Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 6

December 27th, 2024

Two young women in summer yukata stand on a balcony looking at one another, as fireworks explode colorfully above them Volume 5 left us on a bit of a cliffhanger, as Saki accidentally allows her truest thoughts to be seen by Kanon.

The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 6, by Kuzushiro, picks up with Saki mortified beyond her ability to express and Kanon struggling to find words to address it. Luckily for both of them, life as a Japanese teenager is filled with enough activity to allow them both some space to roll around on their beds, screaming into the pillow.

Nonetheless, things are changing, Kanon has become aware that since she lost her hearing, she has not been a good friend to the people she leaned on. She takes a small step to caring about someone and something other than herself. Suddenly aware of all the people around her who have given her opportunities, Kanon is changing. Saki reaches out to the one adult she is pretty sure gets what she is going through, and Tomita returns to class with surprising results. Although they have spent most of the summer together, Saki suggests one special event for them to share watching fireworks together from her apartment balcony, where they take one more towards opening up to one another and to themselves.

Rinne finds herself changing as well. As a little sister, she was unable to help Kanon much, could only watch over her in a general sense. But she sees that Saki has changed her sister for the better and it’s made Rinne more willing to take a risk, a little despite herself. She encounters Chiyama, a girl with a condition that is not harmful but which has, and will, make her life difficult and unpleasant. Rinne decides to get involved and be a friend.

I have repeatedly said here and elsewhere (and to anyone I could pin up against a wall and tell) that I love this series. From my perspective – which is not that of an HHD person, but of a person who is chronically ill and had many of the same kinds of issues as both Saki and Kanon as a teen – this story does everything right.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – 2 Saki and Kanon in yukata is definitely meant to serve.
Yuri – 4 It’s only just begun.

Overall – 9

The Moon On A Rainy Night is a masterwork of manga and an outstanding example of how good storytelling can help us to be better.

I cannot *wait for you to read the next couple of volumes! Volume 6 is out now from Kodansha.





Hana ni Arashi, Volume 12 (はなにあらし)

December 26th, 2024

Book cover for Hana Ni Arashi, Volume12. Bathed in golden light, two high school girls wearing Japanese school uniforms of white blouses with blue sailor-style collars and blue skirts sit together on a commuter train, one smiles, one looks pensive.We met Chidori and Nanoha 5 years ago in real time, 3 years ago in their time. At the beginning, all we had of them being girlfriends was their inner thoughts, where they certainly believed they were, as amazing and embarrassing as it was for them to admit it to themselves.

In the last five years and 11 volumes, we have seen their love for one another grow. While they still have not been able to be fully honest with their school friends, they are planning on an immediate future together. Only..Nanoha’s college of choice is a trade school in Kyoto while Chidori plans on heading to Tokyo. Sure there is the train, but that’s not cheap and even at the fastest, the Shinkansen takes more than 2 hours. What they need is a miracle.

They’ll get a miracle, of course they will. These two are not tragic figures, they are the golden girls of a fantasy of a shiny, romantic, adorable lesbian youth. ^_^

In Hana ni Arashi, Volume 12 (はなにあらし), Nanoha and Chidori start working on a shared vision of their future –  sharing an apartment, coming home to one another after a long day, and living happily ever after. They haven’t quite had the opportunity to admit to this, so their friends  – who may not be as clueless as these two think – are surprised to hear that they plan on living together. Dousei? (同棲) one asks, and startled, they insist, no, no, it’s just a roomshare (ルームシェア). The difference is similar to “living together” as opposed to “roommate” in English. But that friend asked the right question, didn’t she?

We then are treated to a look back at how the two of them originally met to round out exactly how much they have – and haven’t – changed.

This series has one more volume to go! I’ve just picked up Rainbows After Storms, Volume 1 from Viz, so will revisit these two back at the beginning, before I move on to their future. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 7
Service – 0

Overall – 8

 





Qualia the Purple: The Complete Manga Collection

December 22nd, 2024

Manga cover for Qualia The Purple. The Complete Manga Collection. On a cover of purple stripes, a girl with long brown hair and big purple eyes looks up at us, her shadow spreading behind her.by Matt Marcus, Staff Writer

Qualia the Purple: The Complete Manga Collection is a story about a high school girl named Yukari, who sees all people as robots.

Ok, that’s not entirely true. This is a story about Manabu (aka Gaku-chan), a normal high school girl who is in love with Yukari but doesn’t quite realize it.

…Alright, you got me. This is a story not really about either of those things. This is a story about quantum mechanics and theoretical physics that happens to center on Manabu’s metaphysical attempts to save Yukari from an early death at the hands of an evil science institute.

Based on the light novel of the same name, this single-volume collection is just as confused as the intro of this review. It begins with a strong concept: Yukari appears to be a chuunibyou, but in reality she has the ability to deconstruct and rebuild matter however she seems fit. Manabu is a normal girl with something of a princely streak. You think you’re in for some sci-fi-tinged high school Yuri yearning, but somehow it develops into a plot about a serial killer.

And then, roughly a third into its length, it decides to pivot into a multiverse story that damsels Yukari, the girl who is practically Dr. Manhattan, in order to put the story in Manabu’s hands (Manabu even addresses this bait-and-switch directly to the reader). By design, she is an empty vessel with a singular goal. 

The story already made a leap into the unpleasant with the serial killer subplot, but the back two-thirds ends up making Manabu out to be a monster as she tries everything, no matter how unpleasant, to achieve her goal. Most unfortunate of these decisions involves Alice, a child prodigy who arrives at the high school to recruit Yukari to the aforementioned evil science institute. A major pivot point involves an alternate universe Manabu falling in love with her, despite her being younger by a fair number of years. Our point-of-view Manabu ends up developing a relationship with Alice as a means to further her goal of saving Yukari. The whole thing feels like an unforced error, since there is nothing about Alice’s character that is gained by making her a few years younger than the rest of the main cast.

One could say that it’s subversive how Manabu and Yukari’s relationship sits neatly in the old paradigm of undefined schoolgirl Yuri crush, while Manabu’s (hella problematic) relationship with Alice is unambiguously explicit in its romantic and sexual nature. That must have felt novel in 2009 when this story was first released, but today it has notably less impact. Also, I’m sure I could write an entire paper on how an “impure” (putting aside the age gap) queer relationship is instrumentalized in the service of a “pure” Yuri love, but frankly I’m too exhausted by the belabored explanations of the Copenhagen Interpretation and wave function collapses to bother.

The biggest flaw of this manga is that the book itself is a poor choice for visual adaptation. The vast majority of the story is told in narration by Manabu, and there are few if any moments that let the visuals speak for themselves. That said, there is one extremely funny moment that takes advantage of the medium.

Given its age, I can forgive a few of its sins. (The fact that a flip phone played a major role in the plot did get a chuckle out of me.) That said, it pales in comparison to a short story collection made from a very similar mold: Last and First Idol. Where the edgy elements in Qualia just made me wince, the visceral gore and violence of LAFI played punctuated Gengen Kunano’s biting satire, be it for idols, gacha, or whatever. Qualia plays it very straight which lessens its appeal to me.

I’d say that if you are in the pocket for some sci-fi Yuri and don’t mind a misstep or two, Qualia the Purple could be worth your time. But I would suggest the light novel over this manga collection.

Ratings:

Art – 6 Not a whole lot to write home about visually; doesn’t take advantage of the medium enough
Story – 6 More disjointed than compelling
Characters – 5 What’s on the page is pretty stock
Service – 1 Higher if you like detailed explanations of Schrodinger’s Cat
Yuri – 5 / LGBTQ – 5 Some old-school yearning, but also has a queer relationship as a plot element

Overall – 6 Would have more impact if this release time-traveled back to 2009

Thank you to Seven Seas, who provided me with a review copy.

Matt Marcus is a cohost of various projects on the Pitch Drop Podcast Network, as well as the writer for the blog Oh My God, They Were Bandmates analyzing How Do We Relationship in greater depth.





Maitsuki Niwatsuki Ooyatsuki – Monthly With Ooya, Volume 5 (毎月庭つき大家つき)

December 12th, 2024

Two woman laugh as they dance. A woman in jeans and button down shirt dips a woman in a casual outfit wrapped in a cloth in front of a basket of laundry.In Volume 4, Asako and Miyako move ever closer. Asako takes Miyako to visit her parents and it’s charming and heart-warming. The pair address Asako’s issues around her birthday and other “learning to be a partner to you” kind of things.

So, when we reach Maitsuki Niwatsuki Ooyatsuki – Monthly With Ooya, Volume 5 (毎月庭つき大家つき) the final volume of Yodokawa’s slice-of-adult-life story, what is there left to cover? Well, the initial premise provides us a chunky plot complication.

You will recall that landlord Miyako was, not too long ago, a lead singer with a popular idol group, Elm. Over the New Year holiday, Miyako and the members of Elm spend some time together…and are seen by paparazzi. Immediately, a rumor pops up that Miyako will return to Elm and take over once again. Miyako, having walked away from that life forever, is in distress and Asako isn’t really able to help.

Once again, this manga pulls out a resolution so elegant, so adult and so thoughtful that it is a tremendous pleasure to read what happens, and the consequences of the decisions made. Honestly fantastic. Fandom is shown as not being as fickle as tabloid press, which rushes to judgement, but there is a undercurrent of “this could go very dark.” Luckily, Yodokawa is not drawing that kind of series. Instead we get more instances of women supporting one another and a new relationship in which the partners are there for one another. Just what I needed to read this week.

My favorite panel is one that made me laugh out loud, very loudly, as Asako and her manga artist friend (and ride-or-die Elm fangirl,) Hatomori both react to the “breaking news” that Elm’s leader Miyako is now – gasp! –  a landlord! Fabulous art, and you can just *hear* them both saying “Oh, wow, who knew” in as flat and sarcastic a tone as one can get.

I have enjoyed every volume of this series, and while some part of me wises it did not have to end, I’m thrilled that it ended so well. I am also thrilled that you are able to read Monthly In The Garden With My Landlord, Volumes 1-3 in English from Yen Press now and Volume 4 will be on the way next spring.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Character – 10
Service – 0
Yuri – 10

Overall – 10

This story was never about the destination, but about the journey. And the journey has always been filled with friendship and emotional support.





Oshigoto x Buddy Yuri Anthology Comic (お仕事×バディ 百合アンソロジーコミック)

December 5th, 2024

Two adult women sit in chairs back to back in an office setting, as we look down at them from an angle. A woman with shoulder-length medium brown hair, her hands on a keyboard smiles, as she looks back at a woman with short, dark hair talking as holds a chart printout.Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing a Yuri anthology by a new-to-me imprint, LatteComi. TheJoshi-kou no Ouji-sama ha Watashi Shika Ganchuninairashi Yuri Anthology Comic (女子校の王子様は私しか眼中にないらしい 百合アンソロジーコミック) was pretty good.

At the same time I picked up that girl prince of the school anthology volume, I picked a second LatteComi anthology, Oshigoto x Buddy Yuri Anthology Comic (お仕事×バディ 百合アンソロジーコミック). I have finally made time to finish reading this and have found it to be good…but not as good as I hoped. That is, in part, my own fault. I’ll get there in a sec.

The anthology has 3 stories – the first is the closest to what I thought I might get. By Nomiya Rion, the story follows a “star” employee and the junior she is assigned…and the political complexities of that choice. But really…it’s about smoking.

The second story, by Pua, follows a young nail salon artist and the store manager she’s openly in love with. But really…it’s about nail art.

The final story, by Inui Ayu, is about a young pop idol and the clothing designer she adores. That one is…mostly about the relationship, but is also about clothes. ^_^

So why was I ever-so-slightly disappointed? I had hoped “work buddy” was more equivalent of the English phrase “work wife.” It’s not that we didn’t see people who were intimately connected because of work, but somewhat typically of Japanese workplace stories, the relationship was unequal in all three cases. I was hoping for more of two co-workers whose relationship was intimate and platonic and then, maybe, romantic. I borked my own enjoyment, woops. ^_^;  The stories themselves are perfectly fine, if a teeny little heavy on the admiration for a senior employee.

More interesting to me is that, while I was looking to see if LatteComi had anything else on Bookwalker JP, I found that both Inui Ayu and  Nomiya Rion contribute to a new imprint call YURI HUB – which seems to be connected to Yuri cafe Anchor Rainbow Port Tokyo and includes Anchor’s Yuri Senryu collection. Definitely take a look!

Ratings:

Art – YMMV but I say 7
Stories – 8 Fun, with little depth
Characters – 8 Likeable, if a little earnest on the part of the kouhai
Service – 0 Nothing memorable
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7

For a short 3-story anthology collection centered at “work,” Oshigoto x Buddy was a pleasant enough read.