Maria-sama ga Miteru: Drama CD – Kibara Kakumei

August 12th, 2004

KKDCDFinally! I have a chance to review this really spectacular example of what the combination of a decent budget, talent, popularity and some marketing savvy can do.

When I placed the order for this Drama CD, I noticed that the price was higher than the two previous Marimite Drama CDs. I wasn’t thrilled about that, but I wanted the thing, so I ordered it. Well, am I glad I did!

The first two Maria-sama ga Miteru Drama CDs came in DVD-style packaging, with inserts and a pair of stand-up plastic dolls (Yumi and Sachiko in Vol. 1 and Yoshino and Shimako in Vol. 2). Volume 3 includes all of the above – and *2* CDs – the entire Kibara Kakumei/Yellow Rose Revolution storyline. Hence the slightly higher price tag. But the price was only about $8 more, and it was a complete arc, so, along with the dolls (Rei and Eriko this time) and the inserts, I was pretty pleased all the way around. Even the packaging is an improvement – the plastic case is translucent, and the back/inside of the cover is a very cute picture of Yumi, Yoshino and Shimako, with, of course, the Kibara Kakumei novel cover on the front. (In fact, looking at the packaging from the first two volumes, I notice that while Vol. 1 has the first novel cover, Vol. 2 has a new piece of art by Hibiki Reine, the artist for the serialization of the story in Cobalt Shueisha.)

So, right off the top – kudos for good value and improved packaging!

All the way around, a vast improvement over pretty much any CD or DVD I’ve ever bought, ever. I hope that they continue this trend for all the Drama CD arcs. I’d be ever so happy if I didn’t have to buy every CD separately. And speaking of future CDs, this includes, not one, but *two* advertisements for the next arc, available in October. (And we all know what *that* will be, right? If you answered Ibara no Mori/Forest of Thorns and/or “Sei’s lesbian angst arc” you are right! Not just one, but *two* increasingly strident ads – “It’s coming in October, okay? Please stop writing us and asking! AAAAGGGGHH!!!!” With pre-order and everything. I bet it blows records for Drama CD sales through the roof. :-) You can be sure that I’ll be waiting for my copy with bated breath. And we’ll get Sei and Youko toys, which will only make it all even cooler and completing our Yamayurikai set.)

Now – onto the story.

Kibara Kakumei, aka Yellow Rose Revolution, is the story of Rei (Rosa Foetida en bouton) and her petite souer, Yoshino. (I’m going to recap quickly for those who may be less familiar with the series…):

While the head of the Yellow Rose hierarchy, Rosa Foetida, Eriko, is apparently AWOL, Yoshino sets the whole school in an uproar by returning Rei’s rosary and nullifying their souer relationship. This all after she and Rei have just been voted as “Best Souer Couple” by the students. Yoshino’s actions cause a backlash of annulled souer relationships.

Yumi is taken into Yoshino’s confidence and learns the reasons *why* Yoshino gave Rei her rosary back. Yumi is also there as Rei’s confidence crumbles and she wanders around half out of her mind with grief. Ultimately, Yoshino opts to have heart surgery on the same day that Rei has an important kendo match, forcing Rei to become more self-reliant. Of course, everything ends well.

The anime for this arc was a fast two episodes, and several conversations, explanations and occurences were cut out, or moved to a different episode. The drama CD restores them to their rightful place and gives us insight to all of the characters that was missing from the anime and even the manga.

Sei teasing Yumi (and through her, Sachiko) is funnier with the original conversations restored, especially Sachiko’s warning to Yumi, “Don’t do anything to make Rosa Gigantea happy.”

We also get to see much more of Rei and her inner thoughts, including a really touching scene when she breaks down in a teacher’s arms at the thought of losing Yoshino forever.

In the end, everyone lives happily ever after, Rosa Foetida returns and, interestly, pumps Yumi for information on her “cute little sisters.” (Why doesn’t she just ask Youko and Sei? Probably because Yumi is easier to get information from.)

For Yoshino x Rei fans, we get the satisfaction of actually *hearing* both of them tell each other that they love each other more than anyone one else in the world. ^_^

The Drama CD ends with a really strange bonus track of all the seiyuu speaking as their characters – starting with wishing us a good morning, they tell us a few lines about their day and end with wishing us a good night. It’s not as cool as the free talk from the seiyuu of Koi Shimai, but considering that the entire set is excellent, I’ll be generous about this one slack off from perfect. ^_^

Ratings: 9 across the board for character, story, Yuri, design etc.

This is a Drama CD that is *totally* worth having, whether you’re a Marimite fan, or just a fan of damn good drama. ^_^

Posted in Drama CD, Drama CDs & Audiobooks, Maria-sama ga Miteru | 2 Comments »


Yuri Anime: The Return of Kekko Kamen?

August 11th, 2004

In a report from Chibicon, ADV has said that they are planning a release of Kekko Kamen (aka Kekkou Kamen) on DVD, with a new dub. Finally, a modern audience will be able to experience the truly wonderful wackiness that is Kekkou Kamen! Let us all rejoice!

Of course, yuri fans know not to watch the dub, right? Because if you watch the dub, you’ll miss the dulcet tones of Shinohara Emi, seiyuu of reknown, who voiced yuri fave Sailor Jupiter/Kino Makoto in Sailor Moon, and is now captivating audiences as Mizuno Youko/Rosa Chinensis in Maria-sama ga Miteru. Shinohara Emi plays the heroine in Kekko Kamen with panache and even sings the fantastic theme, Kekkou Kamen no Uta.

I reviewed Kekko Kamen back on April 8. Please check out that review, then, when ADV releases it on DVD, you’ll be all primed and ready for the nude escapades of this particular fighter for love and justice. :-) And remember – buy your yuri anime legitimately and be a real human. Annoy Bill at Anime Castle by sending him messages that you want to pre-order a copy – he loves getting email from yuri fans begging him to sell them stuff. :-)

And speaking of Go Nagai, dubs and nude escapades, here’s a review of the dub of Go Nagai’s Devilman Lady. Again, yuri fans may want to skip the dub altogether and instead enjoy the voice talent of Iwao Junko, who also voiced Daidouji Tomoyo from Card Captor Sakura.

All this Go Nagai goodness has made me want to go listen to the Devilman Lady soundtrack. I’ll catch you tomorrow!

Posted in Go Nagai, Yuri Anime | No Comments »


Yuri Manga: Love Yuri-Gumi

August 10th, 2004

Along with yesterday’s winner, I picked up Love Yuri-gumi (gumi means gang, or group), another yuri anthology. What this anthology lacked in dickchicks and bodily fluids, it made up for in seriously ugly art.

This was kind of annoying, because on the whole, the stories are pretty straightforward – girl and girl have meaningless, empty sex, accompanied by meaningless, empty conversation. Okay, that’s not fair – the conversations may be riveting, but I’m never going to know, because the art is SO unattractive in nearly every story, that I can barely stand to look at the thing. Only one story was bearable art-wise, and it was a typical school-girl thing. There’s a few loli stories – one with girls so young and bug-eyed that they look like premies and another with kids that look like, oh, I don’t know, chubby Japanese dolls, I guess. But in general, even if the stories themselves were much less yucky than the Premium anthology, they were so *ugly* that I just didn’t want to look.

This anthology is, perhaps, the least good yuri anything I’ve encountered since Susaku Replay, which is so utterly repulsive and without merit that it stands in a class by itself.

Ratings: Art – 1. Story – who can tell? Characters – Horrible, simply horrible. Yuri – 10, but it’s just not worth it.

Despite the wonderful title, and the cover that says, “Even Women Want To Fall In Love With Each Other” Love Yuri-gumi is a big zero.

Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »


Yuri Manga: Onna x Onna Premium

August 9th, 2004

Last time I placed an order with Amazon Japan, I decided to use the “People who bought that, also bought this” feature. It’s a pretty useless feature in English, (except to point out that people’s buying habits make pretty much no sense to me…), but when one is shopping in a foreign language, it’s darn useful! Or so I thought, but I forgot that there are way more bottom-feeding pervs than lesbian readers with discriminating tastes, so….

I got a few cool things, like Yuri Shimai 4 and the Maria-sama ga Miteru Drama CD 3 & 4 collection – which I have yet to review, but will – and I clicked on a few utterly random books bought by the same bottom feeders who read Yuri Shimai. ^_^

First up, I bought, after long consideration, an utter piece of crap called Onna x Onna Premium (Girl/Girl Premium). I knew it was going to be iffy when I bought it, just based on the cover. It’s a Yuri hentai anthology, where the definition of Yuri is much looser than my own. The book cover features two exceptionally over-endowed women stuffed into ill-fitting Chinese dresses, looking like they had fevers that had just broken. Neither of them look very much like they are enjoying themselves. The cover clarifies for us, “‘Lesbian’ is a female homosexual.” So you *know* we’re talking an intelligent and refined audience here.

The ensuing stories range from “Bleah” to “Yuck” with a few, “Well, comparatively this doesn’t utterly suck” thrown in. My biggest complaint is the excessive amount of bodily fluids, but the moe, the over-busy art and the general sense of crappy hentai for creeps didn’t endear any of the contributors to me. What *was* amusing was that I recognized several of the artists from doujinshi I own.

Let me just rant for a moment. What *is* it with the huge amounts of bodily fluids gouting from these girls? I mean, even on a really hot day, with exceptionally hot sex, I’m betting that most women do not spew fluids like that. Sure, a few might, fine…but come *on*!

Anyway, I found about two stories in the anthology that didn’t make me go, “ewwww” for one reason or another. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – inferior to excrable.
Story – Ha! Characters – Snort.
Yuri – Shrug.

If you like childish girls with penises having unpleasant sex, this is JUST what you’re looking for! ^_^;

Posted in Hentai | 2 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Yuri Shimai 4, Part 2

August 5th, 2004

BTW – if you look at the cover picture, the characters on the cover are Chika on the left and Akiho on the right, both from Koi Shimai. Chika and Haruna were the characters on the first volume of Yuri Shimai. Issue two sported Akiho (left) and Touko-sensei (right), while the third volume featured the next couple whose story will become a Drama CD.

Errata – Yesterday, I mistakenly identified the artist for Koi Shimai and the cover art as Nagasawa Satoru, the artist for the Maria-sama ga Miteru manga. I was being brain dead. The character designs for Koi Shimai and all the Yuri Shimai covers are done by Hibiki Reine – the illustrator for the *novelisation* of Marimite, from Cobalt Shueisha. The manga adaptation of Koi Shimai is being done by committee, apparently. ^_^

Okay, onwards – more about Yuri Shimai 4. After the new Koi Shimai manga, and the most recent issue of Strawberry Shake, comes a short fiction and then a longer, heinously illustrated fiction about mermaids, which made my face go all scrunchy, called “Mermaid Princess.” Ugh. Followed by an essay and a lolicon art short that has something to do with one girl’s sandals. It was dire, so I kind of skipped it.

Then comes a (“lyrical, magical”) story with a few color pages about a witch and shrine priestess. More cute than anything else, but it’s kind of sweet (the witch frees the shrine maiden from her duty and rescuses her from being bound to the shrine forever. It definitely involves a few kisses – and the characters don’t look like little kids. It will take me sometime to translate the title on this one, so, my apologies – it’s “the story about the witch and the miko,” for now. Upon re-read, this story was really cute and likeable.

Next up – Morinaga Milk’s next entry. If you remember back, the first stories in this saga were the wonderful “Even If We’re Not Friends” and “A Kiss, Love and A Prince,” which set the scene for this high school where a significant portion of the population appears to be lesbian. The third entry was a little less strong, mostly because, to me, it had some serious cliche’ problems. This issue brings us “The Summer Closest to Heaven”, which I really, really enjoyed.

“Summer” is the story of a ghost of a girl who attended this high school a while back. She was in love with a classmate, but before she could graduate, she died. The classmate (who did manage to graduate) has become the school’s doctor, so the ghost hangs around to stay near her beloved. One day, one of the girls on the basketball team sprains her ankle and heads to the doctor’s office to get it taped. The ghost ends up inside her and now the girl wants to spend all her time with the doctor. Eventually, they end up on the roof, talking, and the doctor figures out that the girl is inhabited by the ghost of her dead friend. They talk, and kiss, and the ghost moves on. When the girl wakes up, all she knows is that she’s got a thing for the doctor now. ^_^ Trust me – it’s cute. And Nana and Hitomi from “Even If We’re Not Friends” makes a cameo, as they have in every story in the saga. Check for them in the beginning at the basketball game. ^_^

Then next story is…different. “Female Wolf” is a little disturbing, for the discussion of physical and emotional abuse, and for the creepy behavior of the eponymous lead. It has some nudity, which makes it stand out in this oh-so-cute magazine. But the characters look and act their age, and for that, I am pleased. (Now if only the stories featured 20- and 30-something women who looked their age…. )

Another short color story, with a creepy ghostly quality and a title I can’t translate without work, followed by a short color manga for Saphizm Cruise, a yuri hentai game that’s making the rounds. To me the characters read very loli, but it’s an h-game and they always seem to emphasize that. In this issue, we see the backstory of, presumably,the first officer, as she grows up to be worthy of the captain. (The captain appears to sleep with all the characters in the game, if I’m not entirely mistaken.) I’m betting we see more of this story in future issues.

A third short story called “Swear”, which made no impact on me, but was a kind of “I’ll protect you forver” pseudo-wedding kind of thing, and last, but definitely not least, “Wish on A Star” which was an utterly depressing story about two friends coping (or not) with the loss of a third friend, with whom one of them was in love. It was an interesting take on the classic love triangle. I actually thought that it had some serious merit, and I liked the art quite a bit.

And, of course, there were the usual film, novel, manga, anime and doujinshi reviews, which are very helpful when I’m planning future purchases. ^_^ I’ll also be sending them a copy of Yuri Monogatarai to review, hopefully.

So – overall, this was a really strong issue. The art looked tighter, there was a minimal amount of lolicon, the stories are getting better and I noticed a few Yuri-flavored ads creeping into the advertising, as opposed to all the BL-centric ones that were in previous issues. The survey in the editorials were still more “Huh, what is that?” than “Yay! Yuri!”, but from the quality of this issue, I’m hoping that we can look forward to even more and better Yuri from the next Yuri Shimai!

Posted in Yuri Shimai | No Comments »