Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Akaneiro no Kiss ha Okujou de (茜色のキスは屋上で)

February 13th, 2018

Even as Momono Moto-sensei is working her butt off with Galette magazine, Ichijinsha has been licensing some of her work, as well. Akane-iro Kiss ha Okujou de is one of these collections. 

In the first story, Megu asks an older girl at a shop to go out with her, over the loud opposition of her friends. Luckily for her, the other girl  is not all that opposed.

Two friends realize their friendship means a lot to them, and maybe even more, just int time for one to move away. Years go by and they are reunited.

A girl is approached by the subject of her crush and she just has no idea how to react.

A lesbian and straight friend have drunken sex, which leaves two of us – the lesbian and this reader – unsatisfied. I hate this kind of self-loathing “in love with a straight friend who uses the lesbian as a life size vibrator” kind of story.

A childhood mentor and tutor becomes a lover. This story kind of squicked me primarily because we’re told their specific age difference. I’m never comfortable with that, even though I don’t always dislike the concept of an generation-difference story itself. A bit hypocritical, but, I’m human.

And finally, the title story in which to friends discover that they love one another and share twilight kisses on the school roof. A nice, arm, fuzzy ending to a collection by an artists who specializes in the bitter and uncomfortable forms a relationship might take.

I really like Momono-sensei’s art, and while her stories tend to focus on the awkward and uncomfortable bits of lesbian-relationships, when she pulls out the stops and gives characters a happy ending, it’s always quite beautifully done.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – Variable, say 7
Characters  – 7 much less unlikable than in some of her previous work
Yuri – 10
Service – 5 Some sex scenes, a little nudity

Overall – 7

You know I’m going to say this….I cannot wait for Momono-sensei’s “Liberty” from Galette to be collected!





Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime March 2018 (コミック百合姫2018年3月号)

February 8th, 2018

The March 2018 issue of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫2018年3月号) was pretty darn good. Some of the longer serializations are settling in for the ride, others are flailing a bit and some are pivoting from a one-shot to a longer serial, which can be either good or bad, as you like. 

I’m quite enjoying the stories from the Yuri Hime@Pixiv that have been filling the back pages of the volumes. A few have been good enough to make me bookmark the page and start checking regularly. It’s a good idea for them to have a web comic page to gauge the popularity and potential of new artists and stories. They’ve never had a sample page of titles on their website like so many other companies have, but this page provides any number of first chapters for free. I recommend taking a look!

After a tiresome photoshoot, showing two women touching, zOMG and interview with the voice actresses for citrus, the first manga is one that I was both intrigued and appalled by, by Tamasaki Tama. A waif wanders in to a military school in some kind of fantasy Japan and ends up being accepted. She will now get three meals a day and a bed to sleep in, but who know what will happen to her if she’s sent to fight. Also one of the girls is already hitting on her. And stuff.

“Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” by miman is going exactly where I expected, but through an interesting pair of eyes. Sumika has accidentally learned of Kanoko’s unhealthy obsession with Hime, and finds herself concerned for the girl. She’s watching her with a new perspective and starting to reach out, surprisingly delicately, given that in her real life, she’s a brash Gal and not the gentle Tachibana-sempai she is at work. 

But the winner this month was Fujimatsu Mei’s “Miageta Kimi ha Kyou mo Hohoemu” which I finished up  with a quiet. “Well, that was adorable.” A small, strange and kind career woman falls for a woman at a shop. They go out, crisis occurs, they live happily (ever after, implied.) It was absolutely squee.

“One Night Friend” by Kayako was a sadly typical “drunken one night stand means one thing to you, but another to me” story. Until it wasn’t and they also are presumably in for some happily, if not ever after.

And now, we have to talk about Aoi in  Ohsawa Yayoi’s “2DK, GPen, Mezamashitokei.” She’s a jerk. I mean, we get it, sh’s not living her life honestly. When we thought she was, her teasing was just that but, knowing that she’s a hypocrite made this chapter very hard to take. Yes, it was predictable that she, too, had fallen for Kaede, but still. On the technical side, writing a harem manga in which both the leads are at the center of a Venn diagram of wannabee lovers has got to be an interesting challenge. 

And “Kimi ha Shoujo” which was kind of lovely went straight to WTF territory in this second chapter. I kind of hope she’s a vampire just so I can dislike it honestly. ^_^

“Shiori wo Sagasu Page-tachi” took yet another turn. I’m not sure if I keep just expecting it to be something other than it is, or it doesn’t know what it’s trying to be.

In contrast, “Watashi ni Karada Urutteminai?” started well over the shark and I’m just going along for the ride. Tsukasa’s father died leaving her mired in debt to a lot of unsavory characters, among them a tall, beautiful woman who offers Tsukasa a deal – let me buy you and I’ll pay off all the debts. Well, gosh human trafficking sure is a wholesome premise for a romance isn’t it? ^_^;

There were many other stories, most of which I read, and just a handful I didn’t (and most of those are the usual suspects…) so there’s a good bet that you’d find something to appeal to you in this volume.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

A good strong volume this month and I look forward to more. Conveniently, the April issue will be out shortly. 





Yuri Manga: Kyuuketsuki-chan x Kouhai-chan, Volume 1 (吸血鬼ちゃん×後輩ちゃん)

February 7th, 2018

Yuri Vampire Manga #2
Was something I thought I could do.
I put in the work…some,
But it was all just too irksome
So I’m leaving it all up to you.

Do vampire in sailor suits appeal?
Does sexy biting of thighs make you squeal?
If yes, you should read,
If not there’s no need,
Neither vampire nor victim-chan are real.

With many thanks to my wife for inspiring me with her own limerick creation skills. (Which might well get used for the third of the probably-a-vampire Yuri manga I picked up at the Yuri display at the Animate flagship store in Ikebukuro.)





Yuri Manga: Soirée Gakkyuu, Volume 1 (ソワレ学級)

February 5th, 2018

Yanagi is a decent guy who, after dropping out of more prestigious school, decided to go for a more laid-back trade school. And so he finds himself at Shirabuji. The students at Shirabuji wander in after lunch, head to the lounge and generally take a very relaxed view of classwork. Yanagi likes it here.

In Soirée Gakkyuu, Volume 1 (ソワレ学級) Yanagi befriends two classmates, tall Ruri and cute Kureha, known as Beni (both kureha and beni being a shade of red). Beni and Ruri are very close, having been friends since middle school. Beni often hangs on Ruri, although they don’t appear to be a couple. 

In working on a video project, Yanagi films Ruri, dressed boyishly and wearing a fedora and Beni dressed girlishly in a skirt, dancing. It becomes a viral hit, and other classmates end up involved as the video project starts to build momentum for the school festival. During the festival a guy (who clearly thinks we should know who he is) hits on Ruri and is first pushed away by Beni and ultimately by the rest of the group, but things get very tense.

Beni is unhappy. She hates that this guy hit on Ruri, it bugs her. She’s begun to realize that Yanagi likes Ruri and it bugs her more. It bugs her so much that on a night of a summer festival, she asks Ruri to kiss her…then can’t go through with it. What will happen to them I don’t yet know, but I’m interested in finding out!

One of the primary strengths of this story is the complete and utter normality of all the characters. In early days, we meet another male classmate, Gin, who works at a yakisoba place and is therefore a pretty good cook. He and Yanagi seems nice and normal. They aren’t creepy in any way. You can’t really blame them at all if they fall for Ruri or Beni, because they, too, see kind of nice and normal.

Nothing “happens” in this series, but as the subtitle says:  “Soirée Gakkyuu, Ruri and Beni. It’s a Wonderful high school life!”

Ratings:

Art – 6 Plain, but competent
Story – 6 Small, but pleasant
Characters – 6 Normal and likeable
Yuri – 3, with potential
Service – 2 if you consider the dance scene service. And you could. ^_^

Overall – a strong 6, with room  for more. 

This another one of the volumes I picked up at the Ikebukuro Animate Yurimate section. It was one of several series I had no idea existed, so I’m pretty pleased with taking a gamble on it.





Yuri Manga: Shuuden de Kaesanai, Tatta Hitotsu no Houhou, Volume 2 (終電で帰さない、たった1つの方法)

January 23rd, 2018

Pixiv artist Tokuwotsumu’s work was picked up by Ichijinsha in 2016 for a collected volume Shuuden de Kaesanai Tatta Hitotsu no Houhou. Apparently I never reviewed it here, although I remember reading it (and some of the stories in Comic Yuri Hime magazine!) The story follows Nanako meeting and falling for Ayaka on the train.

When Shuuden de Kaesanai, Tatta Hitotsu no Houhou (終電で帰さない、たった1つの方法 2) Volume 2 was released I was looking forward to reading it so much, and I came away squeeing pretty hard. Ayaka and Nanako are very cute together.

They’ve been seeing each other about a year now, and are still very much in love. We get to watch their lives together, them navigating the shoals of being in a gay relationship when faced with a heteronormative world and what they are like in both public and private.

Enjoy today’s review?

The manga focuses mostly on the dynamics between them, especially cute moments as they are overwhelmed by each other’s appeal, rather than any deep analysis of life as a gay couple, although that is briefly touched upon. The art is messy and not particularly well-executed. It looks very self-taught, but is more than sufficient to get the point across. The real attraction here is spending cute and sweet time with two adult women who are wholly taken with one another.

Ratings:

Art – 5
Story- 7
Characters  – 8
Service – 4 There is some Mild service
Yuri – 9

Overall – 8

Squee! Nanako and Ayaka are absolutely adorable together. ^_^