Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Anime/Yuri Manga: Hen

March 16th, 2004

A Strange Series About Strange Love

I’m not really sure I agree that Hen, aka Strange Love is really hentai…but as it’s usually lumped in with the “adult” anime, I guess I should. What it *is* is a very funny, and sometimes touching romantic comedy starring two mismatched girls, from a distinctly seinen perspective.

Hen is the story of extremely well-endowed high school student Yoshida Chizuru. Despite the fact that she’s under age, Chizuru has a part-time job modeling, on account of her exceptional looks. The first part of the anime and the manga is incredibly dumb, as Chizuru seduces/outsmarts a pervy substitute teacher. The fun begins when a cute, very childish girl moves in next door to Chizuru’s boyfriend’s, rock star Hiro Yuki’s, apartment.

At first, Chizuru dislikes little Azumi; snubs her, makes fun of her, etc…but after a few days, she realizes that she’s begun to obsess about Azumi. (This leads to some highly amusing scenes in the anime, as Chizuru tries fantasizing about other schoolmates, to see if she is, perhaps, gay after all.) In a life-changing realization, Chizuru decides that she *is* in love with Azumi, and will marry her, despite the obstacles.

The anime ends at this point, but the manga goes on and on and on…. There’s a ton of really silly stuff that happens, some more bizarre than others, and everything, except Chizuru’s emotions, are played for laughs. There are a couple of touching scenes as well.

Is this a series worth watching? I think so. The OVA is only two episodes, but there are some really funny moments that make it worth owning.

The manga is *definitely* worth having. But, beware – there are two Hen manga, one that is Yuri, one that is BL…and they coincide at some point in both stories, so it’s a little confusing. It’s probably easiest to remember it this way – the Yuri Hen is the one with white spines, the BL has the colored spines. The Yuri Hen is 8 volumes, the BL Hen is 13 volumes…if you’re a completist, you’ll want those too, to get *all* of Chizuru and Azumi’s story.

By the way – the series, despite everything, *does* have a happy ending, as Chizuru and Azumi fly off together “to America,” which we all know is manga code for “to have a happy lesbian relationship.” ^_^

The art is really…odd, and the characters have awful ears, there is much fanservice, breast and panty shots, but if you look past the surface, this is really a very sweet series.





Chinese Translation of Yamaji Ebine’s Love My Life

March 14th, 2004

Love My Life News Item!

Here’s a great news item sent in by alert reader Zuan Yi. Apparently there is a Chinese translation of Love My Life. I’m sure there are plenty of yuri fans who read Chinese, but not Japanese, so this is your big chance to snag a copy of this wonderful manga. This faithful Okazu reader even sent us the link to Yesasia.com where it’s available for a very reasonable $8.99 USD.

So, thank you very much, Zuan Yi, for the link! Every little piece of info that helps Yuri fans worldwide is a good thing. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Love My Life

March 11th, 2004

The Perfect Yuri Manga

Although I’ve already reviewed some titles by this author, I’ve been saving this particular title for a special occasion.

Love My Life – Yamaji Ebine

Why do I call this the “perfect Yuri manga?” because it is written by an out lesbian, about a young lesbian, for an audience of women. By my standards, that makes it about as 100% yuri as possible.

Love My Life is the story of Ichiko, a college student who lives with her father, a translator. Ichiko’s mother passed away when she was very young, but she and her father have always been very close.

The story starts as she tells her father what every father fears to hear – that she has a lover. Her father’s reaction is cool, and when she follows the information up with the fact that her lover is another woman, after an initial moment of surprise, Dad is fine. In fact, he has something *he* wants to share with Ichiko, and he’s glad to be able to at last tell her that he’s gay…and so was her mother. They met, became friends, and although they weren’t interested in each other as lovers, did conceive Ichiko together. And, although they raised Ichiko as husband and wife, they took outside lovers for themselves. But mostly they loved each other and her very much.

As the story progresses, Ichiko introduces her father to her lover, Eri, and meets her father’s younger lover. She talks over her confusion about the revelation that her mother and father were gay with Eri, but it’s not until she meets her mother’s former lover that she pretty much decides it doesn’t make any real difference.

This story has no high drama – the concerns of Ichiko and her friends are small, personal and intimate. There’s a relaxed pace about this book that makes the reader feel happy and comfortable in Ichiko’s world, with no real need for melodrama or angst. Which doesn’t mean nothing happens.

We’re drawn in as Ichiko deals with her parents’ secret, a small crisis with and separation from Eri, and a gay friend. Take’s, search for a boyfriend. There’s no suicide attempts here, but there is a sense of personal involvement in a life that feels much more *real* than most manga.

Like other Yamaji Ebine manga, Love My Life relies on minimalist art, a background of jazz music and good literature, and characters that live in a real world, rather than a staged one. And while there are some intimate scenes between Eri and Ichiko, the story is hardly drawn simply to frame lesbian sex. It’s just part of Ichiko’s life…just as it is part of anyone’s life, in reality.

Ultimately though, the strongest point of Love My Life is reflected in the title – Ichiko, and by extension we, the readers, do indeed love her life. Every time I read this manga, I finish it with a smile on my face – in fact, thinking about the ending as I type now, I’m smiling. It’s just that nice.





Yuri Manga: Himitsu no Hanazono

March 5th, 2004

Himitsu no Hanazono (The Secret Garden) – Fujii Mihona, 1999

This wonderful shoujo manga was, for a long time, a standard Yuricon auction item, and we often give it away as prizes for our various contests. Why? Because it’s so damn cute! Who doesn’t like a Cinderella story where the handsome prince literally sweeps Cinderella off her feet?

Misono is a high school student who sings well and is cute – and happens to be a champion long-distance runner. This very year she’s the anchor for her region’s relay team – a very great honor. She’s training incredibly hard to be worthy of it. The problem is, she’s developed a minor injury in her foot that bothers her all the time. Nonetheless, she’s persevering, at least in part to make her stepmother proud.

One day as Misono is practicing, she comes across a secret gazebo covered in roses. Intrigued by them, and by the angelic voice she can hear singing among them, she wanders over to the garden. She sits down on the bench for a short rest and falls asleep, surrounded by roses and song. The beauty of the moment and the turmoil within causes her to cry. When she awakens, she’s startled to find that she isn’t alone. A handsome boy, the singer whose song she heard, has stumbled across her crying on the bench. He comforts her, wipes the tears from her eyes and generally is charming and romantic. Misono falls pretty hard, pretty fast. Little by little she learns more about Sakuya, the boy from the rose garden, and more and more she wants to be with him.

Thus begins a love story about a handsome prince, a beautiful princess, an evil stepmother, a jealous rival, a long distance race and a very wonderful, happy ending under the roses. But, let’s be real, I wouldn’t be writing about this manga if there weren’t Yuri in it. The thing is – I don’t want to give it away. ^_^ But tough, I’m going to anyway!

On the night of the ball, erm, a party for Sakuya’s grandfather, Misono learns that Sakuya already has a girlfriend, Himeko. Himeko isn’t a stupid child – she realizes exactly what’s going on between Sakuya and Misono. She sends poor Misono packing, in tears. Sakuya realizes what’s happened and runs after Misono. After a tense scene in which Misono learns that Sakuya is a love-child, they end up in Sakuya’s room, talking about their personal lives, and how they feel about each other. Just as things are about to progress past a kiss, Sakuya asks if Misono wants to know his secret…

Himeko learns that the two are together and practically breaks down the door to get into Sakuya’s room. When the door opens, Sakuya is looking a little ruffled, but Misono is dressed only in a single sheet wound around her body. Himeko throws a tantrum and screams at Misono that she thinks she loves Sakuya, but she can’t, because Sakuya’s a girl! Misono, with great dignity and charm, dressed only in the sheet, looks at Himeko, smiles, and tells her that she knows. (As an aside, I was pretty impressed with Sakuya – not too many guys in shoujo manga get as far as she did…you know what I mean?)

The story doesn’t end there, though. Sakuya and Misono still have all sorts of obstacles – their families objections, Himeko’s rivalry and Misono’s injury. In the end, however, the prince/ss quite literally sweeps her princess off her feet and they end up underneath the rose arbor where they met. All in all, one of the best early romantic Yuri shoujo manga out there.

Check out used bookstores to get your own copy of this wonderful love story. 2019 Update: You can read this adorable manga as an ebook now on Amazon JP or Bookwalker Global!

Ratings:

Art: 9, typical, but well-drawn shoujo fare.
Story – 7, this is Cinderella, folks, there’s no surprises here.
Yuri – 9
Characters – 9

Overall: 9 It’s not perfect, but it’s way lots o’fun





Yuri Manga: Kaguyahime

March 4th, 2004

Shounen, Shoujo, Let’s Call The Whole Thing Odd

After you’ve been reading manga for a while, you start to realize that there are definite patterns in the way magazines are marketed to the public. Ribon and Nakayoshi, for instance, are pretty clearly for the 8-11 year-old-girl crowd. Shonen Jump for early teens in the male populace. There may be crossover, especially in the case of a really popular series, but for the most part magazines are pretty consistent in who they are trying to attract. Knowing this, it becomes obvious after a short while that Hana to Yume is for the creepy, weird, sci-fi, action-oriented girl otaku out there. Many of my favorite series, such as Sukeban Deka, which I reviewed yesterday, are Hana to Yume titles. So is today’s title – and this one takes the prize on weird shoujo.

Kaguyahime – Shimizu Reiko

This series has been running for what seems like forever. In fact, it began in 1994 and is showing no signs of ever ending which is kinda cool, even if it’s only coming out at the rate of one tankubon a year or so. (Update: In fact, the series ended in 2005.)

There is *no* way to simply describe the plot of Kaguyahime, but let me try and get the main points across. Expect to be very confused:

The story begins as two mysterious boys (who look like girls) kidnap our heroine, butchy and cool Akira (who looks like a guy) from the home of her foster mother (who is her lover) and her foster sister, who is in love with her.

She accompanies the two boys, Midori and Yui, to a mysterious island, where all but twelve of her companions die from a mysterious disease. When Akira’s foster sister arrives on the island, having killed her mother in a jealous rage over Akira – you just *know* this is going to be one weirdo ride.

As the story progresses, we add in bizarre science (Akira, Midori, Yui and the other boys all are clones created to be replacement parts for really wealthy, rich people who keep dying from some mysterious disease, probably caused by the piece of moon rock they own, but when the clones’ bodies are used, *their* personalities take over and now they are powerful and rich) , mythology (1) the clones were created to: feed Kaguyahime, who comes from the moon and; 2) the fantasy Chinese feudal kingdom that Akira now rules as the replacement clone and; 3) Yui, who also appears to be from the moon) and an amazing amount of violence and sex. (Mayu, Akira’s suicidal/homicidal foster sister is raped no less than three times, Akira sleeps with *everyone,* including her foster mother, foster sister, the girl in the feudal Chinese kingdom, Yui, the guy from the feudal kingdom and probably, eventually, her foster father – who looks like he’s the real bad guy in this series.)

There’s just tons and tons of same-sex overt and covert storyline. Several of “the boys” (my name for the other clones) are gaga over each other, but those are implied, or played with, while Midori and Yui have definietely slept together, and Akira’s above Yuri forays. Despite this, the main love interest is supposed to be Yui and Akira, and they are obviously in love, but I live in hope that Yui will die or have to go back to the moon, or something – I don’t like him much.

This is not an easy read, and it’s coming out slowly, but wow, it just gets stranger and stranger with every volume.

If you like a challenge, strange sci-fi, conspiracies, pretty boys, hunky girls, angst, fantasy, absolutely ravishing art, and a TON of BL and Yuri, you need to read this manga.

Let me just stop and say this – the art in this series is absolutely stunning. Shimizu Reiko is one of the most genuinely talented artists out there drawing right now. It’s complex, yet easy to follow, detailed and the clothes and settings are luscious. She uses minimalism when it’s called for and some of the most gasp-making frames have the least in them. It’s really worth it just for some of the color pictures of Akira dressed as the queen of the fantasy Chinese feudal kingdom.

Ratings:

Art – 10
Characters – 9
Story – 9, either you like this kind of strange, or you don’t. I love it.
Yuri – 8

Overall – 9