Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


LGBTQ: Beyond, Queer Science Fiction Anthology

October 28th, 2015

tumblr_nvv9q2vRmy1sihh1fo1_r1_500As long-time readers know, I consider it both a pleasure and a responsibility to support crowdfunding efforts. It’s always a pleasure to receive a hard-copy or PDF of a book that I very much wanted to see come to fruition that might, in the past, have never had a chance to be born. When I saw the Kickstarter for Beyond, a queer sci-fi/fantasy comics anthology, well obviously, I knew I was going to support it.

Right off the bat, the strength of Beyond is that being gay, coming out or falling in love with a being of the same sex is not the plot of many of the stories. Same-sex relationships are dealt with as matter of course, or a matter of interest, but not a matter of crisis for a number of the stories. So the anthology follows the old adage “assume the technology, then write the story,” for both technology and sexuality. That that remains refreshing just indicates that we have not quite yet gotten past queer-ness as a narrative…and to be honest, I don’t know if we ever will. “Other” always has appeal and causes discomfort. So far, at least, we have not yet managed a generation that doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel in that regard.

Another positive was the diversity of character, story, place and time, sexuality, gender and even human/non-human relationships. For a queer sci-fi comic, I had pretty high expectations of diversity, but I’ve been disappointed before, so it was critical to me that Beyond went, well, beyond the minimum.

I am very pleased to say that Beyond is available though Gumroad as a hardcopy preorder and a digital PDF. Kudos to the creators for having a post-crowdfunding effort distribution stream.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Beyond is a thoughtful look at graphical story-telling in sci-fi settings, with conscious awareness of the need for representation, and a good wallow in tropes of the genre. A fun read and a worthy one. Exactly what crowdfunding is best for.

 





Yuri Manga: MURCIÉLAGO 4 (ムルシエラゴ)

October 26th, 2015

What betteMurcielago4r way to rest up and relax after an event than a little light massive amounts of violence and sex? None, obviously, so upon returning home from Nijicon, I cracked open MURCIÉLAGO, Volume 4 (ムルシエラゴ), by Yoshimura Kana.

We ended Volume 3 with Kuroko entering a girl’s only school/organization/enclave/something known as “Virginal Rose.” Unsurprisingly, psychopath and predatory lesbian Koumori Kuroko is captivated by the inhabitants, all cute girls with a tragic story of violence at the hand of a man, and the school’s chairwoman, the extremely well-endowed Gold Marie.

Kuroko and I were both delighted when Gold Marie chose to welcome Kuroko in her room with some consensual, adult sex. As Gold Marie comments, in an environment like this, same-sex relationships are bound to happen, so they accept both sexual release and pair bonding when it occurs. Oh, well okay then.

Kuroko is given a new name when she is accepted into the school – Halfeti, which turns out to be a very dark, as close to black-colored rose as exists. As Halfeti finds herself intoxicated by the school and it’s inhabitants, we turn to Polina, a resident who is about to “graduate.” We, the readers, see that the graduation ceremony is nothing of the sort, but that Polina is slaughtered, her organs and blood consumed and her body chipped into the fertilizer used for the roses that Virginal Rose is known for.

Although Kuroko was asked by Chiyo’s friend, Nanami to investigate, she doesn’t, until Chiyo and Hinako, wondering what the hell has happened to Kuroko, arrive to take her home. Kuroko rejects Chiyo’s demand that she return, refuses to answer to any name but Halfeti and returns to the school. Chiyo snaps.

While Chiyo is fighting the students, Hinako is ninja-ing around. She discovers the secret underground room with one of the students and learns that this is where “graduation” is held, and that there is a beautiful creature living in the pool in the center of the room, who calls Gold Marie her oneesama. As they investigate, Anna realizes what has happened to Polina.

Chiyo fights the school’s champion, Teresa, but is knocked unconscious by Kuroko.

Gold Marie asks Halfeti to bring the intruder to the underground room. It is there that we learn that “Rose Marie,” the apparently female being that lives in the basement and desires blood, is in fact Gold Marie’s brother, who sacrificed his body to save her and who now needs blood to survive. Hinako, who is hanging on to a rope at ceiling level, feels it start to move, so she swings off it, so that it’s trajectory is altered and instead of Kuroko, Gold Marie is killed. Snapping out of her hypnotized state Kuroko is like, “Let’s go and get something to eat.”

Having rescued Nanami, Kuroko, Chiyo and Hinako go visit Ringo, the recovering loli serial killer from the previous arc, and insist that they’ll take care of her. Kuroko gets to be creepy and pervy, and I get to ignore it.

The bonus chapter covers a game Hinako is designing that stars herself, at various levels of skill.

I very much liked this volume, especially as compared with last volume. Consensual adult lesbian sex with two psychopath leads totally works for me. And I’ve discovered while I don’t enjoy violence not associated with fighting, it’s tolerable when completely decoupled from sexualization or victimization. Polina’s death was distressing, as she is an innocent, but Gold Marie dying the same way is acceptable, if a little predictable.

The best part of the manga was Teresa and Chiyo’s fight, which had the advantage of being between-well matched rivals and gives Teresa a chance to uncover for us whether Chiyo really likes Kuroko or not. “Are you a lesbian?” Teresa asks. “No, I’m not like that. It’s just her.” Chiyo responds petulantly. “That’s the kind of thing lesbians say,” Teresa laughs, which pisses Chiyo off. This leads to her beating Teresa, with a rather clever sword vs naginata move.

Ratings:

Art – 6 Even when it’s supposed to be “pretty” it’s really ugly
Story – 7  Several kinds of violence and lesbian sex
Characters – 8 More Evil Psycho Lesbians per page than anything else I read
Service – 10 Nothin’ but
Yuri – 9 This one is definitely a Yuri manga

Overall – 9

I’m not going to lie, this manga is ugly and gross in many ways, but I really like it. I’m not recommending it. I just like it.





Yuri Manga: Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru, Volume 5 (姫のためなら死ねる)

October 21st, 2015

KnTnS5In Volume 5 of Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru (姫のためなら死ねる) Sei Shonagon of The Pillow Book fame has hit a slump. Not just a slump, but a debilitating, crushing and potentially career-damaging slump. And near-constant harassment from the onmyouji “Abe no Hito” isn’t helping.

Not only is Shonagon suffering because of this slump, but Teishi-sama is starting to think that Shonagon doesn’t care for her any more, as her requests to read new entries in the diary are met with vague promises, and excuses. Shonagon, it turns out, is fearful of showing her mistress the uncensored delight she has in the Princess. Too embarrassed and too scared to let anyone know what she’s feeling, she is unable to write anything at all.

Koshikibu and Benkan are alternately worried about and annoyed by Shonagon, but it’s Murasaki who shakes her out of her slump and encourages her to pen openly adoring verses about Teishi-sama. Teishi-sama is likewise embarrassed at the near-worship of Shonagon’s Diary, but they reconcile at last.

As the book comes to a close, Murasaki Shikibu is confronted the disorder known as “reading fanfic about your characters.” And, as it usually is in the real world, it’s not a good thing.

The gags are, if anything, becoming denser. There’s a lot of research that goes into this book and it shows. It’s also getting harder to follow for this reader, as my knowledge of the Heian-kyo is superficial to say the least. ^_^; But what is funny is funny and even when there are hints of somber things to come, it’s all jokes all the way down.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 2
Service – 4

Overall – 7

Luckily for me, in between the otaku humor, there’s more “Shonagon is gaga over Teishi-sama again.”





Yuri Manga: Rakuen Le Paradis (楽園 Le Paradis), Volume 18

October 20th, 2015

RlP18Rakuen Le Paradis Volume 18 (楽園 Le Paradis),  is an example of a magazine that has hit it’s stride. And there is both good and bad in that. I know what I’m getting, and it’s all extremely high quality…but.

What I am getting is both exceptional art and storytelling by unusual, prolific, stylish and not-typical artists. There’s never any doubt in my mind that the artists are writing for people like me – adult women, who are not rejecting school stories but really would like to enjoy some time in adult life.

And the magazine gives readers tremendous variety, from the stylish slice-of-life stories by Nishi UKO-sensei to Samura Hiroaki’s funky, dense violent/scifi-ish work, with room for Kumeta Koji’s oddball social commentary and Mizutani Fuuka’s romance.  I especially love Unita Yumi’s fantasy “Nemurime-hime,” and find it both interesting and disconcerting to see Ume Aoki’s story be so straight an incest-y. There’s BL from Nakamura Asumiko and Yuri from Sengoku Hiroko and all manners of adult heterosexual relationships. This magazine spans a tremendous range of story-telling style and art. It has fully spread it’s wings and begin to fly on it’s own, confident in the risks it takes…and now I’d like to see it take a few more new risks. Let’s see where this can go. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

I always look forward to the next volume. It’s consistently one of the most fascinating and challenging Japanese magazines I read. Quirky, weird and bizarrely human.





Yuri Manga: Tsuki to Sekai to Etoile, Volume 4 (月と世界とエトワール)

October 14th, 2015

Tsukitosekai4-275x393We have reached the climax to Takagami Yuriko’s Tsuki to Sekai to Etoile (月と世界とエトワール). There is no one more surprised than I that I read this series to the end.

In Volume 4, Yozora has made her way through last of the befuddling “tests” of the current Etoile, Umiyuri, and came out shining. She, and her chevalier, Sekai, vow to be together forever .Everything is looking up, until she returns from the final test (which appears to have been singing in front of a combined audience of orphans and the elderly,) only to find that in the three hours she had gone Sekai broke the promise that, mind you, she made Yozora make. Sekai is suddenly, confusingly, engaged to a underclassman. Yozora is clearly fictional, so she loses her voice in shock, instead of going postal.

She runs into Kagami, the former Etoile candidate that Umiyuri destroyed, and learns that Kagami has returned to school and will continue to sing anyway. With the realization that she needs to sing  – and wants to sing with Sekai – Yozora find her chevalier and conjures up enough voice to ask her what is going on. Sekai admits that it was all another cockamamie “test”, this one by Towa, for the chevalier. Reunited, they swear their love, and presumably go on to live happily ever after with song.

There’s nothing remarkable or memorable about this series except that it made it 4 volumes. And I bought and read all 4, so I guess that is remarkable, but probably not memorable.

As bad guys, Umiyuri and Towa were tremendously unfocused. I never knew whether they actually knew what they were doing or not. The trials they created were banal and the story never seemed to know whether we were supposed to pity or dislike them, so I ended up doing neither. I hope Sekai and Yozora are better at screwing with the next “Lu Couple.” (I don’t speak French, but neither does Tagami-sensei, apparently)

Ratings:

Art- 8 Utterly moe, everyone looks 6, but also kind of weirdly elegant
Story – 7 Inconsistent, oddly paced, unbelievable, and yet I kept reading…
Characters – 5 I kept waiting for Umiyuri and Towa to be outright evil, but no.
Yuri – 5 Kisses and intense vows of eternity
Service – 1, purely moe/innocent

Overall – 6

So why did I keep reading this all the way through? I think it was because of Sekai and Yozora’s earnest earnestness. I can’t think of any other reason, so they had to appeal to me as a “Lu Couple” or I surely would have stopped reading.