Otherside Picnic, Volume 7

June 13th, 2022

Otherside Picnic, Volume 7 is an excellent read on every level. In fact, please feel free to stop reading right here and just go read the 7th novel in Miyazawa Iori’s scifi-horror series. It’ll be worth the time and you’ll probably get more out of it than reading me talking about the book.That said, I have quite a lot to say about this volume. ^_^

When the cover was released, you could hear the cries of fandom Internet-side. This cover presaged an intense volume. It wasn’t lying.

Volume 6 set up a newish conundrum for Sorawo and Toriko. Having established that they both have reciprocal feelings does not actually help Sorawo at all to sort out how she’ll deal with her partner.

As the curtain opens on Volume 7, important things have shifted. Sorawo still isn’t really able to human quite yet, but she’s…different. Her ideas are better formed, her goals are clearer, and in this volume she steps into a leadership role that suits her well. Toriko is struggling with the idea that she’s been one of many women for Satsuki Uruma, and, for the first time, Kozakura joins the adventure as an adult, and equal. Up to now, she’s acted much more like the child she resembles, rather than the adult woman she claims to be. In essence, our team has begun to find themselves in the middle of the chaos of the Otherside.

As a thriller, this volume was super solid. The main plot, the way the Otherside in general and Satsuki in specific, responded to Sorawo’s tactics were fantastic. This volume successfully rehabilitated several previous characters, while never losing site of humanity’s weaknesses.  The climax was excellent. Well-conceived and executed…this was a genuinely outstanding volume.

shirakaba’s art is back to illustrating the people but there’s been visible improvement in the art, so it feels less like a sop to the concept of a “light novel” than it used to.

While the series does feel a bit like it must be winding down at this point, there’s still some cleaning up remaining. Or…I certainly hope so. This has been a wild and creative ride – I’m reluctant for it to end. We need more Yuri scifi. I need more Yuri scifi. This volume had some outstanding horror beats and even more excellent emotional beats.

For a series built around unspoken fears and emotions, Otherside Picnic has done a fantastic job of expressing the unspoken fears and emotions of humanity at large and the individuals it features. As a result, I’ve been able to learn about myself, as well. If you’ve been hesitating picking up this series, I think it holds up under scrutiny. Give it a try.

Ratings:

Story – 9
Character – 9
Service – 1
Yuri – 8

Overall – 9

I’ve managed to review this without spoiling it at all. If you’ve already read it, I’d love to hear what you think in a spoiler-free manner in the comments!

My only spoiler – I was so glad to see Kokkuri-san in this volume, I applauded. ^_^

Posted in Light Novel, Otherside Picnic | 7 Comments »


Sukeban Deka Pretend, Volume 1 (スケバン刑事Pretend)

June 12th, 2022

Last month on Yuri Studio, I made a video about Girl Gangs in Anime and Manga. I enjoyed making it quite a bit and it motivated me to pick up a series I mentioned in the video – Sukeban Deka Pretend, Volume 1 (スケバン刑事Pretend).

Asamiya Saki is dead and gone.  High schooler Yasaki Asami (see what they did there?) never knew her. Nonetheless, their lives will become intertwined, when Asami – whose one goal is to make 10,000 friends online – finds a mysterious yo-yo. Well, actually, the yo-yo finds her. It literally drops from the sky as she’s up on the school roof. When she sees a bunch of kids bullying another kid, Saki’s spirit appears and instructs her to fight evil, as Sukeban Deka Pretend!

…kind of like the world’s greatest delinquent is now a magical animal mascot.

In any case, Asami does transform and saves the guy…but he is not interested in being friends. In fact, he kind of loses his grip and turns out to be doing crime. He’s the guy responsible for the new “snake” marijuana in school. The snake tattoo on his forehead awakens and he completely goes off the rails. Asami has to transform and subdue him.

Then Asami helps a girl whose uniform has been stolen, the end result of which is that she turns up a whole ring of stolen school items. The girl whose uniform was stolen turns out to have a snake tattoo that possesses her, as well. She’s actually sold her uniform for money – but was that before or after the snake?

In each case, Asami sets out to help someone, only for them to turn on her, become possessed by something snake-themed, and turn out to be the actual bad guy. I appreciate that snake theme, honestly, calling back to the giant snakes at the end of the original series.

But this all gets really wonky in the final arc of the volume. Chisato is the Vice chair of the Morals committee, a powerful group in the school which rules with an iron hand. She and Asami work together in the stolen goods arc, and they learn that there is actually a blue yo-yo as well! Who has it, or why, neither of them know. When the Chair of the morals committee is possessed by the snake…whatever-it-is, Asami stands ready to fight, but before she can transform, the Morals Chair slaps her down. At which Chisato stands forward with that blue yo-yo and she becomes Sukeban Deka Principal!

Also…Saki’s handler (and lover) Jin seems to be a teacher at the school.

Okay. Yes. Thank you. This was perfect, in a mad as a porridge knife way. Saki being part of the story, while remaining dead is a total thumbs up, as is the whole snake theme. Another thumb for the second yo-yo and another for Jin being right there, and apparently knowing what’s going on, but not lifting a finger to do anything. Four thumbs up for this story. It’s…bonkers in a way that only a reworking of a 50 year old cultural phenomenon could be. A bit like the Brady Bunch Movie. You can’t take the original seriously, but you can’t just lampoon it, either…it was a formative part of the cultural landscape. So you have to hold it with love and make it sillier. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 8
Story – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 0

At the end of this volume we have Asami and Chisato as paired Sukeban Deka, so maybe we’ll get some good partnership-relationship there. The evil snake theme is certainly a thing and now we just need to know how the Principal is involved, because, duh~~ she is clearly involved. Will I get the next volume to find out? You bet I will! Volume 1 only came out in April and this series appears to be still running in Princess magazine, so yeah, I’m all in on this. ^_^

Deliquent girls forever!

Posted in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – June 11, 2022

June 11th, 2022

Yuri Manga

We’re starting with some new stuff up on the Yuricon Store!

To begin with, the first volume of the Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Deluxe Edition is hitting shelves in English in August! Waaahh~~~ This is the gentlest post-apocalyptic tale ever. Get ready to sip coffee and watch the grass move in the wind with the android Alpha, as humanity slowly dies out. I cannot believe we’re actually getting this manga. It’s one of my favorites, just for the sheer beauty of the waving grass and fading lights.

Coming in July is another manga I absolutely love, Hello, Melancholic!, Volume 2. Not only is this a lovely band story by Ohsawa Yayoi, but this volume is where things really begin to happen.

I cannot express to you how much I have a clear idea of how I want the arc that begins in Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!, Volume 10 (私の百合はお仕事です) to end. We got into this story because of the cute Yuri concept cafe idea…we are now waiting for divine retribution, no joke. What an amazing series this has been.

Excellent news! Kodansha is putting Princess Knight back into print in an omnibus volume. I gave my first set of these from Vertical to my library. I’ll be thrilled to have a new copy on my shelves. Adriana Hazra has the scoop on ANN.

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Yuri Anime

ANN’s Crystalyn Hodkins shares that there is a second trailer for the upcoming My Master Has No Tail anime, about a tanuki who learns rakugo. It’s a charming little story, honestly.

I’m going to remind you all that you really should be watching Birdie Wing on Crunchyroll. It’s the best sports anime I have ever watched. When the series is over, I will write a long, long, long, post about it.

 

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Other News

This month I got to do something fun and  and a little different for Pride Month. Queer Bookstore Giovanni’s Room in Philadelphia is hosting a three-part series on manga by me. To begin with, I wrote about Boy’s Love, i.e., Yaoi Manga, hoping to encourage queer folks to pick up some good manga. Next week, it’ll be Yuri’s turn. ^_^

Also in time for Pride Month, Yen Press released I Want To Be A Wall, about an asexual woman in a marriage of convenience with a gay man. This is getting some good reviews for ace representation.

The Speculative Fiction Showcase gave my book, By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga some space on their blog!

Via Ramos Rise on Facebook, one of the voice actors from the Serial Experiments Lain (my most recent reviews of Disk 1 and Disk 2 are from 2013, but I think it stands the test of time and deserve some serious thought) anime has a video of him DJing a set “Cyberia Layer X”  that suits nicely with the anime. Check it out for some tunes.

 

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Posted in Yuri Network News | 1 Comment »


The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Volume 1

June 10th, 2022

Last autumn I took a look at Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei (転生王女と天才令嬢の魔法革命) manga. I found it to be fine, but much too shouty for my taste. Then I followed that up with the Light Novel, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Volume 1 in April of this year. That was altogether better as the screaming took up much less space on the page, forewent the utterly pointless service and gave Euphyllia some personality. That said, what it added to the story, it took away from the art.

Now I am revisiting the manga in English. Out from Yen Press as The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Volume 1, I find I appreciate the art even more and both the service and the shouting even less. 

Princess Anisphia has memories of a life before her current one – memories of scientific wonders. But in this world, where magic is the defining power, Anisphia has none. Nonetheless, her obsession with using magic has lead her to be seen as an eccentric inventor. Euphyllia’s world has come crashing down upon her, when she is unjustly accused of bullying another girl, causing the Prince to end his engagement with her. Bereft of a purpose, now that she cannot be Queen, Euphyllia acquiesces when Anisphia asks for her to become her assistant.  She insists it’s professional, but Anis is pretty open about being into women, and thinking Euphie is cute, so the groundwork is laid out for a decent Yuri story.

Knowing the remainder of the story in the first LN, I am much more motivated to read the next volume of the manga. I honestly *want* to like Anisphia and Euphyllia and for them to be happy together. But boy is there a lot of shouting in this manga. And, Alcard’s break-up was so…vulgar, I can’t imagine that it’s not really addressed at all, except in asides. BUT, the art. Harutsugu Nadaka’s art is up to the task the story gives – this time I have no complaints about the sword Anisphia gives to Euphyllia…in fact, I’m looking forward to seeing her use it.

So, while, the story in the light novel made the LN worth reading, it’s the art here that makes this a perfectly fine read, if people shouting a lot doesn’t bother you and gobsmackingly gross service. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7 The art is better than the LN by a lot, the sword was an 8
Story – 6 A rocky start
Characters – 8 Annisphia carries the lot of them in this volume
Service – 7 Absolutely grotesque. What the fuck is wrong with people?
Yuri – 1 Clearly we are going to head there

Overall – It was hard to like initially, with all the screaming, but the end pulled it up to a 6.

Knowing what I know, I’m probably in for the long haul on this series, but the manga has a super creepy service problem. We’ll see if it or the good stuff wins.

Thanks to Yen Press for the review copy and to the entire Yen Press team for their fine work on this volume.

 

Posted in English Manga, Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »


Comic Yuri Hime June 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年6月号)

June 9th, 2022

The June issue of Comic Yuri Hime magazine is an issue of transition. Old series are wrapping up, or moving to new arcs and new series are beginning.

Firstly, we have another fantastic, textured cover with ambiguous scene, this time a rainy city night, in a city where the lights never go out.

Then we move to a fabulous new series, “Natsu to Lemon to Overlay,” by Ru, which is, right out of the gate, intriguing and strange and I love it. An aspiring seiyuu is hired to read a last message at a woman’s funeral. What the woman’s story is, she isn’t told, but she takes this strange job.

“Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” wraps up the fisrt volume of the Light Novel and as we turn away from one arc, we’re about to head into the main part of the story.

“Kimi to Shiranai Natsu to Naru” settles down a bit from the scattered wackiness of running away from society to take a job at a local seaside place. The pace has slowed, but it remains charming.

Color pages for “Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru” my new favorite ballroom dance manga, by Utatane Yuu. This chapter moves the healing of past traumas forward. Kiki and Michiru had found their place and for a moment, everything is good.

The second half of this volume contained a number of one-shots one of which was outstanding – “Tsuihou wo Tsukamu” by nanimowakaran. This mermaid story was the first and only one of it’s kind that I have ever really liked. A woman is visited by a half-woman, half-sea creature from her past who has loved her for hundreds of years. This manga was beautiful and haunting and will stick with me for a while.

As always there are many other stories, some of which I read and enjoyed and others I did not, or did not read, which means it’s a decent selection all the way around. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Looking forward / not looking forward to the already-out  July issue, which will contain the final chapter of Usui Shio’s “Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts.” Yay, boo. ^_^;

Posted in Comic Yuri Hime, Magazines | 2 Comments »