Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Anthology: Yuri + Kanojo Suki ni Nattemoii? (百合+カノジョ 好きになってもいい?)

May 30th, 2018

Recently, we took a look at the new Yuri anthology,Yuri + Kanojo (百合＋カノジョ). It was fun, with some unique design and story elements. Well, the folks at Be Comics must have hit on a successful formula, because on the tail of that anthology, they put out Yuri + Kanojo Suki ni Nattemoii? (百合+カノジョ 好きになってもいい?).

Like the first anthology, the stories are told from a first-person point of view in which “we” are the protagonist. Each story is short, and is more often a set-up, rather than a fully formed narrative. 

The stories here begin with high school, then move backwards to middle school, on to college, working adult society, finishing with a largish section for “After Forty” stories. Needless to say, I was delighted to see stories imagining individuals and couples who were no longer young. Even better, the final story ended exactly the way I would have liked to have seen the entire collection come to an end. I’ll leave you to guess what that might be. ^_^

Because most of these stories are 6 pages, there’s little room to do much more than setup a scene, but still some of the scenes were fun. A later story set in a bar was so dependent upon MIST magazine-like character design for the bartender, I can only imagine that that person has never actually been to a bar, just read about them in Ladies Comics. ^_^

“We” see a bit more of ourselves than in the first anthology and quite often “our” perspective is so far off reality “we” must be hovering boom microphone-like over ourselves or “we” have unnaturally long necks. On the other hand, all of the art is much better than anything I can do, so I’m won’t complain too much. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 9 with the additional point for being so heavily weighted towards stories about grown-ups.

Another fun Yuri anthology in this series. I’d be glad to read more.





Yuri Anthology: Yuri + Kanojo (百合＋カノジョ)

May 24th, 2018

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about Yuri anthologies. They serve a unique purpose for a niche genre, as a gathering place for up-and-coming artists to have their original (or parody, in the case of series-focused anthologies) work highlighted. Yuri anthologies often end up being full of creators who are not yet famous enough to warrant their own series, but who have built a following at comic shows. Read a few contemporaneous anthologies in any niche and you’ll start to see the same names over time. 

Today we’re looking at Yuri + Kanojo (百合＋カノジョ), a fun Yuri anthology that lives on the intersection of Yuri manga, and Yuri Visual Novels.

The format of the book makes it clear that Yuri VNs are the inspiration for the story. It begins with “Now Loading….” and then moves on to a chapter labeled “Episode of high school students.” Each vignette is short, and we, the player character are not seen in full any of the vignettes, we are merely spoken to (although we do see peces of ourselves, like our hands or feet.) Credits for the stories are presented like game controls and after each short vignette ends, (they run about 6 pages each,) the final page shows us character design and bio for the “other” character, our love interest. 

This book is already kind of fun and unique, but it adds one more nice feature – only the first chapter happens in high school. “We” then move into college and the workplace and life. We go on dates, take jobs, go out with friends, have lovers, and continue, one chapter and one individual at a time, to live life vicariously through the PC point of view. 

Because the vignettes are short, there’s very little story-telling. “Two women on a date” is not a plot so much as a fleeting thought. But, as a series of scenes written around the prompts, this was a very enjoyable exercise and a very unique volume.

Ratings:

As an anthology, it’s all variable, but for the adult art and thinking about life, I give it a solid 8

This book sold out incredibly quickly on Amazon JP, so I was absolutely thrilled to find a copy on display at the Shosen Yuribu in Akihabara. Yay Yuribu!





Yuri Manga: Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu. Volume 4 (兄の嫁と暮らしています。)

May 15th, 2018

As we make our way through Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu, Volume 4, (兄の嫁と暮らしています。) we find ourselves literally forced to see both Shino and Nozomi as fully developed humans apart and aside from the presumptive affection that is building between them. It’s fascinating, it’s awkward confronting my own laziness as a reader and it’s refreshing. 

Let’s address the awkwardness.

When I attended Yuriten last month, I took quite a lot of photos. I posted them publicly on Facebook, for folks to share. People did, which was nice. And, I learned something really important. I’ve been running Yuri-focused online communities for 20 years now and have always demanded a high standard of behavior from commenters. I hadn’t realized how civilized you all are, until folks shared out the pictures from Yuriten with people elsewhere. In fact, I had never before encountered such demanding incoherence in a community of my own. One of the pictures is a spoiler for the “other” girl-falls-in-love-with-her-sister-in-law story Tatoeto Dokonu Itoda Toshitemo (たとえとどかぬ糸だとしても ) which runs in Comic Yuri Hime. The point was not the incoherent grunting of animals the picture caused, but my response to that grunting. I had a long conversation with my computer screen which went like this, “Why are you all reacting like /probably some  negative word/s? It’s a Yuri manga. Of course they will get together. Duh.” 

Which brings me to this volume. I, as a reader, am as lazy and entitled as any other reader. I expect manga by Kuzushiro-sensei to be Yuri.  Furthermore, because I have determined to approach this manga as a “Yuri” manga, I assumed that Shino and Nozomi will naturally get together. But, what if they don’t?

Good question there, Erica. 

In Volume 4, Shino gets a job and Nozomi has a crisis about it. Shino is becoming her own person. She’s adulting. And Nozomi is quietly flipping out because she had put her sister-in-law in a box in which she stayed forever the same, half dependent and half independent and now she has to acknowledge change. As a guardian, as family, as a friend….and, if there is anything else, we don’t yet know and can’t because neither of them are ready to think about that. And, on the other side, they are actually becoming more touchy, more relaxed around each other. Not-quite-friends, not-quite relatives. Definitely not-quite-something-more.

Shino gets to see what other people’s obsessive crushes look like from the outside and Nozomi remembers that’s she really good at being a teacher. They come home to each other, and remind each other of what they have and what they’ve lost. If there is going to be a relationship, what’s going on in this volume will be good for it, as they stop thinking of each other in relationship to themselves and start thinking about each other as people.

Any presumptive Yuri aside, this is a really good story. Should the Yuri no longer be presumptive, I’m okay with it. In the meantime, I’m trying to be a better, less lazy reader. Kuzushiro-sensei’s work deserves that.

Ratings:

Art – 8 It is getting mainstreamy-er
Story – 8 It’s not quite compelling, but is quite good
Characters – 8 Becoming human
Yuri – 2 Going down, not up
Service – 3 Also less than previously, and unusually little for Square Enix

Overall – 8

I don’t know if I know where we’re going, but I’m definitely all in for the journey.





Yuri Anthology: Anoko to Me ga Autabi Watashi ha Shakaiin Yuri Anthology (あの娘と目が合うたび私は 社会人百合アンソロジー)

May 14th, 2018

One of the most obvious trends in Yuri in Japan right now is the shift to office romance. This cannot come as a a huge surprise after decades of nearly nothing other than school children in love. Of course people who grew up with those stories of girls who found love in club and library, having graduated and moved into the workforce, would crave stories of adults who find each other among the cubicles. ^_^

Anoko to Me ga Autabi Watashi ha Shakaiin Yuri Anthology (あの娘と目が合うたび私は 社会人百合アンソロジー) is one of several titles out recently that fills this need. This anthology has contributions by some artists we’re familiar with here at Okazu – Tsukiko provides an illustration, Mikanshi and Esuesu, Satsumaage and irua have all done work in other anthologies and magazines we’ve reviewed. 

The volume starts off really strongly with a lovely cover image and opening story by Harukawa You. In the opening story, a graphic designer is hired to do a CD cover design for an indie singer whose schtick is wearing a horse head. What is hidden underneath the mask is a really lovely young lady who admires her work.

I really enjoyed irua’s “Minna Sonshiteruyo” in which a unloved boss turns out to have a secret supporter among the employees.

Seta Seta’s “Meter Stop” was a ridiculous story I liked about a female cab driver finding herself driving someone she knew a long time ago in another job. 

And Yuki Yukiko’s ”Chosou Love Letter,” about a woman who works at a shipping company and her charming and beautiful customer, was a terrific end story for the book. 

This collection has all the strengths and weaknesses of an anthology. Stories one likes are too short, and stories one doesn’t go on too long and you never quite get the development a character deserves, but it’s a good read and a pleasant change from high school.

Ratings:

Art – Variable but generally good
Story –  Surprising variety, considering
Characters- Realistically, I’m no more interested in falling in love with a coworker than a classmate, but at least they are all adults. ^_^
Service – Not really
Yuri – Yes

Overall – A solid read, let’s give it an 8

If office romance and romance between adult women is appealing to you and you don’t mind the short-story format of an anthology, another office romance doujinshi anthology has recently been published. Yuri Master Kawamoto-san would like you to know about Shakaiin Yuri Anthology Rouge, (社会人百合アンソロジールージュ), which includes more authors we know and love, like Ajichi, Canno, Kitao Taki, Takemiya Jin and others!





Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime, May 2018 (ミック百合姫2018年5月号)

May 6th, 2018

The May 2018 issue of Comic Yuri Hime (ミック百合姫2018年5月号) begins with a new story by Hisona that I quite like. “Goodbye Dystopia” follows a girl leaving her life behind – although why, we don’t yet know. She meets another woman traveling through the ruined, wild landscape and they begin to travel together. How the world came to be this way, who they are and what they are looking for is all as yet unilluminated. Nonetheless, I like the idea. ^_^

Miman’s “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” delves into the backstory of Kanako’s obsession with Hime. Broken people are broken.

I’m not sure where “Koushin Koinu ni Koibumi wo” by Tamasaki Tama is going (or, indeed, if it is going anywhere,) but I’m still reading. A feral girl is accepted into a military-ish academy-ish where she’s being alternately encouraged and scolded by an older girl who obviously sees something in her. This month Indou makes a new friend, but find her grades subpar, so she isn’t getting town leave. This whole series feels inspired by the Vocaloid Senbonzakura visualsand not-real, slightly nostalgic militaristic image.

Hisakawa haru presents the opening sortie in the “Girls Wedding Omnibus, Yuri-kkon,” in which two women marry. The bouquet is passed along to, presumably, the next girl to find wedded bliss.

On the even of her wedding, Aoi completes her confession of her complicated feelings about Kaede to Nanami in Ohsawa Yayoi’s “2DK, GPen, Mezamashitokei.” And Nanami wonders what Kaede is in her own life.

I’m still really liking Shiroshi’s “ROID,” but I am apparently a sucker for Yuri androids. Android designer Yui uses a wheelchair, and is in the process of making an android that looks more than a little like herself. She’s helped out in her experiments by AI designer Reina, who is amazed and concerned at the humanity of the new android. But she can’t help wondering what the android is to Yui. She names the android Anna to give it a separate existence from her creator. Anna assure Reina that she is separate from Yui. So far I quit like this series.

Nagashiro Rouge’s “Eve to Eve” is another sci-fi story, but so completely at odds with the previous one, it’s worth mentioning. Two women who are wholly, massively in love have volunteered to have the brains become the center of a global network of protection. Their brains are removed from their bodies, but in their private space they remain in love with each other and with the whole earth. This may be the most purely science fiction-y story we’ve had in Yuri Hime, I think. 

Another new series has begin that’s immensely appealing, “Prison Town e Youkoso” by Neji, in which demi-beings, yokai, and half-humans of all kinds mingle. We meet human Akari and her roommate, a frankensteinish (or Black Jack, if you prefer) composite person named Mary. Both Akari and Mary receive job notices every morning. Akari is busy but when she gets together with friend for drinks after work, they tease her that she treats Mary like a little sister. Her feelings are probably more complicated than that. I’m looking forward to reading more of this.

Kiriyama Haruka gives us “Shiawase Wakenasai” which follows two adult women being happy together.

I want to digress here. Clearly I am not the only Yuri fan or creator who is looking for more adult Yuri. The vast amounts that have – apparently suddenly – appeared tells me that this was a long time in coming. Stay tuned, there’ll be more.

Usui Shio’s “Select Closet” is a cute little story about a cool, boyish girl being given room to be feminine and cute by a classmate.

I hadn’t realized how *good* this issue was until I had to type it all out! There’s a change in the tides here, one that I am really liking. Less schoolgirls, more speculative fiction. Maybe we can even get a mystery or a sports story one day. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall- 9

The June issue is already out and it’s just as excellent, with something new and far less exploitative from Kodama Naoko!