Yuri Manga: Ichigo Mashimaro

April 1st, 2005

Ichigo Mashimaro is yet *another* one of Dengeki’s too-cute for words series with some Yuri in it.

By the time I got around to reading the current chapter of this manga in April’s Dengeki Daioh, my teeth fairly ached with sweet and cute overload. So I put on my grumpiest face and prepared to HATE this manga with all my heart.

I failed.

It was a horrible failure, too – half a dozen pages into it, I was giggling like a moron. Giggling. Me. It was embarrassing.

Basically, Ichigo Mashimaro is the story of a bunch of cute girls, being really cute and doing really cute things cutely. By all rights it should be abysmal. Only, it’s not. But as far as I can see, it’s not like there’s a plot, either.

Itoh Nobue is a young woman who lives with her much younger sister, Chika. I was *shocked* to find out that Nobue is supposed to be 20 years old. The art style is moe, with no real reference to real body types. But still…20? And a chain smoker.

Chika, who is 11 or so, has a bunch of friends who come over a lot and play, including Matsuoka Miu – a born troublemaker who is in love with Nobue. So there’s your Yuri.

An anime for this series is slated to start shortly – early next month – so we’ll get to see if that particular relationship is carried over, but it’s not like it could go anywhere anyway. We’re basically talking schoolgirl crush on Miu’s part.

I have not read any more than one single chapter of this particular series, but I have seen it bandied about on every single Japanese “Yuri manga” list ever. So I can’t tell you what happens – except for the synopsis of the one chapter I did read.

We come into the story to find that Sakuragi Matsuri (one of Chika’s friends) is wearing a cute little bear or something outfit. Nobue comments how cute she looks, so Miu runs off and comes back with bunny ears to try and get praise from Nobue. Nobue says that the ears don’t suit her, takes them off Miu and gives them to Coppola Ana, another of Chika’s friends. At which *everyone* exclaims how adorable Ana looks.

Miu runs off and returns dressed as Dracula, bites Matsuri on the neck (which is just about where I gave up trying to hate the manga) and tries to scare the other girls. Chika, our hero, draws a cross to defeat Dracula, but Dracula seems unimpressed. Chika tries again – she goes to the kitchen and returns with garlic – only to find Miu sitting quietly, sans costume, playing a video game.

The end.

It would take a hardier person than me to actively hate this harmless piece of fluff.

I’m not really sure how to rate this one – the art is basic, the story is almost non-existent and the cute characters just do cute stuff cutely.

We’ll give it an overall 7 and see where it goes.

Posted in Ichigo Mashimaro | 10 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl, Volume 1

March 31st, 2005

Since we’re on the topic of Dengeki, let’s talk Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl. Again, adorable, not-quite-girl yuri that’s a lot of fun to read.

Hazumu is a guy. Through a freak accident, in which he is killed by an alien spaceship, he is restored to life as a girl.

Hazumu is an endearing character…in fact she endears herself repeatedly to Tomari and Yasuna, two female classmates who are undeniably in love with Hazumu.

Tomari is a blonde, and tends towards the ever-so-slightly butch, while Yasuna, a brunette, is a total femme. The two have a friendly rivalry about Hazumu which, because of their completely different personalities, hasn’t really erupted in any kind of conflict.

Hazumu is also desired by a male classmate Asuta who has, typical of men in these kinds of manga, no balls. He simply fantasizes from a close distance and tries to convince himself he doesn’t care. He’s your basic nosebleed boy. Bwahahaha! Gosh, we just can’t ever get enough of that joke…ha.

There’s a host of other regulars including Ayuki, a very introspective and attractive schoomate who I like on account of her not being any kind of comedic relief and “Sora”-sensei, a guy who is an alien (his name is spelled with the kanji for “alien”) who is watching over Hazumu.

To be frank, I have read only two chapters of this series, and despite my initial reservations, it is kinda sweet and cute, in an unhurried and pleasant way. I expect no resolution of the love triangle, but one can hope. I’ll probably go back and get the early volumes to see what I missed – eventually.

On the down side, Hazumu’s reactions swing from completely human to, “Gee, these girls are strange, I don’t understand why they wish to do this thing.” It jars a bit – but it serves to remind us that Hazumu is not quite, a girl.

The art is typical of the genre and…hoorah!…there is little sign of fetishization. The girls are teens, but at least they vaguely look like the manga-standard approximation of the high school age. I weep with gladness.

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

Overall – 7

Low rating for such a totally Yuri story? Let me see a real kiss and it’ll go up. ^_^

11/30/06 note: See later reviews for what I thought after I read the whole thing and saw a kiss or two.

Posted in Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl | 3 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Pure Marionation, Volume 2

March 30th, 2005

All’s well that ends well, in Pure Marionation, another too-cute-for-words Yuri from the folks at Dengeki/Mediaworks.

Back in December 2004 I wrote a review of the first volume, which was fairly lukewarm. This is certainly a Yuri story – with a happy ending and everything, and after reading it, I can now definitely suggest it to those who like the “cute and sweet” kind of Yuri.

If you remember, Pure Marionation is the story of Anon, a “marionette” or android cute girl. Ostensibly, she is enrolled in Waffle High (no, seriously, that’s the name) to test out her AI, codenamed ALIS. Immediately, Anon’s secret is discovered by classmate Miamo, who is sworn to secrecy and determines to protect Anon from…I’m not sure what.

Anon meets and befriends Aina, and the story, what there is of it, begins. The entire second volume is given over to their growing love for one another. The crises they face are small, and seem to involved an inordinate amount of undressing. But mostly, it’s all about Aina becoming more and more aware that she doesn’t just love Anon as a friend, but wants to do things with her which one doesn’t do with other girls.

I’m going to make two small comments before I get to the good part. One: the setup with Anon’s ALIS being tested sort of fall apart when it turns out that there are like a gazillion marionettes already at Waffle HS. So…what are we “testing” if the system already works so well that we’ve got half a dozen of these things walking around without being discovered? And the introduction of an even *cuter* next generation ALIS to be Anon’s little sister did not make me happy. It was Usagi and Chibi-Usa all over again. The new marionette falls for, of course Aina, and a war of affection ensues, which was at least resolved quickly.

My second comment…so often, when guys tell me that a story is a “cute” Yuri story I see a lolicon story…and I wonder why they don’t see that. It worries me, it really does. These characters are 15-16, but they are drawn to look way younger and it just really, honestly creeps me out. I think that 15-16 is way too freakin’ young as it is. Give me 25 and I’ll be a happy person.

Second and a half complaint, erm, comment – Dengeki also does quite a bit of “not quite real Yuri” with girls who are not human or not really girls. Yes, its still Yuri, because the character who falls in love with the protagonist is still in love with a girl…but for some bizarro reason, probably because I’m a lesbian, I’d really much rather see two girls (preferably women, thank you) who are both actual girls (or women) fall in love with each other. I appear to be in a minority in the manga world. Maybe real women just aren’t cute enough.

Okay, all that having been whined, Pure Marionation DOES have a really romantic and happy ending! :-)

Anon comes to realize that she is really in love with Aina. She decides to confess to Aina that she is a marionette and, that she is in love with her. At which point Aina pulls away from the object of her desire completely. The school festival is coming up – Aina is on the organizing committee, which affords her a gazillion excuses to avoid Anon. Anon’s little marionette heart breaks and she chalks it up to the heartbreak of first love, but she’s one unhappy little AI.

Meanwhile, every single other girl in the school is rooting for Anon and Aina to get together, which is kinda nice. They seem to be planning something, but have the good graces to not be obvious.

The school festival finally arrives – the highlight of the which is going to be a fashion show of wedding dresses (can you see where this is going?) and Anon and Aina are both supposed to be in the show.

Anon is all kitted out, but Aina is nowhere to be found. JUST as Anon is supposed to go out, Aina comes in late, is shoved into a tux(!) just in time to walk out on Anon’s arm.

From out of nowhere a girl dressed like a nun shows up and performs a marriage ceremony and tells the two to kiss…which they do. The entire school bursts into “Waaaah” and applause for them.

Okay, despite my earlier complaints, this was a *really* cute ending.

The epilogue tapers away in a small bout of painfully happy embarrassment and the promise of a future together.

So, yes this is Yuri – Aina is human and she definitely falls in love with a person she thinks is a girl – and she physically desires her, so there is no question about the nature of their love. And Anon is a female marionette, so it’s not like she was a guy or partly a guy or anything, even if she isn’t really human.

If either loli-ish, moe art or the not-entirely-human-girl thing bothers you, then this is probably not your cup of tea (and I would recommend avoiding Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl and most other current Dengeki Yuri, as well.)

I did enjoy Pure Marionation, but it doesn’t stop me from wishing that Dengeki went back to the old Battle Athletes model of high-school love, with girls who look older, rather than younger, than their ages.

Ratings:

Art – 7 well done, just not to my taste
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 9
Yuri – 10

Overall – 8, but your mileage may vary.

Posted in Yuri Manga | 3 Comments »


Yuri Anime: ROD The TV, Volume 5

March 29th, 2005

I will never get tired of writing about ROD The TV – are you tired of hearing about it? Too bad! In fact, I may have to rewatch it in about 6 months, just to write about it again. lol

In a nutshell, ROD The TV is, by Volume 5, full on into the second “season” and neck deep in complicated plot. This is not an anime for people who like to do something else while watching TV. You really need to *pay attention.*

Amazing action, wonderful storytelling, the plot deepens without becoming mired in tediousness, even when it’s all backstory and confession. Wendy and Joker are consummate baddies, if only because they otherwise seem perfectly normal, and our gang of heroes turn out to be some of the coolest, most admirable and bitchin’est women in anime. All of them. While the backstory definitely fills in some blanks, it actually serves to make the plot more complicated – and the characters as well. Did I mention good storytelling? For once, I feel that the writers really did an excellent job in crafting a plot and carrying it through to the very end. Every episode ends on a damn decent cliffhanger – something that is not easy to do at all.

But what really stands out in this volume for me is the poignant and apparently unresolvable love triangle of Yomiko, Nancy and Nenene. And they make no bones about it – it’s shown for what it is, two women who want nothing more than to be the emotional prop for a third, who doesn’t have the fortitude to decide between them. And oh my *god* is it good! I’m not a big fan of unresolvable sexual tension, but…oh yeah baby, this volume rocks, for that one thing alone.

The art is pretty consistent, which was a nice change, but the translation was *terrible*. Very dubtitled. There were quite a few scenes I found myself correcting the subtitles mentally, which I think does a terrible disservice to the fans. “I didn’t want to get you involved” and “I didn’t want to get you in trouble” are NOT the same thing at all. They are the same syllable count for the dub – why didn’t you translate it the right way, Geneon? Lazy, lazy, lazy. Points off for that.

The packaging is, as always, good, with double-sided cover and mini-poster. The pencil board is, once again, highly distressing. Not criminal so much as awful, awful, awful art. What exactly is Nancy’s left breast doing? And why is Junior’s torso so horribly elongated? These are questions which will likely never be answered…

If you haven’t watched any of ROD The TV don’t start in the middle. You can do that with, say, Sailor Moon, but not this series. Wait for the final volume to come out and get the box set, then turn off the phone and computer, invite intelligent friends over and marathon as much as you can watch. (We’ve done all of the Sailor Moon S season in one day and all of Marmalade Boy in two, so a mere 26 episodes should be easy!)

Ratings? 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10.

Posted in R.O.D., Read or Dream, Yuri Anime | 2 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Passion Fruit, Vol. 1: Sweat and Honey

March 28th, 2005

From the only publisher who has really attempted to market Josei manga, Tokyopop, comes the first volume of an intriguing collection, Passion Fruit: Sweat and Honey. I say “intriguing” because while it had some definite merit, and I’m glad I read it, I’m not entirely sure I *enjoyed* it.

Special thanks to faithful reader and beloved sycophant Sean Gaffney for pointing me in the direction of this volume. ^_^

Folks who read Cookie magazine will be familiar with the artist of this particular anthology, and you’ll see the familiar style of Okazaki Mari, who was also a contributor to Yuri Shimai magazine. Clearly a “friend of Yuri’s.”

(Wouldn’t that be a fun new code to use? Everyone knows the old “friend of Dorothy”. right? Yuri fans could say that we’re “friends of Yuriko”. LOL)

This collection had several stories that included some Yuri-ish interaction, but none of the stories end with the girl getting the girl…in fact, in most cases that was a relief. As with most short story anthologies, the characters were rather more dysfunctional than usual and the endings tended towards pat. But that’s a fault with short stories in general and shouldn’t put you off this particular collection.

The first story, “After Sex A Boy’s Sweat Smells Like Honey,” is an ambiguous tale of two female cousins. One of them is initially repulsed by the other’s fragility, but in comparison to the men she is seeing, comes to find her more and more appealing.

“About Kusako” was, to me, a very disturbing story. Moeko finds a girl growing out of the ground, like grass, as she walks her dog. (Hence the name, “Kusako,” which would mean “grass girl”.) Kusako is incapable of moving, so Moeko waters her and shields her from the hot sun and generally grows fond of Kusako. Moeko returns to the field after a prolonged period of time to find Kusako withered and dying, but small Kusakos everywhere. If this kind of stuff lived in my head, I’d be creeped out.

“Sister” was my favorite story. A young woman’s older neighbor passes out nearly every night on her doorstep. Out of duty and kindness, she drags the woman in and tucks her into bed. Eventually, she confronts the neighbor about her miserable life, only to learn that she knows *nothing* about her…except that she loves this “old hag”. I won’t give away the ending, because I really liked it. :-) No, it isn’t Yuri, but it was pretty great.

“The Land Where Rain Starts To fall” has a *very* similar feel to the “Shibuya” series Okazaki-sensei wrote for Cookie. It’s a vignette of an apparently dysfunctional couple – Kaya, who refuses to come to school and Kumi, who seems appallingly low self-esteemy-y. They engage in some sexual play, ostensibly to seduce or annoy Kaya’s older brother. The vibe off of Kaya is heavily incestuous, Kumi seems more like a plaything. But she’s actually completely aware of Kaya’s machinations, and goes along with them willingly. In the end, the girl does not get the girl, but this series has, perhaps, the happiest ending in the volume.

The last story was written by Hiratsuka Mari, and is a bittersweet nostalgic look at boys in school and their too-sexy-for-her-own-good teacher. It was cute and fluffy.

I’m still not sure I’m comfortable with her art or her storytelling. The art is too loose for me to find appealing, while the stories are too tense…but those are the very qualities that make her stories, even the short ones, work.

Ratings would be variable, so let’s call it an overall 7.

No, it isn’t the 100% yuri we all long for, nor is it happy, really, but I definitely think Passion Fruit Volume 1 is definitely worth getting. Support Josei manga, support Yuri themes in Tokyopop manga and cough up a few bucks for Sweat and Honey.

Posted in English Manga, Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »