Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


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.





Yuri Manga: Ryuuzaki-san to Torao-san ~ Yuri Hime Short Story Collection (龍崎さんと虎生さん ～百合姫短編集～)

September 1st, 2015

RyuutoTora-275x388Well now, Kuzushiro’s Yuri Manga: Ryuuzaki-san to Torao-san ~ Yuri Hime Short Story Collection (龍崎さんと虎生さん ～百合姫短編集～) was a bit of a surprise.

It begins with a spin-off from Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san, following the alpha predators of the zodiac and the Student Council, Ryuuzaki Inori and Torao Mari. You may remember that Mari is a foul-mouthed broad and, to be fair, Ryuuzaki isn’t much better. Almost unbelievably, they bond over their love of baseball and eventually fall in lust…and love. In the Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san series they are the most incontrovertibly couple-y couple there is.

Almost all of the stories that follow pair mismatched girls, one of whom is manipulative, the other manipulable. In some cases the manipulable one turns out to be not what she seems at all, sometime the manipulator becomes the manipulated. There is a some not-fully-consensual sex, and a lot of not-nice characters, which in some way is a pleasant departure from Kuzushiro-sensei’s stock of “earnest but crazy” comedy. But for all that this is a decidedly darker book (darker even than Love Desu, with all it’s violence) it was still a good read.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – Variable, let’s say 7
Character – 7, but often quite dark and/or unpleasant
Service – 8
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8

I would be glad to spend more time with Ryuuzaki-san and Torao-san. Their burning passion and blazing anger is far more appealing to me than the cute, fuzzy, yet ephermeral crushy gags of Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san.





Yuri Manga: Kinoko Ningen no Kekkon  (きのこ人間の結婚) Guest Review by Bruce P.

August 26th, 2015

KNnK1

OMGOMG! We have a Guest Review! Not just any Guest Review, a Guest Review by the incomparable Bruce P.! And not only a review by Bruce, but his 10th review here on Okazu! Settle in, folks, this is going to be a heckuva ride, but you’re in capable hands. Take it away, Bruce!

Heavily discounted, pulled from a dark shelf in the way, way back at Mandarake, Kinoko Ningen no Kekkon  (きのこ人間の結婚) by Murayama Kei had the aura of nasty all over it. From the half-dressed bubble-headed girls clinging to each other on the cover to the title itself—Marriage of the Mushroom People—it promised awful. Really awful. A Yuritetsu for the mycological set. Naturally I snapped it up.

Well, it isn’t awful. I don’t intend to sound disappointed, but in fact, it is actually a ripping good story, in a quirky sort of way, if you can get over the fungus-infected spiders. Definitely in the sub-genre of hobby enthusiast’s manga, written to appeal to anyone who has specific interest in both (a) mushrooms, molds, and allied fungi, and (b) Yuri, and who doesn’t want to have to read two books to get them. But Yuritetsu it assuredly is not.

Ariara and Eriera are getting married. Yes, they are mushrooms, which accounts for their being dressed in filmy mushroom stem annuli. It’s not service, it’s…botanical precision. Their marriage is a very special event in Damp Town. Not because they are both women, there’s nothing unusual about that in a world where the entire population happens to be female, but because it’s a great opportunity for everyone to get happily plastered. And that they do, as A and E head off to their new home and life together. A is a shepherd and E had been a scribe but is now learning the shepherding business, so that they can always be together, out in the fungus fields happily shepherding away. They’re so darn cute as they guide their flock of one-celled amoebas into the abattoir and lustily hack them up into sandwiches.

But their bliss is short-lived, even in mushroom years. Eriera gets sick—it’s root rot—and it’s very bad, and though she lives through it, the operation leaves her disfigured and unable to bear children. Or to father them either, which is the efficient way these things can work in this world. Ariara angrily rejects the clucking advice of sententious townfolk who suggest she should divorce damaged goods. They’re married, they’re in love, they will stay together and that’s that.

Or is it?

One of those little ‘Honey, maybe I should have told you this before the wedding…’ items that Eriera just never got around to mentioning, was that as a child she had attracted the affectionate interest of a very important person indeed, a member of the royal family—the young Princess #3. The all-powerful Fungal Queen and her three princesses are dangerous, arrogant, and psychotic, enthusiasts of strict legal interpretation when it suits them, and of arbitrary capital punishment when it doesn’t. Exactly the type you want to hear is carrying a torch for your wife. Princess #3 arranges to have E kidnapped and brought to her, because she’s a princess and can do what she wants, and have fun doing it. Her minions oblige, leaving A behind in a bloody heap.

That’s their mistake. Because Ariara gets up, wipes the blood from her eyes, and sets out to bring Eriera back. And throughout the entire rest of the book there is nothing that can stop her. Slime-mold guards riding tarantulas she brushes aside. Sheer cliffs she scales with one arm behind her back. Rings of magic fire she leaps through, mighty sword Nothung in hand…well, you get the idea. She actually is impressive. Very impressive. And she wins. She brings Eriera home.

There was never a doubt. Not for someone so focused that she can abruptly coldcock the muscular young woman who has helped them to escape the princess’s castle tower, on the basis that three’s a crowd.

There is a curious epilogue in which Ritsu from K-On! rides in on a tarantula, which seems a rather natural fit, at that, and winds up with a cute girlfriend. It’s not Mio, but that may be for the best. They look very happy together.

The art is pleasant enough, though hardly stellar. It’s somewhat sketchy, and occasionally a little obscure. There is a scene in which Ariara takes a rifle-wielding guard hostage. She does so by threatening her with what might be a banana. If so, it’s an effective banana.

Yuri is the natural backdrop in the world depicted, and the framework for the main couple’s story, but it is not the point of the story. Only one character actively engages in a little Yuri frolicking: the insouciant Princess #2, who doesn’t appear much, but when she does is considerably more interested in fiddling with her cute handmaiden than in overseeing the provincial merchants’ production inventory valuation lists (imagine).

Ratings:

Art: 6. Somewhat rough and ready, but fair enough to support the story. Not hesitant to depict all ages—young, old, and very old—quite naturally. The muscular characters (the scribes, who are stone masons as well) are very muscular indeed. And the different fungal species are well drawn. If you want to consider that a plus.

Story: 8. A fun little yarn. The plot does occasionally slow down at some long-winded legalistic discussions about things like boundary marker disputes and fishing rights.

Characters: 8. Good; bad; ugly; Ritsu. An interesting mix. The royal family are wonderfully psychotic. Ariara is a standout hero.

Yuri: 9. It’s everywhere, as framework, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Service: 5. The filmy fronds (on young, old, and really old alike). Nothing more.

Overall: 7. Or 8. I’m going to give it 8, possibly because I was expecting such a tiny number here.

…and so Ariara has scaled the royal castle tower and is frantically kicking butt to rescue Eriera, when E helpfully states that violence is never a solution. And then she says it again. At which point A replies, in effect, Oh for Chrissake…it can’t be helped.

They’re married all right.

Erica here: Holy….what the heck did I just read? (◎_◎)
Well, if, after this review you are motivated to check this out, the first chapter is online on Poco2.  
Happy 10th review and thanks, as always!





Yuri Manga: Iono The Fanatics, Special Edition Volume 1 (新装版 いおの様ファナティクス 特装版 1)

August 24th, 2015

specialiono1-e1435708804900Ten years after she premiered, Iono-sama is back and in a shiny new edition from Ichijinsha!

The story is the same adorable little ditty about a Queen of a small, unnamed western country with a fondness for women with black hair and Japan, generally, that we fell for the first time. Her adventures as she meets and recruits heartbroken and slightly forgetful Hachibe Eto as a lady-in-waiting makes up the first part of the book. The second half is filled with her efforts to recruit more ladies-in-waiting, with some amusing results, one excruciating running gag and one assassination attempt. This story is ten parts comedy to one part awesome cool.

In my 2007 review of the English-language edition, I got something wrong. My major complaint was the translations of names. I was particularly incensed at the translation for Iono-sama’s driver and special police captain. I felt that the choice of “Fletch” was, well, ugly and out of tone for the story. And I stand by that. Freshi, as I first translated it, wasn’t correct, and “Frechet,” which was my second choice, isn’t right either, however. Her name should have been Flèche, which is French for “fletch” and would have been a correct transliteration for her katakana name. So, I was wrong and I apologize, but I still think Infinity did a generally half-assed job on the translation. (Does this matter, you may ask? Obviously, it does to me. Names are important. I am reading a translated manga right now set in medieval France and a name that has an obvious French version has been transliterated in the ugliest way possible. It makes me unhappy every time I see it. )

You would think there was nothing left for me to learn in the older chapters, but you’d be wrong! One of the candidates in the lady-in-waiting contest is fortune-teller Shishio Teru. I hadn’t noticed this before but her bio mentions that her little sister is into jinxes. At which I screamed “A-HA!” and bounded out of the chair, at which my wife looked up and said “Crossover?” since she knew I was reading a book by Fujieda-sensei who does love his crossovers. ^_^ I reached for Ame-iro Kouchkan Kandan and found that Shishio Haru is the full name of Sarasa’s friend who runs a jinx website. How did I miss that crossover the last 18 times?

New for this volume are a few extra pages at the end, including strips on each of the characters and an afterword by Fujieda-sensei on the tense negotiations for this new edition. (I’m joking. Ichijinsha said, “How about we do a Drama CD?” and Fujieda-sensei was all “Yipee!”)

This edition is packaged with an original drama CD, which I’ll take a look at tomorrow. ^_^ Overall, it was *so* nice to be able to revisit Iono-sama and her staff. Especially as there are new chapters following Iono-sama and Eto’s daughter running in recent Comic Yuri Hime issues. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 10
Service – 1 Just some implication of making out

Overall – 9

Don’t bother commenting that you hope this will be picked up for license. Seven Seas has already flat out said they won’t. If you want details on that decision, take that up with them. In the meantime, learning to read Japanese is still an option. ^_^