Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Anthology: Souer Sengen, Yellow

May 3rd, 2007

Souer Sengen is yet another collection of yuri doujinshi for Maria-sama ga Miteru. Like my earlier reviews of Gokigenyou and Maria’s Wink, this book is one of a series. In this case the stories are loosely collected around the three Rose Families: Red, Yellow and White, one volume focused on Yumi and one on the supporting characters called, “SP”.

Todays review will be on the Yellow Rose Family Volume. Why this one of all of them? Because this one is, IMHO, the best of the bunch. If you asked me why, I’m not sure I’d be able to put my finger on it, exactly. I think it’s a combination of several things – I like the focus on Rei x Yoshino, I like many of the circles that contributed and I like several of the stories already, a priori. I own some of the doujinshi from which the stories are taken and they are some of my favorites.

The back to back stories by Bonny Bonnie, one of which ends happily and one sadly, both of which deal with Yoshino’s desire to kiss Rei, are quite enjoyable. In the first, they kiss, and Rei says that it tastes warm and nice. This is followed by a second, deeper kiss, and Yoshino complains that Rei tastes like takoyaki. ^_^ The second story ends with them kissing, but Rei saying that she really doesn’t want to open that door any further…. Both are quite sweet in their own way. You’ll pardon me if I prefer the first. ^_^

There’s a cute tale as Eriko passes a book from Rei to Yoshino, and in doing so ponders how close they are. It’s nice insight from Rosa Foetida into her “little sisters.” And, among the many other stories that look at the relationship between Yoshino and Rei, this collection includes the story from my very first Maria-sama ga Miteru doujinshi purchase, from long before I had the vaguest clue about the series. The circle is Bebe, and the series is called “Creole.” The first Creole story is about the “Day it Began,” which is to say, they day Yoshino and Rei become lovers. Despite it’s intense lolification of Yoshino, I like this story a lot. In fact, I like the whole Creole series alot – even the one where Sachiko presides over a sex club. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8 variable, pretty decent, with the exception of one story, which was “shriek!” bad
Characters – 10 Yoshino…!
Story – also variable, averages to about a 6
Yuri – 9, except where it’s 10
Service – 10

Overall – 8

The entire Souer Sengen series is worth taking a look at. Some very fun and well-known Marimite parody circles contribute, like Pen-Pen Gusa Club, and the aforementioned Bebe and Bonny Bonnie. So there’s something of interest in each volume. But in my entirely personal opinion – this volume is the best one.





Yuri Manga: Hatsukoi Shimai 2

May 2nd, 2007

I sincerely doubt that I’d like this series half as much as I do, if it hadn’t been a Drama CD first. (Read my review here.) But it was, and Paku Romi played Touko-sensei with a sexy voice and that, as they say, was that. :-)

Volume 2 of Hatsukoi Shimai is a collection of chapters that ran in Yuri Hime magazine. The story picks up shortly after the end of Volume 1. Cute, cheerful Mastusato Chika is pleased as punch to have built a relationship with the object of her admiration and desire, Kizaki Haruna, and a friendship with Haruna’s little sister, Akiho.

Chika and Akiho are walking to school one day, when they come across a hullaballoo over a young, attractive woman who has apparently just pulled up on a motorcycle. The visitor asks for directions to the staff room, but the crowd around her threatens to knock over her bike and Akiho jumps to help her keep it upright. In the most inappropriately intimate way possible, the visitor asks Akiho to lead the way. Akiho, annoyed at the woman’s carefree attitude, huffs along, but after some gentle teasing of her and Chika, leaves the woman to make her own way.

Both Chika and Akiho are shocked, therefore, when the head teacher introduces the visitor as their subsitute teacher for a while, Hiiragi Touko.

Chika takes herself off to find Haruna in their private little spot behind the school, where they share a few moments of quiet happiness with each other. But as they talk, Chika becomes painfully aware that she really doesn’t know much about Haruna who, despite being so pleasant, is still somewhat reserved and hard to get to know. On the way back from lunch, Chika trips down some stairs. As Haruna runs to her aid, Touko-sensei scoops her up in her arms and carries her to the doctor’s office. Later, when Haruna stops by to walk Chika home, she learns that Touko-sensei is giving Chika a ride home on her bike. And thus begins Touko’s apparent plot to break Haruna and Chika up.

As often as she can, Touko inserts herself next to Chika, offering assistance with everything, including private supplemental lessons. She’s never *quite* actionably inappropriate, but her behavior drives Akiho insane with protective anger, to the point of her volunteering for the school festival committee to keep Chika from Touko’s grasp. In contrast, as Touko and Chika become closer, Haruna withdraws into herself. She starts to have nightmares about her relationship with her former sempai. She even goes so far as to overreact when Chika tries to take a heavy bag from her – she slaps Chika’s hand away with some force.

Akiho, as she does in the Drama CD, confronts Touko, who accuses her of being jealous of Chika – and Haruna. The charge is accurate, but it doesn’t daunt Akiho who warns Touko away from her friend. (In the background, we also get a little more of a glimpse of Teshigawara’s crush on Akiho, and her jealousy of Touko and Akiho’s time together.)

In preparation for the school festival, it is decided that first year classes will pair with second-year classes and do things together. Their class decides to do a cafe in which they will also sell beaded items. Chika turns out to be really talented at beading (shades of the Hatsukoi Shimai Drama CD there. My review here.) While working with Haruna, Chika teaches her how to make beaded rings, and they give each other their first attempts.

We also get a chance to meet Miyu and Kirika, also from the third drama CD, which gives us a chance to see the third of our couples in the series. Miyu comments to Chika that since she, Chika, has come to school, Haruna has become much more cheerful and easygoing.

Separated from Haruna because the older girl has been avoiding her, Chika is really distressed but, when, on the day of the school festival, she loses the ring Haruna gave her, she becomes frantic and runs out into the rain to find it. Akiho runs to find Haruna and send her after Chika, and Touko-sensei after both of them.

In the pouring rain, Haruna finds Chika and they reunite happily. Haruna tells Chika about her past relationship with her sempai. She was in love with the older girl, who was always warm to her in private, but in public, became cold and repudiated her. She realizes that, without meaning to, she was doing the same to Chika, but won’t do it any more. Touko-sensei shows up with the lost ring. She slips it to Haruna and tells them both to get back to the classroom so they don’t catch cold.

On the way back, Touko runs into Akiho, who dissolves into tears in her arms, admitting her jealousy, but also that she really, truly is happy for her best friend and her sister. Touko in turn admits that she was in love with a girl when she was in school, but had never confessed to her and although she thought it would be okay to be by her side forever, time and distance took them apart from each other. She saw Haruna and Chika and thought that they were like her and that girl and didn’t want them to lose each other because they didn’t admit their feelings. Akiho goes back to her tsundere ways, pushing herself away from Touko (or vice versa) and I await them getting together, still. (Seriously…I am suffering here, guys. I need some Akiho x Touko time in the next couple of chapters or I will start to whine.)

Later, back in the woods by the pond, Chika and Haruna have a long talk about how they feel. Haruna slips the ring she made onto Chika’s ring finger and Chika returns the favor. They kiss, very aware that the whole thing is imbued with the force of a vow to love one another and be together forever.

And on that happy note Volume 2 ends.

The art has smoothed out a bit as the manga has gone on. It’s nothing special or revolutionary, but it’s pleasant enough. The story differs from the original Drama CDs, which I like, and Chika and Haruna’s relationship has, at last, progressed beyond hand holding. That and some other things have made my two-part Hatsukoi Shimai fanfic completely obsolete, but I don’t care. I enjoy the idea of Touko and Akiho as a couple and any time with Touko is fine with me. So I stand by it, despite the fact that I’m blatantly wrong in some places. LOL As far as I know, it’s the *only* Hatsukoi Shimai fanfic, so if you don’t like it, :-p.

We get the usual color page reproduction, some very cute 4-panel gag comics on the inside cover and a nice postcard inside. There’s also a really cute little pic on the back cover of Akiho flanked by Touko and Teshigawara, which I found incredibly charming.

Ratings:

Art – 6 nothing to rave over, but clean and neat
Story – 7
Characters – 7 Touko’s behavior is so very, very wrong…
Yuri – 8
Service – 3

Overall – 7

I wonder why I never noticed Teshigawara’s crush was on Akiho the first time around. I just sort of assumed that this was a harem style thing and it was Chika. SO glad to be wrong. (Not a harem story? Does that even exist?

 





Lesbian Manga: Honey & Honey Deluxe

May 1st, 2007

Honey & Honey isn’t really a “Yuri” manga. It’s a manga about a lesbian couple, Sachiko and Masako (who is bi,) and their friends, some of whom are also sexual or gender minorities and some of whom are not – you know, like real people. It is also a biographical comic, written and drawn by Takeuchi Sachiko. Most interestingly, it runs in a mainstream magazine for women, Davinci, as a “Comic Essay.” And really, that’s a perfect description of what Honey & Honey is. (Thinking about it, this would be a good description for Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, as well.)

While the art isn’t terribly realistic, the storylines are. They go like this: Sachiko and Masako decide to go shopping. They look at glasses, and then shoes. Then they eat a crepe, and go home. And all the while, they are discussing things like the fact that they are on a date, what it means to be a couple, how the world perceives them and, most importantly, how much in love they are.

This all sounds sort of, “well, duh” but you know, it isn’t. Not at all. There are plenty of people for whom this would be revolutionary news – akin to aliens alighting – even here in my own beloved, mostly progressive, state.

So, when we watch Sachiko and Masako (and their transgender friends Kai and Kou) explain to straight friend Mai what it means to “be lesbian” or “be transgender” or any number of things that always seem self-evident, but just aren’t to a lot of people, it might feel a little preachy, but it isn’t meant that way at all. In the same way Rivkah described Steady Beat to me as having been written for Austin, Texas, this book was written for the average women of Tokyo – for whom sexual minorities are, really, aliens.

Other chapters include such amusing pastimes as shopping for “adult” toys, and attending any number of GLBT events, and the people that they meet.

There’s nothing dramatic in this series. That’s the point. It’s a slice-of-life look into a life that most people don’t live. It’s refreshingly normal, with a little heaviness on the “teaching” side. There are pages of term definitions and some facts about gender transitioning, and even recent LGBT history in Tokyo. None of those is to my taste – it gets in the way of the story for me, but I am not the target audience.

Overall, Honey & Honey is a sweet and mild look at lesbian life, with a good nature and gentle humor. Guaranteed to offend no one but those people who insist on being offended by the very existence of sexual minorities. If this were translated into English, it would be the thing you could give your relatives to explain the whole “gay thing” to them. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6 Intentionally silly/cute
Story – 6 Slightly bland but realistic
Characters – 6 No drama, but c’mon, we’re talking LGBTQ folks here! So unrealistic. ^_^
Lesbian – 10 A lesbian “onna-doushi love couple”
Service – 0 Not even the sex toy chapter has service

Overall – 6

I enjoyed the glimpse at beginning and end of the book of the characters drawn as if they were in more standard manga form. Kai and Kou in “shoujo manga” form made me laugh. Of course they are totally beautiful.

BGM: Cookie Day by Shonen Knife. (It’s a beautiful cookie day!)





Yuri Manga: Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu

April 25th, 2007

HaruNatsuAkiFuyu, (Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter) is collection of stories by Zaou Taishi and Eiki Eiki that ran in Yuri Hime and Yuri Shimai magazines. I got the deluxe version with Drama CD, a review of which will be a separate entry, because I said so.

It reads oddly, because the first two stories here were done as one-shots, then a third story took off into three-part mini-arc, which was followed by another two chapters that tied it all together. These are followed by an extra original chapter for this collection, and the Zaou Taishi story “Her” that ran in an early issue of Yuri Shimai (I think.) As an exercise in making omelets from cracked eggs, it’s incredibly successful.

The first two cracked eggs we meet are Akiho and Haruka. Haruka is one of the stars at St. Teresa’s school for girls; tall, beautiful, accomplished, friendly – she also has an unpleasant habit of molesting girls by grabbing their breasts. This is meant to be seen as funny, in case you were wondering. Akiho, who has just transfered in to the school, likes Haruka, but is put off by this behavior – can you imagine? After some soul searching, she comes to realize that it’s not that she dislikes Haruka grabbing her breasts so much as Haruka grabbing *other* girl’s breasts. She confesses this to Haruka who is surprised, but not displeased. She also ends the chapter by taking miles where inches are being offered.

The next story is sort of the same, only worse. Our eggs in this chapter are new transfer student Fuyuka who is very excited to be starting a new life at an all-girl’s school. Her anticipation soon turns to terror as she becomes the target of extreme stalker/molester behavior at the hands of another of the school’s stars, Natsuki. (All four of the principles have names with the seasons, hence the title, btw.) After knocking herself out cold running away from Natsuki, Fuyuka wakes in the doctor’s office and tells the school counselor about how she was sexually abused by a male classmate from her previous school. Now she’s developed a fear of men, and had hoped to put it all behind her at this new school. Natsuki, who has heard all of this apologizes, and admits that she has a similar phobia. The story is meant to be read as resolved as the two of them fall asleep in each other’s arms. I really, really don’t like this chapter. I didn’t like it when it ran in the magazine and it doesn’t work any better for me this time around.

This takes us to the three-part story of the school counselor, Reiko, and her childhood friend, and also another teacher at the school, Ayano. Although they both are *clearly* pining away for each other, it takes a while for them to get it. Long story short, they realize that they are in love with one another and live happily ever after. By far and away, my favorite arc.

Fuyuka’s story continues after Reiko tells her to go for it, in regards to her deepening feelings for Natsuki. But when she invites Natsuki over to her house when there’s no one else home and Natsuki doesn’t so much as try to kiss her, she’s not sure if she’s reading the signals right. Depressed, she runs into Akiho from the first chapter and the two uke retire to the roof for conversation, where they become good friends right away.

Natsuki starts to notice Fuyuka’s absences. She confronts Haruka, asking what *her* lover wants with Fuyuka? Haruka has no idea, of course. The argument escalates and they take it to the roof to battle it out, when they come across Fuyuka and Akiho. Natsuki demands to know what’s going on and everyone, including all the onlookers, are flabbergasted when Akiho says that she’s fallen in love with Fuyuka, and kisses her.

The final chapter begins with Natsuki beside herself with anger, and Haruka looking mightily surprised at her lover’s confession that she’s bored and was looking for someone new. When Natsuki starts to drag Fuyuka away, she belts Natsuki and screams at her that she, Natsuki, needs to put up, or shut up. If Natsuki loves Fuyuka, she needs to *say* so. Teachers Ayano and Reiko shoo all the rubberneckers away and leave the four to work it all out.

As Natsuki and Fuyuka confess their feelings, Akiho and Haruka leave them behind, with a short apology on Akiho’s part and a refreshing comment from Haruka that yeah, she was surprised, but she “got” what Akiho was trying to do and believed in her, implicitly. Good lord – does that ever happen in manga? Meanwhile, back on the roof, Natsuki and Fuyuka have it out. And in the end we learn that while Fuyuka maybe uke in school, she has no intention of being the bottom in bed.

The last chapter of the story is new for this volume. The four girls all go to the beach off season together. I very much like the looks on Haruka’s and Natsuki’s faces as they sit in the train grumping that they have to share this date with the other couple. But they perk up when they learn that they have separate rooms. They are accosted by generic guys trying to pick them up, so our female wolf and jaguar can cuddle their girls and tell them no guys need apply. Despite a promise of fireworks, they all end up in their respective beds and, erm, forget to leave for the rest of the night. Last panel, Akiho and Fuyuka lie unconvincingly about how they just were so darn tuckered out they fell asleep, how funny, us too, while Natsuki and Haruka roll their eyes.

And, again, the last chapter is Zaou Taishi’s one-shot, “Kanojo” (“Her”) that tells the story of yet another couple who have the same feelings for one another , but don’t know it.

So…was the omelet worth the broken eggs? Yeah, I think it was. If we had to see one more chapter with “funny” sexual harassment, I probably wouldn’t say so, but I can just get past the two that are here. Although I’ll be honest, the first chapter with Fuyuka and Natsuki really just bothers me in every conceivable way. (And bothered me worse in the Drama CD….) But I genuinely liked the “First Kiss” arc that dealt with the teachers, and enjoyed the turnaround after Fuyuka begins to pursue Natsuki. The last chapter on the beach was a nice extra and sort of tied it all together with a cute ending passage about them being together in each of the four seasons (coupled with pretty bed scene stills). So yes. It’s a nice enough omelet.

Extra come-withs – the picture of Fuyuka and Natsuki above on the front cover is complimented by a similar picture of Haruka and Akiho on the back in the same outfit, only green. Also – many color pages reproduced, including all of the pinup art of the two teachers, and a postcard of them during their school years. And, of course, a Drama CD. ^_^ …I can’t forget to tell you that the under-the-dust-cover gag art may well be the funniest I have ever seen on a manga, ever.

Ratings:

Art – 7 (I know, I know, insanely popular artist…but I find myself obsessing about the mouths because they bother me…)
Story – starts at 4, ends at 8
Characters – same as above
Yuri – 10
Service – lots of “boobies” 7 (“Boobies????” the wife says. “WTF?” Yup)

Overall – 8

I don’t think this is their strongest work, but I really did appreciate the skill that went into tying up all the loose ends and making the thing work as a whole.





Yuri Manga: Red Garden, Volume 1

April 19th, 2007

I liked the anime for Red Garden enough that, when a manga became available I jumped right on it. The combination of likeable characters, solid horror/action plot and Yuri worked just fine for me. The fact that the one actual lesbian character wasn’t diminished in any way, did not die or become psychotic or any other predictable negative outcome, just added to my overall enjoyment. (My prediction in my review was, therefore, completely wrong. And I’m thrilled.) In fact, I thought the whole situation was handled beautifully.

So, I was really interested to see what Gonzo was going to do with the manga for Red Garden. And while it is definitely different from the anime, I’m still liking it pretty much.

The artist for the manga, Ayamura Kirihito, doesn’t appear to have done any other manga, although he does have some art collections, and a really creepy doll photo book. And dolls really seem to be his interest. So the art for Red Garden is very lush with a strong preference for GothLoli, and a tendency towards the grotesque…while being really violent and horrific at the same time. There’s some scenes where Lula, in particular, would have fit in neatly on any page from Hellsing.

The basic plot is the same: four young women attending a school on Roosevelt Island in New York City, bound only by separate friendships with a dead girl, learn that they too have died but are not yet allowed to rest in peace. Instead, under the guidance of mysterious Lula, they are forced to fight off beast-men for what reason they don’t yet know. (Not, at least, at the end of Volume 1.)

The characters are the same, still likeable; with a little less character development than went on the anime. I think that if one read the manga first, Kate, Rose, Rachel and Clare would be a little less approachable than they were in the anime, where a lot of time was spent with each on their personality and backstories.

The art *is* different from the anime – Herve’ is evil right off the top, and Kate in particular has a tendency to have hyperdramatic glowing 70’s shoujo “shock!” eyes (if you know what I mean, you know what I mean) which gets a little tired by halfway through the volume.

Rose gets a GothLoli makeover which suits her, and both Lize and Kate tend that way too, which doesn’t. I have NO idea what Rachel is supposed to look like. Not a New York rich girl, certainly. lol Clare gets hit with the butch stick – apparently right out of the Mod closet. Her slightly flared-pants men’s suit for Lize’s funeral was really hot. It’s too bad about Clare, really – she would make such a good lesbian. ^_^

In terms of Yuri, for this volume at least, it’s the same as in the anime – Paula is very gay for Kate and doesn’t bother hiding it. I just hope that, like the anime, she remains cool and graceful to the end. But Jessica’s little thing gets a steroid injection to a bout of insane jealous rage, which has her giving Kate openly evil “Die, I hate you” looks throughout the volume. So we have at least *one* psychotic lesbian. Phew.

Otherwise – lots and lots of blood and violence, evil, horror, mystery, underlit grinning faces, etc, etc. Just the kind of thing you want to read while eating a rare steak. LOL

Ratings:

Art – wildly inconsistent, ranging from “eww” 3 to “wah” 8
Story – 6 intruguing, but a little weak
Characters – 7 we’ll hope to learn more as we go along
Yuri – 5 ahh, psychotic schoolgirls and their crushes, how sweet
Service – 3, unless violence gets you off, I guess, then 7

Overall – 7

I’m really hoping that future volumes go deeper into the characters, but as this is Gonzo, I suspect it won’t get that chance. The color pictures the author has done are really pretty though. Check out his website for some examples.