Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: GUNJO, Volume 3 (羣青下)

June 20th, 2012

The third and final volume of GUNJO (羣青 下) is no easier to read than the previous two volumes. In fact, there are several moments that still manage to shock and appall, even with all we’ve been through.

“What would you kill for?” The brunette, Megane-san, asks the blonde’s, Sensei’s, sister-in-law, and she in turn asks her husband. It is a question that is buried deep in the heart of this volume.

Things we thought we knew, turn out to be not true, and the depth of the despair of Megane-san’s life only becomes truly apparent when she’s all but shed her last layer of emotional armor. Still, it is in moments where kindness manages to be felt for a mere moment, that brutality is the most harsh, and in the middle of the most intense violence when gentleness can be felt most clearly.

One of the questions asked back when I reviewed the first or second volume was – how much time has passed? I can answer that now – it’s been about a week, going on two.

As I read this story, probably about halfway through what would become the second volume, I conceived a wish – a hope. It was an insane hope, because there was nothing at all in the story that lead me to think it could ever come true. I desired, most of all, to see the two characters – the beaten, abused, unloved woman, and the woman who killed for her – smile. It was a ridiculous wish that could never happen.

The final half of this final book is the literary equivalent of lancing an infected wound to get the infection out. There’s really no other way to describe it. Page after page of confession, admission, digression, discussion finally brings the two characters through the last of their despair to the inevitable end of their story.

GUNJO is over and I have nothing left to say about it. It’s been wonderful, it’s been painful, it’s been sublime.

In the end, there’s only one question left for you to ask – Did they ever smile? You’ll have to read it and find out.

Ratings:

Overall – 10

Once again, I want to thank Nakamura Ching-sensei for creating this extraordinary story. 

Without question, GUNJO is the best manga I have ever read, and it encroaches deeply on the “best book I have ever read” list.





Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime, May 2012 (コミック百合姫)

June 11th, 2012

The May 2012 issue of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫), has a decent amount of good. For once it doesn’t begin with Yuru Yuri, it drops directly in to some one-shots.

“Sotsugyou Kinshi” by Ohsawa Yayoi reminded me of the good old days of doujinshi Yuri where the threat of graduation is tempered by handing over an apartment key, so separation need not be experienced.

“Inukami-san and Nekoyama-san” continue with that same kind of goofy 4-panel nothing really we’ve become used to from Kuzushiro-sensei.

“Fu~Fu” was sweet and really hard to swallow. Komugi is supposed to be seen as tsundere, but as usually with that type, she’s rarely, if ever dere and is mostly just physically abusive. It’s really not that cute. But Hayase loves her anyway and manages to get the point across.

“Rock it Girl” brings the band right up to their debut night. Despite Kaname’s self-esteem issues, they do indeed rock it.

Morishima Akiko-sensei’s “Futari no Milky Way” was an exposition of de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince and why life with people doesn’t suck all that much, really. ^_^

The story with the incredibly long title that I can never be bothered actually reading by Amano Syuninta actually seems to be settling into a plot. Lost, Sa-chan and Ruki get very close to talking about Sa-chan’s awful boyfriend, and I’m betting next chapter brings a climax to that bit.

“Step Up” by Takemiya Jin has introduced the phrase “Oppai-o gozaimasu” to my house and I may never forgive her. ^_^;

“Kimono Nadesico” is more fun to read than to write about.

And…we’re gearing up for something big in “Love DNA XX” as Erika gets confirmation that Sakura and Aoi like each other…a lot. Too much. I really, really hope this story gets brave and confronts the horrible glaring problem with itself before it wraps up. If this goes all tidy wrap-up on me, I’ll scream.

As always, there are other stories, some of which I read. For a full variety of the styles and stories, get a copy of the magazine and enjoy it for yourself!

Ratings:

Overall – 8





Yuri Manga: Kimino Tamenara Shineru (English) now on JManga

May 24th, 2012

At last! Now you can enjoy the goofy gags of Heian period gag comic KiminoTamenara Shineru by Kuzushiro, translated and edited by ALC, lettered by Carl V. on JManga!

In addition, to help you better enjoy the comic, Erin and I wrote a short essay about the Heian period, Imperial life and some choices we made about translation and transliteration. You should be able to read the essay as long as you have have registered on Jmanga, regardless of your subscription. I sure hope you enjoy reading this book as much as we enjoyed working on it. ^_^

 





Yuri Manga: Hana to Hoshi / Flower and Star（花と星)

April 30th, 2012

One of the things we don’t quite yet have in Yuri manga is a full blown love-hate rivalry on the field of athletic competition. With Hana to Hoshi /Flower and Star (花と星), we’re a little closer than we were before.

Hanai Sawako was a prodigy in competitive table tennis as a child. Faced with her first major loss, it broke her and she fled the sport. Now, years have passed and she’s ready to enter high school as a normal girl. On her first day, however, she sees a spectre from her past, the one girl who destroyed her careeer, Hoshino Shiori. Completely freaked out, Hanai-san feels her ideal world crumbling when she finds herself sitting next to Hoshino in class.

To make matters inexpressibly worse, when Hanai-san attempts to wake a sleeping Hoshino up in class, Hoshino gives her a sleepy smile…and kisses her.

Hanai-san is so put out by this that she can’t reconcile her feelings of distaste for Hoshino with ever-increasing like for the girl. All she wants, she’s sure, is to just avoid her completely…until an upperclassman informs her that there is a table tennis club at school and she’s paralyzed with fear. Hoshino steps up and explains that they – neither of them – will be joining.

The story shifts at this point, away from Hanai-san’s internal struggle to reconcile her image of Hoshino past and present, to a surprising backstory between Hoshino and the upperclassman. As Hanai-san starts to understand that their relationship is far more intimate than she realized, she now has the deal with a third, competing, feeling. Jealousy.

For some reason, despite the fact that she’s pretty unrealistic, I really like Hoshino. Something about her un-real reactions to things appeals to me. Hanai-san was harder for me to like, but I came around after the first few chapters. Her incompetent bumbling is a little obnoxious, though.

What will become of the two of them? Will they manage to be friends or is it destined for more? We still don’t know, as the story continues in the pages of Tsubomi magazine. But of the stories in the magazine, this is one of my favorites.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 1

Overall – 8

It’s right on the edge of a sports story and I have the perfect ending in mind for it. We’ll see if the creator, Suzukin Kalio, has the same ending in mind. ^_^ I sure hope so.





Yuri Manga: Pie wo Agemasho, Anata ni Pai wo ne (パイをあげましょ、あなたにぱいをね)

April 20th, 2012

Sakamoto Mano’s collection of stories that ran in Comic Yuri Hime, Pie wo Agemassho, Anata ni Pie wo ne (パイをあげましょ、あなたにパイをね) has no unifying theme besides “Women who love women.” But, there is an essence in several of these stories about perspective; that is, women who have a unique perspective are often lovable, even if they annoy the hell out of you. ^_^

In “My Unique Day”, Sorako falls for the star of her acting troupe and is a little surprised, but not displeased, to find that Miki likes her too. But Miki feels like she’s pushed Sorako too fast and distances herself. Will they patch it up and get together? Of course they will. ^-^

In the title story, Midori thinks there’s no reason at all that one can’t have a millefeuille for a wedding cake, even when her best friend Yuki scoffs, “It’s called a wedding cake, not a wedding pie.” Midori’s wacky take annoys the heck out of Yuki, but there they are, sharing a millefeuille, together.

In “Suwako-san Uchyuu Ryouko” Mikage falls for and has an affair with married woman Suwako-san and would like to take her away on a trip to the stars.

And finally, a lovely little story about two teen idols and what becomes of them years later.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story  – Average 7
Characters – Average 8
Yuri – 10
Service – 1

Overall – 8

A solid Josei collection of Yuri stories about women, rather than school girls. I’d like to make a “pie” joke just about now, but there’s no way it isn’t going to come out filthy, so I’ll pass. ^_^