Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Sakura no Kiwa, Volume 4

January 9th, 2009

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.





Yuri Manga: Futari ha PreCure Splash Star, Volume 1

January 2nd, 2009

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.)





Yuri Manga: Clover

December 26th, 2008

Otsu Hiyori is a darn good storyteller. Not many mangaka are. If they can draw, they often can’t write. Vice versa applies, as well. And even if you have an awesome team of artist/writer, if the magazine’s editing staff has specific, overwhelming requirements, or they aren’t good at their job or any number of other things, the end result can, to coin a phrase…suck.

Not so with Otsu Hiyori, whose deft, light-handed touch makes for individual stories that read pleasantly and, when collected, turn into a little slice of wow. One such slice is Clover. It is a collection of stories that ran in Comic Yuri Hime and one fabulous omake chapter that makes it all the more ‘wow’-er.

Let us begin at the beginning. I *completely* missed that the stories that make up Clover were about 4 sisters. Sure, they all had the same family name, but I never noticed their family name in the first place. And the stories are told in non-chronological fashion – and the magazine comes out 3 months apart, so pardon me for not noticing, okay?!? ^_^

So, the Tachibana family has four sisters, each of whom have had at least one relationship that involves falling for another woman, or having one fall for them. They are all very cool about it; it’s not screaming, knife-wielding drama for this family (nor for any of Otsu’s characters ever, really.) And for most of the sisters it was but a fleeting moment in time. Except for one.

In “Bitter Girl,” Midori finds herself at rope’s end working at a cake shop during the holiday season with no help. She asks the girl who drops by all the time to help out and so, Sugiura starts to work with her. As they work together, they talk about themselves and ultimately, Sugiura and Midori start going out. Midori’s not entirely sure about this, because she thinks she’s doing it as a lark, but when a boy asks her out, and Sugiura breaks up with her to free her up, Midori realizes that she’s fallen for Sugiura! She runs after the other girl, only to catch up to her and find that despite the cheerful face she had on when she said goodbye, Sugiura is crying. Midori and she are honest with one another at last. The story had a nice extended epilogue in which we learned that Sugiura really don’t like cake at all – she liked the girl at the cake shop. ^_^

The collected volume Clover also has an extended epilogue omake that finds Sugiura and Midori still together 3 years later. Sugiura is in law school and always busy; Midori is home, feeling a bit resentful of playing the role of the wife. She feels as if she’s being taken for granted and is starting to rethink this relationship. When she confronts Sugiura, the other woman falls apart instantly, as she did all those years ago. Midori realizes that she was misinterprating Seiko’s feelings completely, and the two of them patch it up instantly. On the final page, we see Sugiura, now a successful lawyer (we can tell because of the suit,) being seen off by Midori – and so we can assume happily ever after.

I just loved this collection. Otsu’s stories rarely feel typical, even when they are playing in safe waters. There’s always a feeling of self-awareness about the characters, as if they are looking at themselves and seeing some of their situation from outside themselves. Otsu’s style fits the atypical stories – the ones set outside of high school – best, because her characters are so often mature and laid-back.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Stories – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 1

Overall – 8

A great book, one that will fly under most people’s radar because there are no mecha, no sex, no over-the-top melodrama. I know Seven Seas can’t bring over the more explicit Yuri Hime books and if they bring this out it probably won’t sell well because “nothing happens.” But this is a *fabulous* example of Yuri that does not suck and I hope that they can bring it over here and you can all prove me wrong by making it a best-seller. ^_^





Yuri Manga: GIRL FRIENDS, Volume 2

December 21st, 2008

Ladies, let’s talk about when you first fell in love with another woman. Was it a friend? A teacher? A neighbor? Or was it your best friend – that person you always wanted to be with, who made you laugh the hardest and with whom you had some much fun that you never wanted to go home?

Remember the moment when it became something more? When you realized that you wanted to be with her when you were apart, but when you were together, you were so keyed up that you wanted to throw up. When you laid there at night thinking about her, wondering what the hell were you doing, thinking about her all the time?

In Girl Friends, Volume 2, Morinaga Milk absolutely *nails* the exact level of self-inflicted torture of being >this< close to the person you want, and can’t have. Mari is torturing herself over the kiss from last volume. She’s sure that if Ah-ko finds out, she’ll repudiate her. After days of barely being able to be in Ah-ko’s presence, Mari finally admits to the kiss. Ah-ko laughs it off as just something girls do sometimes. Mari’s relieved, but in her heart, she knows that she and Ah-ko aren’t speaking the same language.

A distraction from Mari’s flagellation comes in the form of an old schoolmate who, it turns out in a giant handwave from the plot complication gods, always liked Mari. He asks her out and, pleased to have someone else to focus her attention on, she agrees. A-ko, suspecting something is up, invites Mari over to play dress up, do her makeup and other girly things, in preparation for her big date. Almost immediately, A-ko realizes that Mari’s lukearm feelings for this boy are unfair to both parties. A-ko pushes the issue and Mari admits to liking someone else. A-ko insists that Mari has to tell that person – right away! Mari pushes A-ko back and kisses her, explaining that her feelings can never be returned.

Mari leaves A-ko sitting alone in her room, dealing with this sudden and forceful comprehension of her friend’s emotions. The volume also includes two “extra” chapters, in which we get sexy cosplay and teacher rumor service. ^_^

So, behind the girly shopping, clothes, hair, makeup, nails, etc, this story takes a turn for the realistic. In fact, Mari’s feelings are some of the most true-to-life I have ever seen regarding a first same-sex love in a manga. It might seem to many that the manga is moving slowly, but I say that this is a good thing for two reasons – one, we can see an honest look at the evolution of a girl’s feelings. (When you are falling in love for the first time, with your best, same-sex friend no less, you’re far more likely to spend weeks trying to assimilate these new feelings before ever even thinking of it as love, much less fantasizing about dragging them right off to bed.) Two, it means that there’s more volumes to come.

So few Yuri manga go to three volumes, much less longer; it’s nice to see something that’s taking the slow route to conclusion.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Yuri – 7
Service – 5

Overall – 7

All in all, a surprisingly decent tale behind all the frills and sparkly girly stuff….





Yuri Manga: Sneek Peek at Yuri Monogatari 6!

December 19th, 2008

It’s just about that time again, when we roll out a fantastic new all-Yuri anthology. Yuri Monogatari 6 is available on Amazon and directly through the Yuricon Shop.

In the meantime, I wanted to give you a glimpse in between the covers, so you can get an idea of what you’ll be seeing this year!

 

 

 

 

We are very excited to have Circle UKOZ returning with their beautiful and subtle stories. The book starts off with two stories by Nishi UKO: “Grass” and “Make a Style,” both of which are sequels to the story in Yuri Monogatari 5, following teachers Zuka-chan and Enomoto in their relationship.

Newcomer Maria Bieganska has drawn a surreal and evocative story about loss, need and love in her tale “40 Minutes.” Sample of the art can be seen to the left. It’s dreamlike and beautiful.

 

 

 

 

In “Sakura Gun,” lesbian novelist J.D. Glass tells us a tale of the epic fight against evil and to protect the ones you love, in this side story to her newest novel American Goth. Sample on the right.

Mike Hayes and I have teamed up together to teach you “How to Tell The Difference” – because we’re pretty sure you all need the help. lol

In “Miho-chan’s Memories,” Rica Takashima looks back at little Miho’s early years, to point out that some things are just…obvious. lol

Sobiyuki and SirKozz’s collaboration “Jaded” (on the left here) is a classic gangster flick/film noir with guns, beautiful but deadly dames and a twist or two.

What do you get the girl who has *everything*? Althea Keaton ponders this age-old conundrum in “For the Girl Who Has Everything.”

Houjo KOZ, the second half of Circle UKOZ takes a long, hard look at exactly what “love” means through the words of a popular singer who never stops to think about what she’s saying, in “Sinful.”

A party, a major misunderstanding and a looooong list of “Univited Guests” cause humorous chaos in Jessie’s B’s world of cracked characters.

 

Coming out isn’t really ever simple – and in “Simple,” (seen on the right) Sophia Kudo reminds us that sometimes our sexuality isn’t the only thing we’re dealing with.

Greyscaled’s “Speak Love” is a look at the end of a relationship – and the ironic turn that it takes to put it back together.

And we end the anthology off this time with a lovely, poignant story by Eriko Tadeno about the trials, tribulations and triumphs of a really long term relationship in “30th Christmas.”

Several other extremely talented individuals have also contributed to this volume: Susan Knowles, Sirk Tani and cover artist Kristina Kolhi have all provided art for our viewing pleasure.

There you have it – an early sneek peek at the upcoming Yuri Monogatari 6!