Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 5 (作りたい女と食べたい女)

February 29th, 2024

Four women, walk and eat ice cream, or drink, as they chat. With more than two decades of reading, I am still absolutely amazed at the high quality of Yuri manga we have gotten in the last few years – even more blown away that so much of it has been licensed in English and other languaues.  Of the series I am currently obsessing over, Yuzaki Saakomi’s series about women, food, and queer life in modern Japan is definitely among my top picks for “new  manga volumes I await with baited breath.”

Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 5 (作りたい女と食べたい女) begins as Nomoto-san and Kasuga-san continue to navigate the frustrating – and alienating – process of looking for a home to share. It’s hard enough for any couple, but along with the usual annoyances, they are finding that many landlords simply will not accept two unmarried or unrelated people. Thankfully, Yakko recommends a LGBTQIA- friendly agency and they are successful!

They move in and celebrate with their friends. And then, again, Nomoto comes up against the wall of discomfort talking to her peers about her situation. Both Nomoto and Kasuga have only been aware of their sexuality as such for a very short time, so it is unsurprising that there is internal discomfort to address long before they manage to be comfortable telling people they know, but do not know if they can trust. This is handled here a little more harshly than in the live-action series, which I hope to discuss shortly.

Not everything is hard in this volume, however. Nomoto and Kasuga start creating a work rota, and discuss the importance of consent in their relationship. Nagumo decides to see if she can get help for her condition – and the outlook is good. Nomoto and Kasuga go to a large home center and spend the day “playing house,” as my wife and I call it. ^_^ They allow themselves to build more intimacy between them, which is very sweet to see. I love the balance between real-world tension and the joy of found family. The fact that real issues are discussed means it feels firmly rooted in reality, but the story centers growth and love and kindness, as well as a little well-deserved righteous ranting against an unfair society. 

You may remember as you read this volume that last year the manga went on hiatus, due to the creator’s illness. Early chapters here seem to have borne the main brunt in the form of some off-style art. but it was merely a reminder that the mangaka is human and as frail as the rest of us.  Clearly some clean-up has occurred in post and it’s perfectly fine. A few chapters in, one can feel the renewed energy from the art. I am sure we all hope that Sakaomi-sensei remains healthy. Not just because this is a terrific story, but that, too.

Ratings:

Art – Due to the creator’s illness, I don’t think rating it is appropriate
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Service – 3, them snuggling in bed, is definitely “service”
LGBTQ+ – 10

Overall – 10

TsukuTabe is an outstanding story about found family, friendship and a deep, abiding love of food. She Loves To Cook, She Loves to Eat. Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 is available now in English from Yen Press, and Volume 4 is on the way in May!





Pulse, Volumes 3 & 4

February 28th, 2024

Two women with long, flowing hair, one dark purple, one blonde, embrace surrounded by flower, as sunlight shines down upon them.by Eleanor Walker, Staff Writer

Today I’ll be talking about Pulse, Volume 3 and Volume 4, by Ratana Satis. I reviewed volumes 1-2 a while ago, so let’s see how the story has progressed. 

Content warning: Volume 3 contains scenes of violence and homophobic slurs. 

Lynn has now moved herself into Mel’s apartment, and domestic bliss/lots of sex ensues. Mel’s feelings for Lynn both in a physical and a romantic way are growing, but the dark cloud of Lynn’s heart condition continues to loom over the relationship. The porn to plot ratio is more skewed towards the porn side than it was in the first two volumes and most of the story in these volumes actually takes place away from the hospital, with Mel getting tangled up in an old police officer friend’s investigation of a violent thug who targets women.

Two women, one with long brown hair in a brown jacket and gloves, and a blonde in a tawny coat and gloves, share a red scarf and smile at each other as they embraceThis arc didn’t really last long and I felt it was all a bit conveniently wrapped up, but a fresh Big Bad in the form of a new hospital director does appear at the end of volume 4. From what happens when she appears and the flashbacks in the chapters when she’s introduced, things are going to get very interesting for Mel indeed. I’m looking forward to the story getting back to the hospital and seeing what will actually happen to Lynn because of her condition. 

Ratings:

Art: 8. It’s still attractive and some of the chibi facial expressions are a delight. The erotic scenes are also very well crafted.

Story: 6. Despite this review covering 2 volumes, I don’t feel like a lot actually happened in the story. As with the last review, don’t think too hard about how implausible the situation is. Why is practically every female staff member at this hospital a lesbian? 

Characters: 8.5. Still by far and away the best part of the series. Mel and Lynn are incredibly cute together and the side characters are well written too. 

Service (level of salaciousness): 10. This series is rated ‘Mature’ and shrink wrapped for a reason. The erotic scenes are even more plentiful in these volumes and there is very little left to the imagination. 

Yuri: 9. It’s lovely to watch them growing closer and the walls around Mel’s heart gradually coming down. 

Overall: 7.5

 

Still an enjoyable series, just the story felt a bit weaker in these two volumes than the first two.

Volume 5 is already out, Volume 6 has just come out in English, with Volume 7 the final volume, due to hit this summer. 

Eleanor can be found lurking around the internet @st_owly.





Comic Yuri Hime, March 2024 (コミック百合姫2024年3月号)

February 27th, 2024

From within an ornate gold frame on a green background, where two girls in dark red school uniforms enjoy tea together, the girl with short black hair looks out at us.Comic Yuri Hime, March 2024 (コミック百合姫2024年3月号) starts off with a new story, “A Bouquet of Salvia,” which was rather sweet as a opening  – and could have stood alone on it’s own merits. A girl who was rescued from dire circumstances finds family and a mentor in a young witch who has taken her in and is training her. In this opening chapter, the emphasis is on found family, understanding there is more to life than duty and the profoundity of joy. I’m all for it. ^_^

So much water has gone under the bridge in “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” that we seem to have come to the beginning of the river, once again. Kanako still does not understand herself but, at least this time Sumika does.

“Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” steps back to interrogate Misha and Rae’s friendship. On the eve of an audacious plan to save Yuu, Rae has to trust Misha with the whole truth about the world and herself. Rae learns something important that might explain a few things. Eventually.

Yuama’s “Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata” comes to an end, exactly where I expected it to. Despite the fact that the whole story was telegraphed from the beginning, it did some interesting things. I’m not sure I would have given it as much time to be told as the magazine did, but I don’t regret reading it. There’s something to be said about a story that moves past forgiveness into redemption.

“Garan no Hime” has suddenly become much more interesting! Where we seemed to be flailing looking for a lost sister, we have sudden have a whole new level –  one in which Hime is the key to something important.

In “Shikabane to Ai ga Omoi Seikishi no Toubatsu Gakuen Life” Mari unlocks Shurika’s memories…for good or ill.

There were a number of decent one-shots in this issue including Inaba Mine’s “Kemuri ni Yosete,” which felt very old school as an established couple works through the distance building between them.

As always there were other stories I read, and did not read, which makes for a magazine that will appeal to a wide range of Yuri fans!

Ratings:

Overall – 8

The April issue is on JP shelves now and it’s a very exciting issue, in which the arc about Prince Yuu comes to a climax in “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” and a new manga fantasy written by Suo, and illustrated by Superwomen in Love!‘s Sometime, “Gakeppuchi Reijou wa Kuro Kishi-sama o Horesasetai!”





Comic Yuri Hime, February 2024 (コミック百合姫2024年2月号)

February 22nd, 2024

In an elaborate gold frame on a dark blue background, Two school girls in winter coats stand, one holding the others' arm, looking at us.Comic Yuri Hime, February 2024 (コミック百合姫2024年2月号)  is an excellent volume of this magazine. Right off the bat, the stories about evenly split between stories I am reading and stories I am not reading. 50% is an almost unheard of percentage for me. But there is another thing in this issue, I want to discuss, because it was really good.

I talk a lot about Yuri literary fiction here on Okazu. I’m unapologetically as much a literature nerd as I am a comics nerd. Many school years of reading literary fiction somehow did not manage to break my interest in the idea of fiction. In fact, this year I am actually a judge for an award for independently published fiction and overwhelmingly, the books I have been reading are very interesting. Reviews to come when the embargo is lifted.

So yes, in this volume Aki and Shiho go out on a date in “Sasayakuyouni Koi Wo Utaa” finally, and Rae comes up with a bold and dangerous plan to rescue Yu from an imposed gender curse in “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou” and the climax to “Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata” was a fucking sucker punch *even though we knew it was coming for the entire story.* And the King in “Kiraware no Majoreijo to Dansou Ouji no Konyaku” is a dip and we applauded Eve for yelling at him, and Kiki and Michiru danced their hearts out…even though Kiki was injured and it was really stupid, in “Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru.” These and many other continuing stories were great.

And we got the first chapter of a very old-school shoujo romance feeling “Toi Et Moi” by Nakato Nui. And “Daiuki Desu!”  by nmi, among others both of which were very good.

But what I really want to talk about is the short story, ” Tsuitou Juu-shunen Tokubetsu Kiji  ‘Tousakusha Sakakiba Mizue no jinsei’.” by Maruchou. This translates to Special Article On The Tenth Anniversary Of Her Death,  “Plagiarist Sakakiba Mizue’s Life.” This was the grand prize winner of the 5th Yuri Literary Short Story Contest, co-hosted by Pixiv, Comic Yuri Hime, Shinchobunko, Early Wing and Shosen Bookstore. And yes, it absolutely deserved the prize.

This was a fantastic fiction that is presented as a non-fiction about the life of a person who “everyone knows,” but who never existed, with interviews with people who knew her and one of the best endings I have ever read in my life. Oh my gosh, this was SUCH a good story.  You can read it for free on the contest website. Please go read this, even if you just use google translate. Seriously, it was gorgeous work. 10/10.

So both thumbs up on this issue.

Ratings:

Overall – For the short story alone, it’s a 10

I also have the March issue here and am digging right in!





I Don’t Know Which Is Love, Volume 2

February 21st, 2024

A pretty girl with long black hair and gray eyes, reaches toward us with lightly lavender-tinted fingernails, blushing and smiling at us.by Luce, Staff Writer

Welcome back to the rollercoaster Yuri harem series, I Don’t Know Which Is Love, Volume 2.  In Volume 1, our protagonist is Mei Soraike, a girl who fell in love with a female friend at high school, and upon getting her heart broken, swears that she will reinvent herself and get a girlfriend in college! Within a few days of starting, she ends up with five candidates, all of whom are vying for her attention. At the end of volume one, Karin said they should just go out, and then Riri arrived…?

Within ten pages of starting, Mei finds herself between Karin and Riri while they’re asking who she wants to sleep with. Indecisive… and experiencing ‘too gay to function’ (Mei often experiences this), she elects to sleep on the floor instead. She ends up in a charged lecture with Prof Maria, and later, she finds herself in a three person play with Karin and Minato (somewhat for their own ulterior motives), joins Riri on a photoshoot to try and improve her acting, goes out to see a play with Minato to try and get her voice right, and ends up practicing with Kaori… and when the script says french kiss, she does! 

DareKoi remains an enjoyable rollercoaster, never lingering long on any one moment, although it doesn’t quite feel like it is rushing either. It knows what the reader wants – girls flirting and kissing, and by jove, you get that. Sprinkled on the top are some of the love interests wondering if they love Mei, too. What I like is that the harem have positive interactions with each other – while they are kind of fighting over Mei, they are also their own people. Minato and Karin knew each other before they knew Mei, and they remain friends, and Riri and Karin also seem to know each other. 

Honestly, I’d be quite happy with a polyamorous ending – it would be fun if the answer to Mei’s question of ‘which is love?’ is ‘all of them’, as I like to think love can take many different forms. It likely won’t, but the playing field is pretty even for the time being. Karin has asked Mei out, but Mei doesn’t feel like she’s ‘near her level’ – but that she’ll try! What I like about Mei is that although she’s generally passive in so much as everything seems to happen around her, she is trying. She only has one frame of reference for love, being her old friend, so her inexperience makes sense. Speaking of that old friend, her face hasn’t been shown as yet – I’m not sure we even have a name – but I can only assume that she is going to pop back up at some point. I hope Mei does okay when that happens. She’ll probably be either on a date or in a compromising position, knowing this series, but it does it with such heart that I’m looking forward to it.

Ratings:

Story: 7
Art: 8
Characters: 7
Service: 5
Yuri: too Yuri to function

Overall: 8

I Don’t Know Which Is Love, Volume 2 is available now in print and digital from Yen Press!