Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Sayonara Rose Garden, Volume 3 (さよならローズガーデン)

May 12th, 2020

Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Volume 1 by Dr. Pepperco is is out now in English from Seven Seas and in honor of this series coming out in English, I thought I’d finish it up in Japanese. ^_^

In Volume 1, we meet Hanako, who has traveled all the way to England from Japan to meet her favorite author, Victor Franks. In Volume 2, the secret of who Victor Franks is, is uncovered. Now, in Sayonara Rose Garden, Volume 3 (さよならローズガーデン) Hanako has time to deal with her feelings about Alice’s impending marriage to Edward. All of this is played out in a mostly-predctable way, with a small twist that is not just unpredictable but also wholly unrealistic–but that’s fine.

Relatedly (it is related to this and another “historical” thing I’m reading right now…and I mean those scare quotes…) in 1861 when England rewrote the penal code of homosexuality to remove the death penalty, homosexuality between women was left unmentioned. The apocryphal story goes that Queen Victoria didn’t believe that such a thing existed, but she was no dummy, so I doubt that. Not that it was legal or accepted. Just unmentioned.)

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 3
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7

In any case, this book has the ending it deserved and not the one I expected, so yay! You’ll be able to read it for yourself as Volume 2 is headed your way this summer on Amazon in print. No digital link yet, on Amazon or Global Bookwalker for the English volume.)





SQ Kimi no Namae kara Hajimaru (SQ 君の名前から始まる)

May 6th, 2020

SQ: Begin With Your Name by Tanjiu is an absolutely delightful webcomic that runs on Chinese social platform Weibo. I’d heard about it some some time ago but, to be honest, I can barely keep up with printed Yuri these days so, aside from a very few webcomics, I just can’t find the time to add new ones into my rotation too often. I let webcomics build up and read them in chunks every few months (…or years…or when I remember .) I wanted to read SQ and when Comic Walker picked it up I was delighted to get a chance to read some of it. Even better, Kadokawa has collected all of Volume 1 up into a Japanese release, SQ Kimi no Namae kara Hajimaru (SQ 君の名前から始まる). You can also get this release digitally on Global Bookwalker.

SQ follows Sun Jing, her best friend Qi Fang, and the girl Sun Jing falls for, Qiu Tong, in one of the most wholly relatable, dorakriffically wonderful school life dramas I’ve read in a while.

Sun Jing is awkward in a normal kid kind of way, She and Qi Fang frequently play pranks on one another, he busts her, she busts him; they are cheerfully obnoxious to one another in the way that good friends are. Qiu Tong, who goes to another school, is popular and cute and Sun Jing falls, hard. And then, they just start becoming friends and hanging and Sun Jin makes a fool of herself and sometimes pulls it together long enough to be cool. But when she asks Qiu Tong for her phone number and gets it and celebrates with loud “Yahoo!” my heart just swelled, much like the clerk at the combini in a later chapter watching the two of them being just…cute…together.

Sun Jing and Qiu Tong aren’t the only people in this book, they aren’t even the only couple. They are surrounded by classmates and teammates and schoolmates, all of whom are exactly as I remember – jokingly beating on each other emotionally and physically because that’s how young humans are in packs. But in the background there is a very cute little gay love story, as well. One of the guys in school has a crush on his sempai. He’s a big guy, but sempai is HUGE. We see his massive arm, protectively over his kouhai’s shoulder. Again, just heartwarming as heck. The book ends with sempai taking on a couple of bullies from another school. What will happen has to wait for Volume 2. (Yes, I know it has already been online, I’ve read ahead -its just so cute!- I’m reviewing the collected volume. ^_^)

I also know there’s some controversy about a second volume of this comic, as the Chinese government has apparently cracked down on it for having a same-sex kiss in later chapters. I doubt that will affect a Japanese, volume 2 so I’ll hope to see one. In any case, that chapter is still up on Weibo, and Tanjiu is still posting comics on his Twitter account so there’s been no shutdown.

I genuinely hope to see this title make it over here. It’s really delightful and, as the comics often pass by with very little dialogue many are completely silent, it doesn’t matter what language it’s in. For instance, here is the April 12th comic, which is completely pantomime. The art is simple, the expressions and body language are doing the heavy lifting. We all can relate to Sun Jing’s feelings.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8 straightforward and simple, but solid
Characters – 10
Service – None. Not a salacious thing in the entire book
Yuri – 9

Overall – 9

It’s just really fun to read. ^_^

Interestingly, this was one of two things from China that I’m reading in Japanese. The other one is a mystery novel which I am reading very, very slowly. I expect to be able to review it in autumn. It’s good, I just can’t read more than a page or two at a time. ^_^;





Comic Yuri Hime, May 2020 (コミック百合姫 2020年5月号)

April 28th, 2020

Something had to give, and it looks like “magazines” is the breaking point. I have every Yuri Shimai/Yuri Hime/Yuri Hime S/Comic Yuri Hime magazine since 2003 with the exception of some of the curated volumes I didn’t keep. There are several huge cartons in storage and there’s just no more room to keep them really. I still have a subscription to the magazine with the local Kinokuniya, and hope I’ll be able to pick it up print sometime, but for now, I am shifting all my magazine reading and at least some of my manga reading to Global Bookwalker‘s system. In fact, I just assume the entire global pandemic is specifically because I was caught up with Comic Yuri Hime and this is the universe thumbing it’s nose at me. (I obviously do NOT assume that.) In any case, I’m running behind once again, but plan on forging ahead with new volumes digitally.  ^_^

So today I’m looking at Comic Yuri Hime, May 2020 (コミック百合姫 2020年5月号) which is still available in print on Amazon JP, or digitally on Global Bookwalker – which has the distinct advantage of not being as limited by region as Kindle and includes a English-language manga store, as well as Japanese, something I find very convenient. They can all be kept in one library, as well, so you don’t need to toggle back and forth. You do need to check out the Japanese manga from the JP store and the English manga from the EN store, which is a small inconvenience given the streamlining of the rest of the system. AND like all online systems, it has a points system, and there are sales and coupons constantly and give-backs.

And I gotta tell ya – there is no going back. I LOVED reading the magazine on the digital system! I’m able to change size (not as fluidly on my Surface as with an Android system, but the pen helps) and move easily around the page and the book. A 10″ tablet gives me a roughly full magazine page , I can shift to two page layout with a twist and the art looked great.  Honestly, the art looked clearer and better on the screen than it can on paper, which roughens it up ever so slightly.  I enjoyed the reading experience of the digital edition greatly.  And no soy ink smell! This is always a problem for me.

So how was the content? It was a solid volume, with some good and bad, as always. I have a few stories I want to note because they are doing something interesting. We’ll start with the surprising.

You know I have a complicated relationship with Kodama Naoko-sensei’s work. I like her art, I sometimes do not like the story. More oftenn I’m just creeped out by some fetishtry embedded in the tale. Her current series, “Uminekosou days” (recently licensed by Seven Seas as Days of Love a Seagull Villa,”) has been on brand with this. We’re setting Mayumi up to be betrayed by her “best friend,” because apparently stealing her boyfriend wasn’t enough. So ask me how surprised I am to find that Rin may not be corruptible? I’m really hoping she’s not. I’d love to see a series where the manipulative bully gets told to shove it and shove off. I’m still angry that Peach Girl Next even exists.

Also surprising was FLOWERCHILD’s “Warikitta kankeidesukara,” as it appears to be developing an actual plot. I did not expect that.

On a positive note, although it probably heralds the end of the series, Ohi Pikachi’s “Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatteiru” is teasing a mutual marriage proposal. I’d pay extra if the series just kept going and let the school be in an uproar about the wedding for, I dunno, a year and a half or so, maybe 2? ^_^

I’m also perfectly okay with “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” taking it’s time to wrap.  It’s kind of maddening knowing that in 2020 becoming a couple or proposing marriage is still the end of the story, instead of the beginning. Dammit. Give me more like Inui Ayu’s slice-of-real-life “Kyou mo Hitotsu Yane no Shita.” Please.

Ratings:

Overall  – 8, but an extra point for the digital experience. Damn, that was nice. So, 9

I’ll end this by reminding you that you may subscribe to the magazine directly on Bookwalker, a feature I find very intriguing, especially now. New volumes will be added to your library automatically. Each issue page includes a few sample pages, which is nice.  And for those of you interested, the June 2020 issue is already available (And with coins I’ve gotten from purchases and affiliate links, I’ll be paying 16 cents. Booyah)





Éclair Blanche: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart

April 27th, 2020

Today we celebrate the fact that today the Okazu Patreon has once again passed the $500/month mark – which means we’ll be expanding our support of queer creators on Patreon once again with our Microgoal program and we hope to be revising our payments for Guest Reviewers upwards, as well. It has long been our goal to be able to pay sustainable and reasonable rates for our writers and artists. Today we’ve taken another step forward. There’s never a bad time to become an Okazu Patron. Every cent makes a big difference – and gets recycled back into the great Yuri global network by buying media, crowdfunding projects, and supporting creators and events. So thank you Okazu Patrons new and old! You are all an important part of the Okazu family.

To celebrate, we’ve got an exciting review and a giveaway at the end!

When Yen Press picked up the first Éclair anthology, I noted to them that it was (by then) actually a series, which they did not know at that time. I was exceedingly pleased to see that they did get the series and have followed Éclair with Éclair Blanche: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart. In addition, Éclair Bleue is on the way later this year.

So why am I so happy about this? You may remember from my review of the first volume, that Éclair was the very first Yuri anthology to be translated into English. I’ve written about the importance of anthologies to Yuri as a whole in the past – and I have 3 essays dedicated to magazines and anthologies in the Big Book o’Yuri! That’s how important they are. So, to get this series is big news. For fans of Canno and Nakatani Nio, here’s some new original work for you to enjoy. I’m best pleased because you get to enjoy work by Fly, Shuninta Amano, Kabocha and Taki Kitao, all of whose work I adore. ^_^ I want to call out Canno’s entry, because I *just* finished Éclair orange – Anata ni Hibiku Yuri Anthology (エクレア orange あなたに響く百合アンソロジー) and it officially is an ongoing series, (hint, hint, Christian.)

My favorite story was probably Uta Isaki’s “Sewing Machine.” I’ve always like the concept of tsukumogami; the idea that inanimate objects develop a spirit with use and time. We have all made the joke “my car has gone this way so many times, it could drive this route itself.” Well…what if it could? I also enjoyed the aesthetic of the art.

Ratings:

It’s an anthology, so everything is variable, but this has something for most Yuri fans.

Overall – 9

Blanche is a pretty solid entry into the Éclair series. It’s a terrific way to enjoy short-form work by artists you know and like and learn about new artists. And to celebrate this delightful selection, I am giving away a copy of Éclair Blanche: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart to folks in the contiguous 48 of the  USA. (I know this isn’t fair, but I can’t put postage on an overseas package right now. I’ll do my level best to do a global contest once the pandemic is well and truly over.)

To enter, all you need to do is share something WHITE with us in the comments. It can be a link to an image, or a short story, a song lyric, anything you like*. To make it easy to contact you, please have an email you check as part of your WP profile. I will pick a winner and contact them over the weekend. So share your lovely thoughts of Blanche and enjoy some Yuri manga. ^_^

*except cats.

Many thanks to Yen Press for both the review copy and the giveaway!





Koisuru Meiga (恋する名画)

April 16th, 2020

Yuri reviews, news and interviews are the primary function here at Okazu. Over the years, I’ve also sneakily (sometimes not very sneakily) found a way to include art, music, dance, photography, literature and the like into my reviews in hope that I can encourage you to experience things outside manga and anime…and because Okazu readers are often seeking those things out themselves, we’ve had a lot of great art conversations here. Like Bruce’s discussion of Maurice Prendergast, or the time we looked at Yuru Yuri because of a riff on Velasquez’s Las Meninas. Today we’re going to look at a manga that overtly marries Yuri and fine art, Koisuru Meiga (恋する名画) by Mimoto.

Each chapter in this book, subtitled in English, “The masterpiece I love,” presents a Yuri vignette, tied to a piece of famous art. The first chapter follow a young girl who looks through a window to see a beautiful woman posing, in a way that recalls DaVinci’s Mona Lisa. A few of the paintings were instantly recognizable to me, Munch’s Madonna, (a painting I quite like) Millais’ Ophelia,;but many of the paintings, if not the painters were new to me.  To be honest, paintings are a weak spot in my overall education, so I was delighted to learn about Okamoto Taro’s Itamashiki Ude and a number of the others. We laughed when we got to Fragonard’s The Swing, because it was very Fragornard-y. 

My favorite chapter followed an artist who is once again able to paint her favorite model, in a reproduction of Ingres’ (in)famous Grande Odalisque.

The final story is a Maria-sama ga Miteru-esque piano interlude with a girl and her beloved onee-sama, which was meant to reproduce Renoir’s Girls at the Piano. It made a lovely, classic ending to a veritable gallery of delights. 

Ratings:

Art – 7 Good, but it suffered in comparison to looking up masterpieces. ^_^;
Story – Variable, but none were horrid, let’s say 7 average
Characters – Widely variable from creepy awful twins to adorable lovers
Service – 5 Some nudity. Duh, also some other pointless service
Yuri – 7 

Overall – 8 Should be a 7, but I give it an extra point for general effect. I enjoyed the heck out of it.

I’ve never not hated a Renoir before. It feels weird. ^_^;