Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, Volume 1 (あの娘にキスと白百合を)

June 12th, 2014

It was only a few weeks ago when I reported on Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo (あの娘にキスと白百合を), Volume 1 and I confessed that, almost despite myself, I was intrigued. Well, apparently, my intrigue was enough for the kind and generous Okazu Superhero Dan P. and here we are! Thanks Dan!

Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo (translated on the cover as “Kiss and white lily for my girl”) begins with a slightly irritating premise. At Shiroyuri Gakuen, one of the stars of the school is the beautiful, smart, talented and cultured Shiramine Ayaka. But, no matter how hard Ayaka tries, she cannot surpass the lazy, sluggard genius Kurozawa Yurine. It makes her crazy, especially as familial expectations for her performance come down to anything less than a perfect score and top ranking equals failure. And there’s Kurozawa, sleeping through class and acing the test. Ayaka is driven absolutely to distraction by her rival. I’m always frustrated with the “girl who works really hard just never wins against lazy genius” plot, but the story quickly moved away  from this.

As we all know from romantic fiction, rivalry leads to obsession, which leads to infatuation. Yurine is the one who leaps across the gap between them and brings them together, helped along by Ayaka’s cousin, Mizuki. Ayaka and Yurine are still obsessed about one another, in a good way.

Mizuki finds herself repaid for bringing Yurine onto the track and field team by finding herself in second place. She goes through a crisis, having lost her will to win, but Yurine fires her up and for the first time in a long time, Mizuki rediscovers her sense of competition. Mizuki’s partner in crime, Moe, is thrilled that she’s fired up once again, and they become closer than they were before. It’s not hard to imagine them as lovers.

Yurine had never managed to or cared to become friendly with her classmates, but now that she’s in love with Ayaka and on the track team, the sudden influx of other humans into her life has made her keenly aware of how lonely she is. On a day when she feels particularly not inclined to be alone –  but does not know how to approach others –  one of her classmates asks her to go shopping with her. Yurine spends a day doing incredibly normal things and find herself in tears of relief and joy at such simple pleasures. After Ai leaves her, Ayaka runs up to her, also in tears, mortified that she might have missed Yurine’s birthday. She give Yurine flowers, and they embrace, to Ayaka’s embarrassment. (A little side extra story, follows an adult female couple who sees them hugging in public and are motivated to take one another’s hand.) And, while Ayaka and Yurine are now an item, the final page lets us know that their rivalry is only going to get fiercer.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Very shoujo style art
Story – 8
Characters – 7 None of the characters are particularly realistic, but they fulfill their functions
Yuri – 8
Service – 1 on principle only

Overall – 8

For a “Story A” tale, it was pleasant reading, and we’ll see where it goes. This ran in Comic Alive, but it could have run in a girls’ magazine as is.

Thanks once again to Dan for the enjoyable read!





Yuri Manga: Inferno Girl (インフェルノガール)

June 11th, 2014

Kurokiri Misao’s Inferno Girl (インフェルノガール) is a collection of her Comic Yuri Hime shorts. It has no defining theme or factors, but has a few notable selections.

The first story, “Gateau Foret Noire” is a fanciful little story about love and desserts, in which a younger twin has to twist the arm of her older sister to get her to return another girl’s heartfelt feelings. I want you to understand that it took me longer to find the correct spelling of「 ガトー・ド・フェルノワール」 than it will to write the rest of this review. ^_^; I liked the sister forcing her twin to own her own feelings, although the rest of the story was a bit thin.

“G.G.P” was, erm..an awkward story about condoms, why sex education should probably not be left to classmates and another couple who is reluctant to admit what they feel. I was pretty much okay with it, until the final page, when I just felt that the condom imagery was taken one step too far into, “get the fuck out of this book.” ^_^

“Ningyo Plastic” almost felt like it was going to have strong impact, as it touches briefly on being outcast and outsider in school, but it never really gelled for me.

Two idols meet up professionally, but their relationship blossoms privately in “Prism Emotional.” This was probably the most solid story of the collection. Certainly the most entertaining.

The final story honestly made me cringe when I read it in Comic Yuri Hime.”Lobotomy to Kowareta  Kajitsu” is a ham-handed look at a rape survivor and the friend who means well, but would probably not really be very helpful.

The final story is an epilogue to “Gateau Foret Noire”.

As I type this, I suddenly realize that almost every story in this collection meant well, and tried to touch on a real, important topic; Abandonment, Rape, Being Ostracized, but the moe art, the short page count and a clear lack of conviction meant that they fell short of the intent.

Ratings:

Art – 7 Well executed, typical current style, but not to my taste
Stories – 7, which is to say they were really 6, plus 1 for trying
Characters – 5 Probably with some time, a few of them would have been great
Yuri – 8
Service – 4 Some partial undressing, rape implied not shown

Overall – 6

I wish one of the stronger stories had been better, or the one good story had been stronger. Instead, in the middle of all Kurokiri-sensei’s hard work, the dumb story about the idols is the best. orz





Yuri Manga: Aishi no Salome　

June 9th, 2014

aishinosalomeThe June issue of Bessatsu Hana to Yume includes a special edition collection of Takao Shigeru’s Yuri short “Aishi no Salome”.

I first read the news about this collection on Comic Natalie, but the short description did not particularly thrill me. Two “contrasting” girls in a boarding school meet and fall in love. Okay, great! Then what? Nothing, as far as I could tell, so I wasn’t rushing off to get this volume. But there I was in San Jose, CA in a Kinokuniya and there was the volume and I thought, “Oh, okay.” ^_^

Takao Shigeru doesn’t usually draw Yuri, she’s best known for Teruteru Shonen and has a historical drama series “Madame Petit” running now. I guess that’s the big draw of this story, that a manga artist that is relatively well-known drew it.

Aya and Sango are two girls living at a dorm who have something deep and intense between them…but for the life of me, I have no idea what. The 40-something pages of this story contain two screaming matches and at least one emotional breakdown per character, but we have to do a lot of work to imagine that their relationship is worthy of all this drama. But, let’s just presume it is and that when Sango and Aya run away at the end to live together, their kiss is a signal of “happily ever after.” Why not? There’s no reason to assume it is but equally, there’s no reason to assume it’s not.

Ratings:

Art – 9 a pleasant mix of classic and modern
Story – 6 Weaksauce but it was meant as a short
Characters – If only we knew ye
Yuri – 8
Service – 5 Wedding dresses

Overall – 6

It wasn’t bad, just a little confusing. How did this get a special edition?





Yuri Manga: Binetsu no You Na (微熱のような) Ends in Feel Young

June 5th, 2014

ScanA couple of months ago, I noted that Yamaji Ebine has begun a new series in Feel Young magazine. Binetsu no You Na went three longish chapters and has now wrapped up.

In my original review I said, “So far this story is, as many of Yamaji’s recent stories have been, uncomfortable.” And so it remained, right to the very last panel. I suggest you read the first review before you decide if you want to read the rest of this one. ^_^;

Even after Nao is told flat out by Mifuyu how she manipulated Nao, Nao comes crawling back to the other woman. The final scene, in which Nao succumbs to her attraction to Mifuyu, is no more appealing or empowering than earlier scenes, in which she is manipulated into sleeping with her teacher or Yoshiaki. And, in the end, instead of owning her weakness, Nao still blames her absent first love, Taki, rather than admitting that she’s just weak.

Again, quoting from my previous review, I say, “The last few Yamaji works have felt more like her working something out than actual stories. This one feels more like a story, but imbued with a struggle I’m not able to understand.”

Ratings:

Art – Her usual sparse style 9
Story – 6 Tight, but uncomfortable
Characters – 6 Ultimately, the only one I could feel anything about was Yoshiaki
Yuri – 8, but ugh
Service – 4

Overall – 6

I spend the entirety of this story thinking “What on earth happened to Yamaji-sensei that all we’re getting from her these days are stories about rape and manipulation?” I hope to heavens it’s just editors wanting her work to be more “gritty.”





Yuri Manga: Rainy Song (レイニーソング)

May 25th, 2014

We start today’s review with a “well, I never expected that” moment. ^_^ In 2010, I was exasperated beyond tolerance by Momono Moto’s Kimi Koi Limit. The protagonist was, I felt, unlikable and selfish and the most interesting character was treated poorly. I never expected to see poor Hiroko again. Well, here we are 4 years later and there’s Hiroko again!

We begin the first story in Momono-sensei’s current collection Rainy Song (レイニーソング). with “Aru Shoujo no Gunjo”, a bittersweet story about a girl who shares in the relationship highs and lows of fellow train commuters, and her attempts to cheer up Eri, a woman who loses her female lover to marriage. It’s not  happy story, but I quite liked it – and it’s the strongest story of the collection

Following this, we turn to “Kurayami no Asterisk,” the story of underachiever Tendou Nozomi, known as ‘Ten’. She’s gone through school and just hasn’t found her purpose in life. Right now she is unmotivated by a job at a cafe and sees no particular goal for herself. So when she meets, and falls for attractive, polite and slightly sad Hiroko, she find herself in turmoil. I found myself amazed that 4 years later we were finally learning what happened to Hiroko after Sono left her.

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Hiroko has an office job where she does her work competently, but doesn’t connect with anyone, and she works nights at a friend’s “ladies” bar. She, like Ten, is moving through life on automatic. When the two of them meet, it will throw them both into confusion. But ultimately they find each other and, we hope, happiness.

In “Snow Frakes” a long-delayed confession is finally conveyed, to the delight and sadness of a best friend.

And in the title story, “Rainy Song” a persistent fan in school becomes a friend to an aloof musician.

What a change in personality-types from Kimi Koi Limit! For one thing, there are none of Sono’s hideously selfish behaviors here, and while Hiroko starts of sad, there’s only a little moping to be dealt with. This collection has surprising depth, despite the reliance on shorts, especially given how superficial the story in Kimi Koi Limit was with all that length. Momono-sensei has a much more mature feel in this volume and her ability to convey complex emotions is touching and entertaining.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri/Lesbian – 8
Service – 1

Overall – 8

A much, much better sequel than I could have ever expected. And, it was an unexpected pleasure to see Hiroko happy.