I’m not going to lie – I was not looking forward to reading Macaron Idol Yuri Anthology (マカロン アイドル百合アンソロジー). But my wife said to me, “You never know, you might enjoy it.” I believe I made a rude noise in reply.

My wife was right. I enjoyed this anthology, despite myself. The stories were, I suppose, predictable for an idol anthology, but more importantly, they were pretty sincere.

The first story by Sakagi, “Ponytail and Aoi Uso”  was a moving little story of an idol “graduating”  – that is to say, being forcibly retired by management – but leaving a deep impression on the kouhai who loves her.

Also entertaining, was a trio of idols who were being sold as a “Yuri” concept group, but in real life, are an actual threesome, story by Tsuji Yuzuna.

There are stories of fans and idols, idols and their idol partners, even an “evil” idol group recruiting a “innocent” idol,  and a surprising (to me) number of stories about the people behind the idols. Perhaps that should not have surprised me, but my impression of the idol industry is that they carefully do not want us, the audience, to ever think of the idols as humans, with lives and thoughts beyond just entertainment. I think that is a brutal and inhuman way to treat people. and I’m kind of glad to know that the creators in this anthology, at least, are willing to look past the curtain a little and explore the inner and off-stage lives of the entertainers.

Ratings:

All ratings are variable, but all were good to excellent.

Overall – 8

It’s not world-changing, but I was both surprised and pleased by this anthology.

Welcome to a look at Yuriqueur – Alcohol Yuri Anthology (ユリキュール アルコール百合アンソロジー), (as Sooz noted, “Yuliqueur,”) a book with an awkward name and an even more awkward premise! What can one expect from a collection of stories that all center being drunk? Let us temper (pun intended) our expectations.

While this anthology is probably not my absolute favorite of all time, it is also not the worst I have ever read. Drinking is featured in every story, but the creators mostly stayed away from sordid plot complications. There are no after-morning regrets, nothing non consensual and surprisingly little drinking to excess. Instead of celebrating partying til one pukes, these stories are more or less the same kind of thing as usual, with romance over a drink or two neither idealized nor excoriated.

The first story by 2C=Garua is from the bartender’s point of view, as she takes care of, in a professional way, a frequent customer who likes her women and her mixed drinks.

Mochi Au Lait pops in with a cute little story of a women who has fallen for her coworker and over drinks discovers the feeling is mutual.

My favorite story of the collection, primarily for the art “Angel Kiss in the Dark” by Yonurime, read exactly like a doujinshi story from a million years ago…you know, like 2003 or so. A woman going home after the bars are closed sees a woman in tears on a bench and takes her home. The weeping woman tells of her ended love affair with another woman. The women who found her listens and they part, promising to get together for drinks.

One last quite lovely piece by Miura Kozumi follows a couple as they make umeshu, as they do every year. This story is a celebration of their lives together and the passage of time, as seen by sharing a ritual of making ume alcohol.

Ratings:

Overall – Variable, let’s say 7

In all the stories I liked best, alcohol is the catalyst, but not the story itself. Nonetheless, I quite like the colorful sparkliness of the drinks on the cover art  by Kiriyama Haruka. ^_^

It still strikes me as rather fun that Yuri fans are practically buried these days under an avalanche of Yuri anthologies – and that so many of them are set in adult society among working women. ^_^ I can practically see myself in 2004 or 2009 or 2015, reading yet another collection that was so similar to everything else, that I just kind of snapped. But I kept coming back for more and so, I find myself today taking a look at another Yuri anthology set in working adult society. I am not complaining! (Not yet, at any rate. ^_^)

In 2018, I reviewed the first entry into this anthology series and found it entertaining. Today I am taking a look at Chocolat 2 Shakaijin Yuri Anthology ( ショコラ2 社会人百合アンソロジー).  The contributors are mostly names we’re very familiar with here on Okazu. Morishima Akiko starts off the anthology with a somewhat complicated relationship between two women who are balancing work-life-society issues.

Kashikase’s story takes a tried and true scenario – the unpaid therapy done by all women in the customer service industry – and turns it into a love story.

I’m reading a collection by Kiriyama Haruka and just finished a story last night that I really enjoyed – but was sure I had read before! Well I had…in this collection. A woman working for an insurance company comes face to face with the web idol she admires, in what I think is a very sweet little story.

A love that never quite manages to get past the gate is the subject of a sweet and a little sad story by Takemiya Jin.

For me, the stand-out story was the last one, by Shigisawa Kaya, called “Love Letter.” A deceased writer has left her unfinished manuscript to her former lover, also a writer, to finish. We travel the length of their relationship from when they met through their parting in this taught story about endings. This was, honestly, excellent. Shigisawa’s writing and art – which tends to center tension and discomfort –  hits exactly the perfect note of melancholy, unexpressed anger and love. Outstanding work by an artist I always want to like but often cannot.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

What this collection does is hold itself together by the thinnest of connecting strings. Other than the fact that these stories are all collected for this volume, there is nothing similar about them. Different art, different tone, and vastly different takes on the topic makes Chocolat 2 a superior Yuri anthology.

The “gal” is, in her own way, as stock a character in anime and manga, as the ninja. With her hair artfully asymmetrically arranged, her cell phones and nails intricately decorated, and her school uniform sweater tied around her the waist of her shortened skirt, we are accustomed to seeing the “gal” in a dismissive light, shone on teen girl culture by disapproving adults who nevertheless sexualize those same young women, even as they scold them for being young and carefree. The gal is Generation X’s “those kids are/do/too much…..”  You know, like…adolescent girls in every age. Creepy old dudes who creep, creepy old ladies who complain, when all the girls want to do is shop and eat, do karaoke and be left in peace.

So it was with some actual hesitation that I picked up SHIBUYA Gal Yuri Anthology (SHIBUYA ギャル百合アンソロジー), from Yuri Hime Comics. Named after the part of Tokyo which gals are mythically said to inhabit, was it gonna be filled with creepy hypersexualization or moldy morality plays about leaving that life? Thankfully, it was neither. With few exceptions, the stories in this collection are commitment free and fun and wholly lacking any kind of creepiness. I say with exception, because yes, there are a couple that are, by my standards, a bit creepy. YMMV.

I find I kind of like the one’s best where a gal has a normie alter ego, and then transforms into a hyper-fashionable gal at the behest of another girl. Which puts the first story of the collection right in my wheelhouse. Yoromo’s “Reverse Line” follows a gal’s encounter with a former Youtube Gal star at a makeup counter, which motivates the retired gal to resurrect her persona. It was very cute.

No surprise at all I liked the two older gals who live together and the story in which a gal changes a young woman’s life by visiting the izakaya she works at. I’m always going to be a sucker for food and romance between people who click. The final story, which follows a nice girl who falls for the gal at her school was surprisingly touching, as well.

Ratings:

Everything is variable as it is an anthology

Overall – 7

SHIBUYA is a pleasant, not-particularly-significant anthology exploring love between girls that includes gals.