let us temper (pun intended) our expectations.

While this anthology is probably not my absolute favorite of all time, it is also not the worst I have ever read. Drinking is featured in every story, but the creators mostly stayed away from sordid plot complications. There are no after-morning regrets, nothing non consensual and surprisingly little drinking to excess. Instead of celebrating partying til one pukes, these stories are more or less the same kind of thing as usual, with romance over a drink or two neither idealized nor excoriated.

The first story by 2C=Garua is from the bartender’s point of view, as she takes care of, in a professional way, a frequent customer who likes her women and her mixed drinks.

Mochi Au Lait pops in with a cute little story of a women who has fallen for her coworker and over drinks discovers the feeling is mutual.

My favorite story of the collection, primarily for the art “Angel Kiss in the Dark” by Yonurime, read exactly like a doujinshi story from a million years ago…you know, like 2003 or so. A woman going home after the bars are closed sees a woman in tears on a bench and takes her home. The weeping woman tells of her ended love affair with another woman. The women who found her listens and they part, promising to get together for drinks.

One last quite lovely piece by Miura Kozumi follows a couple as they make umeshu, as they do every year. This story is a celebration of their lives together and the passage of time, as seen by sharing a ritual of making ume alcohol.

Ratings:

Overall – Variable, let’s say 7

In all the stories I liked best, alcohol is the catalyst, but not the story itself. Nonetheless, I quite like the colorful sparkliness of the drinks on the cover art  by Kiriyama Haruka. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Itoshi Koishi, Volume 2 (いとしこいし)

July 29th, 2019

Hina is a high school student who loves cooking and baking. She is dating Yayoi, an older woman. Yayoi is very aware of the difference in their ages, and steadfastly holds herself to high moral standards of behavior because she loves Hina so much. In Volume 1 we learn that Yayoi wants nothing more than to marry Hina, and thinks her girlfriend is an absolute angel.

Hina deeply admires Yayoi, and when she’s good-naturedly poked and prodded by Yayoi’s friends, she takes it all in stride. Her concern is not with the way the older crowd treats her…but with how honest she can be with her own friends. Itoshi Koishi, Volume 2 (いとしこいし) starts with Hina and Yayoi meeting Hina’s schoolfriends at their New Year’s shrine visit…a meeting that sets off a year’s worth of Hina trying to figure out how much to tell her friends, and how to do it.

Almost immediately, one of her friends indicates to Hina that she’s figured out that Hina is standing with the mysterious older lover they all know she has. Hina lies about her relationship with Yayoi and then spends the year stressing over it. Yayoi understands the stress of coming out and offers a balanced perspective. When, later in the year, Hina’s friend takes her aside and confirms that, yes, she has figured it out, she reaffirms how much she- and their friends – love Hina, which brings tears to the girl’s eye.

Itoshi Koishi gets my vote for the “Most likely to have an actual coming out to friends scene” for several reasons. The story is leaning hard in that direction. Takemiya-sensei is an out lesbian artist and I have often commented that her work meshes Yuri and LGBTQ life more than most other creators I follow.  It seems to me that this series is the perfect venue for a scene we so rarely see in Yuri – coming out and talking about what that means. Bear in mind that Kase-san,  which is notable for following its characters out of high school into college, has not yet done more than touch a toe to this particular sea of plot complications. Could it? Maybe. Will it? I don’t have any more of an idea than you. This plot which is so common in LGBTQ stories in western media is rarely seen in Yuri or BL. I don’t wish to see Yuri inundated, but this is such a lovely story, where it would really suit the tone and situation. 

In fact, this series is so grounded in friendship and like and love and is wholesome as can be, I have a wish for this series.

The top Japanese bar association has asked the Diet to support marriage equality.  Ishikawa Taiga, an out gay politician who represents Toshima was elected to to Japan’s Upper House (along with two severely disabled representatives, which is a huge win for Japanese disability activists. Do feel free to write Reuters and let them know to change the phrase “wheelchair-bound” to “wheelchair users.” I’ve done so, but I’d like to see the pressure stay steady.)

And it kind of flitted into my mind in the middle of all this that it would be really nice and very much in keeping with the tone set here if Japan were to get marriage equality before the series ended. ^_^ Vain hope, wishful thinking, whatever. This way when Yayoi finally asks Hina to marry her, we get more than just a ceremony, we get to see them accepted by society.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9 I love time spent with this series
Characters – 9
Yuri  – 10
Service – 3 Hina and Yayoi edge up the intimacy just a notch.

Overall – 9

If there is a single Yuri series and a creator I expect would care that this marriage portrayed as more than just a chance to wear a pretty dress, it’s this series and this creator.