Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Kanojo to Camera to Kanojo no Kisetsu, Volume 5 (彼女とカメラと彼女の季節）

November 10th, 2014

kanocame5As Volume 5 of Kanojo to Camera to Kanojo no Kisetsu (彼女とカメラと彼女の季節）opens, we’re facing a terrible moment. Yuki, who has never before been obviously malicious, is showing Akari a picture of Rintarou, half-naked in bed. Akari refuses to be cowed and asks Yuki about the picture, at which Yuki crumbles. It turns out that she’s always desired Rin, but he sees her more like a sister. In the guise of a photo session, she stripped him down and tried to seduce him. Rin’s reaction was much like Akari’s when he tried to seduce her. He throws Yuki off and they have a honest talk, in which she is forever rejected as a woman by him.

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Akari’s reaction to this revelation is to set the timer on her camera and film herself and Yuki making love. This Yuki, Akari thinks, is perfect.

They go their separate ways, Yuki in Tokyo, Akari and Rin in town, working towards their exams. They meet up by accident after exams, and it’s clear that the ties between them have unraveled. Friends, obviously, but no more. Even when they finally graduate, and Rin offers them both a button from his jacket, they laugh at his presumption. Everything between them is gone…until an underclassman asks for Yuki’s tie. All of a sudden, Akari realizes nothing at all is resolved and drags Yuki away from the crowd to finally make her feelings clear to both herself and Yuki, once and for all.

Seven years pass. Rin is a salaryman, Akari teaches at a pre-school. Rin and Akari stay in touch, but neither have heard from Yuki in seven years. When an exhibit of Yuki’s photography comes to town, Akari hurries over to see it, but just as she starts to feel sad, because what she had really hoped was to see Yuki herself, Yuki appears behind her. They embrace as the narration asks if we want to go take some pictures.

This was a surprisingly cathartic volume, for a series that has been building tension without release for 5 volumes. And in many ways, that was what I liked best about the series. Yuki’s desire to take photos, she says right away, is to see people in their realest moments, and we’ve been doing nothing but seeing those moments, with hardly a break. So when finally Yuki’s cool mask shatters, the tension releases utterly in a way it could not have when Rin had his moment of pain or Akari hit her wall.

I’m fascinated also, that for a series so enraptured by photography, that the art itself makes no attempt at photorealism, but does a fantastic job of capturing facial expression and body language.

The ending was unexpectedly pleasant, which is always a nice bonus. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 6
Service – 4

Overall – 8

If you’re a reader that likes seriously intense, Dear Brother-levels of emotion, you might well enjoy Kanojo to Camera to Kanojo no Kisetsu. I know I did.





Yuri Manga: Gakuen Polizi, Volume 2 (学園ポリーチェ)

November 9th, 2014

gp2jpIn Volume 1, we met new school-police force member, Aoba, whose life goal is to be a champion of justice and her unenthusiastic and jaded partner Midori. Together they push the boundaries of their assigned duties and helped a bunch of fellow students as a result.

Volume 2 of Gakuen Polizi (学園ポリーチェ), begins with Midori and Aoba being called into Headquarters…presumably for a dressing down over their out-of-school efforts.  What they actually get, instead, is the presence of Midori’s former partner, Akari at their own school. Whether she is an ally or an enemy is hard to tell – and this remains true through most of the volume.

One of the things I really enjoyed about Volume 1 was the use of real-life issues high school girls face. Unfortunately, Volume 2 ups the ante on the nature of the crimes, without the sense of decency from the first volume. I won’t spoil anything, but do be ready for some creeping yuckiness and implications of violence. But it’s worth noting that these situations are not the main plot.

The bulk of the book focuses on Aoba and Midori’s feelings about being a Polizi, what they want to do with their lives and how they feel about each other.  (We might guess the outcome, it is a Morinaga Milk-sensei story, after all. ^_^)

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The end of the volume offers a glimpse of future Aoba and Midori. If you, like me, were a fan of Morinaga-sensei’s early doujinshi work, you may not be surprised to see them at all. ^_^

Volume 1  and Volume 2 are out in English. Seven Seas can be always counted on for solid reproduction and translation, so no fears from that quarter.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 6
Service – 8 Way more service than the first volume

Overall – 7

I didn’t enjoy this volume as much as the first, but for a 2-volume manga, it was a nice bit of action/adventure/comedy from Morinaga-sensei.

 





Yuri Manga: Mebae, Volume 1 (メバエ)

November 5th, 2014

mebae1Nature abhors a vacuum, we’re told and apparently that goes for Yuri anthologies, as well. With the retirement of Tsubomi and Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari (although several of those titles have migrated to web format),  a new anthology has jumped into the space.

Mebae (メバエ) is decidedly male gaze, but it had only a few stories I found completely unpalatable. And it’s a good reminder that the Yuri audience is varied in both demographics and intent. For every Yuri fan that is looking for a Takemiya Jin story, there’s another looking for  something by Kurogane Kenn.

With such a service-y cover, it was not really a surprise to find the opening story was in fact by Kurogane Kenn. (And along with Kurogane-sensei’s work, there were a few other Tsubomi contributors in the pages.) It was a little surprising to find the opener bereft of emotion or connection. He usually works a little harder than this. Two girls have sex in a restaurant booth, with little setup, in a classic PWP.

The next story is a complete contrast, “Paanto,” which is a melancholy look at admiration and competition in ballet.

I very much liked  “kitsuku! DAITE Honey”, which was a cute little twist on a superheroine and the girl she protects and loves, who turns out to not be who she seemed. In fact, Mei turns out to be Kurara’s arch enemy. Despite her spectacular defeat, Mei finds Kurara waiting for her after school anyway.^_^

Akamurasaki’s “Nibi-iro Nokosu,” was a pleasant look at a woman’s reluctant affection for her unfashionable friend.

The final story in the collection “Aoi Honoo Kaoru Tsuchi,” by Naruko Hanharu, appeared, I believe, actually in Tsubomi magazine, and is re-cast here as a nice ending piece in which time heals several wounds.

While I didn’t find the more explicit stories particularly appealing, I certainly didn’t hate this collection. In fact, Mebae Volume 2 is in one of the piles, waiting to be read. I’m kind of interested how many of the Tsubomi contributors just picked up and another anthology jumped in to fill the gap.

Ratings:

Overall – 6

For those of you interested, Volume 3 hits the streets at the end of this month.





Yuri Manga: Couleur de bijoux d’amour (宝石色の恋 西UKO作品集)

September 25th, 2014

housekiIt’s always a good day here at Okazu when we can read and review a new collection by Nishi UKO-sensei of Circle UKOZ. Today is a good day. ^_^

Couleur de bijoux d’amour (宝石の恋) is a collection of non-Collectors stories from Rakuen Le Paradis magazine, augmented by 2 online comics for Rakuen Le Paradis and an original doujinshi story.

Nishi UKO-sensei’s art is sophisticated and tight, her characters look like…well, people. Incredibly attractive people, but more like people than manga characters. They eat doughnuts, they get into fights, they go to bars, they touch, they laugh, they smile, they have lives with coworkers, neighbors, relatives and friends. They wear fashionable clothing, live in apartments, have jobs, face rejection, attraction. They have lives.

These stories are, in short, exactly the kind of thing I’m always looking for in Yuri – stories of women who love women, and then the story happens. It would be equally as valid to call this a LGBTQ manga.

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This collections includes 18 shorts – don’t miss the one under the cover! Of these, my two favorites are the story “Up and Down” and it’s sequel “helter-skelter.”  the first part, a woman meets and is instantly attracted to a new neighbor. Her emotional roller coaster as she learns about her neighbor (and her school-age child) is both sweet and amusing. In “helter skelter” she has befriended the neighbor and her daughter. The daughter decides they should all go to a public bath – the two women suffer from extreme embarrassment as we can see that they are both thinking much the same thing about each other.

Sweet, human, poignant, these stories are written with adult sensibilities in mind. From cover to cover, Couleur de bijoux d’amour is stylish and elegant.

Ratings:

Art – 10
Story – Variable, of course, but screw that. 10
Characters – 10 We get little time with anyone, but it’d be hard to not like them
Yuri/Lesbian – 10
Service – 4 These women wear fine lingerie.

Overall – 10

This collection is a shoo-in for my Top Ten List this year. I really hope there’s something even better, not because I don’t want this to win this year, but think of how amazing it would be to be better! ^_^





Yuri Manga: Obentou to Kase-san (おべんとうと加瀬さん)

September 23rd, 2014

bentouIn Asagao to Kase-san (あさがおと加瀬さん), we met Yamada, a pleasant, average and friendly young lady who is very dedicated to the school’s Environmental Committee. She finds herself interested in the track star of the school, Kase. And, almost unbelievably, Kase returns her feelings.

Volume 1 is a slow, gentle story, as the two of them start going out, growing closer as they struggle with just exactly what “going out” means.

In Volume 2, Obentou to Kase-san (おべんとうと加瀬さん), they gently, cutely and realistically figure out who they are and what they mean to each other. Yamada has the higher hurdles, as Kase-san is super popular and Yamada doesn’t have the confidence to stand by her side. But Kase’s feelings are sincere and together they work it all out.

The drama here is small, the resolutions are equally as small, and I find myself wanting desperately to hug both of them and invite them over for tea, so they can see that sometimes we do get a happily after, after all. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8 It grew on me
Story – 8
Character – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 2

Overall – 8

As “first love” stories go, this is definitely one of my favorites. It’s a strong candidate for this year’s Top Ten. I hope we’ll see more of Takashima Hiromi’s art in the future.