Maria-sama ga Miteru Yuri Manga Update – Ibara no Mori

September 22nd, 2004

The first two volumes of the Marimite manga have been collected and released in Japanese. Each one is a complete story, the first and second novels in manga form.

Because the manga moves more slowly than the anime, there is more detail that we saw with the anime. In particular, internal monologues and thoughts were restored, and several scenes that were switched around in the anime (mostly because the third novel’s arc was moved to late in the season) have been put back in their rightful place. (For the record, the Drama CDs seem to have a smidgen more detail…and, obviously, the novels would contain the full story, something I’ll cover next entry.)

The character designs are not the same as the anime, but the characters don’t differ wildly from their animated counterparts. Of them, Sei looks the most unlike her anime avatar, and personally I’m inclined to think the anime version is better. But they are all recognizably themselves. The tankubon also have silly incidental art, like dress-up pictures of the various cracters, (Sei as a cowboy, Eriko as a waitress, etc,) that make the manga volumes a fun purchase.

Right now, Margaret magazine has just completed the first half of the Ibara no Mori: Forest of Thorns arc, in which a novel of the same name causes rumors to fly around Lillian Academy, that Sei, Rosa Gigantea, may have been the author. Yumi ultimately learns *why* the rumors exist at all, how accurate they were, who the real author is, and her little secret, all culminating on Christmas Eve.

When Yumi comes across the Yamayurikai, she learns that they are preparing a Christmas party. Notable in this scene is Youko, happily decorating a Christmas tree inappropriately with tanabata wishes, wearing a crown on her head. It’s utterably adorable. ^_^

In the final scene of this first half of the story, we get something completely left out of the anime. Sachiko gives Yumi one of her embroidered silk handkerchiefs as a Christmas present (you all remember that in Japan presents are usually exchanged between lovers, right?) Yumi is miserable, because she has nothing for Sachiko. Sachiko sees that Yumi looks like she’s about to cry, and makes her soeur a deal. In exchange, Sachiko will take one of Yumi’s hair ribbons for her present. She unties Yumi’s hair, takes the ribbon and ties it into her own hair, and they walk away hand in hand. It’s all very touching and romantic.

Things are different from the anime in the manga. The mood is more solemn, the pace slower, the emotions run higher. When Sei confesses to Yoshino and Yumi that the rumors aren’t that far from the truth, there’s more of sense of intensity in the scene…Yumi even comments that Sei is burning for her past love. Sei herself is more remote-seeming than the anime Sei…but that may be me having 20/20 hindsight. ^_^

The next half of the Ibara no Mori manga begins in October, and of course, I can’t wait. I’m *dying* to see how they portray Shiori (one of the things that was noticeable about her anime image was that she wasn’t *really* attractive – I liked that, and I wonder if it is intentional, part of the character description, or just a whim)…and the interaction between Sei and Youko, when they were en bouton. And I wait with bated breath to see what the manga image of the former Rosa Gigantea is. ^_^

The manga definitely has more of the “the pleats on our skirts shouldn’t be out of order, we should walk slowly” feel than the anime did. If I had read the novels first, I think that I too, would have been driven crazy by the rushed anime, and only marginally mollified by the manga. But, fortuitously, I’ve done it the other way around, so I can enjoy the story all over again, each time I encounter it, with more detail.

I won’t rate the Ibara no Mori manga yet, until I see the conclusion (an 80-page spectacular, or so they say) and I’ll report back on the tankubon and Drama CD, which go on sale in October as well! Banner month for Sei fans, huh? ^_^

Next up – notes on the first novel.

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Maria-sama ga Miteru ~ Haru Update

September 21st, 2004

As promised, today is a review of the second season of the Marimite anime. There is only one episode left to air, and yet I have chosen to write an update now. Why? Because many important things have happened in this second season, things that will be overshadowed by the fact that the season is ending this coming week, and I wanted to be able to touch on them (somewhat) objectively.

Maria-sama ga Miteru ~ Haru takes place, as the title suggests, in spring. It begins with a flashback to New Year’s Day, and moves, quite slowly through the graduation of the old Rosas, and the coming of a new first-year class.

As I watched this season, there were two things that I felt very strongly. One, at least in terms of the anime, they upped the yuri factor by a few notches. The end credits, the lingering soft-focus shots, the blatant akogare (admiration/desire,) all would have moved this series up to “Yuri classic,” if it hadn’t been there already. This season, arguably, may have put it at the head of the list. Several people have commented on the Yuricon Mailing List that this season was a stark change from the coy way the “Ibara no Mori” arc was moved to the end of the first season. Basically, you get wapped hard with the Yuri stick this time around. ^_^

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly for the story, this season reminded me strongly of a scene in one of Dorothy Sayer’s Lord Peter mysteries, in which Harriet Vane (who is a mystery author) and Lord Peter are discussing the problem with writing crappy best-sellers. There comes a point, they agree, at which you either have to make the characters real, or confine yourself to writing crap and being miserable with it. (I’m paraphrasing here, obviously. )

It is in this season when most of the characters stop being 2-dimensional, and the story itself changes from a romantic comedy to a drama. The novel that takes up the second half of the season, Rainy Blue, is clearly the crux of that switch.

Early in the season, we learn that nearly everything we thought we knew about Satou Sei/Rosa Gigantea, was *completely* wrong. We also learn more about Eriko, which is interesting, but she turns out to be even more of a flake than we thought. ^_^ And during the graduation itself, we get the Rosas’ memories and impressions of each other – which not only serves to understand their relationships better, but in general to make them more real.

This is all followed quickly by an arc where we learn a little bit more about Shimako, then neatly pair her with an unlikely partner, Noriko. Again, on the Yuricon Mailing List, several people were of the opinion that the scenes with Shimako and Noriko were the hottest things they’d ever seen where the next thing the characters did wasn’t to fall into each other’s arms and kiss passionately. (To me, it was reminiscent of the sexual tension in the live-action Peony Pavilion, which I reviewed a few weeks ago.)

We watch Yoshino deal with the consequences of her own wish that Rei become stronger and, for the final several episodes, we are now watching Yumi, finally, grow up. As I watched the end of episode 12, I was remined, not only of my own teen years (which always creeps me out) but of Nietzsche’s overused concept that what doesn’t kill you makes you grow stronger. Sad, but true – “maturity” pretty much only comes through responsibility, experience…and emotional blunt force trauma.

Where the yuri stick is lithe and thin in ~Haru, quickly and repeatedly wapping us across the head and shoulders, the trauma stick is a bludgeon, which comes down on our head with the subtlety of a bus falling from the sky. This is partially because the three stories (one for each second-year student…or didn’t you notice?) of Rainy Blue are parsed into separate arcs, and also partially because the final story had to be rough to force the characters to grow. Sadly, this does the Yoshino and Yumi arcs a disservice, but nothing we can’t handle as good fans. ^_^

The high point of ~Haru was, for me, the introduction of some new characters, without completely cutting the ties to the old characters (in the novels themselves, we see the old Rosas from time to time…something I appreciate in a story. Cameos can be very effective.)

I like the way time has moved on in Maria-sama ga Miteru ~ Haru, and I definitely look forward to any new seasons of anime, manga, drama CDs and novels that come out. This series has surpassed my inital reservations and left me hopelessly fangirly. ^_^ By and large, ~Haru has been better than the first season, and I expect that, as the anime or manga moves on into later novels, it will only get better.

Ratings:

Character – 10.
Story – 8
Music – 9 (Ali Project. ’nuff said)
Art – 6. This vacillates *a lot* from good to terrible with some “wtf?” in between. The second season has been very inconsistent.
Yuri – 9

Overall – 9. I’m a character-driven fan, and these characters are really great.

I’ll hope fervently that we get more. and in the meantime, there’s always the manga, CDs and Novels! ^_^

Tomorrow – the manga.

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Maria-sama ga Miteru Overview

September 20th, 2004

Part 1 

Well, the second season of the anime is drawing to a close, the manga is in the middle of the highly discussed “Ibara no Mori” arc, the new novel and Drama CDs are due out on October first, I’m translating a one-shot story from Cobalt Shueisha and I just finished reading the first novel, so…

…it’s time for a week-long, in-depth review of the hottest new yuri series out there, everyone’s darling, Maria-sama ga Miteru, i.e., The Virgin Mary Watches, or something similar. (I’m personally partial to “The Virgin Mary Watches Over You,” which isn’t correct at all, but feels less creepy. ^_^

(Note: If you are already familiar with Marimite, skip this whole entry and tune back in tomorrow. This one is for newbies.) ^_^

Let’s start from the beginning. This series is family safe, sweet, and perfectly lovely. The quick synopsis is, (for those of you joing us late) a tale of affection and admiration between girls who attend a private Catholic school. That *is* the plot, btw. Nothing happens. Average girl, Fukuzawa Yumi, meets extraordinary girl Ogasawara Sachiko and is drawn into the lives of the members of the Yamayurikai, the school’s student council. There is much romance, much angst, some tears and a fair amount of laughs.

The story started off (and continues to be) serialized in Cobalt Shueisha monthly magazine. The novels are collections of the monthly stories and illustrations. These are not manga – they are novels, by author Konna Oyuki, and they started out as comedy. They became popular with a cult following of doujinshi artists in Japan, who enjoyed pairing up the obvious (and implicit) couples.

In late 2003, Marimite, as it is called among fans, premiered as a 13-episode anime, which told the stories covered in the first several novels.

Just shortly before the anime was premiered, in Fall 2003, the manga began to be serialized in Margaret, a monthly manga magazine for young women. (Margaret also ran the old classic written by Riyoko Ikeda, Oniisama E (Brother, Dear Brother) and Berusaiyu no bara (Rose of Versailles).

In the meantime, the 18th novel was released earlier in the year and the 19th novel is slated to be out on October 1. So the series is still going strong. But whether we will get a third season is still up in the air. We can keep our fingers crossed and hope that we will get more glimpses into the lives of Yumi and the rest of the Yamayurikai. ^_^

Tomorrow, I will post my thoughts on the second season of the anime.

Posted in Maria-sama ga Miteru | 1 Comment »


Ribon no Kishi/Princess Knight

September 15th, 2004

Ribon no Kishi or, Princess Knight as it is known in English, is something I have wanted to write about for a very, very long time. I just kept getting distracted by something shiny.

Ribon no Kishi is not a Yuri manga. It is, however, the first instance of a cross-dressing girl-prince ever, in manga and, ultimately, anime. Long before Utena, Lady Oscar and Erminia, the “God of Manga” Osamu Tezuka, gave us Safire, the heroine of Ribon no Kishi.

Think Snow White with a sword and an attitude. ^_^

Safire’s character design is a direct nod (a polite way of saying it was ripped off) to Disney’s Snow White. Only Safire isn’t mooning around – she’s been raised to be a Prince for political reasons, and as a result, she takes great pleasure in riding out on her white charger to rescue damsels in distress.

Safire’s true desire is to be herself, but that includes both wearing a froofy dress to a ball and riding out with sword, so she’s not a total bore. She fights off evil Dukes and witches and rescues a handsome Prince, with whom she falls in love and of course, ultimately, lives happily ever after. It’s all too cute and fuzzy for words.

The art is *very* early Disney, the story too, even the cute little critters look right out of a Disney movie. Remember, this man *created* all the conventions of manga you’re used to seeing – big eyes, western faces and talking animal sidekicks – all Osamu Tezuka’s fault. But he was just using Disney conventions. So, the next time someone asks you “Why do anime characters have such big eyes?” the short answer is, “Because Disney drew them that way.”

But, let us not forget the Japanese tradition of Takarazuka, the all-female musical review that regularly has women acting the roles of Princes and Knights and rescuing damsels…Osamu Tezuka was drawing on that as well, for his Safire. She may be tough on the outside, but she’s all girl underneath – just like the otokoyaku of the Takarazuka.

While it is true that Ribon no Kishi has *zero* yuri, except in the briefest and most superficial moments, as rescued damsels are momentarily fluttery and one evil sorceress seems a teeny little possesive, it’s still totally worth taking a look at, just for the sheer history of the thing. And the story, and Safire herself, are so damn *cute.*

Ratings:

Art – 6. Primitive by our standards
Story – 8
Characters – 7
Yuri – 1
Music (for the anime) – 2. It’s plinky and saccharine.

Overall – 6. Not brilliant Yuri must have, but if you care at *all* about the history of manga, you’ll want to take a look at it.

Now – here’s the hard part. I know for a fact that I’ve seen it in an English translation as Princess Knight. A quick run through most of the big manga sellers shows nothing with that title. I did find this bilingual version for sale online. And the original format has been re-released in Japanese. Not surprisingly, I totally recommend getting it that way. As for the anime, a very long time ago, I found the first three episodes raw, but have never found more.

In any case, it’s worth a look.

Posted in Miscellaneous, Ribon no Kishi / Princess Knight | 1 Comment »


Yuri Anime: Digimon Tamers (English)

September 14th, 2004

You are probably sitting there, at your computer, boggling. “Digimon?” You are asking incredulously. “Did I read that right?”

Let me begin with the beginning. The first season of Digimon is really the story of a little girl, called Hikari in the Japanese original and Kari in the English language version. There are some older girls in the series, Mimi and Sora, but they don’t interact as much as one would hope. But in the second season, Hikari and Sora have a kind of relationship, partially through themselves, partially through their Digimon. I personally did not see what they has as a “relationship” if you know what I mean, but many, many people did. There is a fair amount of Kari/Sora stuff out there, if you care to look for it.

But what I really wanted to talk about was the third season. Known here in America as Digmon Tamers this season came on TV and went and barely left a trace. In every way, this Digimon series was the *best.*

Right off the bat, the main female lead, Rika in English, Ruki in Japanese, pinged every gaydar alarm I have. She’s tough, she’s intolerant, she’s an ice queen, she wears utterly butchy clothes. She’s better at the Digimon game than anyone else (they call her the “Digimon Queen”…uh-huh…) in the story. Inside that icy exterior, of course there is a fragile and lonely (read: codependent) girl. Her mother is a top model and only wants Ruki to be cute and doll-like, ignoring the obvious signs of babydykeness in her daughter.

Ruki’s Digimon is “Renamon,” a fox-creature. If you know anything about female fox spirits, this will make you smirk, since foxes are reputedly very sexual. At first Ruki only thinks of Renamon as a fighting animal – Renamon lives to serve, like all good butches – so fight she does.

As the series goes on, Ruki is worn down by Renamon’s loyalty, friendship and ultimately, love. From about 1/4 into this long season, Renamon and Ruki are *so* a couple, it’s rather frightening at times. Their conversations sound like actual conversations lesbian couples have…it’s a little creepy really. ^_^

Renamon digi-volves into progressively cooler forms. From Renamon, she becomes the nine-tailed fox-spirit Gyuubimon, the short-lived Viximon, and the way very cool and mystic Taomon. But it is in her final form that she and Ruki really, quite literally, merge. Together they become Sakuyamon, a priest-warrior female fox-humanoid thing. Trust me, it’s pretty cool. :-)

In order to leave to fight the final battle, Ruki is forced to “come out” to her mother, about herself, about Renamon…and her mother accepts her for who she is (and buys her a great big clunky belt buckle for her dykey belt, a sort of ritual acceptance of her daughter’s inevitable butchiness. ^_^)

The end of the series is, IMHO, tragic. Ruki and Renamon do not live happily ever after. I was really bummed at the end, as Renamon and the other Digimon are forcibly devolved and sucked back to the Digi-world, leaving their human friends alone and crying hysterically, but determined to get back to the D-World to find them again. Sob…

So, yeah, the ending sucked, but overall this was a really good series. By far and away the best of the whole bunch. Ruki and Renamon are an incredibly well-played couple…and I have to hand it to the American voice actors – they didn’t even suck. Mari Devon’s gruff Renamon was as close to on par with Orikasa Fumiko’s Renamon as I could hope to expect from a dub and Melissa Fahn was pretty spot on an angry babydyke Rika.

Now, if only they would release it on DVD – I’d so buy this series….

Ratings:

Character – 9
Story – 9 (Really…this was a decent story with a real plot…and the kids’ parent weren’t totally clueless, etc. etc.)
Animation – 7
Music – who can tell? The American version uses some heinous made-up theme. Bleah)
Yuri – 8
Overall – 8

Seriously. It may be a kid’s show and all about dumb monsters…but Ruki and Renamon rock and the story’s not bad. ^_^

2013 Update: You can now get the entire season of Digimon Tamers on DVD! (Dub only.)

Posted in English Anime, Yuri Anime | 16 Comments »