Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Last Waltz, Volume 1 (ラストワルツ 1)

January 26th, 2016

71qFyOoOAULOn the surface, Shinobu seems to be a long-haired glasses-girl stereotype. She’s reticent, quiet and, compared with her outgoing classmates, reserved.

But things in Last Waltz, Volume 1 (ラストワルツ 1) are not at all what they appear to be. When her classmate, who is sleeping with the teacher, is approached by a bunch of punks, Shinobu appears and rescues the girl. But this doesn’t solve the problem, it worsens it. The punks go after the teacher and threaten him until he agrees to turn Tsukasa over to them, Shinobu has to take on punks and teacher.

Shinobu is herself sleeping with a teacher, Yukari, who is hopelessly in love with the girl. When Shinobu saves another classmate, who is a idol, she falls for Shinobu as well.

And so the rest of the volume goes – Shinobu saves woman from mean nasty man and sleeps with woman who falls in love with her. If it weren’t so silly, it might be depressing.

When I bought this volume I stared for a while it, wondering why I just could not remember what the story was, even though I know I read it when I get Comic Yuri Hime. After struggling to make sense of it, I realized that the problem is that there isn’t a story, really. It’s a single chapter on repeat.

Katakura Ako’s art is wildly inconsistent, vacillating from not-great to good panel to panel. There is lesbian sex, and apparently Shinobu is great in bed, but as a story character, she falls flat. 160+ pages later I know exactly nothing about her except that she’s got a wicked axe kick (eyeroll, that’s so likely) and is good in bed.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 5
Characters – 5
Yuri – 8
Service – 8

Overall – 5

Volume 2 is coming out in Summer 2016 and I’m pretty sure it’ll be more of the same. So depending on what you want out of your stories, you may want to get that. I’m going to have to think about it. Maybe.





Yuri Manga: MURCIÉLAGO, Volume 6 (ムルシエラゴ)

January 15th, 2016

Murcielago-6-275x384In Volume 6 of MURCIÉLAGO there was a lot of violence and a lot of lesbian sex, but none of it was particularly appealing, even to me. ^_^

Someone is setting off bombs in a school. Kuroko shows up as a “detective” investigating the crimes, and the rest of the gang masquerade as students. A student who has been bullied by classmates, including the girl she thought loved her, finds extremely ugly retribution when the bullies are beaten to death with baseball bats. Minako (the bullied girl) and her lover are quite likely off to a good start as serial killers themselves. The team uncovers the identity of the bomber, Hinako finds the bomb, the teacher who is doing the bombing is killed and Ringo gets a little light skinning corpses in for practice.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 4
Characters – 4
Service/Guro – 100000
Yuri – 8 Kuroko is very gay, so is Minako

Overall – 6

Just to be clear, this is a very light-hearted retelling of what was a really awful volume. ^_^ NOT good for bedtime reading.





Yuri Manga: Seesaw Game (シーソーゲーム)

January 13th, 2016

81H-KM7F5yL-275x388Takemiya Jin has been a Yuri demon, putting out a couple of strong volumes a year, working for multiple publishers and generally churning out Yuri that is not only pleasant to read, but also inclusive of lesbian culture and experience. It’s a hell of a benchmark to keep hitting over and over. So, when I say that Seesaw Game (シーソーゲーム) is not her best book, I don’t mean it’s bad at all, I just mean after a couple of years of a crushing work schedule and an intense multi-volume Yuri series, it’s more relaxing than brilliant.

“Sakasama Onigokko” follows Momo, who still has dreams of her childhood first love, so when, miraculously, Mio transfers into school, Momo can’t believe she doesn’t remember her. To make matters worse, Mio beats her at *everything.*

Hana and Mustuki are best friends. Hana is unusually short and Mutsuki is exceptionally tall. When Mutsuki joins the basketball team, she suggests Hana join too, as manager. But while Hana enjoys watching Mutsuki, she finds herself feeling…something…as her friend gains fame and notoriety.  When Mutsuki admits that she likes Hana, Hana realizes that that was what she felt too. They still have some stuff to work out, first.

I absolutely love “Hatsunatsu Souhi,” a story of reuniting with a dead lover on Obon, and the beginning of a new relationship. The final chapters of this volume follow Hatsunatsu protagonists Misaki and Sa-chan afterwards, as they take a few steps forward together without the ghosts of the past holding them back.

Every story in See-saw Game is pleasant, well-executed and fun. I thought “Hatsunatsu” was quite touching, as well.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Character – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 2

Overall – 8

Nothing really world shaking, but it absolutely doesn’t have to be to be a good Yuri read. And Takemiya-sensei is always a good read. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Yagate Kimi ni Naru (やがて君になる )

January 6th, 2016

YKNN-275x390Nakatani Nio’s Yagate Kimi ni Naru (やがて君になる ) is a sweet little Yuri romance that I both enjoyed a lot and also have several real problems with.

Yuu begins high school with a major burden. A guy she went to middle school with has confessed his feelings and has been waiting patiently for her answer. Yuu really has just no idea at all whether she “likes” this guy. He’s nice, but her feelings for him are…nothing. She doesn’t find herself getting the kind of heart-pounding that the girls around her talk about.

Touko is a popular honor student and member of the Student Council who is well-known for rejecting all suitors. Thinking that she’s found someone like her, Yuu offers to help Touko in her duties for the Council.

But not too long after, Touko leans over and kisses Yuu, admitting that she’s fallen in like. Yuu feels conflicted – she likes Touko, and admires her, but she feels betrayed, as well. But after this, Yuu finds it in herself to give the guy who confessed an answer – she says a gentle sorry, and his response is a gentle thanks.

Yuu’s like and admiration win out over her confusion and she is by Touko’s side as the older girl runs for Student Council President in the coming year.

Touko and Yuu have a talk, in which Yuu explains her position and Touko hers, and they agree to continue as they are and see what happens. Which brings us to the end of the first volume.

Before I offer criticism, let me begin with praise. All the characters feel real. The school has boys in it and they are not disappeared and only one has been drawn faceless, a shortcut I find rather grotesque. This is a world with males and females and they aren’t all the same. There are admirable and decent guys, as well as admirable and decent girls. This, above all things, is a refreshing change in what has increasingly become a cloistered Yuri world.

The art is clean and typical for a shoujo manga – which this not. It is from Dengeki Comics and I think that’s notable. Yuri is not uncommon from Dengeki, but more often than not is of the highly service-y kind. So it is super encouraging to see them putting out a nice, rather than vaguely icky, Yuri series.

All this having been said, I need to bring up two important issues I have with this manga. The first is that it is presented as a romance. The story is apparently that we’ll side with Touko as her sincere feelings for Yuu are eventually returned. This is a problem. I’ve very active on Quora, a Q&A site on which one of the most common questions asked goes something like this: “How come this girl said no to me, when my like is so sincere?” I’m not making this up. The presumption many young men have is that their sincere feelings are a kind of contract, which must be returned by the object of their affection. If not, she is of course a bitch (or worse).

The thing that is obvious to many not-young women is that no guy is owed anything just because he has an idea in his head of what he’d like.  This is a very serious problem globally, apparently. These guys feel that their sincerity means they deserve the girl. And, to some extent, that is how this scenario is presented. Touko’s feeling are honest and sincere, so of course Yuu will come around to falling for her. But why? If Yuu doesn’t feel it, why do we assume she must eventually do so? This bugs me a lot. In real life, on Quora and in media.

Which leads me to the, I think, obvious conclusion abut Yuu. What if she’s asexual? If so, she’s never going to have those feelings for Touko or anyone. She might come to love Touko and continue to admire and like her, but never have sexual interest in her. So, then I can’t help but see Touko’s coming on (to be crude) to Yuu as another burden, rather than a blessing.

Both these things nag at me while I read this manga. And I worry that Yuu’s agency will be stripped from her as the narrative continues.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 6
Service – 1

Overall – 8, with the above reservations

The upshot is, that while this manga has some good qualities and it definitely is making a splash in Yuri circles, I think the story also has some problems, which I hope Volume 2 address satisfactorily, rather than just throwing Yuu into the Yuri factory.





Yuri Manga: Shortcake to Kase-san. ( ショートケーキと加瀬さん。)

January 4th, 2016

StKastH-275x389I’d like to give a copy of Takasaki Hiromi’s Shortcake to Kase-san. ( ショートケーキと加瀬さん。) to every Yuri fan in the world as an example of schoolgirl Yuri that presses all the buttons and almost completely manages to not be a skankfest of creepy.

Kase-san and Yamada-san, (who we met in Asagao to Kase-san and have followed through Obentou to Kase-san) enter their final summer of high school and together they enjoy the living fuck out of it. Pool, cake and a little heavy petting is pretty much the standard menu for every senior high school experience.

Of course, weighing on Yamada’s mind is their inevitable upcoming split as Kase-san will head off to Tokyo. Yamada has no particular plans, but was vaguely thinking about sticking around and going to the local university. In an emotional, yet strangely silly ending, they resolve this big problem and, we assume, live happily ever after.

There are a few panels that I, as an editor, would have redrawn, but it is apparent to me that there is no manga being published completely free of the burden of serving the imagination of the imagination-less. But with those few exceptions, this is a sweet, silly, and realistic look at young love.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Character – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 3

Overall – 8
For my first review of 2016, I wanted something pretty damn good. This, as schoolgirl Yuri goes, is pretty damn good. ^_^