Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


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

March 19th, 2012

I am absolutely overwhelmed with work this week (a week I desperately hoped not to be overwhelmed during) so reviews will be thin. My apologies in advance.

To start thinner-than-average review week off right, here is a not particularly chunky review of the March 2012 issue of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫). ^_^;

The new “cover story” is being told in pantomime, with few words. As it is a schoolgirl story with moe designs by Namori, I have already checked out of it and simply do not care what happens.

The first story of some note is an absolutely bizarre pastiche by Ohsawa Yayoi, that involves a computer website, two girls and a goat head. I will say no more.

Morishama-sensei’s “Koibana Valentine” remains adorable. The balance of older couple (Haha. Older. Like 26) and younger is delightful and never fails to make me smile. Plus, candy and sex. Win.”Love Preparation” by Takemiya Jin has left my household with a new phrase “Oppai-o gozaimasu.” I wish she hadn’t done that. ^_^

In “Fu~Fu,” we learn the reason for a random woman suddenly confessing her love to Kinana on the street…she had mistaken her for Kanana! Bwah~ bwah~ bwahhhh~~ Especially as Kana has a girlfriend now and one who is rather possessive. Oh, but don’t worry, Arata has no intention of backing off. Of course.

Sai Nica’s “Cirque Arachne” is clearly the story we really wanted from Kaleido Star and is making no bones about it.

There were, as always, a lot of other stories and your mileage will vary on all of them. I’m feeling the wind swinging back towards stuff I don’t like much at Comic Yuri Hime and it is not making me all that happy. OTOH, we usually get one meh volume and then one great one, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the next one is better. At this rate Yuru Yuri and Yuri Danshi will take over the whole magazine, though.

Ratings:

What I liked, I liked 8, but the magazine as a whole was 6





Yuri Manga: Hoshikawa Ginza 4-chome, Volume 2 (星川銀座四丁目)

March 14th, 2012

In Volume 1 of Hoshikawa Ginza 4-chome (星川銀座四丁目), we are introduced to Hoshikawa Minato, a teacher, and one of her students, Matsuda Otome. Hoshikawa-sensei had saved Otome from a life of neglect and emotional abuse and taken guardianship of the girl.

As Volume 2 opens, they have been living together for 2 years. We get some flashback chapters of their first encounters and the subsequent meetings with Otome and her parents that lead to Hoshikawa-sensei taking the girl away from her family for her own preservation.

But, although Otome has returned to school and is showing herself a capable student, Minato wants Otome to take supplemental lessons in order to do well on the upcoming middle school exams. Otome throws a hissy fit and enrolls in the school – but leaves Minato’s house. She asks her cram school teacher to let her stay. The fit is a bad one and Otome’s decision hurts not only Minato, but also a girl in cram school who has a crush on the teacher. Of course, it just about destroys Minato.

When she’s aced the exam, Otome returns to Minato, where they have a tempestuous reunion.

This manga continues to be the most problematic story I’ve ever liked. I really don’t care for the setup and the characters aren’t terribly real (and the story completely jumped the shark when a random cram school teacher allowed Otome to stay with her, for whatever reason…,) but they are also sympathetic and Minato is very well aware of their situation. I can’t really say I like it…but I can’t really say I don’t, either. Obviously, I’m still reading it, but not without trepidation. Volume three is going to step up my level of discomfort as Minato and Otome will have at least one discussion about the future of their life together and their relationship.

Ratings:

Art – It’s still Kurogane Kenn, so for me 4, but for others 8
Story – 7
Characters- 6
Yuri – 8
Service- 10

Overall – 7

So, while I can’t say I enjoy this book, I have to at least give it credit for being really honest, sometimes brutally so, about the problematic nature of the main relationship.





The End of GUNJO (羣青)

March 4th, 2012

I finally had a chance to read the final chapter of GUNJO, in the March issue of IKKI magazine.

I do not know what to say about it, really. It left me quite literally gasping for air. I sat there and panted for about two minutes, as I stared at the last page.

The ending was not what I feared it might be, it was not what I hoped it might be. It was infinitely better than I imagined, both happier and sadder that I expected. It contained something I wished desperately for and never truly believed could happen.

If you too have read it, please feel free to tell me your impressions in the comments. No spoilers, please. I do not wish to ruin anyone’s experience of the ending.

The third and final volume of Gunjo will be slightly delayed. According to her Twitter feed, Nakamura-sensei entered the hospital recently and, while she is back home recovering, her work will be slowed or suspended for some time until she is feeling better. I know I am not alone in wishing her a speedy recovery.

「羣青」ありがとうございます。Thank you, Sensei, for GUNJO.

It’s been a hell of a ride.





Yuri Manga: Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり) Volume 6

February 24th, 2012

Yes, yes, I know. I promised I was done with Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり)…if there wasn’t any Yuri, because for a “Yuri” anthology there’s been very little sign of it.

So, of course, I’m reading Volume 6 (I said I wouldn’t review it, not that I wouldn’t read it…) and it laughs quietly to itself as there’s actual Yuri to be seen. I guess I should threaten anthologies more often – it worked with Tsubomi, too. ^_^

As always I am skipping any story I didn’t like, don’t feel was notable or just have some resentment towards and want to see suffer. (That is a joke. Don’t get all “See, see? She’s a bundle of barely contained anger at the world!” on us.)

So the second story, “Hiragana-sen, Aiu Eki Yori” is a ridiculous meeting on the train between a cute girl and a “tough” girl that turns out to actually quite like the cute girl and everything that first appeared one way is something much more sensible. Even the title makes sense, eventually.

In “Shiroi koto ga Toi Dress” a girl comes out to her mother and she and her lover discuss their future plans.

“Anata no Tamenara” tells a very overblown story about a girl and her bodyguard. It was actually kind of funny, in a strange way.

Scarlet Beriko’s “Corolla 2” looks fantastic. I mean, visially it appeals to me in every way. Unfortunately, the story, which seems to wrap up with this chapter was kind of more of the same. But, hey, the girl got the girl.

In “Hajimari no Kotoba” Girl A confesses to Girl B, and is rejected but…it was sort of by accident. Paper snowflakes help them mend the rift poetically.

Despite myself, I really like “Under One Roof” the story of a college student and the lesbian whose house she rents a room in. I honestly wish we got a few more pages a month, but it’s not that there’s a story, just moments where Miho is starting to think about Fuuka in a new light.

“Sneaker no Kase-san” follows the title character as she takes her friend shopping for sneakers and a few fraught moments as they become very aware of one another and of the fact that they are on the same page.

The winner of the volume – and I’m just as surprised as you, believe me, is “Tsuki no Shita no Miyabi-chan” by Auri Hirao. The same Auri Hirao that writes Manga no Tsurikata. When Miyabi-chan confesses that she comes from the Moon, it’s not surprising that Neko isn’t convinced. Until, that is, the moon maidens come in through her window, demanding their Princess back. This story was funny, a little touching and just so out there it was hard to not like.

In Hakamada Mera’s “Saromelic,” Salome is painfully aware that she likes Hikari, but may not have the chance to do anything about it.

There were other stories, of course. Please feel free to discover them for yourself. I have no doubt that you will like them more than I did. ^_^ Still, I think this magazine is actually improving. It could still be a fluke. Volume 7 will be out next month and we shall see.

Ratings:

Overall – 7

I will be at MangaNEXT in Secaucus, NJ this weekend. Yuri Panel is 7:00 PM on Saturday night – there will be goodies to give away. “State of the Industry” Panel is at 11AM Sunday and otherwise I will be at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund table. Stop by and say hi!





Yuri Manga: Chou no you ni, Hana no you ni (蝶のように花のように)

February 15th, 2012

If ever there was a manga with “snark” built right into the title, it’s Chou no you ni Hana no you ni, which would translate into “Like a Butterfly, Like a Flower”. Or, maybe I’m reading into it. I don’t think so. ^_^

Kanda Itsuki is a suit-wearing playgirl, who has a lot of female fans in her office. She encourages them in every way, because she *likes* being the object of admiration by women. Her co-worker, Nishino Kyaka, is neither besotted by Itsuki nor interested in her, and is confused as to why the girls go so gaga over her, when she’s such a gigolo. Despite not being “interested” in Itsuki, Kyaka’s a good friend and an important tsukkomi to Itsuki’s boke. In fact, their dynamic leads to the one truly funny line of the book that is going to lose any punch at all in translation. Here’s the strip:

They are out on new Year’s day doing their hatsumode, the first shrine visit of the year. The upshot is that Kyaka smacks Itsuki after she says something dumb, and answers her with a Osakan accent, to which Itsuki replies “Ah, so that’s your first tsukkomi of the year.” The joke is the phrase  “Shinnen hatsu…kkomi.” Which is a play on “first /whatever/ of the year” and tsukkomi. Anyway, it made me laugh out loud. (^_^);

One of Itsuki’s obsessive fans is part of the cast, and her creepy obsession is creepy and not really funny, but when one of Itsuki’s ex-girlfriends arrives, that is marginally more interesting. Up until that point we weren’t really sure that Itsuki was actually gay. Now we know she is, and later we learn that she had female lovers from high school on.

Annnnnnd…once you get a good look at Itsuki and Yamamura Mikiko, her ex, you suddenly realize that they are Sei and Youko. ^_^

The end of the book supplies one minor conflict. Kyaka is asked out by a guy. Kyaka takes pains to hide it from Itsuki, although she’s not entirely sure why. When the guy confesses that he likes Itsuki, Kyaka’s peeved, but also discombobulated as to who, exactly, she’s jealous of. When Itsuki arrives, saying she’s been trying to track Kyaka down, Kyaka’s half annoyed and half relieved. When Itsuki tells the guy to bag off, Kyaka’s more relieved than annoyed.

We then back up to when they met, and Itsuki’s unsuccessful macking on Kyaka, and the beginning of their friendship.

We’re *clearly* supposed to see that Kyaka has genuine affection for Itsuki and it’s entirely possible that Itsuki actually genuinely likes Kyaka, but that’s not the story, so any effort thrown into that direction is all but wasted. That’s what fanfic and fanart is for, after all. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 7 (8 if the fact that Itsuki is Sei and Mikiko is Youko and, if you want to go there, Kyaka is Shimako, means anything to you)
Yuri – 6
Service – 1 Loser FanGirl for Suit-wearing playgirls – 9

Overall – 7

In the mean time, Chou no you ni Hana no you ni is a 4-koma gag comic set in an office instead of a school. For that alone, I’m glad I read it. Like most other 4-koma gag comics, it’s not going anywhere, so the best thing to do is read a few pages at a time, and just relax….the gags are the point.

My very sincere thanks today to Okazu Superhero George R for sponsoring today’s review off the Amazon JP Yuri Wishlist! That was a fun read and I’m totally game for volume 2.