Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Dekisokonai no Hime-tachi, Volume 1 (できそこないの姫君たち)

May 17th, 2019

One of the byproducts of so many Yuri anthologies and manga outlets recently is the pleasure of encountering new names among the familiar ones. Ajiichi has been around a little while, but hasn’t had a collected volume of their own in Yuri. So I was pretty stoked to see Dekisokonai no Hime-tachi, Volume 1 (できそこないの姫君たち) from Ajiichi, collected from Takeshobo’s web comic Storia Dash. 

This story is very much in the style of Morinaga Milk’s GIRL FRIENDS, in that it begins with two classmates. Like Mari and Akiko, Kurokawa Kaede, an unpopular girl and popular Fujishiro Nanaki are opposites – but they are not friends. Kurokawa doesn’t particularly like Fujishiro and their spheres are completely separate. In fact, it’s almost complete coincidence that brings them together and chance that they find they kind of like one another.

In the way of such things, Nanaki is finding she likes being with Kaede, and the two spend more and more time together, until Nanaki’s crowd reacts with resentment. But Nanaki’s not going to bend, much less break under that kind of pressure and she chooses Kaede.

Nanaki takes Kaede on a Shibuya makeover date and, as the volume comes to a close, realizes that her reaction to Kaede’s cuteness is more than just friendship. Volume 2,which will be released in June, will resolve this, but I kind of think there’s no doubt of the conclusion.

If you’re looking for something GIRL FRIENDS-like, this series is a good bet. Ajiichi’s art is reminiscent of Morinaga’s, the set up is similar and undoubtedly, the end will be too.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Service – 2 A teen little bit
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7

The Yuricon Store is back up and running! Yay!

It’s good to see Takeshobo’s Bamboo Comics back in the Yuri game.





Yuri Manga: Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, Volume 10 (あの娘にキスと白百合を)

May 15th, 2019

Whenever a popular and long-running manga series ends, I’m always tempted to start the review with the lyrics of My Way. I may even have given in to that temptation once or twice. In any case, here we are at the end of the 5 year run of Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo by Canno. For 5 years we’ve enjoyed tales of love and rivalry and admiration and desire at a girl’s school in which a larger than usual number of girls would like to be, or are, lovers. Among these stories is that of the two top students of the class, the genius slacker Kurosawa Yurine and Shiramine Ayaka.

In Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, Volume 10 (あの娘にキスと白百合を), Ayaka is having trouble facing, indeed, even understanding, her feelings for her rival. To provide herself some context, she walks around the school meeting and speaking with all of the characters we’ve met in previous volumes. And, because this is the final volume of the series, shes uses these conversations to sum up their stories and to explore all the ways her own has developed, by asking people to describe their relationships with their lovers/rivals/friend/etc to her. I found this to be a bit “Are you my mommy?”-ish, but it worked well enough, and gave us closure and assurance to some of the more-tenuous relationships.

In my opinion, Ayaka’s cousin and sempai, Mizuki, dropped the ball on this. Having been closest to Ayaka, I kind of feel her softballing her relationship to Moe was a failed opportunity to be a good role model. But YMMV. ^_^ Nonetheless, revisiting each of the storylines from the series gives Ayaka a chance to work through all her feelings for Yurine and admit what we’ve all known for a while – that she likes her.

The epilogue wraps their storyline up sweetly and, finally, ties up the story in a neat bow made of the series title.

As a tale that was always set in Yuri wonderland of a school, in the middle of which there there was a bit of realistic story-telling and some reasonable emotional growth, the outcome was never in doubt, really, but it’s still nice to see it unfold and end the way it did. The cover says it all – the same protagonists as the first volume, but their body language and expressions have changed significantly.

Ratings

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8 
Yuri – 8
Service – 2 Still nice kisses

Canno-sensei’s art has improved so much since her first volume, and she still can turn out an emotionally intense scene or three. After her breakout series was a pretty big hit, I hope she is able to do something she’s really happy with for her next series and not just have to pump out something to please her editors. Sophomore slump is a real thing, but I’m confident she’s got room to grow.





Yuri Manga: Transparent Light Blue (English)

May 10th, 2019

Transparent Light Blue, by Kyoko Iwami, was a collection of two multi-chapter short stories that ran in Comic Yuri Hime (and, I believe a earlier as a doujinshi. My Japanese volume is buried in the files, so I cannot check.)

The first story follows three friends, Ritsu, Ichika and Shun, as their friendship faces a severe crisis in the form of a love triangle. Both Shun and Ritsu are in love with Ichika. The tension between them threatens to pull the three of them apart until Ichika makes a decision. When she chooses Ritsu, the crisis passes and Shun accepts that his friends are now an item. The overall narrative is a bit pat, and there is a lot of service in the form of ear-cleaning, which stands in for sexual intimacy and is therefore rather more breathy and double entendre-laced than we might expect.

The second story is a messy little tale about gender, cross-dressing and sublimating sexual desire, with a shockingly happy ending. Upon re-reading I was surprised how almost-absurdly satisfying I found both endings, especially as I recall debating with myself when I read this in Japanese about even reviewing it, as we had better manga already to talk about.

But now that it’s in English, I think it’s worth taking a look at, if only to springboard from it into the vastly superior current work by Iwami-sensei being serialized now in Comic Yuri Hime, Luminous Blue (ルミナス＝ブルー). The only reason I have not yet reviewed this manga is that I cannot get a copy! It sold out almost instantly when it came out and hasn’t yet been restocked on Amazon JP.  Everything Iwami-sensei does in Transparent Light Blue, she does better in her second series.  And so, if you like to see the evolution of a  Yuri creator, I do actually suggest you read this volume, so when Luminous Blue is licensed, you will see where she came from and how far she’s come.

Ratings:

Art – 7 Drippy
Story – 7 Messy, but satisfactory
Characters – 6 Questionable choices / unreasonably positive results
Service – 6 Sexy ear-cleaning, making the cute girl cross-dress
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7

In 2010, Transparent Light Blue would have felt like a triumph. In 2019, it feels a little regressive, but still delivers a dose of dopamine if you like soap opera.

 





Yuri Manga: Yagate Kimi ni Naru, Volume 7 (やがて君になる)

May 8th, 2019

Since the first volume, I have been cautious.

“All this having been said, I need to bring up two important issues I have with this manga. The first is that it is presented as a romance. The story is apparently that we’ll side with Touko as her sincere feelings for Yuu are eventually returned. ”

I have repeatedly pointed out a glaringly obvious problem with this series.

“I’m still not sure if Yuu is supposed to be confused because she just hasn’t had an “a-ha!” moment or because she’s genuinely asexual. I don’t think the mangaka knows, either and I’m positive Yuu herself has no idea.”

“Which leads me to the, I think, obvious conclusion abut Yuu. What if she’s asexual? If so, she’s never going to have those feelings for Touko or anyone. She might come to love Touko and continue to admire and like her, but never have sexual interest in her. So, then I can’t help but see Touko’s coming on (to be crude) to Yuu as another burden, rather than a blessing.”

“Both these things nag at me while I read this manga. And I worry that Yuu’s agency will be stripped from her as the narrative continues.”

“Where they will end we cannot say (well, okay, obviously we can. It was abundantly clear from the first page of this series it was meant to be a romance. As I noted in my review of the first volume back in 2016…. So, yeah, obviously it has been heading in this direction from the very beginning. Which I’m still kind of sad about. I would really have preferred to have Yuu as a rare aromantic manga protagonist. Oh well.”

And so on…. every volume has been problematic.

Yagate Kimi ni Naru, Volume 7 (やがて君になる) is not helping. ^_^;

That said, there is a lot to like in this volume. We get another moment when Sayaka sits down with Miyako and really talks about the thing that they have in common; a thing Miyako has largely dealt with, but that Sayaka has not, yet. We also get a chapter backstory for Miyako and Riko, in which we see how they met and came to be a couple. Those are both wonderful moments. And, continuing on, we see Sayaka take an important step forward in her own growth. For all of this, this volume is very, very good.

But the big glaring problem does not get smaller here. Yuu is going to have deal with how she feels about Touko – – which is not the glaring problem. The big glaring problem is how her being set up as an aromantic is going to be dealt with. I do not want to spoil a thing, but… I did was neither surprised, nor impressed by the way it was handled. The way it was handled is the big glaring problem. When the series is complete in English, we’ll talk about it. Until then, I look forward to spoiler-free comments from you!

Ratings:

Art – 9 It is palpably better in this volume than it has ever been
Story – If the point of art is to create a reaction in its viewer, then this is a 10, for both good and ill
Characters  – 10
Service – Nothing salacious, buy Miyako and Riko getting ready for bed was a kind of service. ^_^
Yuri – 10+

Overall – 9

It was very “aauuggghhhhh!” and very “yay!” and I need you all to read it asap so I can *talk* about it! You will have the chance to read it in December, while Volume 8, which will hit shelves in autumn in Japan, will be the final volume. When this all over about a year from now, we shall sit down and have a good long talk about this series. ^_^;





Yuri Manga: Tsurezure Biyori, Volume 2 (徒然日和 )

May 6th, 2019

In Volume 1, we met Koharu and Mafuyu, childhood friends who have once again met now that they are in high school. And, having met again, they are spending time together and realize that they quite like each other. It’s a quiet, pleasant progression, without tension. Friendship neatly sliding into “like.”

In Tsurezure Biyori, Volume 2 (徒然日和 ), we turn our eyes to Koharu and Mafuyu’s friends, roommates Nanaya and Minori. Everything about them reads “married couple” and it is obvious that they both care for one another very much. They are not a couple, however. They are an excellent example of a Boston Marriage, two women who are a family  without being lovers or relatives. The majority of Volume 2 is focused on them, their current relationship, and their past and how much and why they care about one another. It is, once again, pleasant, and even when it’s a bit heart-wringy drama, its never over the top melodrama.

This story is not – has not ever been  – a romance. It is about day to day nothing that makes up a life. We complain about the heat in summer, we have friends over for food, we go to the beach and play in the water. We love and care for our friends…the day-to-dayness of a life being enjoyed. If I had to translate this title, I’d say something like “languid days.” As we head into summer here in my part of the world, I’m kind of looking forward to living this. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7 Simple and pleasant
Story- 7 Same as above
Characters – 8
Yuri – 5 Koharu sleeping over Mafuyu’s house is adorbs
Service – 0

Overall – 8 A pleasant read about nothing in particular.

This series along, with Goodbye Dystopia are two of my favorite Yuri series in which nothing happens, not even much Yuri.