Archive for the Yuri Anthology Category


Double Your Pleasure Yuri Anthology, Guest Review by Luce

November 24th, 2021

A cropped header of the cover of Double Your Pleasure Yuri Anthology. (I have used the cropped one as the full image whilst not explicit, is not really safe for work)

I’m Luce and often my curiosity gets the better of me. See also: I read and reviewed it so you don’t have to! Gave Erica a break, anyhow. You can find me on the Okazu discord as farfetched, and on tumblr as silverliningslurk. Onward, at your own peril.

Double Your Pleasure is an erotic yuri anthology based around twins, from authors such as Naoko Kodama who has done Days of Love at Seagull Villa. I think this is what they call ‘Dead Dove content’, also known as ‘does what it says on the tin’. I don’t know if I was expecting anything different from what I got, to be honest.

This review could be as short as: a series of twins having sex in various places. That’s pretty much all this is. If that’s your thing, then it’s great. I do find twins interesting… but not so much in this context. As far as I’m aware, sibling relationships are much more common in Japanese media than they are in English media, as are teacher-student relationships. I don’t know why – someone more versed in Japanese culture might be able to comment more thoroughly on it – but for some reason, they seem to go down a treat, at least with enough people to get published. I somehow can’t imagine something like this being published in the western world, but this made it here, so presumably there is some demand. I could possibly guess the type.

To be honest, where a third party was included it was a bit more interesting to me, but the focus on twins being so obsessed with their differences felt quite odd. Maybe it was low-hanging fruit, but nearly all of the stories featured twins either trying to be exactly the same, or very focused on the few things that they matched in. I’m not a twin, so I can only imagine that it probably is something they are concerned about to a degree, but I feel like most twins (I happen to know two separate triplets, too) I know don’t like being compared, and are no more interested in their siblings than non-twin siblings.

Basically, this is a fetish-catering manga. There is a lot of focus on nipples, and the sex is shown. The preview on Bookwalker has one full short story, and it’s about the same from there. One of the ones that particularly irked me was a story where two twins are very different… but their weights are the same. Why? Because the one tries to match her intake and output to the other. Loosely linked to binary stars?

Basically, if you’re into it, you’re into it, and it does what it says on the tin, and does that pretty well. If you’re not, you’re probably reading this with a sense of horror. If you’re curious, read the preview on Global Bookwalker, (with an 18+ warning to click through) and if you hate that, it only gets better in the sense that the rest of the book isn’t quite as non-consensual. Oh, did I mention that? In the first story, the twins get annoyed that someone can tell them apart and force themselves on her as punishment. It’s my least favourite… not that I had any favourites. I won’t be reading this again.

Ratings:

Art – 7 – mixture of artists, all fairly decent.
Story – 1: twins have sex, sometimes someone else is included, in one it was a dream. I think.
Characters – 2 – few characters have any depth beyond ‘I’m obsessed with my twin and this correlates to sexual activity with them’.
Service (level of salaciousness) – 10. Lots of sex. Every story. Dead dove content, if you will.
Yuri –  10, I mean. They’re all explicit yuri, so…
Overall – 4.

Thank you to Seven Seas for the review copy. I’m off to read something a little more wholesome.

Erica here: Thank you Luce, for once again stepping in to give us a solid review of this jiggly collection.

For my part, I was merely sad that none of the creators tried to do something interesting with the premise. Like, an astronaut returns fall in love with another astronaut of a space station and they find they were separated at birth…or something. But as you say, this is “a series of twins having sex” so, if that’s a reader’s thing, then that reader ought to like it.  ^_^





Bloom Into You Anthology, Volume One

November 12th, 2021

The Bloom Into You Anthology, Volume One is something we didn’t used to see much in the west – an “official” collection of shorts about the characters by artists other than the creator. It’s a testament to the popularity of Bloom Into You, that this series had two volumes of this official anthology. Today we’re looking at Volume 1.

To begin with, I find I never reviewed this volume in Japanese. Having re-read it now, I know why. It’s a fun read and very enjoyable if you are a fan of the series or, more specifically, of Yuu and Touko. Most of the stories focus on them and their dynamic, often with a kind of goofiness that I imagine is very appealing if you like them. Here you’ll discover works about Bloom Into You by other Yuri artists such as Canno,  Yuriko Hara and tMnR.

Tthis volume had a few stories I enjoyed.  Particularly, “Onigiri, Croquettes, Rolled Eggs,” by Okara Miyama, which looks into a bad day in the life of Yuu’s friend, aspiring writer Koyomi. It’s a lovely look at friendship.

Also appealing to me was Kazuno Yuikawa’s “In the Box,” for – again – taking a deep dive into Sayaka’s feelings about and relationship with Touko.

It’s a no-brainer that I like “Bitter Coffee Time” by Hiroichi, for focusing on Riko and Miyako.

This volume was beautifully lettered by CK Russell, and nicely translated by Jenny McKeon. The small error of Sayaka’s birthdate has already been acknowledged and will be changed in future editions. I wouldn’t mention it at all, except people do like to jump on that kind of thing, so I wanted to assure you, it’s been noted already.

Which brings me to a point I want to make yet again – should you see an error or have a sustainable argument against a translation choice, there is an effective means to communicate this to companies. Go to their website, click their contact forms, write a politely worded message detailing the error. Remember human beings work at these companies, so do be sympathetic. The wrong thing to do is become rude or vicious in a public forum, so avoid that if possible. I assure you, being polite works. I’ve addressed many problematic language issues in the years I have been writing here. All you need to do is be polite.

If you loved Bloom Into You and want more time with Yuu and Touko and their friends…this is the book for you!

Ratings are variable on account of it being an anthology.

Overall – 8

Bloom Into You Anthology Volume Two (linked here by an amazon affiliate link. I’ll get it up on the Yuricon Store when all the options are avaialable) will be out in January, so you have another chance to indulge your passion for this series, just around the corner.





Syrup: A Yuri Anthology, Volume 2

March 11th, 2021

There are several games in town on the Yuri Anthology playing field in Japanese, Kadokawa, Ichijinsha and Futabasha. (Thank you CW for the correction!) In English, we’ve gotten the Éclair anthologies from Yen Press and Syrup from Seven Seas, respectively. If you read all the anthologies, as I am wont to, you’ll see a lot of the same names floating around on the contributor list, which occasionally gives one a sense of deja vu. ^_^ Today we’re looking at the second Syrup anthology  out from Seven Seas. Of Volume 1, I said “Syrup is a very good Yuri anthology for your growing Yuri anthology section of bookshelves and a great way to add work by some of the best in Yuri.” This holds true for Syrup: A Yuri Anthology, Volume 2, with some caveats. 

“Caveats?” you ask? Yes, to be very honest, overall, I am less fond of the Ichijinsha and Futabasha anthologies than I am of the Kadokawa. Second, because an anthology covers a wide range of styles and content, you are unlikely to love everything in any given anthology. In this volume’s case there were a few stories that put me off quite severely. One, by an author I know I don’t like and was therefore able to skip it, and at least one other by someone I had not previously been familiar with.

That said, here in Syrup, Volume 2, we have a fair number of decent stories and a brace of stories that I thought lifted the whole anthology out of the pack.

Matsuzaki Natsumi’s “The Fourth Woman” was an excellent crossover between two subgenres, with a idol fan and her idol meeting once again in office life, which left me smiling at the short, but on point story. The final story, “At What Point?” by Morinaga Milk also hit me in a few sensitive spots. The collection as a whole has some names I’m pleased to see; among them, Takahashi Mako, Whispered Words‘ Ikeda Takashi, Amano Shuninta, who I’m always really glad to see in any anthology and what now looks like a very, very early contribution by Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl creator, Canno.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Solid work by translator Jennifer Ward and adaptor Asha Bardon make this a quick read. I want to note that doing lettering and retouch on multiple author’s work, as Kaitlyn Wiley did here, can be trickly. Another fine job from everyone at Seven Seas and another authentic manga reading experience.

Thanks to Seven Seas for the review copy!





Éclair Orange: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart

November 24th, 2020

Éclair Orange: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart, the fifth and final book of the Éclair anthology is a hefty volume full of favorite Yuri creators, with some of the best stories so far in the series.

The cover story by Nio Nakatani follows two women ready to make a significant commitment to their relationship.

Among the many stories we have Miyako Miyahara’s happy accident with two girls who braid their lives together in “Unbreakable Distance.”

Cocoon, Entwined creatorYuriko Hara, whose art is unmistakable, does a fantastic and phantastic story about reliance and dependence.

“Wavering Lips” by Ruka Kobachi is a short poignant story about the path not taken while Taki Kitao’s “Please Go Home” is kind of the opposite, a story about chance encounter leading to a life-changing decision.

Kazuno Yuikawa’s “A New Star” is a stark, powerful science fiction entry that covers a *lot* of territory in a short story touching on freedom and servitude. I quite like this one.

Entries by Kabocha, Canno, Kiriyama Haruka and others explore a number of ways relationships work.

The Éclair series is perfect to introduce readers to a wide selection of Yuri artists and Éclair Orange is a fine conclusion to this fun anthology series that has, I hope, introduced you to a new favorite or two. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

For those of you who would like to see more Kazuno Yuikawa or Taki Kitao, Kadokawa has put together special collected works volumes for each of those creators in Japanesde: Éclair Special Kazuno Yuikawa Masterpiece Collection (エクレアSpecial 雑草譚 結川カズノ百合作品傑作選) and Éclair Special Sukinano ha Onnonoko Kitao Taki Yuri Sakuhin Kessakusen (エクレアSpecial 好きなのは女の子 北尾タキ百合作品傑作選).





Éclair Rouge: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart

October 30th, 2020

Éclair Rouge: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart is the fourth volume in Kadokawa’s Éclair anthology series put out by Yen Press. Overall, I thought it a pretty decent anthology, with some inclusions I very much liked. It still makes me so personally happy that you’re able to read work by Kitao Taki and Amano Shuninta in English, finally.

There are some changes made from the Japanese edition, which I reviewed almost a year ago. I know of two and think I understand both, although I don’t know specifically if I might have also chosen them, having not been in the position of editing this volume. So let’s address these up front and then get in to happier tidings. Yen was very honest about having cut a story from the Japanese edition. I have been asked what it was about, but to be perfectly honest, I can’t answer that. My copy of this volume in Japanese is buried in a carton with a thousand other volumes, while I have undertaken a massive cleaning and renewal of my office. While I cannot tell you specifically what was objectionable, I know Itou Hachi’s stories tend to be unreadable for me and I feel absolutely no loss whatsoever not having to skip past it quickly.

The other change is something I cannot do more than speculate why as it was made. In my review of the Japanese edition, I noted that Morishima-sensei had added trans inclusivity into her story, “When I Undo Her Button.” The scenario is that a woman does not like to show her body to anyone, not even her lover. At the beginning of the story, Rikako wonders why that might be. Among other possible scenarios, she considers if Miyu might be trans. Rikako’s not concerned about that, she’s concerned that she hasn’t communicated to Miyu that she is loved unconditionally. Please do not assume the worst of Yen. Since we do not know why the choice was made, let us give them them benefit of the doubt and assume it was a specific request, or something similar. It is absolutely possible that they thought mentioning being trans in that context would read like it was on a list of bad things that had to be accepted and, with that reading, was best left off.

All that having been said, my favorite stories remain the same, Kabocha’s “Nice to See You, It’s Been A While” and Taki Kitao’s “The Legend, the Newbie & Me” which gets to the heart of her style that I enjoy – crazy reaction faces and silly situations. Fans of Canno will be happy to see the continuation of her “Unemployed Woman and High School Girl” series.

Translator Eleanore Summers does a fab job and the lettering by Erin Hickman ought to be noted, especially when the font really captures the tone of the original. I know Yen doesn’t always credit everyone who worked on a book, but the technicals are solid, so hats off to the entire crew.

If you’re a fan of Yuri manga, Éclair Rouge: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart gives you a chance to experience some of the best creators in the business.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

All in all, a solid Yuri anthology. This volume is a hefty 251 pages of content by creators who are riding a wave of popularity in Yuri – some of them have been doing it for 20 years, some are relative newcomers, but they all bring a lot to the table. The next one in the series is Orange, which came out last winter in Japanese. There has, so far, been no further volumes of the series in Japanese.