Yuri:Anime ROD The TV, DVD Volume 4 (English)

January 25th, 2005

What can I say about ROD The TV, Volume 4 other than, “Omigodomigodomigodomigod!!”

Watching *this* volume of *this* anime is as close to having sex as you can get without doing anything even remotely like having sex.

Episode 13 of ROD the TV is quite possibly one of the best episodes of anime *ever.* Certainly right up in the top three for me. This whole volume had me on the edge of my seat, and I already know what’s going to happen – I mean really, how amazing is that? In fact, although I just watched these epsiodes, I kind of want to watch them all over again right now.

In the original TV broadcast, episodes 15 and 16 had serious art degradation, but Geneon announced that this would be corrected in the DVD release – and it was. The art seems a bit over-kill on the shading department now, but it is a big improvement over the original…and damn straight too, because this is THE volume, kids, THE one! Nenene’s big scene was, in the original version scarred by seriously crappy art. Scarred no more, we can sniffle along with Nenene, as she learns just exactly what’s been going on for the last five years. (And boy is this volume creepy as hell, as we realize just how nuts Joker and Wendy are.)

The translation seemed a little inconsistent, as the translators occasionally slip into telling us something like what the characters said, as opposed to what they actually said; but there are also a few spots where this translation was significantly better than the fansubbers’ – especially in Wendy’s exposition of what the real deal is. This mix of science, history, medicine and fantasy is not easy material to be translating. Clearly. And I, for one, applaud the translators for their fine effort.

Best scene ever in any anime ever, for my money, is when Nenene hauls off and belts Joker. I watched it three times, just because it feels so damn good. ^_^

The only downside to Volume 4? The pencil board. This one isn’t just yucky or offensive – it’s downright getting towards illegal. I was NOT happy with this pencil board. If I haven’t made it clear, then let me be plain. Lolicon grosses me out the door. And folks who find it sexy gross me out too. I’m sorry, but…you’re wrong in the head if you think kids are sex material. I include the folks who decided that this pencil board was a good idea. Hey guys – you were wrong. It wasn’t. This was in plain-old bad taste.

Ratings? 10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10 ad infinitum ad nauseum

Posted in English Anime, R.O.D., Read or Dream, Yuri Anime | 5 Comments »


Events: Yuricon and Shoujocon team up to present Onna!

January 22nd, 2005

Shoujo Arts Society, the organization that backs Shoujocon, and Yurikon LLC, the company that brings you Yuricon and ALC Publishing, have teamed up to create a brand-new, all-in-one festival of women’s roles in animation and comics, Onna!.

Onna! is about women in all aspects of animation and comics; from behind the scenes work in producing, directing, publishing and editing to the more visible writers, artists, voice actors – and even fans! We’ll be showing anime for, by and about women and Onna! is planning storng yuri, yaoi, josei tracks, along with shoujo and shounen fare – but don’t expect Onna! to be anything like “the usual.” Even the anime you already know and love has a lot to tell us, and we’ll be exploring all the aspects of anime, manga, western animation and their fandoms that are of interest to, and about women.

We’ve got some really great guests, fun games and great anime already lined up. So, block off Columbus Day weekend, October 8-10, 2005 on your calendar, and visit the Onna! website for more information about registration to this special event. :-)

Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »


Yuri Manga: Eve no Ringo/Eve’s Apple Manga, Volume 2

January 19th, 2005

Now *this* is good trash!

Eve no Ringo, (Eve’s Apple,) tells of the continuing misadventures of high schooler Kirika, an up-an-coming young manga artist, as she tries to break into the professional manga world. You may remember from Eve’s Apple, Volume 1, that she was hired by Blue Velvet, a S&M Ladies Comic.

In Volume 2, Kirika gets a brief chance to move into a much more popular shoujo manga magazine, but the Kind Editor’s offer is quashed by a self-proclaimed evil rival. Not content with simply trashing Kirika’s dreams, her rival, Mio, sends faxes to Kirika’s school, telling anyone who finds them what Kirika is doing in her spare time. Insane rival has fantasies of Kirika being gang-raped by drooling guys who assume that she’s a pervert. Instead, when she arrives, rival girl finds that mostly no one knows Kirika, except her small group of friend who think she’s plenty nice.

Why didn’t the faxes work? *Because*, they were faxed to the Doctor’s Office and the person who found them, the school doctor, LOVES Ladies Comics! She gets no less than 5 titles a month! She was so excited to meet Kirika, one of her favorite artists…and then she indulges in a spot of “seduce my favorite artist.” Apparently the school doctor is doing research on sex and what turns people on – and she gets Kirika right in the erogenous zone. But the doctor was only testing out her thesis, so poor Kirika is left gasping and moaning, but quite unfulfilled.

The crazy hardcore older mangaka Miyamae-sensei from Volume 1 seduces away Kirika’s best pal and “research” buddy Matsuda, which leads to a few moments of agonizing and confusion. And Evil Editor takes Kirika on a ride to explore the tawdry world of car sex. No, they don’t have car sex, you goofs. Although Kirika was worried there for a moment, too. ^_^

And, in the end, Kirika explores S&M with Yumiko, who doesn’t “get” it, but wants to make her boyfriend happy. Kirika ties Yumiko up, but she doesn’t enjoy that at all. However, when she’s got Kirika at her mercy – it all begins to make sense, now! And off Yumiko goes. So, once again, poor Kirika is left alone, gasping and moaning with nowhere to go.

Poor Kirika. That was the refrain all through this volume. This is, as I keep saying, utter, dire trash. But it’s funny and fun, and for crap, it’s pretty wonderful. :-)

I really hope Kirika gets some of her own in the next volume, I’m kind of feeling bad for her!

Posted in Hentai, Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Rose Hip Rose

January 18th, 2005

Rose Hip Rose, by Fujisawa Tohru (creator of GTO,) *should* be great. It has everything I like. So…why did it suck so bad?

Kasumi, aka “Rose Hip Rose,” is a full-time school girl, with a little light special operations on the side. She’s cool, she’s hot, she’s got a tattoo of a rose on her inner thigh and she packs a gazillion weapons. She has a run-in with a regular-guy schlub schoolmate on the train, which guarantees that we will never lose this character, that he will fall in love with her and accidentally find himself involved in nearly every chapter in some exceptionally annoying way. In the end, she’ll probably come to like him, because that’s the way these things go.

But that *wasn’t* why this manga sucked.

Kasumi is also part of an elite force of trained-from-childhood special-ops assassin-soldiers and, of course, they have been split up and many of them are assumed to be dead. As soon as Kasumi lets slip that she’s probably the only one left alive, another one pops up *immediately,* in the way of such things.

Uber-hip cool schoolgirl operative Natsuki (pictured above) is the most annoying lesbian to ever grace manga…ever.

Natsuki is in love with Kasumi and makes no bones about it. (Kasumi is, of course uninterested, saving herself as she is for the schlubby guy, no doubt.) In fact, Natsuki makes her appearance by saving Kasumi’s cute butt and weilding an extra-big gun. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

But, despite being the uber-competent hot lesbo with big gun, Natsuki insists on calling Kasumi “Kasumi-tan.” (You have probably run into this honorific with the ridiculously cute and highly pornographic “OS-tans”. If not, go search the term on Google.) “-tan” is meant to be an ootsy-cutesy version of “-chan” and I, and all people with sense, find it highly irritating. It would be like a high school girl calling a guy named Bill “Billy-willy” all the time. Can you feel your teeth clenching yet? Once or twice it would be irksome, but forgivable. As a habit, it is a hanging offense.

This appalling habit of speech, and the fact that Rose Hip Rose has essentially no plot (running around after a bad guy while he taunts you and kills people is NOT a plot,Tohru!) tanked the series utterly for me. And, of course, the fact that as a lesbian, Natsuki safely only shows interest in the one person she can never have. It may be realistic, but its boring as hell.

If you’re looking for a pointlessly violent and repetitive story, with a lesbian thrown in for service, Rose Hip Rose is your baby.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 4
Character – 4
Yuri -2

Overall – 4

Now, if you’re looking for *good* shounen trash, tune in tomorrow. :-)

Posted in Yuri Manga | 3 Comments »


If it’s the weekend, it must be time for another advertisement!!

January 15th, 2005

And so it is.

It has been an utterly brutal week here at Yuri Central, as we fight, erm, chat pleasantly, with the printers, in hopes that the second edition of Rica ‘tte Kanji!?, by Rica Takashima will be available soon. The special pre-order sale of 20% off the cover price is in effect until February 1, so get your orders in today at the Yuricon Shop.

In our effort to offer high-quality yuri manga to all yuri fandom, we’ve also added more untranslated manga from Amazon Japan through the Shop’s manga page, including the manga I voted number one most yuri manga of 2004 – Free Soul, by Yamaji Ebine. None of Yamaji Ebine’s work is available in English translation at the moment, although some of her books have been translated into Chinese, French and, I believe, German. But really, her simple, unique art style make translation almost unecessary at times.

So, please do give the Shop a visit, place those orders for Rica, and get yourself some fine yuri manga!

And have a nice weekend. :-)

Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »