Yuri Manga: Pieta

May 18th, 2004

Today I want to go over a few of the classic Yuri manga titles once again – a few that I already mentioned briefly, but have revisited recently, and a few that deserve revisiting for one reason or another. I’d like to start with Pieta, a surprisingly well-done little classic, by Haruno Nanae, published by Young You comics way back in 2000. (It seems a lot older than that, really.)

Pieta tells the story of Rio and Sahako, two girls in high school together. Rio seems cool and aloof and is the subject of many rumors in the school. Even though the girl’s uniform includes a tie, she wears it like a boy and is very boyish in looks and manner. Rio very overtly is dating one of the girls in her school and doesn’t seem to care what people think of her.

Sahako finds herself fascinated by Rio, and is very quickly drawn in by her charismatic, yet enigmatic, personality. For her part, Rio makes no bones about the fact that she’s interested in, and attracted to, Sahako, even going so far as to break up with her current girlfriend.

We learn that Rio, for all her external coolness, is actually a seriously emotionally fragile individual, with very painful memories of abandonment and rejection – and a classically evil, hurtful stepmother.

Very much because of this situation, Sahako is drawn closer and closer to Rio, until it becomes obvious to both themselves and everyone around them, that they belong together. The climax is not the final crisis, but in the end, there is a happy ending for them – and the girl does get the girl, which sets this story up among the few and far between.

On the whole, Pieta a slow-moving and sometimes painful story, but it is undeniably sweet and romantic – and in places genuinely touching. Watching Sahako watch Rio is so sweet and a little heart-rending. The plot is not earth-shatteringly new or unique, but it is tight and well-constructed, with a fair amount of tension.

While Rio is given a lot of depth, as a character Sahako is left a little fuzzy. Her family seem to disappear by the end, and there’s no conflict in her life, as there is in Rio’s…I keep wondering how her family reacted to what’s going on with her (remembering that my completely functional family certainly had a reaction to when I was falling in love the first time…), but we never see any of that.

The art is smooth and slow and very open, with white space and implications of motion and position, which goes well with the feel of the story.

All in all, you could do way worse than Pieta as a solid Yuri story.

I recommend that you get an actual hard copy, even though it’s out of print. You can usually find it wherever used manga is sold. Pieta would make *great* beach reading. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 8
Story – 8
Yuri -8

Overall – 8

Posted in Classic Yuri, Yuri Manga | 11 Comments »


Live Action: Yurisai

May 12th, 2004

Lily_Festival_(film)From alert reader Erin S. a new movie of interest to yuri and shoujoai fans has appeared on the scene.

Yurisai, or Lily Festival, has already played at a few gay and lesbian Film Festivals (including the London one I was at last month, can you believe I missed it?) and the upcoming New York New Fest.

Yurisai sounds very unique – as a whole, it’s about older women whose sexuality is reawakened when a senior playboy enters their apartment complex. But part of the story includes a lesbian relationship between two of the women. Aside from the fact that seniors’ sexuality tend to be ignored completely by TV and film, it’s even less common to see a senior lesbian couple portrayed as sexual. If two older lesbians are shown on film, in my experience, they are reminiscing about politics and social change…not kissing or touching.

If this movie is playing at a GLBT film fest near you, try to get to it。In the meantime here’s the trailer. Enjoy!

Posted in Live Action | No Comments »


Yuri Manga: Yuri Shimai 3

May 11th, 2004

It’s that time again! The folks at Sun Publishing have released the newest volume of Yuri Shimai.

Once again Yuri Shimai offers a beautiful color cover, along with short narrative on the characters inside the book, a few color posters and about half a dozen or so short girl’s love manga stories that take place exclusively in middle and high schools, since, as we all know, lesbians die at 18 or become bi in order to survive.

On the eye-rolling side of the equation, many of the characters are still mis-matched size types – i.e., one character is teeny and looks 10 and the other *almost* looks her age and is at least a foot taller. This will never cease to creep me out, because of the implications of this particular convention – the constant use of oneesama by the younger-looking characters only makes it worse for me.

However, that having been once again beaten into the ground, there are many positives to this issue, and some hope for future ones.

The first thing one notes upon opening this volume is that the color pages in the beginning include yuri-centric write-ups of several anime that were notibly yuririffic. In fact, I had to laugh, because we were certainly following them all closely on the Yuricon Mailing List.  Jubei-chan 2, ROD The TV, Kaleido Star and Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito were all represented with full-color pictures of some of the key Yuri moments. So, that was really fun, right off.

Secondly, one of the best stories in the book so far, Strawberry Shake, has been running since Yuri Shimai’s inception and it has not only been slightly different, but also funny and wacky in a very not-annoying way. This volume it gets several color pages of its own and a slightly longer chapter. In this chapter, Julia has decided to separate her personal and professional life in order to get to know Ran better. Of course, hilarity ensues, only this time, it’s actually kind of funny.^_^ When they do eventually get together, Julia and Ran will make a great couple.

Also continuing from the last volume is a story by Kita Kanno. “Under the Noon Sun” is about two dysfunctional schoolgirls who find themselves as roommates. I found this one typical and disappointing. I am officially announcing my dislike for the following plot complications:

Fevers caused by standing in the rain, or sleeping in the cold, or random who knows why-type reasons that have nothing to do with the real reasons people get fevers

Amnesia

Food stuck on a person’s face as a substitute for a kiss

Warming someone’s body up with a naked body (yes, I know it’s a real thing…it still makes an utterly crappy PC.)

Losing weight on crash diets

Breast grabbing for whatever reason

Falling on someone, completely sprawled across them, full-body

Cramming for exams

Licking someone’s finger to stop the bleeding as a substitute for kissing

Any PC that has to do with schoolgirl’s skirts, bathing suits or “three size”.

These are all utterly without merit and need to be removed whole from shoujo manga, in my curmudgeonly, yet humble, opinion. And yes – it *is* possible to have a good story without these.

But back to the point – in “Under the Noon Sun” one of the characters gets…I kid you not…a fever from a cold, because the other one crawled into bed with her the night before becuse she was cold. I mean, really.

On a more positive note, the lesbian bug continues to spread throughout the high school in the next installment of Morinaga Milk’s all-girl school series. This chapter is entitled “Someday This Love” and it is unfortunately yet *another* stupid-reason-induced-fever based plot, but is otherwise kind of cute. More importantly, the next Morinaga Milk story looks to have at least one real kiss coming, and *that* I’m looking forward to.

The last volume of Yuri Shimai seemed to have an inordinate amount of breast-grabbing; this one, everyone is coming down with unreasonable fevers. It’s like a weird group mind, that so many of the authors use the same stupid plot devices in any given volume.

Nonetheless, with the usual book, movie, manga, game, anime and fan work reviews, Yuri Shimai is really shaping up to be a valuable resource and, in some case, an interesting read. So here’s thumbs up for this issue and hopes that the next one, due out in July, will be even better. ^_^

Posted in Yuri Shimai | 1 Comment »


Drama CD: Maria-sama ga Miteru 1

May 6th, 2004

It is no secret that I am into voices. All my favorite actors and actresses are distinguishable as much by their voices as anything else. The same is true for anime – it is the fact that I can hear my favorite characters come to life, as opposed to seeing them do so, that appeals to me.

As a result, I absolutely love drama CDs. Not only can you hear your favorite voices, there are – as I wrote a few entries ago – many drama CDs of series that will never be made into an anime – or with other, sometimes better, actors and actresses in the roles.

So, while I was picking up the Koi Shimai CD, I also got myself a copy of the first Maria-sama ga Miteru drama CD.

All the characters are played by the same actresses that portray them in the anime – so Toyoguchi Megumi’s unusual voice is still Sei’s voice, Shinohara Emi’s sweet voice is stil Youko’s and Itou Miki’s polished Sachiko is the same. In a way, it’s already getting to be like listening to old friends.

The story follows the anime closely – so closely, in fact, that I wondered if they actually had to do any extra voice sessions for the CD at all. Yumi’s introduction of herself and the school – and its early twentieth century sensibility – are exact replicas of the anime opening.

One of the challenges of this particular drama CD is the language that the girls use while at school. Yumi is not, naturally, a formal speaker – her thoughts are couched in reasonably casual language. But if I wasn’t already familiar with the scenario, Sachiko’s sentences would be nigh on impenetrable, they are so formal. ^_^

This CD, which is the first of the series covers the first novel, wherein Sachiko and Yumi meet, Sachiko claims Yumi as her petite sour and Yumi refuses. The CD ends with the end of the second episode of the anime (or chapter of the manga) where Yumi breaks down in tears as she’s questioned by well-meaning friends about her refusal to take Sachiko’s rosary.

The scenes follow the anime progression not the manga, which is moderately closer to the original novel. I think that that is a shame, since the manga is a little gentler to Yumi in this arc. In the manga, when Yumi shows up for dance practice Youko takes her in hand and asks for a volunteer, rather than Sei stepping up, then abandoning her. On the other hand, since the scene is mostly for us to get to know all the Rosas, I guess it hardly matters….

In both the manga and the anime, the second chunk of the arc ends with Yumi crying from stress brought about by her feelings of inadequacy, the pressure she’s feeling from everyone at the school and the pressure of having to be in the presence of not only the Yamayurikai in general, but especially her idol Sachiko-sama. Although she tries to be cool like Sachiko, she can’t maintain the emotional distance and breaks down in front of her friends (who have the decency to feel awful about it.) Yumi thinks that the real problem is that she has real feelings for Sachiko and, so, it was alot easier to adore her from afar, where her feelings could be safe. Now, close to Sachiko as she is, she’s become vulnerable. In the anime and manga, Yumi leaves it at this, but the Drama CD takes it one step further.

Yumi admits to herself that she likes (suki) Sachiko, and that it was easier to admire her from afar. Because Yumi likes her, it’s too painful to be this close. At which point Yumi stops and admits that she *really* (daisuki) likes Sachiko. The CD ends with Yumi repeating, “Daisuki, Sachiko-sama, daisuki” over and over.

IMHO, that puts their relationship one clear step further away from akogare and closer to love. Since we know from the manga, if not the anime, that Sachiko no longer has any feelings for her cousin (who, along with her father’s and grandfather’s callous disregard for the feelings of the women in their lives, has soured her on men in general), I think we have confirmation that Yumi and Sachiko are as a classic “S” couple, in a platonic, but romantic, relationship.

The CD itself is very slickly produced, with background music reminiscent of the anime – without the Utenesque eyecatch theme. The sound quality is good and in general was totally worth the price. It even comes with little plastic Yumi and Sachiko stand-up dolls. (I love the fact that Japanese goods almost always come with an omake. It makes it ever so exciting to open a DVD or CD up to see what else you get!) The CD comes oddly packaged in a DVD-type case, not a jewel case, and the credits look like a personal journal in which Yumi has written – or more correctly, has her thoughts printed in it. There’s also a nice sketch of the Yamayurikai and Yumi in the middle, with the seiyuu and characters names listed by each character. All in all, a very nice addition to a growing CD drama collection.

Ratings:
Story – 8
Yuri – 10
Characters – 8
Voice Acting – 9
Music – 8

Overall – 8

Posted in Drama CD, Drama CDs & Audiobooks, Maria-sama ga Miteru | No Comments »


Yuri Manga: Yuri Tengoku 2

May 5th, 2004

YT2Yuri Tengoku is an anthology of all-girl’s love stories. It sits somewhere between a doujinshi and a magazine and a – that is, it’s not *quite* a fan work, but it’s not really a professional magazine, either.

The first Yuri Tengoku was released in 2003, and I reviewed it on January 22, 2004. Looking back at that post, frankly *nothing* has changed from the first volume to the second. Yuri Tengoku still looks like a slick doujinshi, with a color slipcover and color pages of indifferent art. It seems such a waste to blow color pages on what are, IMHO, pictures of 7-year olds in school uniform not doing anything that any two girls might do at lunch – like lay next or sit next to each other. No sense of “love” there.

The preponderance of lolicon – characters that are supposed to be in junior high or high school that look 6 years old at most – still sets my teeth on edge. In fact, even more than the last issue, this felt more like a loli fetish manga than a yuri one. I mean, can we *really* conisder it “love,” much less a lesbian romance, when the character is a little kid?

And with only one exception, every single story is exactly the same. Here is the plot:

I am in love with my classmate, but I can’t tell her. I remember the day we met . Wait, maybe she feels the same way! (Something occurs to make characters realize they like each other.) Hug. I’m so happy.

By the fourth or fifth story I was beginning to feel caught in a loop!

There are two stories that are *clearly* anime fan art – one a Michiru x Haruka high school crush thing that has different names, but jeez guys, we’re not stupid! And a R.O.D. The TV parody that simply removed any names at all, but there was no other attempt to make the characters look like anything other than Anita and Hisa. To be fair, the Michiru and Haruka types are pretty common in all anime and manga, so it could be coincidence, but not so the ROD thing. Of the two, the Michiru/Haruka stand-ins were at least a semi-decent rendition of the same story as always.

Only the final story in the anthology managed to escape almost all the conventions of the rest of the magazine. I’m not saying it was *good*, but it was different. For one thing, the characters are actually post-high school. Phew! Three years after graduation, in fact. And the story is hardly like the others, since it includes a violent pimp, a beating and a large knife. Sadly, it also has absurdly misplaced breast-groping and two fairly unrealistic characters, but who cares? It’s different, at least.

I’m can’t recommend this volume of Yuri Tengoku unless you are extremely hard up for something resembling girl’s love, or you are absolutely stricken dumb with joy at cute little girls who are impossibly young-looking for their purported ages.

Ratings:
Art – Varies, but nothing better than a 7
Story – 4
Characters – 4
Yuri – 7

Overall – 5

You can definitely do better than Yuri Tengoku 2.

Posted in Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »