Tokyo Trip 2008: Day 1 Equals "Arrrgh"

December 27th, 2007

Computer access is really crappy this time for some reason, so if I disappear for days at a time, I did not fall into one of the 100 yen doujinshi bins at Toranoana and die. I just can’t get online.

Airplane left on time, arrived on time, the bus came on time, so of course we were stopped in traffic and arrived at the hotel extra late. And so, we learned that this trip will be all about “balance.” That is, for everything that goes well, an equal and opposite thing will not. :-) Like, for instance, internet access being sketchy.

We slept 12 hours straight and rose almost human. Headed right out to the comics stores to find a Comike catalog. In the way of such things, we found a zillion *other* things we wanted, but no catalog. Of course. :-) So we bought some other things. Who am I to say no to fate?

We dropped everything off in the room, wrestled with Internet access, won the first round, and decided to try our luck in Akihabara. Strangely, for all the times I’ve been here, I’ve never made it over there. Never been desperate enough, I guess. :-)

So off to Akiba we go. We stopped at Toranoana first, because that was the store we reached first and never left. I wasn’t kidding about the 100 yen doujinshi bins. But I get ahead of myself. First came the “adult” doujinshi section, which smelled like over-stimulated fanboys. I shouldn’t laugh aloud at the covers as often as I do, but I can’t help myself. Oh – no, wait, first came the bottom floor where we nabbed the last catalog. Phew. Then the funky level, then the other doujinshi levels ending up in me communing with the 100 yen bins. And then we couldn’t lift the bags, our feet hurt, we were hungry and tired. (Fair enough, since our bodies think it’s 2AM or so.) So home we went.

We’re planning on checking out the Catalog and waiting for our retinue to arrive. (Bruce, Our faithful minion, and the wife’s friend and her mother, who have *no* idea at all what they are about to get themselves into.)

See you next time the intertubes work!

Posted in Miscellaneous, Tokyo Journal | 1 Comment »


Top Ten Yuri Countdown of 2007

December 24th, 2007

As I sit here and look over my top ten list for 2007, I have to laugh. I’m not sure I know what I was thinking when I wrote it. lol But that’s okay, I can’t imagine why anyone would care what I think, anyway. So here goes:

10) Cream Lemon Escalation Light Novel

Yes, this book is 20 years old. But I only managed to read it this year, so here it is. Not only is this Light Novel chock full o’Yuri hentai, it’s the ancestor of several other notable Yuri series. Like a pervy grandfather alongside our grandmothers Yoshiya Nobuko and Ikeda Riyoko, this story shaped what we know and love as “Yuri” today.

9) Cutie Honey/Cutey Honey

Speaking of pervy grandfathers. This year saw the release of the awesome Cutie Honey a-GoGo Perfect Volume *and* the new Cutie Honey the Live TV show. And once again, Yuri abounds in this heap of pandering, fetishes and pervtasticness. It’s almost a challenge at this point – how low and horrid can this series go and still be loads of fun? I don’t know – I guess we’ll find out, won’t we? :-)

8) Strawberry Panic Light Novels and Drama CDs

One more for the how low can you go file. These novels were full of tortured metaphors and ridiculous handwaves (can you say private helicopters? I knew you could) – and the occasional sexy and sometimes even lovely moment. I still await their English debut from Seven Seas with bated breath because they are so laughably awful and I await the response of fandom even more as they bend reality to justify how good they *must* be, since we can never admit to just liking something that’s junk. lol And the Drama CDs are even worse! This grandchild of Escalation makes this list for the combination of wtf-ness and Yuri.

7) Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl

This is the last time I mention this, seriously. Both anime and manga came out in English this year, marking Media Blasters’ entry into the Yuri market, and continuing Seven Seas foray into yuri-ish manga. I really don’t love this series half as much as it might seem from its presence on all of this year’s lists, but it was well-adapted in all cases and it’s just a fluke of timing, mostly. lol Although I still wished Tomari and Yasuna ended up together, Kashimashi makes this year’s top ten at 7th.

6) Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS

I’m going to allow my biases to show for one moment – this is on this list for being conglomeration of many things that I like, as much as because I saw it as Yuri. StrikerS had adult women, in military uniform, kicking ass in pretty colors, all of which made it one of the best shows I watched this year.

5) Blue Drop

And gee…Blue Drop has women in (admittedly ugly) military uniforms, etc, etc. I’m consistent. I like soup to have nice chunky pieces of meat and veggies and I like women in uniform. And spaceships and battles…and Yuri. Since the Yuri in Blue Drop is more overt that that in StrikerS, it makes it onto the list at fourth. I really wish this series was longer – I’d happily watch it for as long as they wanted to show it to me.

4) Simoun

The Megami magazine version didn’t do a thing for the mythos, but the Drama CD massively upped the “obvious” Yuri. And the anime, which I feared would not be adaptable and coherent, was extremely well handled by the folks at Media Blasters. And instead of downplaying the Yuri, they jumped right in and marketed it as Yuri, which makes them the first anime company to ever do that. Above all, the story remains brilliant, as does the art, the music and the characters. We can all look forward to more Simoun.

3) Maria-sama ga Miteru

The OAVs were fun, they were romantic, they were a very decent adaptation of the novels. The DJCDs and web radios massively pumped up the Yuri for fans’ enjoyment, and the novels…they are just full of love-love moments. I’m so far behind in reading them, that you’re going to have to hear about this series for a long time to come. :-) For Yumi and Sachiko, Rei and Yoshino, Tsutako and Shouko and Sei and everyone, lol, this series continues to make my top three for the year.

2) Yuri Hime and Yuri Hime S

Never before have so many artists, male and female, been gathered together to draw stories of girls (and women, sometimes) in love. Some of the best names in the industry, many who have been drawing Yuri/Girls Love/Onna x Onna manga for ages, are represented here. Yuri Hime, mostly by women who draw Yuri and Yuri Hime S, mostly men who draw Yuri, all drawing for us, the Yuri audience. Their collections are high quality and coming soon to western shores via Seven Seas, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them here. Because 8 times a year I get all excited to see what each new issue holds, Ichijinsha’s GL magazines are the second best Yuri of the year.

1) Iono-sama Fanatics

As I mentioned yesterday, I still find it incredible that Infinity is translating this. But even more so, how fantastic that second, final volume is, with its silly epilogue, fashionable clothing (Fujieda does brilliant costume design) and charming, appealing characters and all the Yuri a fan could want. Heck, for the cover of the second volume alone, this series could make number one. lol

The number one Yuri title of 2007 – Iono-sama Fanatics

***

Let me take this opportunity to thank all the folks who have sent me items to review and the companies that have provided review copies – I couldn’t do it without you.

Most importantly, I want to thank everyone who has read and commented here over the past year! I wish you all a happy, healthy New Year!

Next entry, my adventures throwing money at the Japanese economy! See you there. ^_^

Posted in Now This Is Only My Opinion, Top Yuri Lists, Yuri Anime, Yuri Manga | 12 Comments »


Top Ten Yuri Manga of 2007

December 23rd, 2007

Arrrghhhhh! How on earth am I supposed to pick a Top Ten? There was so much with dribbles of Yuri and so little that was *good*. I could do a Top 4 easy, 3 anyway. lol Again, to ease my indecision crisis of conscience, I’m splitting the list into English and Japanese…and cheating by having a bunch of Honorable Mentions. It’s not like this is a science or I get extra points for precision or anything. lol

English Language Manga

Honorable Mentions: Because they made the Top Ten lists last year and because I’ve beat them to death here at Okazu, I would like to give Honorable Mentions to both Read or Dream and Strawberry Marshmallow. I can’t get enough of them, but I’m sick to death of singing their praises. :-)

5) Kedamono Damono

This series is a go nowhere dead-end shoujo romance story where the Yuri is meant to provide comedy and ballast for the straight romance. But as far as the volumes I read went, the *only* part of the romance that was even marginally functional was the Yuri part, so, despite my personal disinterest in the story, we’ll give it fifth place.

4) Yuri Monogatari 5

This year’s anthology from ALC is almost *exactly* the book I want to publish. With 6 stories by Japanese artists and 8 by artists from the rest of the world, this is an awesome book. Happy sad, realistic, fantastic, there’s something for everyone. I don’t personally love every story, but every story taught me something. As the only example of josei Yuri by women for women out there, I’d be remiss if I ignored it out of humility. If I hadn’t published it myself, it would have still made this list – and probably at a much higher rank.

3) The Last Uniform

How I wish I liked this series. But I don’t. I don’t care for the endless gavotte these girls dance around one another and I have never liked the art. But Seven Seas does an exceptional job of reproduction and it’s the only really Yuri manga they mangaged to get on to the shelves in 2007, so I could point to it and say, “this is Yuri.” For the sheer Yuriness of it, The Last Uniform comes in third.

2) Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl

I was so very, very sure when I first read this series, that Hazumu was going to end up the series as a boy. I’m very pleased to have been wrong about that – and about every other thing in regards to this series that I predicted. lol The story had some serious handwaves to overcome, but is fairly solid as a love story and a Yuri one at that. And extra points to Seven Seas for what continues to be the best adaptation of a manga into English that I’ve seen.

1) Iono-sama Fanatics

I can’t tell you how excited I was that this apparently obscure Yuri manga was translated. It’s whimsical, fun, action-filled and well…Yuri. Fujieda Miyabi’s art is moe to the max, and yet it really grew on me. He writes sweet, somewhat goofy stories that don’t adhere to most of the tropes of Yuri. No schoolgirls here, just a Queen and her handmaidens, ridiculous adventures and Yuri love. While Infinity definitely can improve in their adaptation of the book, the story and characters carry this series far above and beyond the rest of this year’s lot. The winner, without question for this year’s best Yuri manga in English – Iono-sama Fanatics.

Japanese Language Manga

Honorable Mentions: These go to Kools which I have yet to read, but am adding to this list solely on the basis of Erin’s glowing recommendation. :-) And Gunsmith Cats Burst for bringing back Evil Psycho Lesbian Goldie and notching up Misty’s campaign to stay near Rally in a way that will surely start a new round of fanfic somewhere. lol

5) Sakura no Kiwa

No one paid the least bit attention as I reviewed this ridiculous series by the same artist that created Transistor ni Venus. lol It has a passive-agressive lesbian couple – in all sorts of denial – and slacker family members, and way too many cats. In a sane universe I would have loathed and despised it, only, I didn’t. In fact, I’m really hoping against hope for a 4th volume I know will probably never come. No one’s gonna scanlate this. No one cares. No one but me, that is. Fifth, dammit.

4) Kawaii Anata

Like many of the Yuri Hime collections, these stories work better as an anthology than they did as separate stories in the magazine. Hiyori Otsu also eschews the typical tropes for older, sometimes randomly cracked characters, but even the typical characters seem to have some depth. The art is pleasing, the stories don’t make one want to bang one’s head against the wall, so it comes in at an easy fourth.

3) Hatsukoi Shimai

This series, with two volumes out now in Japanese with a third around the corner,and one out any day in English, is so stereotypically “Yuri” that it hurts. Like The Last Uniform it is about love among students at an all-girl’s school. Unlike The Last Uniform, the girls actually get together, with admissions of love and kissing (necking, even) and all the stuff that so frequently is missing from schoolgirl Yuri. And it has Touko-sensei, whose inappropriate and unethical relationsip with Akiho is my most favorite couple in the series. :-) When they get together, this series goes up a rank. Third place for this Yuri Hime serial where the girl actually *gets* the girl.

2) Hayate x Blade

In reality, there is only one lesbian character in this series. But there are dozens of couples. Hitsugi and Shizuku, Kiji and Michi, Akira and Sae, Momoka and Isuzu…the list goes on and on. But above all of them, Jun, with her openly proclaimed love and desire for women and Hayate with her openly proclaimed love and desire for Ayana, make this baka school/action/comedy win for Yuri fans everywhere. With Hayashiya Shizuru at the helm, you can be sure to get laughs and Yuri love aplenty.

Envelope please…this year’s winner for best Yuri Manga in the Japanese language is….

1) Aoi Hana

Technically, this book was published right at the end of 2006, but I bought, read and reviewed it in the beginning of 2007. Sweet Blue Flowers is yet another schoolgirl Yuri story. With a simple, quiet feel, an understated realism and touching, interesting characters, this story, like Hatsukoi Shimai is practically a poster child for the genre. I was honestly hoping to have Volume 3 by now to review, but I’ll be sure to pick it up asap in Tokyo. Fumi and Yasuko’s relationship has few fireworks, but the drama is solid. For taking the same old story and doing something *good* with it, Shimura Takako’s Aoi Hana takes top prize.

We have one winner from the boy’s side – Iono-sama Fanatics and one from the girls’ side – Aoi Hana. How balanced we are here at Okazu!

Tomorrow – the final countdown for the year! Bring popcorn!

Posted in English Manga, Now This Is Only My Opinion, Top Yuri Lists, Yuri Manga | 6 Comments »


Top Ten Yuri Anime of 2007

December 22nd, 2007

Writing “Top 10” lists is *always* hard for me. This year’s list was especially difficult – while there are more Yuri characters and stories in general, there’s less this year that can be identified specifically as Yuri. But I did want to get this done before I left for Japan, so here we go. :-)

Let me remind you that these choices are my opinion, and based on the series that I watched over the past year. Chances are there a zillion series you think are Yuri-er, but here are *my* choices for the year. It’s almost guaranteed that most people will disagree with me. lol

I have split the list into 5 Japanese and 5 American releases, to allow me to cheat a bit. :-) Without further ado, the Okazu Top 10 Yuri Anime of 2007! Yaaaayy!

English Language

4) Tied for 4th (no, that’s not wrong – ties eliminate the lower position) are Burst Angel and Strawberry Marshmallow:

It’s true that neither series is particularly overt in their Yuri, but it’s “obvious” to us that Meg and Jo are an item, and I and many others remain convinced that Miu is a Evil Psycho Lesbian-in-training. Burst Angel has fights, Strawberry Marshmallow has funnies, and both have characters that this lesbian thinks are “friends of Yuri.”

3) Coming in 3rd for their English-language releases are My HiME and My Otome.

The Yuri is, perhaps, laid on a bit *thicker* through the translation choices and in any case, Shizuru still has the hots for Natsuki, Aoi and Chie are still a couple, Erst wants Nina and Tomoe has her eyes on Shizuru. Among a bazillion other slashable HiMEs and Meisters.

2) In 2nd place, after long consideration, I choose you Simoun:

For still having a terrific Yuri-esque setting, complex world and for keeping me glued to my seat for the entirety of every episode. This anime series remains a must-see, not only for Yuri fans, but anyone, anywhere, who enjoys animation as an art form.

And in first place…

1) Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl:

The setup was ridiculous, the ending even more so, with forays into the utter trite, tedious and absurd. But. The story is about three girls and their love triangle and it remains about three girls and their love triangle right to the very last, very Yuri, kiss.

It’s a one-two punch for Media Blasters, with their initial Yuri anime offerings this year, so congrats to them! (Unintentional, I assure you. It didn’t even occur to me until just this second.)

Japanese Language

5) In fifth place, we have the laughably awful Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora:

This story was a complete recycling of many of the most popular fetishes from previous Kaishaku stories. Kaon and Himiko were the token Yuri couple, trapped in a dysfunctional Yuri triangle with Mika. And yet where, at the end of Kannazuki no Miko, we have no reason to believe that Himeko and Chikane will live happily every after this time, we *see* that Kaon and Himiko do. Yes, yes, it’s crap. I still say fifth place.

4) No “Top Ten” list of mine is going to go by without at least one of the Maria-sama ga Miteru OVAs on it:

Yumi waking Sachiko up in her summer house, Yumi enjoying Sachiko in her Gakuran, Touko dancing in the boy’s role to dance with Yumi, Kanako engaging in a little light stalking, Rei and Yoshino running side by side in the hakama race and Sei. You don’t see Yuri? Fine. I do. Fourth place for every second we spent grinning as Panda Yumi and Sachiko embraced for ever.

3) Moving quickly into the final three comes Blue Drop:

Partially because there was damn little to choose from this year and partially because it’s excellent, I have to include this wonderful and all-too-short series. The girls are charming, Hagino had the greatest pickup line ever in the history of the universe and the love-love was about as overt and out as we can ask for and still get it on TV.

2) Let’s give some Yuri loving to El Cazador de la Bruja:

In this final entry in the “girls with guns on the run” trilogy, Bee Train and director Mashimo set intensity and angst aside, enjoyed a few tacos and had some fun. Because Ellis loves Nadie best when her eyes are shining, El Cazador de la Bruja comes in second.

No surprise here I’m sure, when I say that my choice for the best Yuri anime of the year is:

1) Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS:

Fate, Vivio and Nanoha make a wonderful family and I simply don’t care what anyone in the entire universe argues – I know a big, pluffy bed of lesbian love when I see one.

So Kashimashi and StrikerS, best Yuri anime of the year here on Okazu!

Come back tomorrow for the best Yuri manga of 2007!

Note to those of you who are writing in about Candy Boy. It was vile. It was never even vaguely considered for the top anything. fyi)

Posted in English Anime, Now This Is Only My Opinion, Top Yuri Lists, Yuri Anime | 16 Comments »


Eternal Alice Rondo Manga, Volume 1 (English)

December 20th, 2007

Two quick things before we wade into today’s review:

One, I want to thank everyone who has bought items off the Yuri Wishlist this year with special thanks to Ted, Dan and Eric. I’m usually a little uncomfortable accepting gifts and everyone’s generosity leaves me a bit breathless. But I believe that accepting gifts graciously is the responsibility of the receiver so, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you all, and especially those three gentlemen. Because of you, Okazu keeps rolling along and I can have clothes and food, too. :-)

All orders between now and 12/23 will go out on the 24th. After that, I’m suspending shipping for a few weeks while I am out of the country. This also goes for all third-party orders for alc_pub items through Amazon. Items purchased through Amazon directly other third party vendors are not affected by this, unless they are on backorder and then there’s a whole other set of issues.

That’s it for my announcements. Today’s review is entirely because of something Dan said today in an email – that Okazu allows him to “groom his inner LFB.” ^-^It’s such a great line, I wanted to do something especially servicey for him today. And looking over my pile of things to review, Key Princess Story: Eternal Alice Rondo, Volume 1 certainly seems to fit the bill.

When I originally read this manga as it ran monthly in Dengeki Daioh I was struck by the sensation that Kaishaku was flailing pretty desperately during this series, in both art and story. Month after month, I slogged through the chapters and basically never figured out what the heck was going on (aside from the obvious.) It came as no surprise to me to find that the story makes no more sense in English than it did in Japanese. Eternal Alice Rondo is simply a shitty story. ^_^

The story is basically the same as that of the anime – there are two famous “Alice” books that everyone knows and a third that was never written. The third lives in the hearts of girls who fight each other for fill-in-the-blank-reason. Aruto, a “nice guy” who loves the Alice books and wants to write his own Alice stories, bumbles into the magic world where these girls fight, and finds he has the ability to read and copy the stories in each girls’ heart. He does this to collect the whole of the third, unwritten book.

Of course that’s not what the story is about. The story is really about the unhealthy obsession Aruto’s sister has for him, her attempts to “get closer to him” while he fights off interest in or from every single female in this female-heavy series. Each girl pretty much represents a fetish, something Kaishaku does with regularity. Aruto’s actual love interest, Arisu, is a dead ringer for his idea of what “Alice” looks like. She seems pretty normal, so you just know there’s going to be a catch. (And there is, but it doesn’t happen in this volume.)

The Yuri fetish is represented in Volume 1 by Kisa, Aruto’s sister Kirara’s bestest friend. Kisa is a monomaniac, as all lesbians are, and incapable of expressing her feelings, as all lesbians are. So she seems pretty realistic. Except for the whole magical girl fighting giant key thing. I have yet to see a lesbian do that. :-) Because Kirara is also a monomaniac, she never notices Kisa’s feelings and because they are both girls Kisa gets away with a lot, without giving anything away. But the relationship is destined to go nowhere. I predict a single farewell kiss as Kisa dies in a future volume. Because we likes our Yuri characters hopeless, crazy and/or dead, yes we do. ;-)

I’m not really torn about Eternal Alice Rondo – I always thought the story sucked. Sucked when I read it the first time, it sucked as an anime and isn’t any better in English. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – Aruto’s hair was criminal – 4 at its best
Story – …seriously? – 4 at best
Characters – Other than Kirara – 5 Kirara – 2
Yuri – 3
Service – your pick, but the incestophiles win – 9

Overall – 4

Posted in English Manga | 4 Comments »