Yuri Hime Issue 1, on the Yuricon Shop

July 21st, 2005


I’ll be reviewing the inagural issue of Yuri Hime in greater detail when I get a chance, but on first view it looks to be a continuation of Yuri Shimai in both content and art. If you’ve read the first five issues of Yuri Shimai then there will be no huge surprises for you in Yuri Hime.

The only differences appear to be a few slight name changes in some of the series (mostly for the better, I think!) and I can’t be sure, because I haven’t checked, but it looks like the artist for what was “Koi Shimai” – which is now “Hatsukoi Shimai” – may be someone new. If not, then the art seems a little less clean this time. In all other ways, the artists have migrated seamlessly to the new book.

There is one repeat from Yuri Shimai 5. The story “First Kiss” by Taishi Zaou and Eiki Eiki and has been reprinted – but you know, I can totally understand why. It was originally meant as a continuaton but stands on its own as a story. The next issue (scheduled to be out in October) will be Part Two of this story.

“Strawberry Shake” has become “Strawberry Shake Sweet” and is pretty much exactly the same love comedy we all enjoy – and we can expect a collected volume of both this and the Morinaga Milk one-shots, according to the write-ups inside.

As always, the anime section looks like they’ve been eavesdropping on the Yuricon Mailing List. lol I’ve reviewed pretty much everything they cover, except for Loveless, and heaven knows we talked it to death on the ML! :-)

There is a funny 4-page report on the Yuricon event we held in Tokyo in April, drawn by Morishima Akiko (and also a reprint of her doujinshi “Momo no Aji” aka “Peach Flavor”) which really cracks me up. For one thing – my yuri screensaver is shown no less than three times, and I look like a frog. LOL Morishima-san did a spectacular job on the report and Rica Takashima did, in fact, look that adorable in her PreCure cosplay outfit. LOL

Several of the stories have slightly older than high school age characters, which appealed to me strongly.

One last thing and then I’ll stop raving – not only are all our old favorites in Yuri Hime, but there’s a few new names that I think we can really look forward to in the future!

As I say, I’ll give you a better summary of the stories as soon as I have a chance to absorb them all, but for those of you that enjoy original yuri, I can’t recommend the new Yuri Hime enough. You can order it from Amazon Japan through the Yuricon Shop!

Posted in Comic Yuri Hime | 2 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Transistor ni Venus, Volume 1

July 19th, 2005


I have two gentlemen to thank for this review – Touko_no_doriru-san, for opening my eyes to this series in general and Mr. Brent Adkins, who has very genourously donated this particular volume to the cause. (The cause being, of course, my enjoyment of yuri. lol) Thank you, kind sirs!

So, in Volume 1 of Transistor ni Venus, we are introduced to April Enus, expert in espionage, theft, derring-do and cosplay. Apparently in the year 2269, these are all crucial skills. :-) Intrigue, adventure and sleeping with pretty girls is raison d’etre for the lovely Enus, so of course I approve.

The first volume also introduces us to Mariaana, Enus’ sometimes partner in work and frequent partner in bed. I had no *idea* Mariaana was another agent! In the next several volumes she goes soft. She’s way cooler as a tough agent who manages to resist Enus’ charms for several whole chapters.

Oh, and there’s a story where Enus has to be a maid to do something or other…I kind of lost the thread of the story while watching her seduce the other maids. :-)

Ratings:
Art – 6
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 9

Overall – 8

Not as wonderful as Volume 2, or as funny as Volume 3, Volume 1 of Transistor ni Venus is a charming exploration of several random fetishes. There’s sure to be one you find appealing. :-)

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Yuri Manga: Amazoness no Matsuei

July 18th, 2005

Time for another hugely obscure manga review! I found this series at Book-Off, where all bad manga series go to die. ^_^

The cover of Amazoness no Matsuei (Amazoness’ Descendants) states, in English, ” ‘I have the reason to fight for!’ This is the success story of Amazoness Akari searching for her own answer in the world of women’s professional wrestling.” And that’s just exactly what this short two-part manga series is about.

Akari is a kid who wants to be the women’s wrestling champion. She’s got the stuff, so we watch her work hard and practice and move up the ranks, facing ever tougher opponents, but always triumphing. Eventually she falls in love with a blind guy, and in the end, not only does she become a champion, the guy gets his sight back! Happy endings all around! ^_^

Seriously, its a gentle romance with action – no real high drama that lasts too long, some fun fights and, in the tradition of all fighting stories, Akari becomes friends with all her defeated opponents, including the hugely gay current world champion Kanzaki Yuu. (Pictured on the right-hand cover – the bishounen looking character. Yes, that’s meant to be a girl.)

In the beginning, Yuu is someone to admire and attain the level of. But early on, after seeing Akari seriously injure her opponent in a rough match, Yuu becomes mightily interested in Akari, and asks to room with the newcomer. Yuu does put the moves on Akari, but is soundly rejected. Yuu subsequently behaves, but starts to genuinely fall in love with Akari, even as Akari is falling in love with her blind boyfriend – and moving up the ranks as a wrestler.

In the second volume two things come to a head with Yuu. First, Yuu had made Akari promise not to get involved with any guy, because it would take away from her training. Yuu learns that Akari has reneged on this promise and is both upset for Akari and jealous about her. Akari and Yuu fight and Akari moves out.

Secondly, a reporter takes a picture of Akari with a male wrestler that, taken out of context, looks like they are intimate. (In fact, its a very innocent picture and I really don’t get the fuss, but, okay…) Yuu sleeps with the female reporter in order to suppress the picture. When Yuu rejects the reporter because she’s not Akari, the reporter not only releases the picture, but she tells Akari that she and Yuu slept together. She goes on to leak the obvious information that Yuu is in love with Akari, which Akari cannot believe.

And here’s where the series begins to suck because, of course, Yuu and Akari have to face one another in the ring for the championship. Obviously. In the end, Akari wins, obviously, and they finally have it out about the whole situation, obviously. Yuu forgives Akari for falling in love with a guy. And Akari, hugging Yuu in front of the audience, tells Yuu that she doesn’t believe Yuu is a lesbian and she’s not in love with her, right? Because they are like sisters to one another.

Yuu can only hold Akari and grunt noncommittally. I really felt for Yuu there. Not only can’t she admit she loves Akari, Akari won’t even see that Yuu is a lesbian. A decidedly unsatisfactory ending for Yuu all the way around. Yuu just happened to be written in the “bleak period” for lesbians in manga between the early shoujo of the 70’s and 80’s and the Sailor Moon renaissance of the 90’s. Poor Yuu.

One of the high points of the manga is that Akari’s opponents are drawn realistically – sometimes really masculine, sometimes crazy, sometimes in costume, etc. It’s obvious that the mangaka spent time researching actual women’s wrestling. One of the psycho crazy opponents, who turns out to be a real nice gal out of the ring and one of the butchiest women Akari fights (and who has a female companion all the time) ends up as a good friend. So there’s a nice real-feel to the characters and situations.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 7
Overall – 7

Disclaimer: Despite the fact that I reviewed this manga, and that Japanese women’s professional wrestling has appeared in both my fanfic and original fiction and that my cousin is a professional wrestler in Japan, that I actually have a favorite fighter in the GAEA league of Japanese professional female wrestling, I am not in any way obsessed with wrestling, professional, female or not. I have never even seen a bout and have no desire to do so. My research into Tiger Mask and Thunder Liger was purely professional and the fact that Ogata Megumi did a death metal version of Tiger Mask’s theme has affected me in no way whatsoever. :-D

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Events: Onna! announces new guest!

July 16th, 2005


Today is a scoop! I’m announcing this before the official press release can go out, because I can. :-)

Onna!, a three-day festival of women’s roles in animation and comics, is proud to welcome Tania Del Rio as a Guest Speaker and Artist!

Tania is the new artist for the classic American girls’ comic, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. She’s been hired to bring a shoujo manga look to this American standard.

Tania will be joining Paige Braddock of Jane’s World, the only lesbian comic to be syndicated in major metropolitan newspapers, and Sin Comix, a fabulous group of women who are drawing just about everything under the sun, as guests at Onna!

I really hope you’ll join us at Onna!. We’ll have very yuri-strong video and panel programming, plus yaoi, shoujo, josei and even, yes, shounen, because this is all about strong women in roles behind and in front of the screen.

Pre-registration for Onna! is still open, and available online or by mail. Vist the Onna website to register, and to participate in any of our many contests and games! We’ll see you there!

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Yuri Anime: Kore ha Watashi no Goshujin-sama – This Is My Master

July 14th, 2005


I’m not feeling very vitriolic today, but I guess I’ll review this anime anyway.

Kore ha watashi no goshujin-sama, aka This is My Master or He is My Master, is…. Honestly? It’s a miserable piece of filth.

I have been told by several guys that the manga is *much* cuter and funnier. However, when I glanced at the manga, I saw very little that I personally find anything like funny. I will freely admit that I loathe and despise broad physical comedy that relies primarily on sexual harrassment and peeping as vehicles for humor. And little girl faces on absurdly developed bodies is repugnant.

Two sisters find themselves dependent on a rich kid for a job. Rich kid is a clothing fetishist and makes them wear “sexy” outfits. Wackiness and tons and tons and TONS of general pervy peeping ensues.

The title is pretty accurate though, when read with sarcasm, “*This* is my master”? And I genuinely believe that that is what the mangaka was going for.

Yes, there is yuri. It is one-sided and will go nowhere and is essentially no more than a girl doing the same exact kind of pervy drooling and peeping that the boy is doing, except of course she can get closer during in the bath. She becomes a maid in the household to be close to the object of her affection. If this is the kind of thing you want to see, she is blatantly, obviously openly desirous of the main character whose name I’m not even willing to look up. That’s how good this story is. Izumi, maybe?

Let me slip out of my exhausted and bored distaste into a brief moment of extreme vitriolic hatred. The alligator sexually harrassing the main character is quite possibly the single most disgusting plot complication I have ever encountered anywhere – surpassing even the entire grotesquery of Shusaku Reply, which was a sewer of an anime. I feel a special violence towards anyone who might conceivably find the whole thing amusing or, heaven forfend, sexy.

Ratings:
Art – 6
Story – 2
Characters – 3
Yuri – 8

Overall – 3

To be blunt – if you find this anime “cute” or “funny”, you are probably a “loser.”

Posted in Yuri Anime | 2 Comments »