Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Men Men Musubi ( 麺面むすび)

December 28th, 2022

I am very much enjoying Maitsuki Niwatsuki Ooyatsuki – Monthly With Ooya, which is a relatively new series from Yodogawa-sensei, so when I saw Men Men Musubi ( 麺面むすび), a collected volume of short stories, I knew I was going to picky up a copy.  ^_^

This collection has six stories, that provide a variety of scenarios, which include that first flush of love, the fractures in a relationship that if left unaddressed can break it, long-term relationships and how they can still offer surprises, how one’s past doesn’t have to be left behind, and other relatively gentle scenarios of adult life. While there wasn’t anything ground-breaking here, I really enjoyed each one of these stories for itself.

Yododgawa’s art is clean and , again, gentle. Everyone feels like someone you might know, in a situation you might be expect to be familiar with. Well, okay, maybe we all haven’t been kabedoned by the office hottie, but you know what I mean. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Stories – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 9

Overall – 8

For a relaxing, easy read Yuri – perfect for practicing one’s Japanese – Men-Men Musubi is a great choice.





Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 9 ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな)

December 27th, 2022

Pictured: Two women stand over a pan, while one with longish blonde hair, wearing a brown sweater, squeezes something into fried rice. She looks like she is concentrating, while the other woman in a high-necked white knit sweater exclaims. When we first met Miwa, she was unsure of herself. And when we met Saeko she seemed very confident.

As we’ve got to know them, we’ve come to understand that Miwa had not had time to process her own needs and desires fully. Now, on the far side of her first serious relationship, she’s coming in to her own. On the other hand, Saeko has met someone who encourages her to express her vulnerabilities. As they both move into their second relationships, they’ve stayed good friends and are growing into fully realized humans.

In Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 9 ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな) it’s time for both of them to deal with some lingering issues that they’ve carried with them. Miwa’s dealing a pretty major issue, but luckily for her, Tamaki’s willing to figure it out with her. Most importantly, Saeko is finally dealing with whatever happened to her in middle and high school….a legacy that has made her reluctant to talk with her family. It’s a pretty profound volume for Saeko. Once again we see these two take steps forward in a way that is unique to them. We’re just watching over them like aunts and uncles.

No spoilers, but this was a very good volume and very worth reading.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 8
Service – 4 There are some adult scenes, nothing explicit.

Overall – 9

I keep wondering how far we’re going to follow these two, but I’m not bored yet. Chalk that up to Tamifull’s skillful story telling.





Ayaka-chan ha Hiroko-sempai ni Koi Shiteru, Volume 2 (彩香ちゃんは弘子先輩に恋してる)

December 22nd, 2022

In Volume 1, we met the popular and charming work sempai, Hiroko, who is the object of Ayaka’s ardor. Ayaka tries very hard to gain Hiroko’s attention, but Hiroko remains a bit stand-offish. What can Ayaka, a woman who loves women, do to gain the woman of her dream’s attention? Unbeknownst to Ayaka, she is making an impression. The only problem is that Hiroko, also a woman who loves women, thinks Ayaka is a clueless straight girl sent to torture her.

In Ayaka-chan ha Hiroko-sempai ni Koi Shiteru, Volume 2 (彩香ちゃんは弘子先輩に恋してる), the heat ramps up as Ayaka drowns her misery at a local lesbian bar, only to learn, that Hiroko-sempai is a regular!

In the meantime, Hiroko is trying to resist the irresistable Ayaka, not realizing that she’s also queer as the day is long. But, even if she was, would a workplace romance be a good idea? The chaos levels rise, until Ayaka can stand it no longer.

She bursts into the office and demands everyone listen to her publicly and clearly state her feelings for Hiroko-sempai.

This is very much a “wackiness ensues” farce of a Shakaijin Yuri manga. You can just about hear Khaturian’s Sabre Dance playing in the background, while doors slam and people run to and fro. The resolution of this manga will also be anticlimactic. It’s the tension between ladies’ woman Hiroko unable to give in to her desires and Ayaka wearing another tantalizing – yet professional – outfit and trying to get sempai’s attention that is the plot.

Those readers who find the Black & White series by Sal Jiang a bit too much to swallow, might enjoy the playful goofiness and cuter art of this series. I’m here for the ridiculousness of the scenarios that surely could not exist in a real office for even a second. The more ridiculous this story gets, the more I enjoy it.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 10
Service – 6 When Ayaka stops dressing for attention, it’s actually pretty funny
Yuri – 7
Lesbian – 9

Overall – 8





Soulmate, Volume 2, Guest Review by Laurent Lignon

December 21st, 2022

Welcome back to Guest Review Wednesday on Okazu! This time of year is always too-busy here and this year I have complicated matters for myself by trying to squeeze out one last video for Yuri Studio before the end of the year, as well as the Okazu Patron Holiday Party! So thank you, as always to Journaliste/Chroniqueur Laurent Lignon for taking time to share this review of Soulmate, Volume 2 . Laurent reviewed Volume 1 last spring. So, let’s jump right into it – take it away, Laurent!

It is time for us to go back to the story of Qi, a Chinese lesbian teacher whose mind has been switched in time with her past teenage self. Will she then be able to save the woman she loves from the disease that is slowly killing her? Soulmate has been released as a webtoon, in Mandarin Chinese by Kuaikan Manhua and the printed version in French by Nazca Editions.

IN THE PRESENT : The relationship of Yuanzi and Qi was anonymously revealed on social networks, and by no one other than Xinjue, Qi’s student assistant. As the homophobic flame starts to rise online, Qi is temporarily laid off by her administration until the rumor calms down. For Teenage Qi, who is still struggling to adapt herself to an adult life in an adult body, the blow is hard. Her lover Yuanzi tries to calm her down by organizing a meeting with their old high school friends, only for Qi to ask to meet the only person she remembers from her teenage years that was supportive to her : her father. However, Teenage Qi learns that she hasn’t seen her father for seven years : when she came out to him while he was in a middle of his divorce, he overreacted and rejected her, pushing her to cut all ties with him in order to stay with Yuanzi. As Teenage Qi confronts her father about accepting her life of Yuanzi, she has an unexpected encounter with Chen Shuo, the boy who was in love with her during high school and was unable to express his feelings for her. Unknown to them, this encounter lead to a sudden change…

IN THE PAST : Adult Qi is still actively trying to date Yuanzi years before they became an official couple, in order to push her to be diagnosed and treated for the disease that will kill her 10 years later, and which Yuanzi is yet unaware she has. However, Adult Qi starts to see that things are changing from her memories and not in the way she expects it. First, a painting done by Yuanzi and inspired by Qi is stolen. Then, Chen Shuo confesses his love to her, something he never did in the original timeline. Hearing this, and thinking Qi may actually love Chen Shuo and think of her as nothing more than a friend, Yuanzi run away, leading to Qi chasing after her and hurting her ankle in the process. This accident allows for a long conversation between the two girls, in which finally Adult Qi confesses her true feelings for Yuanzi, further changing their past.

Let me be clear : a lot of things happen in those 200 pages. The story written by WenzhiLizi is gripping, rooted in everyday life and will speak to everyone, with all the characters being well developed and having a distinct personality. Most importantly, this development sheds a new light on the personality of two characters : Chen Shuo, who is finally revealed to have spend his whole life in the shadow of the love between Qi and Yuanzi, and is unable to move forward with his life ; and Xinjue, who is revealed to be secretly in love with Qi and, behind a friendly and helpful face, a manipulative personality who anonymously reveal Qi’s homosexuality online out of spite when she understands that her love will never be returned.

The struggle of Teenage Qi to adapt to adult life is paralleled in the way past Yuanzi learns to accept her own sexuality : both girls hide their true feelings and personality behind the mask of shyness, until they manage to accept their love for each other. In some ways, this is a classic ‘master and student’ story, with each of the main characters playing the opposite role in each of the different timelines. This is a story that had me totally hooked, the thin veil of sci-fi never hiding the beautiful slice of life I’ve read here.

ART : 7 – Keranbing’s art is still good looking, even with computer-colors (mind you, it was first designed to be read on cellphones and e-readers). It suits the story well, the only flaw I can find is that nearly all adult male characters don’t seem to have aged a bit during the 10 years gap between the two timelines : lucky bastards!

STORY : 8 – Even better than the first volume, with higher stakes and many twists. However, I think that the part about the forced coming out on social media is important but not as developed as I had hoped it would be. This is quite a problem in the real world, and it would have been interesting to see it tackled more deeply here.

CHARACTER : 9 – All characters get more fleshed out, even the secondary ones. More importantly, all motivations behind actions get explained. The past is changing, and with it the way each people see themselves and their place in the present little play.

SERVICE : 0 – Not even a kiss.

YURI : 10 – A lesbian time-traveling into the past to save the life of her lover and live happily ever long after with her : how more Yuri can you get ?

OVERALL: I won’t lie, I read it in a single take. While the sci-fi nerd that I am is quick to point out some small inconsistencies (time paradoxes, all the way!!), it never distracted me from the fact that this is a well written story, with charming characters that are easy to get attached to.

I can’t wait to read the third and final volume, for they all deserve their happy ending (yes, even poor Chen Shuo and jealous Xinjue!)

“to answer your question: the person I love is currently carrying me on her back.”

Erica here: Fantastic. I wonder what Volume 3 will bring! Thank you again, Laurent.





Yuri Espoir, Volume 3

December 14th, 2022

Back in the mists of Internet history, fanfic was one of the key drivers to fandom.  Not just my fandom, but many folks would read a fanfic and find themselves enamored of the ideas, the situations and the characters in that fanfic…sometimes more than the fiction that the fan-created derivative fiction was based upon. I’m not immune to this. I have very clear and specific ideas about how the glamour that protects the Senshi in Sailor Moon works, for instance, even though it is never explicated in the series, which one must constantly remind one’s self was created for 11 year olds. ^_^

So a story about creating stories seems, on the face of it, right up my alley. If the Yuri stories created within the story continued to be the point, I’d be on board. Unfortunately Yuri Espoir, Volume 3 falls into a trap  which often ended up weighing down otherwise decent fanfic – it is taking itself very seriously. It is truly unfortunate, because stripped of what has become a rather dire actual plot, I really enjoy the idea that Kokoro and Amami walk around fictionalizing complete strangers into comfy Yuri tropes. It hurts no one, and is only marginally weird. ^_^ (Real people shipping can be very weird, but let’s face it, it’s not uncommon. Much of the BTS Army exists for that purpose.)

Now, in V3, we get the real depth of despair Kokoro feels, the real backstory about the art teacher and the fact that both of their lives revolves around a faceless guy with the personality of a bucket of warm water. It’s…not fun. In fact, this volume gets quite dark in places. I have to ask myself “why?” To what end is this darkness? Will it go anywhere? I can’t tell.

In the spaces between Amami and Yuki’s unrequited love for people who have been portrayed as idiots, there are some cute ideas. But like every fanfic in which a potentially queer character was drowning in the darkness their author had nowhere else to express, there’s a distinct lack of espoir in this volume.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Stories – 8 for the fanfic, 5 for the main plot
Characters – 8
Service – 4 – there’s some, expressed in ways that are “this is a bad thing” but they are there.
Yuri – 9

Overall – 7

Had I been the editor, I think I would wrap this up next volume, unless it can shed this habit of trying to be a Very.Important.Story. 

Thanks to Tokyopop for the review copy and thanks to their team for their hard work!