It seems like a lifetime ago that the male leaders of Tokyo Medical University were slightly abashed for 5 seconds about their unfair treatment of women in scoring. It was merely 4 years ago when that scandal motivated Ameco Kaeruda to write a withering castigation of that school and all men who game the system so that women are held back from their full potential, in the form of a brilliant isekai novel. Sexiled, Volume 1 and Volume 2 both made it to English a year later, offering so many of us a revenge fantasy in which women helped each other, no one was hurt and a new future was conceived.

In 2021, a manga version of this series was launched online on Sunday Webry, where it is still available, with current chapters free to read for a limited time, as many online platforms are doing. A collected Volume 2 has not yet been announced, but I kind of guess it’ll be after the most recent chapter’s time has elapsed.

The setup of the first volume of Onnadakara, to Paati o Tsuihousaretanode Densetsu no Majyo to Saikyou Taggu o Kumimashita, Volume 1 (女だから、とパーティを追放されたので伝説の魔女と最強タッグを組みました) is just as frustrating as it was the first time. ^_^ Why? Because even after MeToo and KuToo it often feels like very little has changed.

So watching Tanya blow the hell out of the landscape so she doesn’t just level the town feels slightly less cathartic. About now, I’m ready to see some town leveling.

The art manages to be intelligent about the intended service of women’s clothes in a way that shows that – even when an outfit is intended to be pointlessly “sexy” and insulting – it doesn’t have to actively insult women’s intelligence. But it’s no less uplifting when Laplace offers Tanya armor and a sword worthy of her status as a knight mage. And, it is equally as uplifting to watch Laplace and Tanya mentor Nadine and the girls in town and give them the confidence to strive. And for that, this story will always be worth reading.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Service – 7 Thoughtfully rendered.
Yuri – 8

Overall – 10

According to the Japanese Ministry of Education, who has required more transparency in statistics since the TMU scandal, in 2021, more women than men were accepted to Japan’s medical schools. I like to think that Tanya’s seeing more girl adventurers and mages now, as well.

Ichinjinsha’s Doujinjo Yuri Anthology focusing on women create doujinshi, was both fun and a little headache-inducing, much like a full day at a comic market. ^_^

The drama of Japanese comic markets can manifest in may ways. The deadlines for creators, the stress of getting all your monkeys in one barrel. the actual agonizing wait for someone to walk up and ask to look at your work….and if it’s summer, the heat and the people, and the physical exhaustion. I cannot express to you how MUCH a comic market takes out of you, even when you’re just sitting there. The year I sold at Comiket, we received a little bag with paperwork and info. It features a person flattened with exhaustion. We picked it up in the morning and laughed. Well…the bag was right.

This anthology focuses less on the drama of the event than of the fandom and the creators within that fandom. Several of the stories follow women who love women who draw stories about men who love men… something that is quite common.

But…the screaming. I often find myself muting anime when the screaming becomes too much, but I would never have expected to want to mute a manga. Because, of course, there are arguments about which pairing is better and which character is seme and which uke (at which my queer inner monologue me stood on a table and shouted at the women arguing with “Who the fuck CARES who is on top?!? Get a grip”). I was well gratified that the waitress in the story shushed them as well. That story made me super grumpy. ^_^

My favorite story in the collection is when a woman returns to the doujinshi scene after years away, and finds herself tableing next to her ex. ^_^;  It probably will come as no surprised that that story was written and drawn by Usui Shio, who is my current favorite chronicler of complicated adult feelings. It was a quiet story, in a loud anthology. LOL

The best part of the collection were stories where doujinshi artists were given room to admire one another’s work and for friendships amongst themselves. I’d be happy to pay for a book or seventeen about the doujinshi community that focused on the drama of the work and everyone’s support of each other. That, to me, is the best part of the comic market world. The collaborations, the after parties, the friendships…the community. You get a hint of that here. It left me wanting more.

Ratings:

Everything is variable, as it is anthology

Overall – 7

Enjoyable, but superficial, look at the world of doujinshi markets. I’d *love* to see a Yuri manga that took time to work through a whole story in that world.