Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime December 2019 (コミック百合姫2019年12月号)

November 25th, 2019

The end of the cover story of Comic Yuri Hime December 2019 (コミック百合姫2019年12月号) is a little melancholy, surprisingly. But this issue, which marks the third year of being a monthly magazine was, as it has been all year, quite strong.

The opening story is a new gambit, “Lonely Girl Sakaraenai,” a high school story about a great student who is a shitty test-taker and the girl who changes her life.

“Tada no ichinichi” was one of three stories I read in one day that featured bubble tea, and almost immediately after that I read an angry treatise by a Japanese columnist about how bubble tea had become the new “get off my lawn” moment in Japan. Every generation just cannot stop being angry at whatever the next one enjoys. ^_^

“Yuri is My Job” comes to a shocking climax. Well, shocking for Hime, anyway. Mitsuki seems pretty surprised at herself, as well. I’m rooting for her, because I always root for people who tell the truth, no matter how bluntly. ^_^

Yuri about women in bands is picking up speed with two entries in this issue: “Omae ni Kikasetai Uta gaAaru” about beginnings and endings, and “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau” in which Himari and Yori both find somewhere to be. Volume 1 of Hello, Melancholic! came out in October, so there was no chapter this issue. (I like to pretend when the artists get a month off its to give the creators a bit of rest, but it’s actually so they have time to do signings and colors /cover work and extras for the collected volumes. No rest for the weary.)

“Umineko Bessou Days” turns dark, with the appearance of Mayumi’s toxic “friend.”

Thankfully for us, “Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatteiru” and “Itoshi Koishi” remain heart-warming. Phew!

As always there are way more series in the issue that I’m reading than those mentioned here and several I am not. In general, I really like that the magazine has a nice mix of things I’m enjoying and some stories I completely don’t care about with a bunch in between. In my opinion, that means they are doing it right. ^_^ 2019 was another year of doing it right.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

The January 2020 issue has hit shelves already and the cover color palette has changed considerable for the new story. I’ll be getting my copy this week and will let you know what I think!





Yuri Manga: Hana ni Arashi, Volume 2 (はなにあらし)

November 21st, 2019

In Volume 1, we met Nanoha and Chidori, two high school students who are keeping a secret from their friends – they are going out with each other.

In Hana ni Arashi, Volume 2 (はなにあらし) they keep that secret while their friends talk about their futures, about boys, about what they want for themselves. They share umbrellas in the rain and Chidori comforts Nanoha when thunder upsets her. And they tell each other how they feel.

There is little to no conflict. Shogakukan’s Shonen Sunday magazine isn’t ready for nuance in their Yuri, yet, apparently. Kobachi Ruka’s school life story is relaxing and gentle. Little to no conflict arises and most of the emotions are rooted in sentimentality for a simpler time of life. But, through all this Chidori and Nanoha are, and remain, a couple.

I have no idea yet if this story will evolve, but I can tell you that it continues. It’s already up to volume 6 in Japan!

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 3
Service – 1, mostly on principle

Overall – 6

Volume 3 is in my cart and I’ll give it at least one more chance to do something. I have no objection to nice kids being nice, but this relationship not developing is not super riveting.





Yuri Manga: Still Sick, Volume 1 (English)

November 20th, 2019

We are edging ever closer to the event horizon where Yuri manga in English is coming out at the same time as in Japanese. It was only March of this year when I reviewed this book in Japanese. Here we are, a mere 7 months later and we’re looking at Akashi’s Still Sick, Volume 1 in English, from Tokyopop.

Shimizu Makoto is a hard-working team leader for an engineering group. She’s also an otaku, with a hobby of drawing Yuri fanzines for comic markets. When she’s discovered by her coworker, Shimizu is desperately afraid that Maekawa will use the knowledge against her. Instead, Maekawa turns out to have a secret of her own. The two of them grow closer almost against their will. It’s not a bad relationship, but it isn’t a good one either. Maekawa uses Shimizu’s emotions against her to protect herself, Shimizu is hiding from everything to protect herself. It’ll take some serious work for the two of them to move forward. In the meantime, they are becoming more of a team and closer as friends…it’s all very messy and human.

There are a number of translation choices that are worth noting. “Fan comics” and “fanzine” for doujinshi are spot on, and I laughed at the use of “headcannon” because…yes. ^_^ The definition of “onee-sama” as being used by bottoms to address tops is a bit dodgy. It’s not wholly incorrect, but not really correct, either. In any case, I probably wouldn’t have described it that way. ^_^; The discussion of Yuri in between chapters was solid, no complaints here. Overall, Katie Kimura did a decent job translating. Tokyopop’s technicals are solid, all the visuals and the font are comfortab;ly legible, even in digital format.

Of all the working society Yuri manga I have been reading, this is one of my favorites. The characters are slightly broken, in a very human way, and the outcomes of their exchanges are not at all predictable. Still Sick gives us a very otaku view of office relationships, and a very human perspective on Yuri.

Ratings:

Art – 7 Solid, not outstanding
Characters – 8
Story – 8
Yuri – 3, with a lot of potential
Service – 0 so far

Overall – 8

This is not girl meets girl, girl falls in love, the end. This is broken woman meets broken woman, they don’t fall in love, but they kind do, only not really, and there’s some other stuff they need to work on, not the end.

Thanks very much to Tokyopop for the review copy.





Yuri Manga: Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 1 (ささやくように恋を唄う )

November 13th, 2019

Takeshima Eku’s Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 1 (ささやくように恋を唄う) charmed me from the very first pages I read in Comic Yuri Hime magazine. 

Himari enters high school and as she and her friends watch performances during club recruitment, she falls head over heels for frontman Yori. Yori is shocked that this first-year just admits to having fallen for her. The rest of the story is not the kind of tortured “will they get together?” that we’re often required to sit through and, while Yori is an intense and tightly wound Nadesico beauty stereotype, she’s not self-loathing, tortured by her past or unnamed abuse. She’s just probably never had anyone want so badly to, you know, be around her. She’s had fans, but Himari isn’t just another fan.

There really aren’t plot complications here. I mean, yes, they can’t see each other for a few days after school and Himari is sad…so they decide to meet at lunch instead. Phew!

The big climax here is that Yori and Himari go out on a date. They share food, they have a lovely time, it’s delightful.

Artwise, everyone looks a bit drippy, but its otherwise very decent. As you can see on the cover there’s a lot of bright smiles and cutely reddened cheeks.

Mostly, the story is just a matter of two nice kids getting to know one another. It’s all very lovely and relaxing and I really like them and want them to be happy. Himari is very good for Yori, and Yori knows it. As a result, she’s really trying.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8 There is none. It’s very nice.
Characters – 9
Service – 10000 where the “service” is two girls who are having a great time as they learn to love one another
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8

I’m actually looking forward to the school festival just to see Himari watch Yori perform.





Yuri Manga: White Lilies in Love Kaoru Toki, Anata ha. Shakijin Yuri Anthology (White Lilies in Love 花香るとき、貴方は。 社会人百合アンソロジー)

November 7th, 2019

White Lilies in Love Kaoru Toki, Anata ha. Shakijin Yuri Anthology (White Lilies in Love 花香るとき、貴方は。 社会人百合アンソロジー) is the next of the White Lilies in Love Anthology series from Kadokawa. The first one of this series that I reviewed, White Lilies in Love BRIDE’s 新婚百合アンソロジー, was centered around the theme of marriage. This volume is centered around springtime and sakura petals. And, as you might guess by that theme, I’m a little bit behind in reviewing this volume. ^_^

I did read this much earlier in the year, then forgot all about it. I read it again this summer, but was too busy to get to it and when it once again popped to the top of my to-review pile, I had, erm, forgotten the stories again. Not an auspicious beginning, but third time’s a charm and I can report that this was actually, a sweet anthology, my poor memory notwithstanding.

A managaka is tasked with drawing a love story centered around cherry blossoms. A young office worker finds relaxation and calm in the presence of an aquarium in the office lobby…and in the presence of the woman who designed it. An American who loves Japan, and who loves the sakura tree outside her Japanese friend’s room, is horrified to hear that her friend hates this time of year, because it means they’ll be parted. A woman who works at a match-making service makes a match for herself. And the initial color one-page story gets an adorable resolution at the end of the book.

Although the theme is spring, and the blossoming of the cherry trees, this is a very loose theme and those beautiful petals are often merely the background to a pleasant (or, in at least one case, unpleasant,) Yuri story.

Nothing here is ground-breaking, but it’s entertaining bedtime reading.

Ratings:

Art – Variable, some of it very good 8
Story – Same 8
Characters –  8
Service – 3 A bit
Yuri – 9

Overall – 8

This is exactly the kind of thing I enjoy reading before bed, when I want something light and fluffy. ^_^