In Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 of Magie Paire (マギーペール,) we met mage-in-training Maria and her powerful and beautiful onee-sama Reina. We also learned that Maria, although from a family of powerful mages, cannot use her power unless she is touching magical jujubee Unyu. We then proceeded to ignore this mystery in favor of multiple scenes of dressing and undressing.

Now we arrive at Volume 4, the final volume of this series by Takagi Nobuyuki. It’s now or never, as graduation approaches and soon Maria will lose her beloved Reina-oneesama and, presumably, her chance to become a mage.

But first…some service! A cat-demon has escaped and whatever it inhabits immediately becomes a lustful creature intent on getting a little sugar from who or whatever it admires. When it jumps from the cat to Reina, it causes all sorts of cat-eared havoc, including a kiss between possessed Reina and a not unwilling Maria.

This is followed by a challenge by Nagi for Maria’s position as Reina’s Suite. They set out on a quest, the winner of which will retain or take the position. They end up having to work together and Maria keeps her place, but Nagi vows to keep trying.

There’s still one Magie without a Suite. He possesses the power of water. All the other Magies and their Suites are betting on who he choses. When he picks Maria’s friend Yunagi, everyone is pleased.

And, finally, Maria and Reina face down the problem they’ve had since the very beginning – Maria not being able to use her magic. They conjur a magic creature that almost immediately goes out of control. When Reina is put in a dangerous position, Maria finally hears the voice of her sword, Valentine. At last she is able to access her magic and take her position as the next Magie of Flame.

Graduation day arrives and Maria asks the question she’s had in her heart since the first day they met – why her? She was completely unable to use magic, so…why chose her as Suite? Reina replies that it was simple -she fell in love with Maria at first sight. Their attempts at a romantic kiss are foiled by first Unyu, then Nagi.

Later that day, Maria steps up as the next Magie of Flame and announces that she choses Nagi as her Suite. No one is surprised except Nagi.

And, at last, as they say goodbye, Mari and Reina *finally* get in their first genuine kiss.

Takagi’s stuff isn’t high art. It’s full of random dress-up and panty shots, bathing and Yuri. And it’s full cute pinked-cheeked characters, UST (Unresolved Sexual Tension) and usually something only slightly resembling a plot. Whether you’re reading Casseiopeia Dolce or Pure Marionation, his stories are all, roughly, the same. ^_^ The setting is different, but the general sense of dressing and undressing is consistent. It’s not brain killingly bad. It’s not genius. It’s what it is. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 5
Characters – 6
Yuri – 6
Service – 7

Overall – 6

If you like your moe sweet and cute and slightly service-y without a nasty edge, Magie Paire will scratch that itch nicely.

Gokujou Drops, Volume 1, (極上ドロップス) is the second of two “phone comics” put out by Ichijinsha’s Yuri Hime magazine. This volume is a collection of manga delivered by phone as an extra to Japanese readers.

I’m curious how this works because, Japanese phones, while having a decent sized screen, don’t have a huge screen. Is it delivered one panel at a time, or the whole page and the reader reads it in bits, focusing in on the part they are reading? Perhaps some of my Japanese readers could take a picture of a cell phone manga for us.

In any case, Gokujou Drops is the story of Maezono Komari who has suffered the fate of many a freshman transfer student – she has been unable to line up housing. Ah, now that brings back memories….

The unhelpful school housing person (ah, nostalgia….) suggests she go beg on hands and knees to be allowed into the most exclusive dorm on campus. Komari does and is suprised to be let in – on one condition. She must become the slave of Himemiya Yukio, the resident classic Japanese beauty. And thus, Komari heads out on an adventure of “funny” sexual harrassment by pretty much everyone in the book.

In her first days, Komari finds herself sexually harrassed by the seniors in the dorm, which has the side effect of making her realize that she’s fallen in love with (and desire for) Yukio. And she’s sexually harrassed for getting so close to Yukio by Yukio’s “fan club” at the school.

In the end of the volume it seems as if everything will be okay, because Yukio and Komari definitely want each other. I’m sure that none of us think actually that “happily ever after” will apply here, not yet at least. :-)

The Yuri here is pretty fetishy. Sexual harrassment, incest, public sex, non-con. And for that reason, I’m not really a big fan of the series. Sure, Yukio and Komari are in love, but that’s like 1/25th of the Yuri. The other 24/25ths are for people who like their Yuri mean, and nasty.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 5
Yuri – 9
Service – 8

Overall – 6

I’m torn on this series. Sometimes I find it enraging, sometimes excruciating, sometimes – like today – it’s okay. Whatever. ^_^

What do you think of it?

Kisses and cats. Those are the words that define Takemoto Izumi’s Sakura no Kiwa (さくらの境) series. And Volume 4 is no different. (Available on Kindle only to JP IP addresses.)

No, that’s not true. In Volume 4, there’s less cats.

(For all my reviews of the Sakura no Kiwa volumes, click the link on the categories list on the right sidebar.)

Futako spends the entirety of the book slung around Sakura’s neck. Sakura has long given up on training Futa-chan, forcing everyone around them to just get used to the idea, including Sakura’s mother and father when they suddenly come home from Brazil and just as suddenly go back. Ichiko graduates, fails to get into university, Futako and Sakura graduate, they all take the exams again, and they get into university this time. Oh – and Crazy Cat Lady Aunt Tamako has this guy who isn’t her lover, but gee it sure seems that way.

But for the other 95% of the book, Futako hangs on Sakura’s neck and kisses her frequently. Not they they are lesbians or anything. They just live together, sleep together, kiss, embrace, share a bath, probably have sexual relations at this point, live with too many cats, are completely co-dependent and in every way are a couple except for they aren’t. Or so Sakura insists.

As the series draws to a close, Ichiko proposes four possible futures for the two of them – including one in which they marry each other – but they settle on the last, in which life basically stays exactly the same with Sakura and Futako living together with Ichiko and Tamako and 12 cats.

12?

What happened to the other two…? someone asks, as the scene, and the series fades away.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 7

For a series in which nothing happens, and the *same* nothing happens repeatedly, Sakura no Kiwa is light, fluffy entertainment. With no lesbians whatsoever.

In Volume 1 of Futari ha PreCure Splash Star , Saki is a the pitcher of her middle school softball team, Mai is a member of the art club, and neither of them are particularly special in any way, we are told.

…Wait.

Saki is a star pitcher and Mai is a brilliant artist but neither of them are *special*? Nice.

So anyway, these two exceptionally talented, but in no way special, young ladies see each other for the first time and something happens – they feel instantly as if they know each other.

Saki seeks Mai out, finding her at this big ole tree Saki also likes to hang out at and, as they talk, two things happen to these unspecial girls. One – the tree attacks them, morphing into an evil being and two, happy glittery lights start surrounding them, eventually resolving into two hideously cute stuffed-animal like creatures named Floppy and Choppy, who give Saki and Mai the ability – nay, the charge – to transform into PreCure Bloom and PreCure Egret and save them (namely, Floppy and Choppy.)

Oh, *now* they’re special.

The rest of the story follows the traditional mahou shoujo pattern, with Monster of the Day attacking and PreCure defeating, but that is not at all the story. The story is the surprisingly intense relationship devoping between Saki and Mai. You can put your Yuri goggles on low for this round of manga, let me tell you. Where in the original PreCure, Nagisa wasn’t all that interested in Honoka, who has a massive crush on her (well, duh! It’s *obvious*! lol) in Splash Star both Saki and Mai, each in their own way, want to become closer – quickly.

Saki comes running in to school with a list of questions – what’s you birthday, your favorite/ least favorite food, your favorite band, your type (“Well, I like them to be on the softball team, energetic, and be a magical girl on the side,”) etc, etc. Mai is initially taken aback, but eventually they do take that step forward. On Mai’s side, she’s always drawing in a sketchbook, but won’t let Saki see the contents. When, because of a magical attack the contents are scattered, no one reading the book is surprised to find that ALL the pictures are of Saki. Every last one.

Oh, and the bad guys? They get POUNDED by one, when they hit the other. lol They are otherwise completely disposable until the evil twin sisters arrive. Actually – this was a really fun bit of the book. Kaoru and Michiru are better at everything Saki and Mai do. But because Saki and Mai are nice girls, they are impressed, rather than jealous, which drive the evil twins *crazy*. There’s a scene where the entire class gets together for a welcome party for them and they are looking at everyone like, “What is WRONG with you people? We’re arrogant, nasty and elitist – you are supposed to hate us!”

Of course they are saved by friendship and in return save PreCure Bloom and Egret, taking one on the chin for their new friends.

The art for this manga is interesting – chances are you will either like it, or hate it. It’s not Sailor Moon -esque, with long-limbed beauties, and it’s not Kami-chan Karin, with hyper cuteness. The pages are full of movement and energy, with great swirls of lines and bodies in slightly weird, but very action-filled positions. Whether it’s Saki throwing the winning pitch, or PreCure defeating the MotD, the theme is ‘action.” I quite liked it, myself.

On the downside, the naming sense that gives us cute little creatures in PreCure, Mipple and Mepple and now, in PreCure Splash Star, Floppy and Choppy, makes Erica Crabby and Stabby. But on the upside, Floppy and Choppy hardly speak comparatively to their predecessors and don’t get in the way of the story much.

Obviously, nothing explicit is going to be happening in a manga like this. But for all that, the Yuri is, really, quite “obvious.” Which means it’s totally open to interpretation as all things are. I choose to interprate this iteration as Yuri. ;-)

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Yuri – 4
Service – 1

Overall – 7

Many, many thanks to today’s sponsor, Okazu hero Komatsu-san for all he’s done for Okazu, for PreCure and for Yuri!

(A few people have noted that I do not link the picture or title above to the Amazon JP entry for this series. That is because there *is* no entry on Amazon JP for any of the manga for this series. Looks like PreCure 5 Go! Go! is all that’s available these days. So, if you really want this volume, you’ll need to find another source. Sorry.)