Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Kohaku no Kijo (琥珀の貴女)

September 7th, 2023

A woman with short dark hair leans over a woman with long reddish-brown hair in bed. Today, I am conflicted. ^_^

Kohaku no Kijo (琥珀の貴女) is a short story collection by Higashikawa Mizo and, like most short story collections, it has some tropes of short story writing that places it directly in the middle of my aversion to short story collections. ^_^; On the other hand, the art and some of the writing was pretty solid.

The first story relies on what has become a standard Yuri trope – a woman falls for the sex worker she hires.  This is complicated by the fact that the woman really knows nothing of the sex worker’s life, and is missing a great deal of information. An unlikely twist occurs, but they find a way to help one another. The next story is wrapped around a manipulative relationship and for this one, the handwave is that it has lasted for a unreasonably long time.

The next story was the one where I put the book down and thought – do I want to keep reading this? Which has lead to today’s conflict. The answer to “do I want to keep reading this” turned out to be “yes,” but then it shifted to – is there something here worth writing about? In this third story the twist is again rather tragic and the narrative equivalent of a truck slamming into you – blunt and designed to damage. Not to put too fine a point on it – not every short story needs a twist.

So why am I reviewing this book? Because despite the fact that all the stories, including the heavily emotional final story, are rooted in tragedy and conflict being avoided/denied until it is too late, there is a complexity to the characters. They aren’t just victims of their imaginations, or lack of initiative, or self-preservation. They are actively looking to see the good in other people….even when other people are the problem.

Ratings:

Art – A solid 7, with moments of 8
Story – 5
Characters   –  6 Very cloudy skies clearing up
Service – 1 a little bit for effect
Yuri – 8

Overall – 7

The theme, while not enough to make me “like” this collection, made me want, in the end, to review it. It’s been a tough year for me, I’m not really in the mood for tragic twists and unpleasant partnerships that linger….but I am reminded that even in dark places, some people are decent. It was a good reminder.





Otherside Picnic, Volume 6, Guest Review by Sandy Ferguson

September 6th, 2023

The cover of Otherside Picnic, Volume 6, manga, makes it clear we are about to enjoy the common trope of the “beach episode.” At least from the cover it looks like Toriko is enjoying herself, whereas Sorawo has her usual look of, ‘how can I possibly be happy with the fact that this gorgeous blonde wants to hang out with me?’

In Volume 6 we have the conclusion of The Kisaragi Station Marines Rescue Operation, then the fun part of the ‘Resort Night at the Beach of the End’. Then another story from Kozakura’s perspective, ‘Ms. Yozakura’s Food Spam Livestream.’ 

First, there is thrilling climax to the rescue operation where the Sorawo and Toriko tag team bring this story to a satisfying conclusion, with some classic Otherside Picnic dialogue from the Marines in response to their success.

What struck me was how successful the manga is in conveying a moment of quiet after the Marines have gone, that provides an effective backdrop for a touching moment of intimacy between the accomplices Toriko and Sorawo as they deal with the emotional consequences of their actions, and what it reveals about their evolving relationship.

And then off to the beach, because girls just want to have fun, well at least Toriko does.

There are obligatory moments of accomplice panic from Sorawo as she wonders what is more terrifying:
a) discovering that they have somehow ended up on a beach in the Otherside, or
b) dressing for the beach in the presence of Toriko.

In this volume we are given some fleeting glimpses of the happier days of Sorawo and Toriko’s lives, a rarity in the usual narrative of loss that are their backstories. Indeed, these glimpses may be seen as a backdrop to the unusual aspect of this volume, we see the Otherside as a place where Sorawo and Toriko can chill and have fun, free from their fears of the social pressures of this world, in this case the fun consisting of drinking beer and shooting guns.

In this volume the Otherside becomes, for a moment, more nuanced. It is not just a place that provokes terror or triggers insanity, but a place that can bring for Sorawo and Toriko moments of connection based on simply enjoying being with one another. But this being the Otherside, things change, and Team Sorawo and Toriko once more must face the terrors of the Otherside, and the artwork rises to the challenge.

In the bonus story we discover more about Kozakura’s gig as a virtual YouTuber and the nature of her avatar, in what I found to be an interesting reflection of her past relationship with Satsuki Uruma. This YouTube session centres on food, with unexpected contributions from Sorawo and Toriko’s bender in Okinawa. There are also moments when Kozakura shares her pungent thoughts on her dealings with Sorawo and Toriko, as well as her thoughts on the nature of Sorawo and Toriko’s relationship.

Story – 9
Artwork -9
Character – 8, I enjoyed watching Sorawo and Toriko learning to have fun together.
Service – 9, it is a beach episode, though tastefully done. And Sorawo discovers how comfortable Toriko is in her presence…
Yuri – 7, this volume explores the various levels of initimacy growing between Sorawo and Toriko

Overall – 9

All in all, another great read.





The Moon on a Rainy Night, Volume 1

September 4th, 2023

I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am that you get to read The Moon on a Rainy Night, Volume 1! This masterwork by Kuzushiro hits English language shelves tomorrow and I implore you to get it if you haven’t already.

Amayo no Tsuki (雨夜の月) has been one of my favorite series since it launched last year – Volume 5 was reviewed here just last week, in fact. I’ve been a fan of Kuzushiro-sensei’s work for ages and was able to bring Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru (姫のためなら死ねる) out in English in partnership with JManga.  So this is technically not the first time Kuzushiro-sensei’s work had been published in English, but it is the first time in print and so well-positioned for success.

The Moon on a Rainy Night follows the lives of Saki, a typical student in high school, and her classmate Kanon, who is hard-of-hearing. Kanon has isolated herself from her classmates after a painful misunderstanding in middle school so, when Saki is asked to be her friend, Kanon asks her to just not.

Saki and Kanon are thrown together by random circumstances, but their friendship radically changes both their lives in ways that they could not have possibly predicted.

Disability manga is not entirely uncommon. For instance, we’ve been talking about Kabi Nagata‘s mental and physical health since 2016. But there is a reasonable pushback from disability advocates on “inspirational” portrayals of disabled and chronically ill folks gaining unreasonable success “despite” their limitations. No one needs that shit. What we get in Moon on a Rainy Night is the coming together of two people who help one another to become their best selves. Saki reaches out to understand Kanon – she begins to learns sign language to make it easier to communicate and brings Kanon into situations in which she can thrive, instead of hiding from stress. Kanon learns to become part of the larger community – without compromising her own needs. It is a fantastic tale of what “accommodation” ought to look like in a perfect world. Saki and one of the teachers  makes space for Kanon to participate in student life in ways that allow her to feel included on her own terms.

This doesn’t mean life is perfect for Saki or Kanon, which means that there is room for them both to grow – together and separately. As I said in my review of this volume in Japanese, “I’m glad it neither fetishizes nor romanticizes deafness. Instead, it is a bit of an explainer manga, which gives Kanon a chance to speak for herself and to correct Saki’s mistakes and misunderstandings.”

Kuzushiro’s art has really matured over the last few years. There’s amazing reaction shots and this will continue to develop as the story goes on. The storytelling is a little rough in the very beginning, but soon finds it’s own pacing. It’ll pick up speed as the story progresses.

Kodansha has done a fine job of bringing this volume over to us. Kevin Steinbach’s translation feels as natural as it can be, given that in this volume, the characters are still being developed by the creator. Above everything, it feels like young people talking, which I very much appreciate. Jamil Stewart’s lettering is solid, with the Kodansha house style of doing matching captions to the Japanese. The English reads smoothly, great job on editor Andres Oliver.  And the cover design by Phil Balsman captures the feel and colors of the Japanese edition.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7 This will go up as the narrative matures
Characters – 9
Service – Let’s say 1 on principle but not really
Yuri – Also mostly on principle right now, but that, too, will change

Overall – 8

I am so, so glad this manga is here! It is at the top of my list for possible best of the year.  The Moon on a Rainy Night is a Yuri series that can and should be read by everyone.





Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 5 (雨夜の月)

August 31st, 2023

In my fevered anticipation for The Moon on a Rainy Night, Volume 1 coming from Kodansha next week, I was thrilled to have the newest volume of the series in Japanese, Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 5 (雨夜の月) to read this week. This volume is full of wondrous scenes, amazing transformations and an uncomfortable lesson.

At the end of Volume 4, we left Kanon determined – for the first time in many years – to be an active participant in her class’s culture festival activities. Why she’s closed herself off has become more and more apparent as we get to know her and understand her circumstances.  But Saki, unwilling to accept those circumstances as the end to the story, has been instrumental in assisting Kanon to break down the walls she’s built. This is a key point because while Saki is convinced that the walls should come down, she is not doing any of that herself. She’s allowing Kanon to find ways to do it herself; Saki is there when Kanon needs support, holding the doors open, but never does Saki force Kanon to do anything. This is not an inspiration porn story, about “achievement despite the odds” – this is a story about finding ways to support one’s friends with an open heart and mind.

And, so… Kanon and Saki accompany their enthusiastic otaku classmate ‘Nabe to pick out maid costumes for the class cafe. ^_^ Kanon’s mother  takes on a new student – their teacher’s daughter, which gives Kanon’s mother and the teacher a chance to have an adult heart-to-heart about hardships of being a parent.

Artistically, I really enjoy Kuzushiro’s way of expressing people’s energy through expression and body language. ‘Nabe-chan and Haruka-chan are high-energy people and we can tell from the art, the text, the way they move and speak. It’s pretty great.

And then…we learn what happened to Tomita, the girl who apparently could not stand Kanon or Saki and who, with her friends, have been whispering about them in class. (I called them bullies in earlier reviews and I stand by that. Bullying can be passive as well as active. Anyone undermining someone else’s peaceful existence is, IMHO,  a bully. Whispering and staring is a form of othering meant to make the other person feel unwelcome.) Tomita had volunteered to conduct the choir then appeared to bail on Saki, leaving her to handle the whole thing herself. It turns out that there are a number of factors in her dislike of Kanon….and some complicating factors to her life now. As with Kanon’s middle-school issues, sometimes there are things you just cannot fix yourself, even if you were aware of them.  Life, Saki and Kanon are finding out, is more complicated that we’re aware of.

As the story winds down, Kanon gets a glimpse into the secret Saki has been hiding from her….and it throws them both for a loop.

Kanon, having been alone for so long, now finds herself surrounded by people with whom she would like to interact. But now, having broken down those walls…Kanon and Saki will have to address what they are to one another. Whatever the outcome – I can’t wait!

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – 2 Maid costumes and animal ears
Yuri – 4

Overall – 9

This was a great volume of a great series, running full stop with high energy. I am so, so happy that you’ll get to read it!





I Don’t Know Which Is Love Volume 1, Guest Review by Luce

August 30th, 2023
A woman with blonde hair looks excitedly at the women which we see reflected in her polished nails.Soraike Mei, on the day of her high school graduation, had her heart broken by the girl she’d had a crush on for three years. In college then, Mei swears, she WILL get a girlfriend! Absolutely! So… what happens when she suddenly has five candidates vying for her time and affections?!
 
Folks, we’ve seen this all before in het manga, now it’s our turn: the Yuri harem. I Don’t Know Which Is Love, Volume 1 does not hang around letting you know that, introducing all five love interests within less then fifty pages. Are you ready? Keep your hands and feet inside the carriage at all times, and hold onto the bars. We have:
 
Shirosawa Riri: first introduced as boobs (less skeevy than it sounds? Mei is just too gay to function) she is an idol of some sort… Potentially a more racy model than a singer, based on the pictures we see. Takes ‘first girl’ slot.
 
Todomeki Maria: Mei’s advisor, a professor in psychology, and the very opposite of a stuffy old man,  she’s ‘the older one’. She accurately guesses that Mei is ‘into girls’ (for some reason the word lesbian isn’t used), says that there are ‘lines you can’t cross’ with them being professor and student, turns on the professional talk about the advisor side of things… Then tells Mei to let her know if she wants to cross the line. At least Mei is also an adult here?
 
Minato: on the more butch side of things, Mei meets her when she goes to get a coffee, and again instantly falls in love with how cool she is. They meet again later and Minato persuades her to give her theatre troupe a try, as she really likes Mei’s voice. At a drinking meet up with the troupe, Mei then meets…
 
Ajima Karin: one of the actors in the troupe, designated by one of the boys as the ‘kiss-crazy’ senpai. And indeed, before she even knows Mei’s name, she asks to kiss her, Mei hesitates for 0.3 seconds (yes, it tells us this) and they kiss. Karin propositions going back to hers together, but Mei has to get back for her dorm curfew. Heading back to her dorm, her roommate isn’t in yet, but while she’s sleeping…
 
Kunimasa Kaoru: The roommate! Mei is asleep when she comes in, but she immediately stated that Mei ‘reeks of other girls’ and… strips her of her clothes and gets into bed with her. Then proceeds to call her a body pillow for the rest of the manga.
 
All introduced in 45 pages! A whistle stop tour of Mei’s college girlfriend candidates, but as she says at the end of chapter 1: she just doesn’t know which is love!
 
That said, I think with the explosiveness of this first chapter, I don’t think any are ‘love’ right now, definitely more lust driven. This is not a chaste harem by any stretch of the imagination: Kaoru (consensually, if slightly hesitant) sticks her face in Mei’s boobs to smell her, it’s implied that Minato gets off to Mei’s voice over a call, Mei looked up hot pics of Riri (seems to be a page 3 type model), and Karin is definitely going for more than kisses and cuddles.
 
I’ve not seen another manga go at such a breakneck pace. We get all the introductions, then a second encounter with each of the harem members, usually of a somewhat racy variety. The author stated that they differentiated the love interests by having them interested in different things about Mei, (like, uh, her scent… Her voice… I think it’s loosely ‘the five senses’ – Minato is sound, Kaoru is scent, Karin is taste, Riri is most likely sight, which makes Maria touch, I guess) which is a more novel take on it.
 
The concept does seem to get a little puzzling though – for someone who, in theory, expressedly came to college to get a girlfriend, Mei isn’t open about being a lesbian, which seems odd to me – I know we joke about gaydar, but surely you need to put yourself out there a bit. Wait, no, it’s basically a glass closet, because of how strongly she reacts to women: put it this way, no one questions whether she’s straight. What confuses me more is that towards the end, she states that beyond kissing is something you’d only do with a girlfriend – which feels somewhat in keeping with her as a sheltered lesbian, but also a little odd considering the rest of the book. I mean she’s been fine with girls’ faces in her boobs and being in bed naked with them, but now she objects? Although if she didn’t and decided to go with casual sex, the main conflict would go away, so.
 
Ultimately, this is a lesbian fantasy manga. It’s just not that deep. Who will Mei pick in the end, if just one? Who knows. Normally in a harem manga, it would be the ‘first girl’ that tends to win out. It’s certainly still possible here, but as Riri’s not a childhood girl or has any sort of long standing relationship with Mei, she is on a more equal footing to everyone else. Mei is not really pro-actively pursuing any of them and is kind of just going with the flow, so it’s more down to the love interests than her, at the moment. Have your cake for now, Mei, it’ll probably work out.
 
 
Story: 6
Art: 7
Yuri: 11
Service: 8, no detailed nakedness, but plenty of roaming hands and bra shots
Mei being too gay to function: over 9000!
Overall: 7
 

If you want a daft, fairly raunchy Yuri harem… Well, this is your only one, I think. But it is fun, and you never really know what’s going to happen next – honestly, I have no idea. Join the lesbian roller coaster, folks. Or as Yen Press themselves tweeted, watch Mei pick up girlfriends ‘like Pokémon’. Collect your picture as you exit the ride.

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