Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Hana ni Arashi, Volume 3 (はなにあらし)

January 15th, 2020

Chidori and Nanoha have a secret, we are told in Volume 1 and Volume 2. They are lovers, we are told. And we will have to believe what we are told, because what we are shown is two young woman in a romantic relationship that, for completely sensible reasons, they prefer to keep secret from their friends. They aren’t doing a particularly great job of hiding it, but the relative self-absorption of people means they are hiding in plain sight. The only one who has cottoned on to their relationship is Nanoha’s younger sister. She, admittedly, has had the benefit of seeing them during their off-school hours when they, for one moment, let their guard slip and were holding hands, while on a date.

In love, probably. Lovers? No. Not yet. They are still in very early stages of their romance. Holding hands is where we are at.

In Volume 3 of Hana ni Arashi (はなにあらし), we accompany them as they celebrate Chidori’s birthday, and the gang goes over Nanoha’s house for a summer sleepover.

Unusually, this volume does not just end on a generic feel good moment, but with Chidori spotting someone we don’t know, but she clearly does, talking about her “kouhai” on the phone. What this will mean to us will wait until the next volume to find out.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 3
Service – 2 There was some gratuitous Chidori decolletage for us, the readers, not for Nanoha, which was depressing.

Overall – 6

I guess I am reading this series now. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Yuri to Koe to Kaze Matoi, Volume 1 (百合と声と風纏い)

January 10th, 2020

In Yuri to Koe to Kaze Matoi, Volume 1 (百合と声と風纏い) Matoi is a young woman who doesn’t really get love. She can see her sister and her friends on about romance and attraction all the time, but it just doesn’t touch her, until… One day, while running late, a thunderstorm makes walking home seem very unappealing. She can’t reach her mother by phone, so she resolves to wait it out. A woman, older than Matoi, but not by much, enters, sees Matoi waiting and offers her a ride home on her motorcycle. Matoi takes the offer. When she gets home, she finds she’s kept the other woman’s extra helmet. 

Matoi learns that the other woman is Yuriko, who runs the gas station in town. She lived with her grandmother until the old lady died, and her parents are out of town. Matoi finds herself intrigued by Yuriko. They start spending time together, share their lives;  they take rides on Yuriko’s bike, Matoi shares the music she composes with Yuriko. Yuriko has reasons to avoid intimacy, but she’s finding herself wondering what she thinks about the young woman who watches her with such interest.  Matoi wonders if she’s falling in love and what that means when shes leaving for Tokyo in a few months to go to college.

This series is the first I’ve seen from the Lilie Comics imprint, from a publisher Dogenzakashobo. A quick visit to their site tells me they also do BL titles and have other Yuri titles by Hakamada Mera and Kabocha, so I’ll be back to take a look later, for sure. ^_^ I know I picked this volume up when I was in Tokyo at one of the Yuribu, although I can’t remember which one. I know I did, because it came with a illustration paper as they often do in the stores.

This story was quiet, and complex, happening primary through Matoi and Yuriko’s respective inner dialogues. Of course I want to know what happens, but I expect no high drama, nor a particularly happy ending. I won’t complain if I’m wrong about the latter. ^_^ What I like best in this story is that characters feel fully developed. They aren’t constrained by oddly conservative values, they have agency and society.

RenMei’s art is competent enough, if not nuanced. We are expected to understand the meaning of things like glances, without them being all that clear. But that is a mere quibble and overall the art is decent.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 3 A shower scene (for plot reasons, could also have been done differently)
Yuri – 3

Overall – A strong 7

 

Whether Matoi and Yuriko ever develop a relationship beyond this friendship/infatuation thing that they have now remains to be seen and I remain here to see it. ^_^

 





Yuri Manga: Hello, Melancholic!, Volume 1 (ハロー、メランコリック! )

January 9th, 2020

Today I wanted to review something that made me happy. And, for several reasons, this book was just the ticket. Ohsawa Yayoi’s Hello, Melancholic!, Volume 1 (ハロー、メランコリック! ) is an emotional rollercoaster with a sound track. ^_^

Asano Minato is hiding in plain sight. She’s tall, but she’s very quiet, and very withdrawn. She keeps her hair over her face and her head down. It’s not hard to see that she’s avoiding being seen. While eating lunch alone in her secret spot, she hears what is obviously an instrument. She immediately wonders why, since this high school doesn’t have a band. She knows that…because that’s why she transferred here.

Despite every attempt to hide, Minato is spotted by an upperclassman who begins to dog her. Hibiki-sempai, it turns out, can tell that Minato is a good musician…and she wants her for her band. It’s not an official school band, just for fun. Minato says no, but ends up in the clubroom anyway, where one of the other students makes a joke about her not coming to practice with her instrument. “Read the atmosphere,” she says and Minato panics and runs away.

Hibiki follows and learns why Minato is at this school. A talented and enthusiastic trombone player, Minato was chosen for the competition band in middle school over an upperclassman….and was ostracized by the other band members for it. “Read the atmosphere” was the flail they used to torture her until she just gave up music and, apparently, life.  She explains all this to Hibiki who is very kind, but tells her to bring her instrument and come back to the room tomorrow, anyway. They’ll play, just the two of them.

Despite the stares as she carries her trombone around, Minato does come back and the two of them play a free form duet. Hibiki is once again very kind and notes that Minato isn’t just good, she’s got an exceptional ear. And once again, Minato runs away, this time because it’s too much, it feels too good.

But there she is again, the next time and she meets the rest of the band, Sakiko on flulte and Chika on guitar and Emma, a half-Russian student who can play everything. With Hibiki on drums, they’d like to perform in a local festival; Hibiki is determined to get Minato in their group. Minato concedes and her life changes radically with her new group of friends and Hibiki-sempai who makes her experience and feel all sorts of things she had given up on.

When Minato realizes that Hibiki-sempai’s hand is injured, it’s her turn to be strong enough to make demands. And she demands Hibiki care about her own body. Will they be able to play in the festival? Where is the Yuri in this Yuri manga? Tune into Volume 2 to find out! (If you’ve read ahead, please do not feel the need to spoil. I get the magazine too. This is a review of Volume 1. Thanks for understanding how this works. ^_^)

Hello, Melancholic! is a story of a life redeemed from the darkness. It’s a joy to experience sneaking out and jammimg with Minato and a delight to see her lifted by Hibiki and given space and imprimatur to spread her wings and fly.

But, even more of a delight, in the author’s note, Ohsawa-sensei commented that the first chapter has been released as a voiced manga promotional video on Youtube by Ichijinsha, who calls it a “PP” for “power push.” I immediately ran over to catch it and found myself tearing up as I watched. It was quite wonderful. The art was given color washes that were very impactful and as Hibiki and Minato play, the frames go from B&W to a kind of rainbow ink for a fantastic visual parallel to Minato’s emotional state. And they even wrote actual music for us to listen to for the jam session. It was a lovely touch for a manga so wrapped up in the idea of music. Top marks all around. Take a look and enjoy!

 

 

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 2 A bit, but Hibiki’s doing it on purpose
Yuri – 1

Overall – 8 because it’ll get better and needs room to go up. ^_^

This was definitely the manga I needed today. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Galette No. 11 (ガレット)

January 8th, 2020

It’s funny how fashion works in things you wouldn’t imagine. You might read a magazine and note that it has a story about, say, a runaway. Then you notice that a new runaway story just started elsewhere. The next thing you know, it’s runaways all over the place. True, some of that is confirmation bias, but sometimes, something just rides the zeitgeist. Last autumn there were a handful of AI Yuri stories that all kind of hit at once. One of them just happens to have been Uno Zinnia’s “Katachi ga Onajinara” in Galette, No. 11 (ガレット). I’m kind of a sucker for android/AI Yuri. ^_^

Amano Shuninta’s “Toma-kun” has ended and, while I’m not sad for the same reasons the characters are, I’m still sad it’s over. ALSO, put a pin in this, because “fashion.”

I find Hamano Ringo’s work to be very…relaxing. There’s so little stress here, “Sora-iro Melancholic” was perfect wind-down reading.

“Esthetician Amagai ha Akiremenai” by Isoya Yuki, a new name to me, had an old MIST magazine feel, but I had to love it when the final pose was the most inappropriate pieta ever. ^_^ I think I loved it.

Hakamada Mera’s “Sekai Owaru Sono Maeni” is…good. And possibly unpredictable, based on future chapters… I’m looking forward to reading this story of an adult couple. Honestly, it’s my sincere opinion that Galette has been really good for Hakamada-sensei. I feel like she’s finally hit her stride here.

A new character has made quite the impression in Kitta Izumi and Momono Moto’s “Liberty.” I can feel it going way darker and wondering where it’s going to go. I’m still all in for the ride, though.

Morinaga Milk’s “Watashi no Kawaii Nekochan” is also getting a little serious, but not in a bad way! Yuna and Rena and, of course, their cat, have moved into a bigger place and their lives together have really begun.

Aoto Hibiki’s “Girl Meets Bunny Girl” feels like the PG cut of a R-rated movie. ^_^ Fun, but is that really what it was supposed to be?

As always, there are other stories that I didn’t call out that were perfectly entertaining.

Ratings:

Overall – 9 I get a lot of entertainment out of each volume. ^_^

You can subscribe to Galette on Bookwalker Global or get it on Amazon Kindle (in Japanese) or get print or JP Kindle from Amazon JP. You can also support the creators directly and help the magazine get made through the crowdfunding site, Fantia. Gold level will provide you with PDF copies of Galette Meets and back issues of the magazine. I see a bunch of familiar names on the “thanks” pages every month. Why not join us this year?

Volume 12 is already out (and I’m reading it now~~~)





Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime January 2020 (コミック百合姫2020年1月号)

January 7th, 2020

It’s a new year and a new look for Comic Yuri Hime January 2020 (コミック百合姫2020年1月号)! I love how they are shifting up the look every year now, with a new cover artist and a whole new feel. I’m not sure if I actually like the cover art itself. I like the color scheme, but it’s hard to tell where arms and legs actually are and the proportions were odd. But the women seem happy, so that’s all to the good. ^_^

The opening story is one that ought to have been excellent. Ogino Jun’s “semelparous” is…not excellent. The setup is blatantly derivative of Attack on Titan, but even that would have been perfectly fine. Bug-eyed monsters are subject to fashion too. ^_^ The problem is the outrageously awful anatomy. Women’s breasts do no look like that, they do not act in those ways, nothing about them is based on any sort of reality. It’s some of the laziest, least competent anatomy I have ever seen in a published manga.  Which is a shame, because an action story about women fighting unreasonably large monsters for some reason or other is just fine by me, (heck, I love SHWD,) I’m deeply repulsed by giant overstuffed water balloons passing for breasts. Because I like real women, I also enjoy women’s actual bodies, not tiresome fetishist fantasies of women’s bodies created by men who don’t actually like women. It’s just such a disappointment to me that the editor doesn’t look at this and says, “Great story, how about you draw those tits a little more natural, after all the majority of our audience is women.”

Takeshima Eku’s “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau” takes an odd turn, but one I imagine was chosen so there is “a conflict,” so there may later be a “reconciliation.” Not sure we actually needed that, but hey, I’m not the editor. (Wish I was, though. There’d be zero water balloons breasts or lolicon creepiness. I just don’t think those yen are worth getting.)

No idea where “Pocha Climb” is going….probably nowhere. Club + Yuri is an easy story. It will go a volume or two and be soon forgotten. (Tune in later this month for my review of Koisuru Asteroid, an anime choosing the same route. That’s a climbing joke.)

“Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts” is…kinda nice. ^_^ I like Usui Shio’s art and while Hinako has to keep being reminded to not be mopey, she’s kind of coming around to being cheerful.

“Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” by Miman is a bit of a clip episode from Mitsuki’s point of view. We already know her story, but as she prepares to, well…let’s be honest, we can see she’s heading for a harsh, but she’s still young…she’s gearing up to try and love again. Gosh I hope I’m wrong, but Hime hasn’t dealt with herself at all yet. I don’t see things going well. yet. YET. I have high hopes for this series! ^_^

Ohsawa Yayoi’s “Hello Melancholic” was so very good, I kind of forgot everything else. ^_^ The festival arrives and the band has to find a way around Hibiki-sempai’s injury, which they do. A horrible thing is averted and the band has a triumphant performance in which Minato blasts through her fear of people and is magnificent. After the performance, Minato stumbles on Chika and Sakiko in an intimate moment and has her mind blown.

And…and…and…! Takemiya Jin’s “Itoshi Koishi” takes the plunge! After exams have been taken and passed, Hina faces her friends and tells them there’s something she wants to tell them….she’s been seeing an older person, a woman. One friend who clearly knew jumps right in to say that she’s happy for Hina, which prompts the rest of them to follow along. Micchan drags up the old TV show”true tales” of gay people living alone and miserable, but Hina – with a smile – assures Michhan she is very happy indeed. The only shock comes when Hinako mentions that they’ve already met her girlfriend. We cut to Yayoi discussing work with her friend, noting that Hina’s coming out had gone well

I want to unpack this all a little. It’s not often we get coming out scenes in Yuri. But I’ve had my finger crossed for this one in particular. Not just because I like the story, but because Takemiya-sensei does something important here.  The reaction Hina gets is positive, supportive, accepting and loving. We kind of knew that was going to be the response….but the response is not the point of coming out. The point of coming out is that a person, who has never previously stated something out loud says that something out loud. Hina’s friends love her, that is no surprise, but it still takes effort to come out. It’s still stressful. It’s important.It’s an ongoing process. If Hina and Yayoi stay together, Hina will quite probably have to replay this scene over and over. Because people still think that being gay is a lonely existence, because once upon a time on TV there was a documentary about that. It’s ridiculous, but that’s how people really think. Being gay was taken out of the DSM in the 1970s and there are still people who talk about it as an illness. People in countries that have legal gay marriage but who simply will not wrap their heads around the last 50 years of history having happened. So what we here get is the most modern possible coming out – showing that it’s still not easy, but it doesn’t have to be hard.

I hope that kids all over Japan read this issue and came out to their friends. ^_^

This is followed by yet another joy-filled issue of Saki and Asuka being cute as can be together in Ohi Pikachi’s “Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatteiru.”

CW reminds me to mention that there is a new autobiographical series by Inui Ayu about living with her girlfriend. (I wasn’t kidding about forgetting everything! ^_^) Thanks for the reminder.

As always there were any number of stories read, but not mentioned and others not read, because this is a magazine full of ll sorts of stories! Overall, a great start to a new year!

Ratings:

Overall – 8

The February issue is on shelves now. ^_^