Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Comic Yuri Hime December 2023 (コミック百合姫2023年12月号)

November 19th, 2023

A girl stands before a door in a school with one hand on the door, wearing a blazer uniform, while two girls in sailor-collar uniforms walk away down the hall, one looking back at her. Everything is grey.And so, another year of Comic Yuri Hime magazine comes to an end. I had to buy another storage container and move a few years off my shelf so I have room for more – I can only keep about 3-4 years at a time on the one shelf where the current issues live, depending on the size of the issues. The 2023 volumes are visibly larger than 2022 and I can see that 2024 volumes are looking to be getting closer to 600 pages again. It’s been an amazing process, watching this magazine go from quarterly to monthly, and being a corporate partner to successful anime and multiple kinds of contests. What an absolute ride these past 20 years have been. When I look at Comic Yuri Hime December 2023 (コミック百合姫2023年12月号), I’m thinking about endings, but no series actually ended, except the cover story.*

There is one series, however, that will end with the next issue and I wanted to talk about it, because since the first chapter it has been a textbook example of how *difficult* it is to serialize a story. ^_^ So instead of me paging through the magazine, saying “here’s the stuff I like” let’s talk about a series I have not actually reviewed here, for reasons of my own.

Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata, (君と綴るうたかた) localized in English as The Summer You Were There by Yuama, has had a literal fatal flaw since the very first chapter. Shizuku is an author, but she is clearly, visibly traumatized by human contact. Kaori is an ebullient reader of her work and, not coincidentally goes to the same school. Kaori asks Shizuku to write her a novel, but Shizuku, full to the brim with PTSD, is totally blocked. When Shizuku learns Kaori is dying, that does not help free her mind. But as the chapters continued, Shizuku has done a lot of work, in order to become the person Kaori saw her as.

The story has had to do some interesting things to get us to this penultimate moment. Firstly, Shizuku’s initial trauma was that she was the aggressor in an incident in elementary school and has never forgiven herself. The story takes time to parse this and the incident and aftermath is resolved. But, after all that time and care it turns out that “not forgiving ones’ self’ is not enough of a trauma to explain Shizuku’s very obvious PTSD. Much as characters we are told were “neglected” by parents, when their behavior shown signs of being a victim of CSA simply doesn’t sit right. (I am told that Citrus did, eventually, create a more plausible story for Mei’s behavior than parental neglect. As I have not read any of it beyond the first few chapters, I cannot confirm. If so, I think that’s good, narratively speaking. It was a horrible inconsistency in the story.) I am not a fan of trauma porn, but if you’re going to create a character who behaves like a victim of trauma, the story ought to be consistent.

Interestingly, in this case, Shizuku’s story is given a coda. Having been shunned by classmates for being “scary,” Shizuku takes to writing. She finds an online site and becomes a successful author. But with fame comes abuse and, at 13, Shizuku is alone and unable to cope with the harassment online. She stops writing, and becomes the recluse we met in the beginning of the story. At which point, we understand and her behavior actually, finally, makes sense. Was this series originally meant to be more than a volume or two, in which case the initial scenario might have been enough? Or was this planned? It feels more like the former, as that piece of the story comes in after the initial conflict is put to rest. Nonetheless, it was a good use of the (possibly extra) space and time.

Now we get to current issue and we have to reckon with the other huge weakness in the narrative. Kaori either must die as we have been told she will for years now, or an impossible and annoying miracle will occur. We have been repeatedly told that her condition is fatal. Even as she heads into surgery, we know there is no happy ending here – this surgery cannot save her. The final chapter hit shelves yesterday in Japan and there are a number of likely endings: One, Kaori dies, Shizuku goes on to plumb the depths of this horrible point in her life to become a famous author. Two, Kaori miraculously survives. Three, Kaori lives a little while longer, helping Shizuku become the person she wants her to be, then dies off-screen when Shizuku is helpfully older and more capable of coping.  Four, this was all a story that adult Shizuku was writing for Kaori and none of it happened. All of these have positives and negatives, and everyone’s opinion on what will work are different. I know how I would end it. ^_^ I’m hoping for an interesting ending that works with the characters and story as they have been presented to us.

We can see plainly here how longer serialization can and has to change the way a story is structured and executed. I’m reminded yet again, of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane deciding that if you want a series to continue sometimes the premise be damned, you have to write a story (I believe this was in Have His Carcase, if you care to check, it has been a long time since I’ve read that one. Think I’m going to have to bust it out on audiobook….)

In just a few weeks I will know how this ends and I am equally ready to be annoyed and pleased. ^_^

And we’ll be in for another year of Comic Yuri Hime!

Ratings:

Overall – 8

*The cover story ends in an epilogue that returns us to the colorless life of our protagonist, fondly remembering that gloriously colorful year of her life and all I can says, adults…we are doing this wrong. ^_^;

The January 2024 issue of Comic Yuri Hime is out, with a whole new cover design.





Sheep Princess in Wolf’s Clothing, Volume 1 Guest Review by Luce

November 15th, 2023

A wolf-woman in a butler's suit leans over a sheep-woman in a colorful dress, with flowers floating around them.In the Land of Sheep with ‘Wolfa’ – people with wolf ears and tails, and ‘Sheepa’, those with sheep ears, Aki Rukijo, a Wolfa butler, is the private tutor to Momo Shiudafaris, a Sheepa princess. Princess Momo is known as the ‘frigid’ princess, and rarely leaves her rooms. After an incident with a wild wolf on a full moon which Aki saves her from, Momo has Aki appointed her private tutor, although that’s not really her true aim. On a night of a full moon, when wolves find their instincts harder to ignore, Momo sneaks into Aki’s bedroom and declares that she loves her, and she’ll ‘gobble her up’!

Despite what sounds like a racy beginning for Sheep Princess in Wolf’s Clothing, Volume 1, by Mito, nothing much actually happens in that scene beyond kissing and them getting naked. And it doesn’t happen again in this volume, although Momo is definitely thinking about it. Bluebell, Momo’s Sheepa maid, is fully on board with the princess’s courting of Aki. Aki is more reserved about the whole thing, mostly since she is a commoner, and Momo is, well, a princess. Thus, Momo continuing to try and court her. It’s all rather cute, really.

Momo, being a princess and possibly having some previous bad experience, is somewhat limited in her experience of the outside world – the two of them go on a castle date, which is cute, but Momo wants more. Egged on by Bluebell and aided by Sakaki and Kiku, fellow Wolfa friends of Aki’s, the two of them disguise themselves and go into town, which is suitably adorable, and actually shows them getting on as people, bonding over the play they went to see, and over books.

I wondered if there might be some class difference between the Wolfa and Sheepa, but if there is, it isn’t touched upon much in this first volume. The royal family is Sheepa, although we only see two here, third princess Momo and her mother, the queen, but other than that, no mentions are made. I think there might be other animal hybrids, but they aren’t mentioned by name. It feels very much more of an aesthetic choice than a story-driven one, which is honestly fine. A work doesn’t always need to have something to say in particular, and the mangaka likely just wanted to draw cute girls with wolf and sheep ears; not to mention the role-reversal of the more confident sheep courting a flustered wolf. I can understand that.

Ratings:

Story: 6 – more about cuteness than plot
Art: 8 – lots of blushing, but the art is nice throughout, the colour pages are very pretty
Yuri: 10 – definite courting between the main couple, possible background yuri couples
Service: 3 – Momo in her underwear, and Aki in butler wear. It suits her.
Animal ear rating: 10 – they even flap when the characters get excited

Overall: 9

If you like animal hybrids and a cute story, or always kind of wanted the princess to get with their maid/another woman close to them, this seems like a pretty good bet. Volume 2 is headed our way next spring –  I’ll certainly continue reading. Final aside, Aki reminds me a little of Zakuro of Tokyo Mew Mew, albeit only by looks, and Momo is a bit like a more assertive Elianna from Bibliophile Princess.

Thank you very much to Seven Seas for the review copy! The translation was by Jan Cash, with lettering by Rina Mapa – I didn’t notice any issues with either, which usually means a job well done!





The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 2

November 13th, 2023

Pictured: Two girls, one in a beige sailor-collar blouse and blue skirt Japanese school uniform and one in a sweat jacket, white blouse and jean shorts, hold hands as they walk in a moody night setting. In Volume 1, we met Saki, a high school student who meets and befriends Kanon, a student who is hard of hearing. Kept at a distance by Kanon, who appears aloof, in part because trying to read lips can be exhausting, and the background noise of people is difficult for her to parse…and because something happened in middle school to make her withdraw from people, Saki does her best to gently cross barriers between her and the other girl.

In The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 2 Saki and Kanon both take steps to become closer, and to assist Kanon in participating in society on her own terms. Kanon finds an ally in her teacher Miura-sensei, who turns out to have a fairly balanced perspective on life with disability. He finds a physical space where Kanon can relax, and introduces her to a club that suits her. The Literature Club welcomes her to their group.

All is not smooth sailing, though, as Kanon’s over-protective little sister, Rinne, makes Saki feel unwelcome. That she’s not wrong about Saki, makes it harder for her to fight. But a crisis ends up convincing Rinne that Saki is, perhaps, not a bad person. A trip to the movies opens up more cans of worms and Saki struggles with her feelings for Kanon. Kanon tells Saki her side of the issue that came up in middle school. The conversation that follows takes away one more barrier between Kanon and Saki – something that will become very important in future volumes, trust me.

Once again, I beg you all to read this manga. Yes, Saki is a young queer person, but that is only one piece of an incredible multi-layered story about friends, family, disability, and society. It’s some of Kuzuhiro’s best work to date, and really opens up pathways for abled folks to address the needs of disabled folks without being weird about it. What really makes this book work is that every main character so far is dealing with more than one issue. No one is an “XYZ character,” even someone like Miura-sensei comes across a fully-featured person who is dealing with issues in his life and work and searching for balance, as we all are. 

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 8
Service – On principle only
Yuri – 3 Creeping up slowly

Overall – 9

I’m so thankful Kodansha licensed this. Terrific translation by Kevin Steinbach, lettering by Jamil Stewart in the caption style is eay to read, ( but you know I’m gonna say give the letterer time and money to do retouch!) Phil Basman’s iteration of the cover is very moody and solid. A fine job by the team from Kodansha.

This is an outstanding manga that almost assuredly will be overlooked by the Eisners because it’s not a Shonen Jump title, but for my money, it’s among the best series of the year. Read it for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments!





If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan I Would Die, Volume 3

November 9th, 2023

Seven girls in red pop idol costumes pose on the cover of If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, Volume 3 by Auri Hirao.Phew. Now that Christian took us over the hump of Volume 2, in which neither Maina nor Eri act in any way approaching the way normal humans might, We arrive at Volume 3 of If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan I Would Die, where they are marginally less not human. 

The first-ever ranking contest results are in and through an amazingly tortured and unreal set of circumstances, Eri comes too late to make a difference in the rankings. Main is, yet again, disappointed for the wrong reasons, until she learns that Eri bought her CDs anyway and runs after her Number 1 fan, but missing her because of an amazingly tortured and unreal set of circumstances. But the Christmas concert comes and although Reo is still center, the girls make their best efforts at giving their fans the kind of service they want – callouts, special gestures, handshakes – and, for the holiday a fraught gift a three shot! Why an idol group would sow dissension among their otaku by requiring them to pick a second fave is beyond me, but perhaps management forgot that otaku live and die by single-minded, creepily possessive obsession?

Importantly, Eri and Maina make each other very happy by saying something mostly-incoherent, but this time at least positive to one another! Yay! Maybe we past their inability to communicate? Hahahah, no, obviously not. This is a Hirao Auri manga and no one important will ever have a meaningful conversation.

The manga ends with the Cham Jam girls and their fans accidentally being at the local shrine at the same time for New Year’s…and the news that Cham Jam will be participating in this year’s Okayama Idol Fest…and so will with the girls who were in Reo’s old group. shock!

I said we’re “over the hump,” and in one sense we are. There will be less torturing of Eri from Volume 4 onward, but this volume is still firmly rooted in the idea that hurting Eri, and Eri and Maina not managing to talk is super hilarious, and not massively stressful. On the other hand, the members of Cham Jam are actually lovely when they are together. You can really see how much they like one another and really believe in themselves, which is incredibly charming. The shrine scene is a reminder that whoever they are up on stage, idols are people, too.  Cham Jam seems like a group you could really get behind.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story –  Still frustrating but I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if I can’t see it yet.
Character – 8
Service – Pleasantly, 0
Yuri – 4 Hovering at “I think I feel something for you, but can’t put a finger on it,” to “I can’t look you in the eyes, but don’t know why” with potential

Overall – 8

Tokyopop does a very good job of making this series as fun as possible which, at least for a few more volumes, is not very much. But IF you love idol culture and love insights into both sides of the struggle – what idols and their fans go through – this is probably one of the most realistic manga out there. Idol culture is a niche of it’s own and has it’s own language and rituals. Thanks very much to Tokyopop for today’s review copy and for the excellent work by the entire team for bringing this title over.

 





Monthly In The Garden With My Landlord, Volume 1

November 8th, 2023

Two women laze around on the woman veranda of their home. One has medium dark hair and a green dress, the other has long blonde hair and wears blue denim shirt and shorts.Manga editor Suga Asako comes home to find herself broken up with. She decides to find herself a new place to live – one where she can be by herself as she puts her life back together. When she finds a sweet little house with a garden, she quickly signs the lease. After she moves in, she finds the lease said, “monthly rent, includes garden and landlord,” which means that the solitude she sought is not part of the bargain. Instead, she now has a live-in landlord.

The landlord also seems to be not entirely coping with life on her own. Kitano Miyako turn out to have an unusual backstory – she’s a former pop idol group leader who has recently left her group!  Together Asako and Miyako start to rebuild their lives, figure out how to co-exist and how to just exist in the first place.  Monthly In The Garden With My Landlord, Volume 1 is a sweet, awkward, story of people who are not themselves irredeemably broken, but are patching themselves up from broken situations. 

I wanna touch on the idea of “Yuri” in this manga. We do learn that Asako had a girlfriend, and that she’s got a weakness for pretty faces. For me this clearly sets this in a “Yuri” setting, rather than a “lesbian” setting. But also, it’s not like people who meet immediately tell other people everything about themselves. I also know what is to come, so I have a different expectation than people reading this for the first time. Based on this volume only – do you think you’d call this a Yuri manga?

I adore this story, honestly. It rides the lines between healing slice-of-life, realistic romance and wacky situation comedy with a very sophisticated style. Every volume has been better than the last. In fact, Volume 3 was an apex of adults having meaningful conversations. Yodokawa’s art is stylish and fun at the same time. There’s shockingly little tension in this story…even when the situation could have been used to make us worry, we’re given the punchline early, so we know it’s not much of a threat.  This makes for a very relaxed and easy read.

The team at Yen Press has done a clean job of localization. I very much like Stephen Paul’s translation in all things, except the title. I assume they chose “Monthly In The Garden With My Landlord” because it reads smoothly, but…does it? No one says anything like that, ever and  it misses the joke. Yes, I know it is not at all productive to whine about translation. I’ve just been finding Yen’s titles a little reductive recently. I think they could do a bit better.  In this case, it kind of shifts the tone of the story to begin with, eliding the humor. That’s only problematic in the sense that this is a comedy, first, and everything else second. Elena Pizarro Lanzas’s lettering is as good as the Yen house style allows. I’ll always ask for letterers to be given time and money to retouch where feasible. Fine technical reproduction and editing as always. ^_^

A cute, slightly wacky, slight realistic and ultimately, healthy, story that I highly recommend.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 0.5 but hang on tightly….

Overall – 8

The short extra chapter gives us our first hint that this story might include romance. But first, Volume 2 will delve into the mystery of Miyako’s history and…it will be great. ^_^ We’ll be getting that next spring – which isn’t as far away as it seems. ^_^

Thanks very much to Yen for offering me a review copy of this, I had picked it up anyway for myself, but I appreciate the kindness! Keep up the great work.