Yuri Drama CD: Strawberry Panic, Lyric 1 "Miator Volume"

November 3rd, 2006

I know that you too, daily wrestle with concerns like “whose purple underwear is this!?!” Therefore, I also know that you too, will find the story in Strawberry Panic Drama CD: Lyric 1, “Miator Hen” absolutely riveting. :-)

The Drama CDs for Strawberry Panic each focus on the characters from one of the three schools. The first DCD, “Lyric 1” deals with the girls of Miator, the second will focus on Spica and the third, Lu Lim. While the story for this CD is original, i.e., not from either manga or anime, it has no actual plot. An official fanfic, if you will. If you were going to build a timeline, this would be taking place somewhere during the first half of the anime.

The story opens with Nagisa and Shizuma in the greenhouse. Shizuma embraces Nagisa from behind, and, as rain begins to pour down, attempts to kiss Nagisa. When Miyuki interrupts, Nagisa breaks free and runs into the rain.

In the meantime, back in their room, Tamao is fretting while Chiyo-chan functions like a real maid – sort of there, spoken to, but not heard. When Nagisa comes back soaked to the skin Tamao forcibly undresses her and shoves her into the shower to warm up. Tamao, during this scene, is made to sound so extremely perverted that it’s either really scary, or really impressive. I’m still not entirely sure which.

This sets up the one major crisis of the story – the case of the strange underwear. Tamao offers to do Nagisa’s washing, which Nagisa refuses. They both go off to the laundry room. Somehow or other, Nagisa ends up bringing back someone else’s underwear. These are scandalously colorful (as oppsed to the white with little-girl patterns kind Nagisa wears…) apparently, which overwhelms Tamao with the need to find their owner. They watch for a bit, but after some exciting possibilities, they are shooed away by Miyuki. When we return to the room, we get a careful catalog of Nagisa’s real underwear. No gratutious service here, no way.

During all this time, Chiyo-chan is having paroxysms of ecstasy and doubt over the return of Nagisa’s handkerchief. It has become her important treasure. I’ll skip to the end of this excitement – Nagisa gives it to her.

The third plot driver is the titilating rumor that Shizuma, the Etoile of the school, skinny dips in the pool every night. Nagisa repeatedly fantasizes about seeing her, even joining her.

One day, quite randomly, Shizuma rides up on a horse (cue cameo by Amane) and takes Nagisa off to the ocean. Chikaru, who clearly has no schoolwork at all, decides to follow since, after all, they will BOTH probably swim naked. Woo-hoo! Everyone, except Amane decides to tag along.

Nagisa and Shizuma share a romantic moment, until a hullabaloo from behind the rocks alerts them to the presence of the others (i.e., Tamao, Chiyo, Yaya, Hikari, although what *she’s* doing there, I have no idea, Chikaru and her whole harem.) Shizuma admits that she swims naked. Not. And Yaya decides to take a swim in her underwear. She pulls off her clothes and SHOCK! She’s the one with the scandalously not infantile underwear! Yaya points out that white underwear is prohibited at Spica and starts to undress Hikari to prove it.

With the sound of all the others frolicking in the surf – assumably in their underwear – Nagisa and Shizuma have more asexually romantic time.

The next to last track is cast comments, all of which are short. Some are downright hysterical. Tamao’s voice actress, Shimizu Ai (Hatsuki in Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito, Mikoto in Mai Hime/Otome) comments, quite acerbically, that she had to talk alot about underwear, didn’t she? Amane’s seiyuu, Kaida Yuko, (Minako from Marimite, Ryomou from Ikkiitousen) hopes that she’ll have more lines in the “Spica Volume” and Kagome’s seiyuu, Fukui Yukari, comments, finally, that Percival (Kagome’s teddybear) is interested in underwear. This last made me laugh out loud.

The final track is a preview of the “St. Spica Ben” the second volume of this Drama CD series. It includes such drama-filled excitement as “Yaya sexually harrasses Hikari in the shower” and “Kaname and Momomi bathe together.”

While I don’t think this DCD will win awards for plot, character or…well, anything…it wasn’t anything as awful as the Mai Otome Drama CD – and it wasn’t openly ripping off memes from other, better series, except in the most general way.

Ratings:

Story – 3
Characters – 3 (If you didn’t already know them, you’d have no idea who was who or why.)
Yuri – 7
Service – 9

Overall – 5

If this were an episode of the anime, people would trash it, but forget they hated it by the end. ^_^ Be that as it may, this, and many other Yuri Drama CDs are available from Amazon Japan through the Yuricon Shop!

Posted in Drama CDs & Audiobooks, Strawberry Panic | 3 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime 6, Part 2

November 1st, 2006

We left off from Part 1 after the essays about classic yuri series, this time, about two wonderful gender-bendy girl prince stories, Paros no Ken, Sword of Paros and Berusaiyu no Bara, Rose of Versailles.

This essay is followed by another new one-shot, “Pajama Yoru Hanashi”, about a bunch of girls at a pajama party. One confesses to liking someone. Under cover of the usual squeals and fuss, another girl pretty much figures its her.

Akiko Morishima is, in real life, a lovely, polite woman. In the day I spent in her company, she never once drooled, nose bleeded or otherwise acted in unflattering or pervy ways. :-) I say this because in her Yuri x Yuri report this issue, you’d never know that, from the way she draws herself as a slavering freak. ^_^; (She’s also much prettier than she draws herself, I have to say.) In this issue, she and Paiin-sama, her editor, visit a girl’s school festival. From the first time she’d addressed with “Gokigenyou”, Akiko’s a mess. It’s absolutely hysterical. I think she hits every possible stereotype and festish possible at school festivals…of which there seem to be many.

Takahashi Mako’s “Broken Rock Crystal Sugar” is a story about a lonely girl from a broken home finding light in the company of her best friend. It’s got the usual grim quality that keeps me from ever loving Mako’s work, but it’s less grim than most, which makes it good by that standard. :-)

The fractured, erm, Yurified fairy tale is Cinderella! A fine candidate for Yurification, as other than the prince, all the characters are women. Some nice servicey pictures of Cinderella helping dress her stepsisters – and her ES is suitably evil-eyebrowed and elegant. The Queen (no prince here) is pretty cute and even the witch gets the lipstck lesbo look. Of all of these fairy tales I think this one has got to be my favorite.

“Nanami and Misuzu” gets color pages! I wish it helped! Mushrooms, cell phones, getting lost in the woods and Rina-sempai’s offbeat behavior continue the Standard Operating Wackiness. (S.O.W.)

In “Hatsukoi Shimai” Haruna has just walked away from Chika in an espcially hurtful manner. Akiho vows to be there for Chika, and asks Chika to believe in her sister. Meanwhile, Teshigwara smiles and it creeps everyone right out the door…. Chika and Akiho’s class is working with Haruna’s class for the festival to do…erm, something. Haruna and Chika make beaded things, much as they did in the Hatsukoi Shimai Drama CD. They make little beaded rings and exchange them. As Haruna leaves, Touko-sensei berates her for being cruel. Akiho comes to her rescue, Touko retreats. That night Akiho finds Haruna in tears by her bed. We have a goofy interlude where Miyu (also from the Drama CD and the third volume of Yuri Shimai…and someone that no one but me remembers…) attempts to make grumpy Kirika (Miyu’s girlfriend and ditto all of the above) wear a frilly maid outfit. Touko-sensei runs into Akiho, who asks her to stay away from Haruna and Chika, Touko starts to seduce Akiho, who bursts into tears, pouring cold water on that. Chika is walking down the hall when Teshigawara grabs her and drags her away. Touko-sensei comes up and finds the ring Haruna gave to Chika on the ground. Oh Noes! More shades of that Drama CD, where Chika lost the barrette Haruna gave her. More to come – I know the drama is KILLING you.

Just about at this point, I was getting a little tired of schoolgirls again. This issue had sort of slipped back into all-schoolgirls-all-the-time territory. What with no “Strawberry Shake Sweet” and the fact that “Little Red Riding Hood” was off the adults and back to the kids, I was feeling a little down. Thankfully, this entry into “Mermaid Line” was a departure from the school.

Yukari and Mayuko are two Office Ladies (OLs). Mayuko’s off boyfriends, but she wants someone to date. Her bestest friend Yukari, who is seeing a guy right now, offers to play the role of “pretend lover”. Mayuko’s up for it, and they start going out for dinner, and movies and shopping – not really different from before, but they both get into the spirit of the pretend thing and hold hands and the like. The problem comes when Yukari starts thinking a little too hard about this whole thing. When Mayuko says that she’s started seeing someone, so they don’t need to do it anymore, Yukari is not as happy for her friend as she would expect. In fact, she’s downright depressed. Her boyfriend telling her that his mother is interested in her (as in, as a marriage prospect) makes her nothing short of miserable. To Be Continued.

Hakamada Mera is the artist who does Saigo no Seifuku and her entry, the final story, appears to be, if not set in the exact same school, then something exceptionally similar. Sadly, I don’t care for her art, or her stories – I feel like I’m reading about 10 year olds. In any case, Iwami-san is really popular, and Arisaka isn’t. But Iwami is love with Arisaka, who returns the sentiment. They kiss.

And that, along with the usual advice column, and manga, anime, game and doujinshi reviews, is that.

As always, you can get Yuri Hime 6 from Amazon Japan through the Yuricon Shop, or click the image above. I hope you will, of course, because it is still the only anthology other than Yuri Monogatari in existence and we want it to not die out like previous magazines!

Posted in Comic Yuri Hime, Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime 6, Part 1

October 30th, 2006

It’s autumn once again. And with autumn comes many things – school festivals, leaf-watching and Yuri Hime. ^_^ Yes, Yuri Hime 6 is in, and once again it’s full of Yuri variety.

The cover depicts Akiho, right and her beloved older sister (“Sis-con?” asks Touko-sensei sarcastically…) Haruna from Hatuskoi Shimai in seasonally appropriate fashion. It’s nice to see them both happy.

Now put Touko-sensei and Akiho back on the cover, dammit.

This issue begins with a new story from Fujieda Miyabi, creator of Iono-sama Fanatics and Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majyo to, both of which rank high on my personal Yuri-o-meter.

The new story, Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan, was introduced to us in the little extra comic that came with Yuri Hime 5. To get you up to speed on the who and what, I did a review last month on the Ameiro series to date. This new chapter finds Seriho and Sarasa in a quiet moment as the cafe opens after the near-miss closing in last issue’s omake. (Seriously, if you haven’t already, go read the “series to date” post, because the story picks up at the end of that.) Seriho makes Sarasa overheat by: 1) laying her head against her and 2) telling Sarasa that she is like a tea cozy to Seriho’s pot, keeping her warm and alive. When customers come, it’s Haru, Hinoko and the usual gang – Sarasa gets even with them by making them the most expensive tea on the menu. ^_^

Tokimeki Mononoke Gakuen continues to be incredibly silly. Teacher Rokurokubi (a long-necked female demon) has got a bad neck sprain today and is in no shape to teach. She leaves for the infirmary with an admonition to practice beautifying. Arera is stoked – she’s got makeup down pat. She spends the day slapping huge amounts of makeup on the various “girls” in her class, for hilarious (ahem) results. In the end, she has no lipstick left for hereself, so when the kids all hike off to terrify Teach, Kiri kisses Arera to give her some lip color too. A surprisingly sweet kiss, I might add.

The next story is a one-shot, Hoshizora Cycling. Mako meets Momoka on her first day after transfering to Mako’s school. She can’t cycle, because she’s weak. Mako offers to give her a lift. Momoka and Mako continue this shared commute, drawing closer and closer. One night they join the others in their school on the roof to watch a meteor shower. Afterwards, Momoka won’t tell what she wished, but Mako breaks down and admits that she wished for Momoka to like her. Momo-chan fwaps Mako solidly on the head because, duh, she’s liked her all along, dimwit.

Apple Day Dream is a series of 4-panel comics about dress shop “Apple Day Dream”. Yuma and Kaoru are two employees of this purveryor of fine women’s apparel. Yuma has large breasts and Kaoru likes large breasts. Clothing and breast related humor ensues.

Taishi Zaou and Eiki Eiki’s Little Red Riding Hood continues with Fuyuka’s encounter with Akiho. (We met Akiho way back in Yuri Shimai 2, in “Expressions of Love,” where we learned that her friend, Haruka, loves to grab girls’ breasts. They resolve everything by agreeing that Haruka will not grab *other* girls’ breasts, only Akiho’s.) Akiho recognizes Fuyuka as a person in the same situation as she. Fuyuka is thrilled to have someone to talk to about the whole thing and the two rapidly become friends. Fuyuka admits that she’s concerned that Natsuki *doesn’t* feel the same as she does, and Akiho, clearly, get a bright idea. One day when both Haruka and Natsuki confront their pets, Akiho says that she no longer likes Haruka, but has fallen for…gasp!…Fuyuka! The chapter cuts out as she moves in for a public kiss.

Initially, I found this whole series a string of tired cliches, but recently, I admit to really liking the way Taishi and Eiki are tying all their elements together. The whole is significantly better than the sum of its parts.

Color pages with reviews of the Simoun and Strawberry Panic games. Not being a gamer, they are just pretty pictures to me.

And Chi-Ran finds yet another way to tell a girl meets girl story in Yuri Kago (Yuri Basket.) Maori makes her stick-in-the-mud, curmudgeonly way through life, skeptical of all relationships – and especially of the fortuneteller’s “basket of yuri” in the form of a decorative ball in which, Maori is told, she will find her lover. When the ball splits open and out pops a hideously adorable little doll girl, Maori is not amused. But over time, because of the doll’s sheer wonderful, sweet cuteness, Maori’s hard-assness melts. She finally admits to loving the doll, who promptly collapses, lifeless. One day, Maori is sitting on a bench when she is approached by someone who looks suspiciously like the doll. Could it be? Of course it could. ^_^

Which takes us to about halfway and the essays on classic Yuri manga by Miura Shion, this time Rose of Versailles and Paros no Ken (both of which have been review on Okazu, but I’m too grumpy to find the links at the moment.) Both are spiffy classic gender-bendy series, great for the little girl prince in your life. ^_^

I’ll stop here and finish up later – make sure you come back, because there’s good Yuri stuff to come!

Posted in Comic Yuri Hime, Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »


Seven Seas Responds to ALC Publishing on Yuri Manga

October 27th, 2006

In my heart, I had a vision of the ideal response from Seven Seas. It would be respectful and friendly. It’s my pleasure to share with you that Seven Seas actually *bettered* my ideal response. :-)

They were sincere, respectful and friendly – and just plain nice about it all.

In turn, I responded by inviting Seven Seas to attend Yuricon 2007 and was told that if they can, they will come.

So, as I predicted, there will be no turf wars here in the yuri manga world – just an even larger body of folks committed to bringing great yuri manga to fans everywhere. And that can only be a good thing in my opinion. :-)

Incidentally, the thing that made me happiest was the fact that SS commented, quite specifically, on how polite and gentle the emails noting the mistake were. This makes me feel so good. I am, and have always been, convinced that histrionics and paranoia have no place in the fan community and can, and should, be replaced with passion, enthusiasm and mature dialogue.

I want to thank all of you who sent emails to Seven Seas, for your support – and for being so polite and reasonable about it. That says something about the folks who support us at Yuricon and ALC…something I feel quite proud of.

As I told Seven Seas, I look forward to both companies working together to promote yuri and I hope you will too! :-)

Posted in ALC Publishing, Yuri Manga | No Comments »


New Yuri Manga Kid on the Block – will it mean turf wars?

October 26th, 2006

Hi all – I’ve been debating how to address this here on Okazu, hence the delay in my response. And the short answer to the question above is, obviously, “no.” No turf wars here. :-)

Y’all probably know that this week Seven Seas announced their new yuri imprint, “Strawberry.” They’ll be putting out titles like Strawberry Panic and Saigo no Seifuku under this line, although their previously announced license for Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl will not be.

As you can imagine, as a yuri fan, I’m thrilled. Seven Seas is going for the titles that are, in Japan, marketed primarily to guys, and several of which are attached to popular anime series, so have high recognition value. I’m all for it and I’ll be among the many purchasing their titles, and hoping for them to go after Hayate x Blade as well, since it’s another Mediaworks title.

However.

In their press release, Seven Seas claims to be launching the first-ever line of yuri in the US. This is patently not true. ALC Publishing has been releasing yuri titles in the US since 2003. That’s “first” by my book. :-)

I, and many other people, have emailed Seven Seas to politely point out the mistake. I was really, honestly, hoping that they’d retract the statement, or at least issue a vague correction…or something. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten any response at all. I’m not taking it personally, I know that businesses are often much more complex than the sum of their parts, but I want to make my position clear.

Here is the email I sent to the major anime news services, and to Seven Seas:

To Whom it May Concern –

My name is Erica Friedman, President of ALC Publishing, the world’s only all-Yuri publishing company. I would like to correct a mistake in the Seven Seas press release about their Yuri imprint “Strawberry”. Seven Seas mistakenly refers to their imprint as the “first-ever” line of Yuri manga to be released in America.

ALC Publishing has been putting out 100% Yuri publications since 2003, including translations from Japanese yuri manga artists such as Rica Takashima, Eriko Tadeno, Akiko Morishima and, looking forward into 2007, doujinshi circles Sakuraike and UKOZ. Our translations, light novel series and Yuri manga anthologies are available in comic book, G/L/B/T and chain bookstores.

All of us at ALC are *very* excited and pleased to see more Yuri entering the American manga market, but we would like it to be known, on behalf of the artists, writers, and all the folks that work on our books that Seven Seas is not the first. And hopefully, they will not be the last – there are many wonderful yuri titles which we at ALC would love to see on American shelves.

All of us at ALC, the oldest publisher of Yuri in America, wish Seven Seas the greatest success!

Now it is obvious to me that Seven Seas and ALC are NOT in direct competition. ALC focuses on stories by primarily, although not exclusively, women who identify as lesbian, for an audience of adult women (and men, of course.) Our primary focus is on the many folks whose work is not attached to an anime, and will not otherwise be seen by people in English-speaking countries – I’m speaking of course, of the lovely people who draw yuri doujinshi.

ALC is dedicated to bring high-quality yuri, what I like to call 100% yuri, by women, about and for women (and anyone else who wants to read it.) We’re not seeking to license yuri done for a broader audience. As a result, we are doomed to always be small potatoes, even in the genre we pioneered here in America. :-)

That’s okay. We love what we’re doing. We love the people doing it with us.

And we are, as I said, thrilled to see more yuri come on the market…but the operative word is “more.”

If you have a moment and want to add your voice to those who have pointed out the mistake in the Seven Seas release, feel free – but please be polite. Seven Seas may be the new kid on the block, but we want to be able to play nice. :-)

If you’ve ever bought a copy of Rica ‘tte Kanji!?, WORKS, Shoujoai ni Bouken or any of our Yuri Monogatari anthologies, on behalf of everyone at ALC, thank you for your support!

Posted in ALC Publishing, Yuri Manga | 10 Comments »