Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Monthly Comic Cune Magazine, Volume 1 (月刊コミックキューン)

October 5th, 2015

CuneOne of the best parts of this gig are when I get to witness the birth of a new magazine. One of the strangest parts of this gig is witnessing the birth of a new magazine.

I became an anime fan back in the day when characters were drawn to be look more mature than their age. So, the slide into extreme moe has not favored my tastes at all. I keep thinking that, at some point, there has to be a swing back to grown-up looking characters, right? The existence of Monthly Comic Cune says, flat out no, Erica, you are wrong, bzzt, fuggedaboufit, there is no end point to the round, featureless, infantile blobbiness of this art style and it will never go away. Even more poignant is the magazine’s tagline, which couldn’t be wronger in my case, “Made for you, a new 4-koma comic.” ^_^;

This is the land of giant heads on baby bodies, characters labeled specifically 15, 16, 17 years old who unremittingly look 4 years old. Not for me, no, thank you.

So, why, you must be thinking, am I even bothering? I don’t write posts to whine (hardly ever anymore, it’s boring saying “this sucked.”) so clearly there must be a point. Right? RIGHT?

Yes. The point  of all this is that I really enjoyed the inaugural volume of Comic Cune. I mean honestly. It was fun.

Let’s get the important stuff out of the way – there are a handful of Yuri artists  in this magazine – Fujieda Miyabi, Kuzushiro, Hisanari Minamoto, Namori, all have contributed. And for them alone, it was worth getting this volume. Both Fujieda-sensei and Minamoto-sensei had Yuri in their stories, and Minamoto-sensei’s actually talked about Yuri, and their’s were not the only stories that had girls embracing each other. There’s lot of squeezing and love-love going on between girls here.

But the two stories I enjoyed the most were both comedies based on paranormal creatures (of which there were quite a number of in the issue.) I particularly enjoyed “Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san” (The Vampire Next Door) and “Dokuro-san ga Miteriru” (Skeleton is Looking), which stars the famous giant skeleton from this picture, living with a young girl, and looming distressingly large over her.

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Yes, it’s one joke, but it is a very funny joke.

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But wait, there’s also “Goshuujin-sama ha Ningen ja nai” starring a maid for a super-creepy alien mistress.  I mean who wouldn’t want to read that? ^_^

So, yeah, the Yuri’s great, and it’s nice to see artists I know and love in another magazine…and I’ll just ignore the big blobby heads and “zOMG so cute, aren’t they so cute being cute?” moe art. But what’s going to keep me reading this is the utterly weird monster comedy that made me laugh out loud.

This is a Kadokawa publication, so maybe, if we ask nice, they’ll put this on BookWalker.

Ratings:

Overall – 8 I enjoyed it way more than expected.

You see, it’s giant skeleton and it looms, staring with big blank eyes, but it’s really a nice guy…but it’s so big and loomy…. Trust me, it’s funny.





Yuri Manga: Yuri Kuma Arashi, Volume 2 (ユリ熊嵐)

September 27th, 2015

YKAMA2In my review of Volume 1, I finished up with this line: By the time Volume 2 comes out, if indeed it does, the anime will likely be over and I’m sure we’ll have concocted meanings for all the things that don’t mean anything at all. ^_^.

And here I am at Yuri Kuma Arashi, Volume 2 (ユリ熊嵐) and I have a completely different perspective. An Ikuhara series is more like a set of writing prompts than a 3-d perspective. He hands you a set of cards; “Yuri”, “Bears”, “A Promise Kiss”, “Bears eat Humans”, “A Love Story,” and pushes you out of the room with a “Go, write something. Make it look pretty and feel profound.”

And y’know, I’m 100% okay with this. ^_^

Kureha and Ginko like each other. Kureha has kissed Ginko, and said she feels that she wants to be more than friends, which makes Ginko pull away. Kureha is befriended by Sumika who is rumoured to be a “kumajyo,” a witch, and this makes Ginko miserable. Something is coming between her and Kureha, but no one can tell what it is.

Lulu visits Sumika and learns that her house is indeed imbued with magic. Lulu sees a vision of her dead younger brother. In the anime, this story felt like it went on forever, but here it is more banal and therefore more touching. Lulu loved her brother Mirun, but when watching him one day, she left to go to the convenience store to get them food, and he, not wanting to be left behind, ran after her, out into the street and was killed by a car. This was much improved on the long, confusing and inexplicable story Lulu told in the anime.

It’s Lulu who uncovers the truth about Ginko’s mood, when she and Ginko share a memory of Yurika and her boyish girlfriend from high school. They go to visit Yurika and Lulu discovers her in bed with that woman, now beautiful and feminine, and is shocked to learn that the boyish girl she remembers from her youth is none other than Ginko’s mother, Kale (pronounced Kah-re, as in “kareshi”, i.e., boyfriend, but also linked to Kali, we’re told. While Yurika’s name is, more properly, Eureka.)

In the anime, Ginko’s mother was not a character. Here, we learn that Kale wrote the picture book that Kureha’s mother read to her all the time, about the lost bear princess.

The upshot of all this is that Yurika, Kale and Leila (Kureha’s mother) were all close. And in the manga, it is Ginko’s mother, Kale, who ate Leila.

Phew.  I spent all night trying to figure out how to explain that. ^_^

As the book comes to an end, Kureha runs after Ginko to tell she knows the truth now and she doesn’t care. “Ginko is not alone! I’m here!” Kureha yells, embracing Ginko. Will the bear princess forgive herself? How will Sumika die (oh, let’s be honest, she has to go.) Tune in to Volume 3 to find out!

The final few pages are the three boy bears complaining that they didn’t get much time in the manga for which I can only say…good. They were so utterly meaningless in the anime, repeated footage that was never connected to any of the rest of the story. Morishima-sensei makes a good point, though, about how they could easily be a BL spinoff.

I’ve spent the last few days trying to piece this review together and in the end, I have to say that I’m much preferring the manga to the anime. Once you took away the repeated footage and meaningless visual statements, there was exceptionally little world-building or storytelling going on in the anime. Without long, lingering flashbacks and explanations and “Wall of Severance” scenes, this story is starting to make some sense.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 9
Service – 5

Overall – 8

Let me editorialize – Once upon a time, there were 2 bears and a human girl and they were all friends. But the bears wanted to eat the girl, because that’s what bears do. When one bear fell in love with the girl, the other bear decided to eat the girl, because she was jealous. Now, that bear’s daughter, and the girl’s daughter are falling in love. That’s what I’ve got so far. We’ll see if I’m right or not. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Iono The Fanatics, Special Edition Volume 2 (新装版 いおの様ファナティクス 特装版 2)

September 21st, 2015

specialiono2-e1435708747225In Volume 1, we met Iono Mito Arceline, the charming Queen of a small western country, and her close attendants as she spends time in Japan looking for women with black hair to recruit as ladies-in-waiting. Iono-sama meets and woos a nice young woman by the name of Hachibe Eto to join her clan. Adventures, romance and comedy ensue.

In Iono The Fanatics, Special Edition Volume 2 (新装版 いおの様ファナティクス 特装版 2), the take begins with a quick visit to an old gag. Oue Ruiko (affectionately known as OL-chan) is once again made late by Iono-sama, but learns just who this weirdo is and, in a moment of honesty, explains why she cannot join Iono-sama – she wants a quiet, peaceful, average life. The Queen gives her her blessing and they part.

We return to the gathered staff and find that Argent is suffering a crisis after having lost to Klausoraus, forcing Iono-sama to fight the assassin herself. Iono-sama takes Arge out on a date and buys her some new clothes, allowing us a quick visit with characters from Fujieda-sensei’s independent Alice Quartet series.

Eto gets some insight on the workings of the Queendom, when she meets Aida’s lover Shinon and, in an extremely awkward moment, Shinon’s mother, the chief of all the sobame, Weisen Bellecoeur. It seems that the sobame back home, missing their Queen, have taken to forming factions and fighting. Iono-sama decides to go home. But, will Eto come with her? She asks this while seducing Eto, whose response is to give in, rather than to join in.

Then crisis erupts with the re-appearance of Klausoraus the assassin! Eto is kidnapped, forcing Iono-sama and the gang to rescue her, and the appearance of yet another besotted youngster, a Princess of the country next door to Iono-sama’s. Eto makes her decision as Iono-sama sweeps her off her feet, literally.

The epilogue of the book picks up 5 years later, when the gang returns to Japan. Old gags reappear and are just as silly, Flèche and Arata have a baby now, Argent and Princess Yama seem to be an item, and, as the book comes to an end, Iono-sama heads off to find more women. ^_^

It was both delightful and maddening to read this book. I find myself obsessed with the concept of the harem Queen. Is Iono-sama having 1000 ladies-in-waiting who are in love with her cute or irksome? Is her love worth fighting over? If this were a King would I be rolling my eyes?

I’m also (and I repeatedly state) obsessed with the names of the characters. Names are sort of Frenchish-ish, with some hint of German. So is Aida “Aida Bloomer,” or “Aida Bleumare”? I’m sort of leaning to the latter now, given the breakthrough I had with Weisen’s name.

And last, but in no way least, I’m surprisingly uncomfortable with Eto as uke. I mean, not as such, because it’s obvious the Queen is the aggressor, but because she’s so passive. Creepy, maguro-passive. A dead fish in bed. With a book so filled with competent, powerful woman, it seems weird that Iono-sama would be so charmed by a nothing like Eto. But, then maybe it’s because everyone else close to her is so strong, the Queen was looking for someone less forceful. But I can’t help but think that it’s not cool to see the “Japanese women are passive in bed” trope in a romance, not even (maybe not especially?) from a Japanese man. Overthinking things again, I know, but that’s what you pay me for. ^_^

Ultimately, this series aged a little better than Strawberry Shake, and was just as much fun to revisit. And I’m looking forward to new adventures and another new Drama CD (which at a glance appears to be at least a bit about Argent and Princess Yama. A good match, as Arge has no patience for Yama’s passive-aggressive ways. I will, of course, report back.)

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

As I said in my original review of the series in 2005: I recommend “Iono-sama Fanatics” highly for Yuri that makes you smile. For Yuri that is sexy without explicit sex, and funny and cute – this is an excellent example of the breed.

And so it is. ^_^





2DK, G Pen, Mezamashidokei Manga, Volume 1 (2DK、Gペン、目覚まし時計。)

September 14th, 2015

2dkgpen-e1435708971188Ohsawa Yayoi’s 2DK, G Pen, Mezamashidokei (2DK、Gペン、目覚まし時計。) is a sweetly cheerful version of the worst story ever written.

Here is the summary of the worst story: A woman who is smart, attractive and has dreams for her life, finds herself involved with a lazy, sloppy artist who is bad with money, and ends up becoming their live in house-keeper/girlfriend, while her dreams die.

Doesn’t it sound dire? Every single version of this story ever has been sold as a romance and every single version of this story I have read makes me want to go out and stab something. This is not love, it’s Stockholm syndrome.

Nanami is engaged to Yuuji, and is sharing an apartment with Kaede, an aspiring manga artist. I will give her this – Kaede works very, very hard at her manga. And, she is cute and appreciative, not at all like Kimi Koi Limit‘s Sono. So you can’t really hate her. Nanami is tightly wound, a weird, uncomfortable balance between over- and under-achieving. No one asked her to cook dinner, but it’s nice that she does, and any sense of obligation she feels is hers alone, but you can see that if she didn’t, they’d be eating combini food every night. So, yeah, you get her sense of frustration.

In the first chapter Yuuji breaks up with Nanami, after she’s ranted one more time (we can guess) about Kaede’s lack of responsibility. He uses that as an excuse, accusing Nanami of being a lesbian (or so he has heard from an old sempai of hers), but we later learn that he has another girlfriend.  But none of that is the point of that whole conversation. The point is to get Nanami to think about how she thinks about Kaede. And so, now we have been seeded to see interest where initially there was only irritation. I object strenuously to this manipulation.

And I’m gonna say this flat out – I think Ohsawa-sensei has written herself into a corner here. This has to be a Yuri manga, but it ought to be a story about self-realization and owning one’s own life. Bridget Jones’s Diary, not Pride and Prejudice. Kaede is cute and sweet, but Nanami could surely do wayyyyyyy better than the slob who shares an apartment with her. What kind of message does that send? “Ladies, just give up. If you can’t find a nice person almost immediately, just fall in love with your sibling or roommate and that’ll work out fine.” Blecch.

As of the end of Volume 1, there has been no Yuri and no love, and no lesbian content, but there’s been an insidious disintegration of Nanami’s goals and dreams. Hell, she’ll probably be 25 any day, life is practically over, she’d better hop in bed with Kaede.

Far more interestingly, a rival type girl was inflated for Kaede, and suddenly she developed gumption as a manga artist. Maybe she’ll take over the protagonist role, too.

I generally love Ohsawa-sensei’s work, so I really hope she injects some oomph into this story. I want to want to root for Kaede and Nanami.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 5
Characters – 6
Yuri – 1ish in a “flailing to make it fit way”
Service – 1

Overall – 6

Here’s hoping this thing gels a bit.





Lesbian Comic Anthology: Freya – Sequential Love Stories

September 6th, 2015

Freya_2015This past year I mentioned a crowdfunding effort for a series of European LGBTQ manga anthologies, Frey and Freya (both named after Norse Gods.*) I jumped at the idea of getting it off the ground and have now had a chance to read it. And, it was fun and good. But while I read it, I realized that we really need to talk about something.

Young lesbian artists, may I ask you politely to stop saying you drew this “because there’s nothing like it out there”? Yes, there is. You may not know where to find it, or have seen it, but yes, yes it is “out there” and we’re long past this being a valid sentence. Just because you’ve never searched “Lesbian comics” or  you don’t know about “Yuri manga,” does not mean something does not exist in the universe – just as series’ don’t end just because you stop following them. ^_^ We are at a point in human existence when it is both self-indulgent and foolish to insist that something doesn’t exist before you do it. It’s way more likely that you aren’t forging a brand-new never-been-done-path in LGBTQ storytelling, but are merely walking a well-trodden one. Other people are gay. Other people draw comics. Lesbian comics exist – and have existed for many years.

Also, crowdfunders, please make sure to print a few extra copies of your books, so when I review it, people can buy it. It’s depressing to say “Well, this was great, but you had to fund it to get one. Sorry.”

So Freya Anthology arrived and, like all anthologies, it has variable art and stories. A number of things really stand out to my American eye – the artists in this anthology, who are mostly from Sweden, like those from the Finnish anthology, Lepakkoluola, are way better at diversity than Americans and Japanese are. Also, I found the collection to be a really pleasant mix of fantasy, slice-of-real-life, history and sci-fi.

There were any number of stories about competent and strong women, although the girl-as-reward trope was too prevalent for my comfort. Balancing this out, there were few coming out stories, and even those were “go tell her you like her” rather than, “Do I like girls?”

 

The art styles are decidedly western – the one manga-inspired story, “Bubble” by Elise Rosberg, really stood out as an exception to the rule. Natalia Batista‘s wordless, and heavily black-and-grey work, “La Perte” was my personal favorite. The dark pages too my aback at first, but the story was solid, had emotional depth and the art really grew on me.

Ratings:

Art and Stories variable. It’s an anthology.

Overall – 7

An excellent anthology and one that I will gladly add to my growing “international” lesbian comic collection. I know that the Frey and Freya circle is making the round of European events, and they do have a Facebook page, and it looks like you you can order a copy directly from them, so definitely contact them!

*The Frey anthology will focus on gay relationships.