Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Yuritora Jump ~ Ultra Jump Yuri Digital Anthology~, Volume 2 (ユリトラジャンプ～ウルトラジャンプ百合アンソロジー～ Vol.2)

August 28th, 2019

Last year Ultra Jump (Shonen Jump‘s older brother magazine) did an awkwardly titled Yuri anthology called Yuritora Jump.The title’s awkwardness comes from it being an “Ultra Jump” off-shoot, so  Ultora Jump ウルトラジャンプ becomes Yuritora Jump ユリトラジャンプ…yeah…, no, it doesn’t work in Japanese either and people keep making fun of it. ^_^;

I could have sworn I did a review of the volume, but don’t see it anywhere. ^_^; There wasn’t much in it I liked, except the excellent story by Hayate x Blade creator Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei. (Quick synopsis of Tanerabo manga do it! (『たねラボ manga do it』) : A manga editor asks an author for any kind of a Yuri story except isekai and the author keep proposing nothing but isekai. The proposal I liked the most was a girl asking to fight her onee-sama at a school for warriors in a series titled “Shiritsu Amazoness.” It was a fantastic mashup idea…I would love to see it for real. ^_^ This year, the Yuri Anthology by Ultra Jump magazine artists got a second volume. Generally speaking I enjoyed this much more than the first volume.

Yuritora Jump ~ Ultra Jump Yuri Digital Anthology~, Volume 2 (ユリトラジャンプ～ウルトラジャンプ百合アンソロジー～ Vol.2) is a digital comic and is available globally on Bookwalker Global for a mere 500 yen. The cover is a bit less infantile than Volume 1 and this time there are two stories which I really liked.

The first story that I want to tell you about is, again, by Hayashiya-sensei. Called “FRIDAY IS THE DAY” in English, this may well be the story I have waited all my life to read. In a gym, two women compete in a no-holds barred, brutal, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) competition, after hours. The two of them seem to be working through some kind of grudge, but as the other folks in the gym watch this increasingly violent fight, it becomes apparent that this fight is a confession of love. As the fight ends with the two women confessing their feelings, the spectators break out into applause.

This is what I mean when I say I want to read a sports manga.  Funny, as all of Hayashiya-sensei’s work is, ridiculous, violent as fuck. It was beautiful. Can I have a 8 volume series of this? Please~~~? I would be so happy.

Aoki Juntaro and Shina Yoshinao paired up to create “Italian Beef” (イタリアンビーフ) a Yakuza daughter vs Yakuza assassin story that was also a happy romance wrapped in death and destruction.

Hrm. I see to have a type.

Despite my fixation with fighting manga, there were a number of rather pleasant school girl stories. Fewer really annoyingly infantile entries. If you have $5 and can only get one of these volumes…go for this one!

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Everything is so variable, but overall, I read and enjoyed way more of this volume than the first.

Frankly, the whole thing was worth it for FRIDAY IS THE DAY.

 





Yuri Manga: Glass no Kutsu wo Nugisutete (ガラスの靴を脱ぎ捨てて)

August 22nd, 2019

The name Kiriyama Haruka should be familiar to us by now. We’ve seen work from this author in multiple “Shakijin” working-life Yuri anthologies.

And today we are looking at a collection of stories by this creator that center working women’s lives. Or, more properly, some of the more typical tropes of working women’s lives.

It’s a pretty specific distinction, because by now we have, actually, seen all the basic plotlines of romance between women working in offices. Cool together character and disaster employee, two women get drunk, wake up in bed. Women hiding they are together in the office, women coming home from work to their partners. A year into this new subgenre of Shakaijin Yuri and I’m already looking for artists looking past the “get drunk, wake up in bed” storyline.

And most of these stories fit the bill. The collection begins with three work friends getting together for an after-hours drink and it turns out two of them are a couple.

An artist and her assistant are extremely cute together.

A woman who works for an insurance company ends up meeting the online video idol she admires. (Yes, shades of Risou to Koi.)

The best story in my opinion was a story of a couple, struggling with their idea of what they want from their relationship right before they get married. I liked the recognition that commitment can cause friction in even a strong relationship. This one also felt very realistic.

And in a lovely final story, a woman whisks her lover away on a much-needed overnight vacation to restore balance to her beloved and to them as a couple.

Ratings:

Art – 7 sometimes a little sloppy
Story – variable 8
Characters – 8
Service – 2 Very mild partial nudity
Yuri – 10

Overall – 8

It was all very pleasant, easy to look at and no one I wanted to strangle. ^_^ More importantly, there were a couple of stories with some good real-world touches.





Yuri Manga: Risou to Koi (理想と恋)

August 20th, 2019

We are interrupting today’s planned programming to review a manga volume that has hit two benchmarks in Okazu’s history. Both good. ^_^

Risou to Koi (理想と恋) by Hino Youhe is a collection of several stories of adult life manga – of which I liked every single story. I do not believe this has ever happened before.

The entire concept of the volume is lovely, in fact. “My Ideal, My Love” is the English subtitle and that is pretty much what it’s about. A woman falls for someone who is her perfect ideal, and find herself learning about the person behind that ideal…and then falling in love with the person. In every case, the journey is mutual.

In one story, a woman who works for a delivery company realizes that’s she’s delivering packages to her favorite pop idol. The idol realizes that’s she fallen for the delivery person when an injury forces the company to send someone else. They bridge the distance when they recognize their feelings are mutual.

And every story is pretty much like that. A baker is attracted to a clothing designer, who is forced to admit that she’s a starving artist and cannot go clothes shopping. The two start going out, but stick to things that one can do for free, like picnics.

The final story is multi-chapter, taking up the second half of the book. A woman attends a local theater production and become smitten with the lead actress.  She joins the theater group, where she has to really think about her life and what she wants out of it. This story has the second benchmark moment – an actual coming out scene. The troupe leader mentions that he’s gay, to which Mayuko grudgingly admits that she is not interested in men. But later as she speaks with the lead, Ruri, who is pressing her on what her ideal is, Mayuko says that she is gay…and that she wants to be ordinary. Immediately after which, Ruri continues to encourage Mayuko to see her own talent and the walls she’s built around herself. Ultimately, Mayuko confesses her feelings and is feeling all lost in self-loathing, but Ruri is there to catch her and support her and we suspect that Ruri is a very good thing for Mayuko and vice versa.

This was a really nice book to read. Every story left me feeling hopeful. The obi reads “Rave review from Morishima Akiko-shi!” and to that, they could, if they want, add “rave review from Erica Friedman!” because there was nothing about this volume I didn’t like. Art was adult and cute and clean, the stories were solid, all the characters were likable and the conflicts were real-world issues, that were handled with kindness.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 9
LGBTQ – 8
Service – 1 on principal only

Overall – 9

A very strong volume by an author from whom I hope to see more.

 





Yuri Manga: Killing Me!, Volume 1 (English)

August 16th, 2019

Volume 1 of Akiyama’s Killing Me!
was not exactly thrilling me
Carmilla’s invoked
As a kind of  joke
And that’s about as good as you can expect from this series.

Saki is a vampire who was apparently turned at about age 13 and she is love with fam-trad Vampire Hunter Miyoko who, frankly, sucks at her job. Saki’s in love with Miyoko, who is obviously in love back, but that is not the point of this manga. The point is that Miyoko sucks at killing Saki, who professes her love, which Miyoko passive-aggressively ignores. Haha!

This kind of story is not really violent, although guns appear, and not really a love story, although little hearts decorate Saki’s words.

Akiyama describes the story in the author’s note as “kind of like a Hamburg-steak rice-omellete covered in curry” with which I agree with 100%. It is a pile of glop that you may or may not find to be delicious.

 

Image from Sukaza City Pinterest

Ratings:

Art – moe
Story – One line
Characters – One joke per
Service  – Blood sucking children…so, yes
Yuri – That too

Overall – Go For It

Akiyama also describes this series as “kill-or-be-killed comedy.” We clearly have different ideas about the word “kill.”

And “comedy.”





Yuri Manga: Yamada to Kase-san (山田と加瀬さん)

August 14th, 2019

Yamada and Kase-san have officially begun their lives as college students in the big city. It’s a life full of challenges; getting around, meeting people, balancing their relationship and the physical distance separating them against the rest of their lives.

Yamada makes a friend, Hana, a girl whose family runs a flower store. Hana is very similar to Yamada and feels equally as in love with the school program, as she is overwhelmed by city life. To help Hana, Yamada agrees to go to a meet-and-greet event. Kase-san forcefully asks her to decline, but Yamada wants to live her own life, as well as be with her lover.

The defining challenge of Yamada to Kase-san (山田と加瀬さん) is jealousy. Both Yamada and Kase-san are threading thin needles, keeping up with their work, forming peer groups and trying to fit each other into these new lives. When Kase-san shows up to the meet-and-greet, Yamada knows that Kase-san wasn’t wrong, but stands firm on her own motivations. Kase-san backs down – probably the single most important moment of the book. And of course, Hana, innocent that she is, is appalled at the party becoming a drinking party and bails. ^_^

All is well, as they get together with Mikawacchi and Yamada is recruited to a job at a Garden Center – where she is greeted as a savior. Then it his her turn to face down jealousy, as it suddenly dawns on Yamada that Kase-san is sharing her dorm room, with a woman who will know more about the day-to-day life of her lover than she does. Kase-san’s birthday forces her to confront her jealousy.

There’s another conflict brewing in the background, too, but that is saved for another time.

This was an exceptionally strong volume of this series. The translation of Kase-san and Yamada from provincial high school into a more adult world is not without its sacrifices….sometimes the humor comes of as a bit facile, but, more often its a welcome relief to an otherwise difficult emotional situation. It is delightful to have kept Mikawacchi’s chaotic influence in the story and a triumph to see Yamada with a peer of her own.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 8
Story – 7
Service – Does Kase-san in a suit count? Yes? 7
Yuri – 9 With the slightest frisson of the real world edging in

Overall – 9

Ultimately, my desire to see them happy continues unabated.

The English-language volume, Kase-san and Yamada, is slated for winter 2020 release.