Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 10 ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな)

September 18th, 2023

Two women smile at us, as they walk arm in arm in a city at night.Life is complex – humans are complex systems and relationships are complex systems made up of other complex systems interacting. Things are always complicated in Tamifull’s Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 10 ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな)

Now that Saeko and Miwa are in relationships with other women, the problems that they had in communication became apparent. They’ve matured, too and are attempting to address those issues in a way that they weren’t able to previously. And, really, if there is a single theme in this volume, it would be “communication.” A secondary theme is “sometimes you and you’re partners’ sexual needs…just don’t match up.”

Miwa and Tamaki have a much-needed conversation about Tamaki’s apparent dislike (Miwa thinks) of sex. It’s not that!, Tamaki explains. Meanwhile Yuria is having a bad patch and Saeko is trying to find ways to be supportive, but not always hitting the mark. And, just in case, we’re thinking that Tamifull is beating on the girls remosrselessly, we learn that Mikkun has a girlfriend…and his sex friend Rika is not okay with that.

Just to complicate things a little more, it’s getting to be time for the band’s offsite training session and now it’s their turn to be planning it. Still lost in the hows and whats of building a relationship, Miwa is distracted and Saeko is absent…she’s taken on an internship at a company.

While all of this feels solid and real…I’m ready for something to lighten up. It’s been 10 volumes and neither Saeko nor Miwa have been able to just relax all that much. Just as not every short story needs a twist ending, not every relationship needs to be constantly stressful to give a narrative the tension it needs to keep driving forward.

After the tension of attraction, I’m really ready for Miwa and Tamaki to just unbend a little around each other and Saeko and Yuria to be on the same wavelength for more than a panel or two at a time. Thankfully, as the volume comes to a close, it looks like that’s what we might be heading towards. I hope so, because like listening to that coworker with the shitty spouse, I’m feeling a little worn out here. In my review of Volume 9, I said, “I keep wondering how far we’re going to follow these two, but I’m not bored yet..” Well, Volume 10 pushed me a bit – I’d like to see at least one them make something work positively. The best part of the series is watching how Miwa and Saeko have, really, become good friends to one another.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 8

Volume 11 just hit JP shelves this week, and it’s theme is “lack of mutual understanding”….so I guess I’ll get a chance to see what has become of everyone soon enough. ^_^;

 





Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 8 (おとなになっても)

September 11th, 2023

On a pale green background, a lone woman with reddish hair cut to her chin, is leaning forward as if on laying her head a desk, looking directly at us.Akari and Ayano have moved in together. This fact fills this book with all sorts of tensions, both positive and negative. Sure, they have been through ” a lot,” but so little of it is about them, together, as a couple. Will thins relationship, which has been mere embers since it was lit, get a chance to burst into life?

We…don’t know. Yet.

Ayano is planning on moving school, as rumors of infidelity plague her. The kids in her class are apologetic about it, not really understanding what the parents have against it, as, frankly, neither do I. Busybosdies gonna busybody, I guess. As difficult a situation as it is, it appears that Ayano’s students nd peers seem to be on her side. Nonetheless, she is leaving at graduation to start at a new school. In a fitful climax for the classroom drama, Nitta returns to school just in time to graduate. She finally has it out with her former friend, but whether they will be able to patch things up, we may not actually learn.

Akari encounters the salon manager’s wife who really seems less concerned that he’s having an affair (with Eri, Akari reminds herself) than with him being a dolt. And Wataru is navigating having the woman he is interested in, openly ask him out, now that she too is divorced.

This continues to be such a low-key adult life Yuri that one can hardly think of it as barrelling down on the conclusion of the series…and yet, that is where we are. Volume 9 was released in June and Volume 10 will conclude the series. It’s been an interesting read and I definitely wonder where everyone will end up.

The final chapters were about having bathroom accidents in second-grade and you know what? I didn’t need that. Thanks Shimura-sensei for having a weird insistance on add that to your Yuri stories. Sigh.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 0
LGBTQ+ – Let’s give this a 7, as Akarai and Ayano start negotiating boundaries and intimacy.

Overall – 8

 





Kohaku no Kijo (琥珀の貴女)

September 7th, 2023

A woman with short dark hair leans over a woman with long reddish-brown hair in bed. Today, I am conflicted. ^_^

Kohaku no Kijo (琥珀の貴女) is a short story collection by Higashikawa Mizo and, like most short story collections, it has some tropes of short story writing that places it directly in the middle of my aversion to short story collections. ^_^; On the other hand, the art and some of the writing was pretty solid.

The first story relies on what has become a standard Yuri trope – a woman falls for the sex worker she hires.  This is complicated by the fact that the woman really knows nothing of the sex worker’s life, and is missing a great deal of information. An unlikely twist occurs, but they find a way to help one another. The next story is wrapped around a manipulative relationship and for this one, the handwave is that it has lasted for a unreasonably long time.

The next story was the one where I put the book down and thought – do I want to keep reading this? Which has lead to today’s conflict. The answer to “do I want to keep reading this” turned out to be “yes,” but then it shifted to – is there something here worth writing about? In this third story the twist is again rather tragic and the narrative equivalent of a truck slamming into you – blunt and designed to damage. Not to put too fine a point on it – not every short story needs a twist.

So why am I reviewing this book? Because despite the fact that all the stories, including the heavily emotional final story, are rooted in tragedy and conflict being avoided/denied until it is too late, there is a complexity to the characters. They aren’t just victims of their imaginations, or lack of initiative, or self-preservation. They are actively looking to see the good in other people….even when other people are the problem.

Ratings:

Art – A solid 7, with moments of 8
Story – 5
Characters   –  6 Very cloudy skies clearing up
Service – 1 a little bit for effect
Yuri – 8

Overall – 7

The theme, while not enough to make me “like” this collection, made me want, in the end, to review it. It’s been a tough year for me, I’m not really in the mood for tragic twists and unpleasant partnerships that linger….but I am reminded that even in dark places, some people are decent. It was a good reminder.





Otherside Picnic, Volume 6, Guest Review by Sandy Ferguson

September 6th, 2023

The cover of Otherside Picnic, Volume 6, manga, makes it clear we are about to enjoy the common trope of the “beach episode.” At least from the cover it looks like Toriko is enjoying herself, whereas Sorawo has her usual look of, ‘how can I possibly be happy with the fact that this gorgeous blonde wants to hang out with me?’

In Volume 6 we have the conclusion of The Kisaragi Station Marines Rescue Operation, then the fun part of the ‘Resort Night at the Beach of the End’. Then another story from Kozakura’s perspective, ‘Ms. Yozakura’s Food Spam Livestream.’ 

First, there is thrilling climax to the rescue operation where the Sorawo and Toriko tag team bring this story to a satisfying conclusion, with some classic Otherside Picnic dialogue from the Marines in response to their success.

What struck me was how successful the manga is in conveying a moment of quiet after the Marines have gone, that provides an effective backdrop for a touching moment of intimacy between the accomplices Toriko and Sorawo as they deal with the emotional consequences of their actions, and what it reveals about their evolving relationship.

And then off to the beach, because girls just want to have fun, well at least Toriko does.

There are obligatory moments of accomplice panic from Sorawo as she wonders what is more terrifying:
a) discovering that they have somehow ended up on a beach in the Otherside, or
b) dressing for the beach in the presence of Toriko.

In this volume we are given some fleeting glimpses of the happier days of Sorawo and Toriko’s lives, a rarity in the usual narrative of loss that are their backstories. Indeed, these glimpses may be seen as a backdrop to the unusual aspect of this volume, we see the Otherside as a place where Sorawo and Toriko can chill and have fun, free from their fears of the social pressures of this world, in this case the fun consisting of drinking beer and shooting guns.

In this volume the Otherside becomes, for a moment, more nuanced. It is not just a place that provokes terror or triggers insanity, but a place that can bring for Sorawo and Toriko moments of connection based on simply enjoying being with one another. But this being the Otherside, things change, and Team Sorawo and Toriko once more must face the terrors of the Otherside, and the artwork rises to the challenge.

In the bonus story we discover more about Kozakura’s gig as a virtual YouTuber and the nature of her avatar, in what I found to be an interesting reflection of her past relationship with Satsuki Uruma. This YouTube session centres on food, with unexpected contributions from Sorawo and Toriko’s bender in Okinawa. There are also moments when Kozakura shares her pungent thoughts on her dealings with Sorawo and Toriko, as well as her thoughts on the nature of Sorawo and Toriko’s relationship.

Story – 9
Artwork -9
Character – 8, I enjoyed watching Sorawo and Toriko learning to have fun together.
Service – 9, it is a beach episode, though tastefully done. And Sorawo discovers how comfortable Toriko is in her presence…
Yuri – 7, this volume explores the various levels of initimacy growing between Sorawo and Toriko

Overall – 9

All in all, another great read.





The Moon on a Rainy Night, Volume 1

September 4th, 2023

Two girls sharing an umbrella look back over their shoulders at us, as rain pours down around them. They both wear a dark school uniform skirt with white stripes at the hem. One, with collar length red-brown hair, wears a beige sweater, over which you can see her "sailor" style collar. The other, with long black hair, wear a red sweat jacket with thick white stripe down the arms. Both carry book bags.I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am that you get to read The Moon on a Rainy Night, Volume 1! This masterwork by Kuzushiro hits English language shelves tomorrow and I implore you to get it if you haven’t already.

Amayo no Tsuki (雨夜の月) has been one of my favorite series since it launched last year – Volume 5 was reviewed here just last week, in fact. I’ve been a fan of Kuzushiro-sensei’s work for ages and was able to bring Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru (姫のためなら死ねる) out in English in partnership with JManga.  So this is technically not the first time Kuzushiro-sensei’s work had been published in English, but it is the first time in print and so well-positioned for success.

The Moon on a Rainy Night follows the lives of Saki, a typical student in high school, and her classmate Kanon, who is hard-of-hearing. Kanon has isolated herself from her classmates after a painful misunderstanding in middle school so, when Saki is asked to be her friend, Kanon asks her to just not.

Saki and Kanon are thrown together by random circumstances, but their friendship radically changes both their lives in ways that they could not have possibly predicted.

Disability manga is not entirely uncommon. For instance, we’ve been talking about Kabi Nagata‘s mental and physical health since 2016. But there is a reasonable pushback from disability advocates on “inspirational” portrayals of disabled and chronically ill folks gaining unreasonable success “despite” their limitations. No one needs that shit. What we get in Moon on a Rainy Night is the coming together of two people who help one another to become their best selves. Saki reaches out to understand Kanon – she begins to learns sign language to make it easier to communicate and brings Kanon into situations in which she can thrive, instead of hiding from stress. Kanon learns to become part of the larger community – without compromising her own needs. It is a fantastic tale of what “accommodation” ought to look like in a perfect world. Saki and one of the teachers  makes space for Kanon to participate in student life in ways that allow her to feel included on her own terms.

This doesn’t mean life is perfect for Saki or Kanon, which means that there is room for them both to grow – together and separately. As I said in my review of this volume in Japanese, “I’m glad it neither fetishizes nor romanticizes deafness. Instead, it is a bit of an explainer manga, which gives Kanon a chance to speak for herself and to correct Saki’s mistakes and misunderstandings.”

Kuzushiro’s art has really matured over the last few years. There’s amazing reaction shots and this will continue to develop as the story goes on. The storytelling is a little rough in the very beginning, but soon finds it’s own pacing. It’ll pick up speed as the story progresses.

Kodansha has done a fine job of bringing this volume over to us. Kevin Steinbach’s translation feels as natural as it can be, given that in this volume, the characters are still being developed by the creator. Above everything, it feels like young people talking, which I very much appreciate. Jamil Stewart’s lettering is solid, with the Kodansha house style of doing matching captions to the Japanese. The English reads smoothly, great job on editor Andres Oliver.  And the cover design by Phil Balsman captures the feel and colors of the Japanese edition.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7 This will go up as the narrative matures
Characters – 9
Service – Let’s say 1 on principle but not really
Yuri – Also mostly on principle right now, but that, too, will change

Overall – 8

I am so, so glad this manga is here! It is at the top of my list for possible best of the year.  The Moon on a Rainy Night is a Yuri series that can and should be read by everyone.