Archive for the Yuri Anthology Category


Yuri Manga: Ashita Mata Kimi no Uchi e (明日また君の家へ)

January 27th, 2014

The obi of Ashita Mata Kimi no Uchi e (明日また君の家へ), tells you in English and Japanese that the stories inside are about childhood friends, a student and teacher, sisters, and classmates, all neatly pre-packaged in pairs for your non-thinking pleasure.

What the obi doesn’t indicate that the art will make it awkward to tell which character is which and that all of them look like the prototypical blobby-headed moe face that looks vaguely 4-year oldish on account of having no facial features.  The combined affect of phoned-in story telling and art left me with the impression that I had just read a volume of “blow-up doll theater.” (Which, now that I think about it, could be a very funny idea, but even if someone did it, it probably wouldn’t be all that funny, really.)

I remember vaguely not minding the classmates story, trying to read the teacher/student thing, but not finishing it,  and finally giving up and paging through the interminably long sisters story. By the time we got to the childhood friends, I was unable to identify which character was which and decided to read the next volume of Drops of God (神の雫), in which the adult cast look and act like an adults, and the lead female is smart, not at all blobby-headed and much more my idea of attractive manga art. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 3 at best
Characters – None, all characters were “types”
Story – None, it’s a PWP anthology
Yuri – I didn’t get the sense anyone like each other much, but, 9
Service – 10

Overall – N/A

This book had all the appeal of an actuarial audit. ^_^;

Thank you to the man who reminds me to sink to the depths in order to rise to the heights, Okazu Superheo Dan P. for his brave sponsorship of today’s review!





Yuri Manga: Yuri☆Koi Girls Love Story, Volume 2 (百合☆恋)

January 24th, 2014

A few weeks ago, I reviewed  Yuri☆Koi Girls Love Story, Volume 1 , a Yuri anthology in which I found basically one good story. Today, we take a look at Yuri☆Koi Girls Love Story, Volume 2 (百合☆恋), in which there is only one good story….and it becomes substantially less good.

In the second chapter of “Yuri ni Tanpopo” we learn more about Mizuho – how she’s a good girl, honor student, reliable and all those other horribly burdensome qualities that society praises, but does not reward. We also learn that Mizuho and Ena have been going out since Ena confessed her feelings. Inexplicably, this becomes a crisis. Kanae reacts as if Mizuho had said they were going out since Ena killed Mizuho’s dog or something. Mizuho acts like it’s a shameful secret and Ena overhears this conversation. It’s all awkward tension that night between the three of them and the next morning, Ena’s gone. I’m left with a story revolving around a plot complication that seems of no importance to me whatsoever and I have no idea why. Everyone’s unhappy, me and the characters…

There were, surprisingly, a few other readable stories, most of which stayed in that “discovering love” phase so beloved of doujinshi artists and fanfic writers.

The rest of the stories were the more typical unrealistic fetishtry one excepts from a Yuri anthology.

Now I’m in a quandry. Do I get get Volume 3, knowing that 1) I am only getting it for one story that 2) will probably suck, or do I give up on the series completely? I guess I’ll just punt like I did on the last two volumes and stick it on my Yuri Wish List on Amazon JP and feel like  failure for not being able to just stop.  ^_^;

Ratings:

Overall –  Frustrating, with moments of okay.

My very sincere thank to Okazu Superhero Dan P. for facilitating my passive-aggressive relationship with this series by sponsoring today’s review!





Yuri Manga: Yuri☆Koi Girls Love Story, Volume 1 (百合☆恋)

January 6th, 2014

I finished off the last year with the best, so it stands to reason that I’m starting off the new year with, if not the worst, then the “just not terribly good.” ^_^

OKS Comix is a anthology publisher that got traction back in the day doing series anthologies, and generally “adult” anthologies. They’ve got a series of Yuri☆Koi Girls Love Story (百合☆恋) anthologies of which this one is the first.

The first story, by Yamaguchi Serika, is fantastic – by my standards. After breaking up with her boyfriend, Kanae gets a call from her older sister that she’s coming to visit. When Mizuho arrives, she’s accompanied by another woman, Ena, whom Mizuho introduces as her girlfriend. As they prepare dinner and spend the evening talking, Kanae learns that Mizuho and Ena have been seeing each other for two years and have been living together for a year. Kanae is forced to realize that she knows nothing about her sister’s life. Ena and Mizuho are adorable together and it’s pretty obvious that they are also blissfully happy. Kanae starts to think about her boyfriend and how they were happy together, As the chapter ends, she is reaching for her phone. To Be Continued… and I’m tempted to get Volume 2 just to find out what happens, despite the fact that the quality of the book plummets after this story.

The rest of the book goes steadily downhill from uninteresting moe girls sort of liking one another to uninteresting moe girls having messy sex in bathroom. So something for everyone, I guess. (-_-)

Ratings:

Art – Averaging around 6
Stories – The first one is an 8, dropping down to 3 at worst
Characters – Variable
Yuri – Averaging around 8
Service – Starting at 3, topping off at 10

Overall – Without the first story, 5, with the first story, 7

It is my very genuine pleasure to start the year with a shoutout of thanks to Okazu Superhero Dan P. for his sponsorship of today’s review! And should you want to join our list of Okazu Heroes on the sidebar, remember, it’s as easy as sponsoring a review from my Yuri Wishlist on Amazon or Amazon JP! Help keep Okazu functioning and get snide reviews in return – it’s a win-win! (Disclaimer: Snide reviews not guaranteed. Sometime I like sponsored items.)





Yuri Manga: Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, Volume 11 (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり)

October 27th, 2013

With the demise of Tsubomi magazine, Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり) has really stepped up its game. Volume 11 feels awfully like an actual Yuri manga magazine in a way that earlier volumes just had not done. And I cannot help but notice the author line-up is looking mighty strong these days.

Starting off with one of my favorite series in the anthology, “Sunahama to Kase-san” by Takashima Hiromi follows Yamada and Kase-san on their school trip. A minor misunderstanding turns into a chance to become closer and desire becomes more of a factor than has been previously. Yamada still has some major self-worth issues, and Japanese mangaka still think sports bras are a kind of hammerspace. ^_^

In Morishima Akiko’s “Seijun Shoujo Paradigm” Aoi is finding her feelings towards Riri shifting, and is only marginally distracted by the relationship between Reika and Yuki.

“Ohime-sama no Uso” by Morinaga Milk continues with Fujiwara-sempai joining Miu on a “date” but as the day goes on, Miu is more and more aware that they are not a couple, but just pretending to be one. To make matters worse, Kaori specifically tells Miu that her feelings for Fujiwara are real, unlike Miu’s. If Fujiwara is a prince, Miu is now well aware that she is no princess. I am enjoying the slightly atypical art in the story. Morinaga-sensei doesn’t often draw the otokoyaku type of girl.

Kumijou’s “Out of the Blue” is a sweet love story between a transfer student and a troublemaker. This story left me with a big ole grin on my face as I finished it.

Amakure Gido’s “Shuuden ni ha Kaeshimasu” draws to a close as the punk girls gets the girl.

“Soshite Watashitachi ha” is a nice little bit of paranormal in an otherwise typical first love story.

Kita Konno’s “Kirari” is a slice of life as two girls spend a quiet interlude at the sea.

Hakamada Mera’s “Hikari no Niwa” is a pleasant resolution to an “opposites attract” story.

“Under One Roof” by Fujio continues at the snail’s pace it has established, as roommates become more aware of one another with each chapter.

Maybe it’s that I’m in a good mood, maybe it’s something else, but I even liked Auri Hirao’s “anokono -shitekurenakkata – koto” about two roommates dealing with being left behind by a third.

Amame Osawa’s “Houkago no Mahoutsukai” was an absolutely adorable little paranormal bit about wanting to feel needed.

And “Koi suru Poccyari” by Kiyota Tomo is a story about being needed.

There were other stories, most of which I found less compelling, but this volume was  – by far and away – one of the best of Hirari to date.

Ratings:

Overall – 8





Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime Wildrose, Volume 7 (百合姫 Wildrose)

August 15th, 2013

Does 2010 count as a “the past” yet? If so, Yuri Hime Wildrose, Volume 7 (百合姫 Wildrose) anthology is a blast from the past. The last original volume, Yuri Hime Wildrose 6, was released back in 2010,  and there was a selected re-release  of curated stories in 2011, Wildrose Re:Mix disk a and disk b. And, I thought, that was the last we’d hear of the Wildrose series. But…no.

Yuri Hime Wildrose, Volume 7 picks right up where 6 left off, with a stable of new creators, working on doujinshi-length “Plot, What Plot-style?” stories, where the setup exists merely to frame the sex. In most cases, the sex is accompanied by sincere affection, sometimes even love, which tempers the feeling one inevitably gets as one reads, of being cast by the story as “horny voyeur”.

Saburo Uta’s opening bid, “Partner” is a nice enough place to begin. Kusabe and Ogihara are paired in everything from tennis to academics, but it turns out that they actually like each other, as well. ^_^

“Encore!!!!” by Amano Syuninta was, by far, my favorite story as her art and storytelling hit all my sweet spots and avoided most of the sour ones. This cheerful tale of two pop idols in a girl group was silly and weird, with moments of sexy thrown in.

And Nanzaki Iku submits a new chapter of one of her Shizuru x Natsuki clone pairs in a story that wasn’t thrilling, but was ultimately – as her’s so often are – sweet.

If this is the kind of story that gets your heart pounding – and might just get you practicing your Japanese –  it’s a good bet you’ll enjoy this volume.

Ratings:

Variable – 6

A couple of the artists are just doing art that I can’t really enjoy, but I’m not running this through the shredder or anything. It’ll probably be part of my next Lucky Bag giveaway, though.  ^_^