Yuri Light Novel: Shoujoai ni Bouken: The Adventures of Yuriko

May 20th, 2005

Today I will attempt to write about my own work. A monumental task, as you can imagine. ^_^ I’m sorry, but I remain unrepentantly biased.

Way back in 2000, when I created what is now Yuricon, I knew that I wanted the mascot to be much, much *cooler* than other con mascots, which tended to go for cute, rather than cool. And she had to be an out lesbian, because otherwise what was the point of having her? And, above all, she had to have blonde hair and blue eyes with hair down over her right eye, because I find that impossibly sexy. ^_^

So I created Yuriko. I made her a pop idol because you can do *anything* with a pop idol and find a way to make it plausible. ^_^

Shoujoai ni Bouken: The Adventures of Yuriko was originally released as twice-weekly issues to the Yuricon Mailing List. Currently, the releases of Saiyuu no Ryouko, the sequel to SnB are released on a once or twice a month basis, due to time constraints, but they are still released with resonably regularity. In fact, the next issue of SnR will go out tonight, after I finish this review. ^_^

As Yuricon grew, I wanted people to get to know Yuriko, so I added SnB to the Yuricon website. Over the years I have had dozens of offers of people who wanted to draw the story as a manga (but when faced with the concept of creative control and deadlines, they all faded away) and been bombarded with hundreds of requests for the same.

Well, making SnB into a manga was just too big a project, but I came up with what I think is a good compromise. Kelli Nicely has been a staff illustrator for Yuricon for years and she does what I consider to be some of the best pictures of Yuriko around. So I asked her to illustrated Volume 1. And to be 100% honest – I think she did a great job. I’m really pleased with almost every picture in the book.

While she labored at the illustrations, I had a team of editors read my story and point out an enormous number of errors. lol I had never had the original edited, only doing proofreading and editing in-house, if you will…and boy did the story need to be edited!! So thank you to Editor Ed, Sparkle and Paulette. Many times thank you.

So, with solid illustrations and good editing, that brings me to the story itself. Is it good?

When I started to write Shoujoai ni Bouken I had almost no idea of what the story was going to turn out like. 91 “issues” and 3 chapters of omake later, I was totally in love with my creation. I decided that I would keep writing about Yuri, (and Midori, her famous writer girlfriend) because I honest-to-goodness loved writing them. 5 years later my opinion has not changed. I adore them both and all the other characters that inhabit Yuriko’s world, especially Kishi-san, Yuriiko’s gruff chain-smoking manager, and Mariko, Yuri’s best friend – possibly the only character with which I have anything in common. (Probably because we’re both Virgo.)

So, yes, I genuinely believe that this is a good yuri story. It is everything I am looking for in a yuri story – plenty of drama, angst, an older protagonist who is uncontestably gay, with enough sex and romance to give it spice without making it porn.

But, with a natural tendency to write for myself, of course I would think that, so here is my proof to you that SnB is a good story.

Editor Ed from ALC Publishing is not a manga fan. He is not an anime fan. Ed is not a yuri fan, either. He is frankly uninterested in such things, but he is an *excellent* editor. He does this for a living, so I know that he will be brutally honest in his editing. I was sweating bullets when he was working on this volume, because if he said it was “okay” or he shrugged or got that look on his face – you know the one, the “polite” look – I was going to be mortified. I mean, this is a guy who works for a major publishing house. If he hates it (and I’ve heard about some of the books he’s had to work on….pee-yew!) then that would pretty much mean that the story sucked rocks.

When he gave me the manuscript I asked, knowing that this could kill my ego forever, what he thought. He said it was fun, enjoyable, that he kept looking for the sex, but when he got there, it turned out to be awfully sweet…then he looked at me and said, “I want to know what happens next.”

There you go folks. There’s *the* proof. That was all I needed, anyway. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 100%

Posted in ALC Publishing, Shoujoai ni Bouken | No Comments »


Yuri Light Novel: Shoujoai no Bouken, Volume 1

May 20th, 2005

At long last!

ALC Publishing, North America’s only publisher of yuri manga and novels proudly presents the first volume of Shoujoai ni Bouken: The Adventures of Yuriko, available now!

Yuriko is an out, lesbian pop idol sent back to school as a high school senior for a “reality” television show. Now Yuriko has to learn to balance the rigors of interviews, live appearances and fan adoration with English homework and a math teacher who hates her. And who is behind the mysterious lunches appearing in her shoe locker?

Will she make the basketball team, will she find a way to defeat the school bullies or will she break in front of the ever-rolling camera? And most important, will she ever find love? Find out in Shoujoai ni Bouken: The Adventures of Yuriko, Volume 1!

Posted in ALC Publishing, Shoujoai ni Bouken | 2 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Bakuretsu Tenshi, Volume 2

May 18th, 2005

Sometimes, there *is* cosmic justice and a marginal anime series is actually a damn fine manga. Bakuretsu Tenshi is one of those series.

After the dissapointments of series like Kannazuki no Miko and Uta-Kata, its a pleasure to read a manga that is really just a decently written and enjoyable story.

Enjoyable, you might remember from my review of Volume 1, if you like guns, girls, mutating undead half-zombie, half-Boomer creatures, etc.

(In fact, if you like Bubblegum Crisis, you will probably like this manga – they’ve got alot in common, with an added dose of more overt Yuri in BT.)

In Volume 1, we meet Jo and Meg, who live in a world of nearly inexplicable violence. In Volume 2, the girls (and us readers) get a hint that it may not be as inexplicable as all that. Sei and Emi, who appeared in the first volume, are established as being specifically after Jo…although we don’t yet know why. We don’t know yet because there’s an actual plot and we have to wait to find out what it is…we hope.

From what I can tell, the anime begins after the manga story resolves and all four women are working together. I will say that, having seen the anime, I think the prequel-esque manga is working quite well.

And then there’s the Yuri.

As I mentioned in my original review, the anime did a bang-up job of pretending that Meg was not interested in Jo, while poor Jo was forced to go about saving Meg’s butt all over the place for little more than “thanks” and a hug.

Not so the manga. The first chapter of Volume 2 has Meg renting a suspiciously cheap house for the two of them. Her first thoughts upon taking up residency is a not at all subtle fantasy in which a naked Jo leans over a naked Meg and says, (in a sexy voice, assumably,) “I won’t let you sleep tonight.” Meg’s out loud response to this internal fantasy is to say, “Please be gentle with me.” ^_^

Later, Jo and Meg learn that the house is haunted, but instead of bailing like all the previous residents, they discover that the ghost is merely a hologram and they confront the rental agent with the fact. Turns out that he is divorced and his alimony is killing him, so he’s set up this scam to keep the rental fees coming in on this dilapidated house.

Later that night, Meg is saddened by the thought of falling out of love with the person you love. She asks Jo, a little desperately, if they might ever separate. Jo responds by feeding Meg soba noodles and, quite romantically saying that the noodles represent the length of time they would be together. At which we cut away to Emi and Sei watching this on a monitor. We see Meg jump Jo, all huggy and snuggly and then Emi turning to Sei and asking, “Sei-‘nee, why are we recording this?” To which Sei replies, red-faced and embarrassed, “Kids shouldn’t watch some things!” (Thanks to Zyl for correcting my translation there.)

Later Sei meets with Meg and offers her money to break up with Jo. Meg refuses, violently and swears that whatever the truth about Jo is, they’ll face it together.

So that settles that. It’s not a one-way Yuri thing in the manga. It’s lurv. And lust, for which I am eminently thankful. In fact, the preview notes to the third volume mention that Meg will be beginning an ero-ki battle for Jo’s attention. Hmmm…how do I explain that? Think naked, come-hither looks being thrown in Jo’s direction, with determination. ^_^

Not surprisingly, I am actually looking forward to the next volume in a way I never did to the next anime episode. I sincerely hope that the manga continues past this arc into the anime and completes the story, because frankly, I think it’ll do it with more style, better writing and a lot more Yuri. ^_^

Ratings:
Art – 7
Characters – 7
Story – 7
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7

Worth a read, if you like this kind of action-adventure shounen thing.

Posted in Bakuretsu Tenshi, Yuri Manga | 6 Comments »


Aria Manga, Volumes 4, 5 & 6

May 17th, 2005

One of my more happy finds in Tokyo was the last three collected volumes of Aria, this quiet, pleasant side-trip into the quiet, pleasant life of an undine (aka gondolier) on Neo Venesia (New Venice). It is a manga of simple pleasures – a lesson I now and again need to relearn. :-)

I reviewed volumes 1,2 and 3 in February and, as you may remember, in English. Since ADV has not yet released the next three volumes, I was glad to find them in K-Books. (K-Books’ used manga store is one of the many reasons I love Ikebukuro so much. lol)

The story is not much different in the final three volumes than in the first three, but there *is* some character development. Alice, the slightly snotty young trainee does loosen up, by the end of Volume 6 quite considerably, in fact. Enough to admit that she wants to be the best undine ever, and that she has a long way to go.

Aika turns out to be a damn fine person and an excellent undine. When she first showed, I was convinced she was to be the “hated rival”, mostly because she was dark-haired, but she has consistently been a funny and enjoyable character. For the record, she *does* say, “Embarrasing words prohibited!” which ADV translates slightly differently, but well enough. ^_^

Akari doesn’t change much over the final three volumes but, as she’s one of those sweet and lovable types, there’s really nowhere for her to go. Her adventures remain whimsical and fun, with pretty much no emotional baggage, ever. For this reason alone, Aria is a welcome respite for all the crap that passes as published works these days. Between the lovely art and the lovely characters, unless you crave angst and hate anyone being happy while you yourself suffer so, there’s really nothing to hate in this manga!

There’s no obvious Yuri, either. However, after reading these three volumes, I am convinced, with an unshakable conviction, that Alicia and Akira (Akari’s and Aika’s sempai, respectively) are lovers. They are just always together. They act like lovers in subtle but distinct ways. The Yuri goggle setting for Akira and Alicia is pretty much the exact same one used for Torako and Asagi in Yostubato.  Seriously. I am 100% convinced that they are “together’ and Akari will one day be somewhat surprised to find them in bed together. Alicia will smile and explain that they develop a bond as undine this way and encourage Akari to do the same with Alice (as her kouhai) and send Akari off with a nod of encouragement.  ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 7 (pleasant, but a bit shallow)
Story – 8
Yuri – 3

Overall – 8, because I find a few moments of quiet joy, gorgeous art and simple pleasures to be something really worth experiencing.

Posted in Aria | 7 Comments »


Yuri Anime: Noir, DVD Volume 1

May 16th, 2005

A blast from the past! But, you see, I never originally reviewed Noir. Isn’t that odd? I did talk about it a little in my initial overview of Bee Train series for my review of Madlax, but I have never talked about this series in detail. It gives me a good excuse to rewatch the series. ^_^

Let’s start with the bad.

There is so much repeated footage in the early episodes that it’s a wonder anyone gets past episode four. After watching the first volume again, I hated that damn watch and its musical theme all over again, something that time and distance had dulled.

The animation is surprisingly weak in places, especially in regards to the characters’ faces, which is all the more obvious when laid against really detailed and cool backgrounds.

Lastly, there is the small issue of entry and exit wounds…they do not exist. Guns make *holes*. People do not bleed by osmosis. We are watching an anime about assasins. We should REALLY have wounds. And while it’s a small issue, it just hits absurd proportions later on in the series, when Kirika and Mirielle are gunning down dozens at a time. Blood yes, but only behind bodies and with no wounds. Come ON, Bee Train, get some balls!

I will admit that they partially addressed the issue in Madlax.

That’s about it for the bad, now for the good.

Oh my god is the music orgasmic! I bought all three soundtracks to this anime, something never before heard of. With the exception of the watch’s theme, (and only because it’s just overused,) every track in this show rocks. Canta Per Me and Salva Nos are indescribably sexy as background music to the various “running around with guns and shooting people” scenes.

It’s about women who use guns. Like Gunsmith Cats, no matter how absurd the storyline, we’ll put up with it, because, well, it’s got sexy woman with gun and we like. ^_^

The various settings are fun. I think Bee Train do a really nice job of moving the story around the world – in this first volume we start in Japan, move to Paris and briefly slaughter some people in a tropical climate. I really like the mobility of the story. Especially as it will take them, eventually, to the woods of New Jersey.

The occult coolness. Could anything be cooler than two female assassins traveling around the world, killing with dispassionate skill? Yes! They could be investigating a Medieval occult conspiracy! Da Vinci Code step aside – Soldats has you beat flat.

Oh, and erm…gee they seem kinda Yuri don’t they? ^_^

Okay, in Volume 1, there is already a definite vibe between our two lovely leads. And there does seem to only be one bed doesn’t there? And gee, Mirielle seems a sensual, passionate sort, and she’s only a few years older than Kirika…

And anyway, geez, who *else* could they sleep with? It’s not like they’d be meeting lots of nice people to hang out with, or be able to buy sex, since it would be too risky. Bottom line is, it’s obvious, right off. And Bee Train tells us that if we want to see it there, it is, so I say it is. There, that’s settled. ^_^

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

Overall – 8

Not for the cute, fluffy crowd, but a definite Yuri fan fave.

Posted in Bee Train, English Anime, Noir, Yuri Anime | 4 Comments »