Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Ohana Holoholo, Volume 5 (オハナホロホロ)

July 29th, 2013

OMG you guys. Ohana Holoholo, Volume 5. (オハナホロホロ)

So, we left Michiru and Maya split up at the end of Volume 4. It sucked, but it kind of made sense, as Michiru was very focused on growing the fuck up already.

Maya is doing her best to live alone; she’s not doing a good job of it, though. She’s grieving for two relationships – the possibilities of a life with Hidesuke and the realities of life with Michiru and Yuuta. Niko-kun comes home one day to find her unconscious on the floor.

But there’s a character in all this who forces the climax and it’s not Michiru, nor is it Maya. It’s Yuuta. Yuuta, who does not understand grownups, but knows he loves Maya and wants to see her. He asks Michiru if they’ll ever go home and he really does not understand the answer…so he decides to go see Maya on his own.

Unbeknownst to any of the adults, he ends up taking a train to the only name he can remember. He wanders the seaside, gets distracted by a million things and pulls himself back on track. After a long day, he finds himself at Shinjuku station (which is complicated enough if you’re a grownup, mind you) surrounded by strangers.

What happens next is, yes, a handwave, yes it is a deus ex machina, but a very welcome one. ^_^ With a series of hints as to where he might be, eventually our intrepid 3 year old is safe in the arms of a panicking Maya and Niko-kun. He’s fast asleep when Michiru makes it to Maya’s place. With Yuuta being watched over by Niko-kun, Michiru and Maya are able to have it out between them.

Maya asks for another chance at being a family.

Michiru says they already are a family.

They kiss.

“To Be Continued”

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 9
Service – 1

Overall – 9

I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see “To Be Continued” in my life. ^_^





“Tokyo Love ~ Rica ‘tte Kanji!?” named a “Best Manga for Grownups” at Comic-Con

July 23rd, 2013

We like to think that it wasn’t just because we’re friends with most of the panelists at San Diego Comic-Con’s 2013 “Best and Worst Manga” Panel, that our own Tokyo Love ~ Rica ‘tte Kanji!? was included on the list of “Best Manga for Grownups.” ^_^

Many thanks to Brigid, Deb, Christopher, David and Shaenon.

Experience Rica Takashima’s look at lesbian life and love in Tokyo in the 1990s for yourself. Read Tokyo Love ~ Rica ‘tte Kanji!? for free, legally online! Enjoy!





Comic Yuri Hime, July 2013 (コミック百合姫)

July 10th, 2013

I’m not dead yet, really, just moving slowly through the stuff on my pile. Soooooooooo slowly.  The next few days I am also in and out doing the summer trifecta of beach, theater and amusement park, so don’t expect anything new for a few days – I’ll be busy having fun outside. ^_^

Summer has landed and with it, the July issue of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫). The cover tells a single-page story of young love.

This is followed by what I’m thinking might well be a fun new series. “BGMRSP” (“Bousou Girlsteki Mousou Renaiteki Suteki Project”) follows two childhood friends who are totally unalike. Aoi is boyish, athletic, tall and Beniko is girlish, sophisticated and cool. Now they are both in a girls school and each have a harem of devoted fans. So they decide to have a harem competition. School is now a harem-gang warzone. I have no idea if I’ll like this story or not, but I have to give it points for originality!

The entirety of the first half of the issue was uninspiring for me (and the reason I was slogging through it so slowly. Lots of…stuff I’m not interested in. Halfway through the issue I almost flew over to Japan and slapped the editors. In a “Happy Wedding!” Special, they ignore everything important about marriages between female couples to provide utterly fatuous advice like “make sure you buy Yuri manga.” Yeah, in a country that does not recognize the relationship between a chunk of your audience, I’m sure all the lesbian readers found that hilarious. Ugh.

Finally, at about 2/3 of the way through the quality picked up, with Takemiya Jin’s “Atchi/Kotchi/Dotchi” which is still mining the levels of misunderstanding between Satomi and Nana. Best line of the chapter. “What are you hiding from me?” “Ah, which one?”

Morishima Akiko returns with an older chapter from Rakuen no Jouken and new chapter following Serina and Sumi.

Tanaka Minoru’s “Rock It Girl!”  dives into Seira and Kaname’s childhood in a deeply unconvincing kind of therapy session.

“Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na Nanika (私の世界を構成する塵のような何か)” by Amano Syuninta gets Ruki and Sachi about a quarter step closer. And we get left with the image of Maasa as a child, doing ballet. I feel for her.

Ohzawa Yayoi’s “Strange Babies come to a climax as the penny *finally* drops for Yagi. Phew.

There is Yuri in this chapter of “Yuri Danshi,” but it still manages to be all about the guys. Gah.

The first half of the magazine kept putting me to sleep, but the second half had what I’m looking for.

Ratings:

Overall – 6

I can’t speak for anyone else but, all these years of reading about girls in school has given me an allergy to school uniforms. So very, very off-putting. Dear mangaka – try getting out more.





Yuri Manga: Futari (ふたり)

June 25th, 2013

In my reviews of  Otomo Megane’s previous books, Himitsu and Green, I focused on the problematic limitation of character types in his work. In Futari, this is somewhat less of an issue.

In the first half of the book, “Futari” (ふたり) we’re thrown into a conversation between a bunch of girls at lunchtime about rumors that two of the girls in another class are dating. What their friends don’t realize is that Kazumi and Motoko are a couple. Misa and Akari are also a couple, as are Mine and Aya. The 6 of them inhabit the same physical spaces and an encounter at the end of their story brings them all into the same emotional space, as well.

The second half of the book, “Sakura-iro Complex,” we watch a triangle consisting of  the least tough delinquent ever, “Yanki” Kisaragi, Student Council president Sanda and her friend, Saegusa.

The characters in the first half have little time to develop, but as a series of one-shots, it’s less hard to follow that some of the previous books. And pulling the first story together was more satisfying than leaving them all in a well. The second story is left unresolved, as it should be. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8  Same simple style, but it’s easier to tell who’s who
Story – 8 Credit for the first scenarios being beyond “Story A”
Characters – 6 No real time to develop and they are teens, so not much to develop
Yuri – 8
Service – 5

Overall – 8

While reading it, it wasn’t giving me warm fuzzies, but in retrospect it’s not bad.





Yuri Manga: Shishunki Seimeitai Vega, (思春期生命体ベガ)

June 24th, 2013

Special Edition With Drama CDFrom beginning to end, there’s a lot to like about Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei’s Shishunki Seimeitai  Vega, (思春期生命体ベガ).

First off, there are two editions available, a special edition with a Drama CD and a manga-only edition. They have different covers, both of which are pretty nice, so good luck choosing. ^_^

Secondly, Hayashiya-sensei does something that I’ve seen rarely, but that I really like. Way back, when Rakuen Le Paradis had her in for a test run, she did a one-shot Yuri manga about two women who are reunited as adults on a celebrity cooking show. While they discover that they were mutually interested in one another in school (which they attended together when they were young) the other host is forced to frenetically cook today’s dish, all the while rooting the two women on in her head. It’s zany and romantic and silly as hell.

In another issue, Hayashiya-sensei drew a really nice color picture of a female bodyguard and her charge. On Twitter she and I talked about how we’d both like to see her draw the story behind that picture. ^_^

And then she began Shishunki Seimeitai Vega, a story about an alien and the Earthling she loves – with all the slapstick wackiness ensues, drama and bloody noses one expects from her work. And here it is, collected into a single volume, in which she’s included – and integrated – the two one-shots in a way that is both highly amusing and gratifying.

The cooking show becomes the first chapter, which turns out to be something Arisa is watching on TV. Arisa heads to school and is met by her kouhai, Vegako – Vega, for short.Vega is an alien who protects this little seaside town from encroaching giant monsters. Her power recharges when Arisa kisses her. Unfortunately for Vega, Arisa doesn’t like to be asked to kiss her. Vega starves herself for power, trying to avoid annoying “sempai” until her lack of power threatens the town and herself. While Arisa runs to recharge Vega, she finds the girl being soundly kissed by an older woman. So soundly, in fact, that Vega transforms into her original giant alien form, one that Arisa and the town people haven’t seen in years.

The older woman is Ariide Swan, a Hollywood celebrity, who has come to town for the Japanese premiere her sci-fi movie “Deneb.” Ariide clearly knows Vega – and claims to possess her. Arisa instantly becomes jealous, but has no idea how to express it. After denying Vega kisses for so long, she just starts avoiding Vega who, predictably, feels rejected.

Their inability to discuss the issues and Ariide’s possessiveness has them all in a tizzy until a monster targets Arisa, specifically. Vega remembers how sempai glowed when they first met and Arisa realizes that Vega will glad sacrifice herself to save her…and they kiss. Vega blasts the giant monster to kingdom come, while Ariide (and poor Tanabe – a club member with Arisa and Vega –  who wonders, not for the first time,  why she’s  suddenly hanging out with a famous Hollywood actress?) watches.

In the epilogue, Ariide is telling Arisa about her reasons for running from Hollywood, when Reason #1 shows up at the door. Abby Albireo is another actress, much younger than Ariide, with whom she fell in lust, while working on “The Bodyguard 2029.” (Hence the smexy picture of her as a bodyguard…)  The epilogue ends with typical Hayashiya-style – comedy, i.e., punches and bloody noses all around.

The extras are a comic about the characters reacting to the news of a Drama CD (with more blood) and and an interview with the actresses for the Drama CD, which I haven’t had a chance to read. ^_^

The final nice touch on this book is that it has silver edging for a really sharp look. (No pun intended.)  The book is complete experience –  visually, emotionally and professionally.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 8
Story – 9
Yuri – 8
Service – 3 (+1 for Ariide being my “type.” ^_^)

Overall – 9

Reading Seijukuki Jinmei Vega was the manga equivalent of a really excellent meal. With dessert.

BTW, Vega is a star in Lyra, Ariide is (I’m guessing) short for Aldeberan, a star in Taurus, “Deneb” is a star in Cygnus, the Swan, hence Ariide’s family name. And Abby’s family name Albireo is also a star in Cygnus. Just a bit of star-spotting in the pages of what was in every way a great read. ^_^