Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


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.





Upcoming LGBTQ Comic/Yuri Manga Events

September 21st, 2014

DSCN5321For folks on the East and West Coasts of the USA or in and around Tokyo, Japan, there are a number of events of interest coming up and I *hate* reports that start “Oh, hey, I did the coolest thing this year and forgot to mention it was happening in time for you to plan to be there!” So, in order for some of you to make plans to be at these events, here are several upcoming events that I think you might want to make an effort to attend!

 

GLFes 

October 19, 2014, Yokohama, Japan, Yokohama Minato Mirai, Hall Marineria (横浜みなとみらい・横浜産貿ホールマリネリア)

This is the 12th Girls Love Festival event and it looks fantastic this year.  I think this is their first time in Yokohama, and next year it appears to be back in the Tokyo area. I actually changed my plans this year to attend, because under the GLFes umbrella, one of the events is “Onaji Hoshi ni Umareta Futari” an all-Yuri Sailor Moon doujinshi event. Amano Shuninta-sensei (Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na) did the cover art and I felt almost obliged to be there for the first-ever all-Yuri Sailor Moon event, y’know?  ^_^

The way GLFes works is that there are a bunch of thematically-organized sections. There will be a KanColle “event”, the above-mentioned Sailor Moon section, Sakura Trick, Yuru Yuri, PreCure and whatever other series are popular will get their own sections. Tucked in between are original works which, as you may be aware, is what I like best. ^_^

There are no panels, but I will be with a few folks with coherent Japanese and hope that I can speak to a few of the folks there interviewy-like. Fingers crossed.

 

Geek Girl Con

October 11-12, 2014, Seattle WA, Washington Convention Center

The reason I will not be at NYCC this year is because I am going to Geek Girl Con. This year is the 4th GGC and I wanted to at least experience it once.  Pretty much the entire Panel Schedule is of interest to and focused on Women in fandom, gaming, media, comics, etc. What I’m not seeing a whole lot of is LGBTQ-themed stuff, which sort of surprises me.

Queerbaiting in Genre Television: Representation or Exploitation?

Gaylaxy Quest: Exploring Queer Fantasy and Science Fiction

are the only things I see on the schedule. There is a BL-focused panel. No Yuri, but I wasn’t applying to run one, and there are, as I always say, way more straight girls than gay ones.  There are some “Female Gaze” panels, but from experience I know that those tend to be very straight (and usually pretty objectifying men-focused) and not my cup of tea.

I know The Legend of Bold Riley‘s creator Leia Weathington is supposed to be there and I hope to hang with her and a couple of Friends of Yuri. If you’re gonna be there, do let me know and we’ll make time to catch up and say hi!

 

New York Comic Con 

October 9-12, 2014, Javits Convention Center, New York City, NY

New York Comic Con has gone back and forth on Queer presence and equity of representation, but this year they seem to be making a special effort to have a number of panels on Women in Comics and Geek Media. Here are few you probably don’t want to miss:

Prism Comics Presents: Women in Queer Comics

Women of Color in Comics: Race, Gender and the Comic Book Medium

The Mary Sue Presents – Strong Female Characters: The Women Shining in Geek Media

Because I will be on the other side of the country for the weekend, if you do attend NYCC, (especially any of these panels) and would like to do a write-up of your impressions, please let me know and I’ll give you a quick tutorial on how to write something up! Industry panels are written up by every blogger in the universe, but far fewer people cover the meaty topic-oriented ones. I’d love to have eyes and ears at NYCC. You’ll get a colorful YNN Correspondent badge to display on your webpage or social profile in thanks. ^_^

 

International Manga Festival

November 23, 2014,Ariake, Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Big Sight

The International Manga Festival, aka the Kaigai Fes, is held as a part of Comitia, the biannual all-original doujinshi event. Begun just a few years ago, the Kaigai event is getting larger and more exciting every year. A bit like the opposite side of the TCAF card, the Kaigai Fes has comic artists from outside Japan, and it’s a lot of fun, seeing folks who are bridging the oceans to communicate about comics and comicking.

Comitia itself is a very cool event. Because it focuses on all-original doujinshi, I’ve found some good LGBTQ narratives and some straight-up Yuri as well. Next year I plan on revisiting the Kaigai and Comitia and seeing how far they’ve come. ^_^ If you can’t make it, rest assured, a number of manga bloggers will be covering this event. Keep your eyes especially on Deb Aoki’s Manga Comics Manga site for news and reporting.

 

Winter Comiket

December 28,29,30, Ariake, Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Big Sight

World’s biggest small press and self-published comic show. Makes SDCC look like a baby event. It’s huge, intimidating and electrifying. Everyone who loves comics should do this once. ^_^ There are Yuri parody and original circles, but you have to work at it a bit to find them all.

 

And while this is 6 months out, I want to give you all a heads up for these 2015 events:

Queers & Comics – LGBT Cartoonists’ Conference

May 7-8, 2015, New York, NYC, Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS)
The Graduate Center, CUNY – 365 Fifth Avenue, NYC

The Keynote speakers will be Howard Cruse and Alison Bechdel.  More information can be found on their website or their Facebook page. I’m hoping to be there, although it means I will probably miss TCAF, because the world is like that, but I don’t want to miss it!

 

Toronto Comic Arts Festival

TBA, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I can’t rave enough about TCAF. It’s got a strong manga presence, a strong LGBTQ presence and it’s generally the most fun I have at a North American event. The 2015 dates and location(s) have not yet been announced, but if you can make it, do!

 

So there’s a few vacation ideas for you coming up in the next half year or so. If you’re going to be at Geek Girl Con or GLFes, let me know so I can say hi!

 

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Yuri Manga: Hoshi wo Futari de (星をふたりで)

September 17th, 2014

hwfdKazama Ayami’s Hoshi wo Futari de (星をふたりで) is her first collection of Comic Yuri Hime shorts, although her work has appeared in Volume 9 of Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, as well.

To be very honest, I almost stopped reading with the first story, an excruciating tale of a girl who finds it hard to say three words strung together and the girl who gives her a voice, but I’m actually rather glad I kept going. Ria is a transfer student, she and Natsumi bond over the book The Little Prince. Although Natsumi’s reticence is not presented as a condition, I chose to approach her speaking difficulties as if it were a stutter or other speech pathology.  But quickly, my handwave became meaningless, as Natsumi finds her voice, her confdence and her strength – not in Ria, but because of her.

The second story also had roots in a literary reference, as free-spirited Mimori and Sena bond over Miyazawa Kenji’s Night on the Galactic Railroad.

Despite Satsuki’s personality, Airi and she have been friends since childhood. But recently Satsuki’s been even more prickly than usual. Satsuki faces rejection and confesses her feelings, only to find them returned after all.

A popular fashionable girl shakes Chihana’s world, when they end up missing their physicals and having to change together, but it turn out that Hosaka thinks Chihana is cute, too.

Riho is happy for her dear friend Nako, now that she has a boyfriend and is trying really hard to be willing to include him in their together time. Nako finds it all uncomfortable and finally admits that she wants their together time to be for them alone.

The final story returns us to Ria and Natsumi as they spend a lovely day together celebrating Natsumi’s birthday.

The art in this collection is moe, and yet, completely tolerable, once I got used to it. The Yuri is firmly Story A territory, a few embraces, a few kisses, one shirtless scene, but no more, which was a good thing. In fact, in the one shirtless scene, the art style is radically different, so Hosoka looks her age, a touch that worked both for the story and for my mental well-being.

Ratings:

Art – YMMV, but I’ll go so far as to give it a 7
Characters – 7 Better than I imagined
Story -Variable, oh let’s say 7 for these as well
Yuri – 5
Service – 7 for the one scene, 1 for the rest

Overall – 7

While this book won’t make a Top Ten List for me, as a series of shorts, it was pretty enjoyable.