Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Volume 3

September 21st, 2020

In a recent conversation about Makoto Hagino’s A Tropical Fish Years for Snow, the participants referred to the primary relationship as “implied.” I suggested that it be  “considering.” ^_^

In A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Volume 3, we learn some key facts, despite the glacier-slow pace. Koyuki is, has always been, help up as a gold standard of behavior, which has alienated the other kids around her. When combined with her tendency to overthink and hesitate to the point of inaction, Koyuki’s paralysis begins to make perfect sense to both us, and to Konatsu. The result is that Konatsu, already hesitant, curbs her own energetic approach to friendship…which is the opposite of what Koyuki needs.

Because of the ultra-slow pace of the main relationship, we’re free to marvel at the small touches, the idea of a school having an “aquarium” club, and the idea of a show for the school festival in which fish swim through hoops. I mean, how cool and ultra-local is that? Hagino’s art is personal, focusing on people over place.

Don’t expect to hit the accelerator anytime soon on this series. I have Volume 6 here in Japanese on the to-read pile, and based on the cover, am hoping the story progresses. ^_^

But if you’re content with the pace and quiet drama of this gently emotional series,  A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow can be a respite from a harsh world.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 1 on principle only, there really isn’t any
Yuri – 4

Overall – 7





Comic Yuri Hime, October 2020 (コミック百合姫2020年10月号)

September 16th, 2020

Comic Yuri Hime, October 2020 (コミック百合姫2020年10月号) was such a fast read, that I had put it on the to-review pile and then questioned myself. Had I actually read it already? Really? But in fact, yes, really, I had read it twice through! That’s not uncommon, but upon the third go-round, I had to admit that this was a pretty good issue. ^_^

I’m still loving the cover art by Rolua.

New story “Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru,” (translated as “The skirt rings at the landing,” which is definitely the machine translation. I found myself spending too much time unsuccessfully trying to come up with a version that sounds more elegant,) was a lovely little intro chapter. I hope I really enjoy this feels-like-a-classic-Yuri-manga about ballroom dancing from Utatane Yu.

“Watashi no Oshi ha Akujyaku Reijou,” was pretty fun, but I’m going to withhold discussing it, until I review the Light Novel…this chapter brought up a few points I want to cover.

I actually laughed out loud at  Taguchi Hiichi‘s “Futari Escape” as a dreamscape and dinner merge to become Sushitaro, the talking sushi.

In “Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatteriru”, Ohi Pikachi takes the opportunity of a class trip to explore seasickness…and tell the story of an older woman who is on her way, after a lifetime of separation, to be reunited with the woman she loves. Two thumbs up for that from me!

Ohsawa Yayoi’s “Hello Melancholic!” takes a major turn, as Minato finally turns to someone else for advice and finds that getting help is a good thing. She admits she’s never had anyone she can talk to, and Ema seems to just the right person to start with.

And “Umineko Bessou Days” ends. No real drama, our protagonist, Mayumi, learns to speak her mind and she gets to live happily every after! I bet that the next story Kodama Naoko does will be chock full of horrible people. ^_^;

Ratings:

Overall – 8

As always, I read most of the stories, except a very few. There is one jarringly explicit horribly conceived porn story that I’d gladly use as kindling, and some other stuff that I won’t miss if it disappears, including the ever-befuddling endless page count of Yuri Yuri and its identical spin-offs. But overall, a very decent volume, with some interesting features.

The November 2020 issue hits stores in Japan this week!





Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shikanai Akuyaku Tenseishite Shimatta…GIRLS PATCH (乙女ゲームの破滅フラグしかない悪役令嬢に転生してしまった… GIRLS PATCH)

September 10th, 2020

Imagine my glee when I discovered that Yuri Hime Comics was releasing a Yuri manga anthology for My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!. I mean, I was pretty darn gleeful! ^_^

Among the many things I enjoyed about the anime and the Light Novels that I have so far read for Hamehura, the top two qualities that make it an island of tranquility in the midst of 2020 is the gentle, wholesomeness of the thing. “Villainess” Katarina Claes lacks all the qualities of a good villainess – instead she is loyal and good-hearted, a bit of a doofus and, while not cunning, per se, she has flashes of disarming insight into people’s inner nature. The format of the Light Novels, particularly, mean that with any given scenario, we experience it twice, once from Katarina’s perspective and once from the perspective of a person who will be charmed by her.

Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shikanai Akuyaku Tenseishite Shimatta…GIRLS PATCH (乙女ゲームの破滅フラグしかない悪役令嬢に転生してしまった… GIRLS PATCH) follows this formula in several cases and in others simply revels in the Yuriishness of the “friends” ending of the initial arc. There’s nothing more explicit than a kiss and a bit of drunken “breast pillow”ing, I guess one would have to call it. Instead, the rivalry between Mary, Maria, Sophia and Anne, although she’s less a suitor, for Katarina’s love and attention is featured in nearly every story, with at least one story each focused one of them individually.

I’m honestly glad to report there is nothing sexual in this anthology, which would have set my teeth on edge, nor are there stories where one of the three rivals gains exclusive access for more than a scene. Both of these would have shattered the idyll created by the friendship end. Instead there are yummy sweets and tea and farming and tree climbing, just as there was in the initial anime season. What the scenarios lack in originality, they make up for in verisimilitude.

I recognized only one of the artists’ names, but the rest are new to me. My favorite storywas “Triple Booking” by Peke, the final story of the collection in which Katarina agrees to spend the day with each of her friends and we all end by cheerfully agreeing that Katarina’s a goof and we’ll all spend it together. Happy chuckles all around.

Ratings:

I can’t even say ratings are that variable, as they mostly parrot the series art style, with that harmlessly moe character design.

Art – 7
Story – Not really, but that’s not why you’re reading
Character – 100 THIS is why you are reading
Service – 3, maybe 4, depending on your feelings about Katarina’s face on Mary’s chest
Yuri – The feelings are there, but that’s all we can hope for…let’s call it a 5

Overall – 7

There’s nothing here that takes a single step out of the formula for the show, so if you’re not a fan, you can give it a miss, but if you enjoyed Hamehura, and enjoy doujinshi collections for your fave anime….and can marvel at the thrill of a Yuri Hime doujinshi collection for this series(!), as I do, it’s worth your time.





Failed Princesses, Volume 1

September 8th, 2020

Circumstances brings two completely opposite girls together, where they find they have some surprising qualities in common, in Ajiichi’s Failed Princesses, Volume 1,

In Spring 2019, I took a look at Ajiichi’s Dekisokonai Hime-tachi, Volume 1 and found it to be a reliable school Yuri formula of opposites attracting. Kurokawa Kaede and Fujishiro Nanaki do not run in the same circles. Otaku Kurokawa doesn’t care about popular, fashionable Nanaki, nor does she want to. But circumstances bring them into contact and each is surprised to find that the other is not a bad person at all. However, their budding friendship comes at cost, as former friends pull away from them. And then there’s the other problem, when Nanaki discovers that Kaede is actually very cute!

With art and story is reminiscent of Morinaga Milk’s GIRL FRIENDS (Volume 1 and Volume 2), initially, it seems like it is headed in a similar direction, but neither Kaede nor Nanaki turn out to be cut-out characters. I particularly liked Kaede’s impassioned plea for Nanaki to not become her friend, as she could guess at the likely consequences. I did not like that she continues to hide that she is an otaku from Nanaki. Nanaki starts off insensitive…and, indeed, her assumption that Kaede wants to be more fashionable is tiring, but she’ll turn out to be less superficial than she seems. As the end of the volume draws close, there’s one more problem…Nanaki’s reaction to her creation of a new, “improved” Kaede, is a mix of pride, jealousy and something else that will take some time for Nanaki to figure out. Not us, though. This is a Yuri series, after all. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Service – 2 A teen little bit
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7

This series has a pretty standard beginning, but it definitely picks up steam as it moves along. Give it a try and unless you are completely uninterested in school stories, I think Volume 2 will surprise you pleasantly. I’ve got Volume 3 in Japanese on order now and Volume 4 just hit Japanese bookshelves recently (and I love how the cover tone shifts slightly with each volume.).

Fans of school drama Yuri and Morinaga Milk will be rewarded by these characters who exceed their stereotypical origins.





I Love You So Much, I Hate You

September 4th, 2020

Writing is hard. Creating plots are hard. So, it’s not surprising that old plots are suddenly new again, as Yuri moves out of school scenarios, into adult life.  When I reviewed Yuni’s office life drama, Nikurashi Hodo Aishiteru, I wrote “The initial premise, which is not yet all that common in Yuri manga, is the same plot as a zillion lesbian romances of the 1990s. ^_^ As a result, it felt both fresh and incredibly comfortable at the same time.”

Upcoming star in the planning department, Fujimura, and her competent and supportive boss Asano…are having an affair. It’s pretty much a crass office affair, as Asano is married and pretending that she’s happy, and Fujimura is lying when she says that this is all she wants from their relationship. When rumor of an affair between a manager and their subordinate spreads around the company, it puts a damper on their own affair. But Asano isn’t happy in her marriage and Fujimura does want more.

I Love You So Much, I Hate You, from Yen Press, is a very decent guilty pleasure read. In real life, Fujimura and Asano and their hidden-in-plain-sight affair, would probably be absolutely intolerable separately and together, but as a fiction, it all feels, well, kind of sweet…and, with an epilogue that ties the story up, satisfying. Yuni’s art is stylish and adult. The characters feel like real adult women in a real world, caring about their clothes and their professional success. This book also had the added benefit of someone, somewhere actually having talked to a woman who has had lesbian sex. I will leave it to you to discover what I mean, but those of you who know what I mean probably smiled, as I did. The sex itself is tasteful and evocative, rather than pornishly explicit.

Yen only credits the translator and letterer, so let me say that both translation by Eleanor Ruth Summers and lettering by Erin Hickman contribute greatly to an authentic reading experience, of a very likable, yet slightly guilty, new-old adult life  lesbian romance.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 9
Service – 3 Nudity, but mostly tastefully done.

Overall – A strong 8

I’m a big fan of Yuni’s work and hope that you too, will enjoy this translation of some fun, tawdry Shakaijin Yuri.