Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Anata no Soba ni Iru to Watashi ha Shakaiin Yuri Anthology (あなたの側にいると私は 社会人百合アンソロジー)

March 28th, 2019

Yuri Anthologies are all the rage. This is not hyperbole. In recent days, both Ichijinsha and Kadokawa have announced multiple thematic Yuri anthologies. So many that I’m scrambling to get them all on the Yuricon Store!

Today I’m looking at one of the “working life” anthologies from Kadokawa, Anata no Soba ni Iru to Watashi ha Shakaiin Yuri Anthology (あなたの側にいると私は 社会人百合アンソロジー).

This is a pretty chunky 270+ pages of a variable variety of stories about adult women. Of all of them, my favorite was the second in the book, irua’s “Best Dishes” which I award top marks for both style and content. It is a simple story, told in the margins of itself about a chef and a food critic. It’s the best kind of story for an anthology – nicely drawn, intense feelings in a short one-shot.

There are names we’re familiar with here on Okazu; Seta Seta, Hisakawa Haru, Mikan Uji, Kururkuruhime and a host we don’t yet know. I quite like this collection, but for one complaint. I really do not care for the cover image. It’s just…not very good. I so rarely complain about art, but really, this is just subpar for a Kadokawa book.

Ratings:

Overall – 7

I’m sure you’ve thought (or perhaps said outloud) that you wished some of these anthologies would be localized for an English language audience. Well, you’re in luck. Yen Press is putting out a different adult life Yuri anthology in June, Whenever Our Eyes Meet…A Woman’s Love Anthology which is an English language edition of Anoko to Me ga Autabi Watashi ha Shakaiin Yuri Anthology (あの娘と目が合うたび私は 社会人百合アンソロジー) which I reviewed last spring. So give that one a try!





Yuri Manga: Galette, No. 9 (ガレット)

March 27th, 2019

Galette, No. 9 (ガレット) is just such a genuinely lovely book, that it took me a long time to read it because I kept paging through it admiring the actual thing itself. Every issue the cover illustration by pen just enchants me.

There a quite a few color pages; inside cover, photos and illustrations, including two absolutely charming pieces, of a lovely white lily themed piano duet 2-page spread by  Murasaki Noa (I’m probably wrong on the family name and welcome correction on  that) and Kabocha’s joyful fireworks illustration. These made a terrific mid-issue break.

This issue includes Petit Galette and a comic from the Galette Meets series, in addition ongoing stories from Morishima Akiko, Morita Miyuki, Yatosaki,  Haru Amano Shuninta and others, as well as one-shots by a number of other regular contributors.

It’s a strong line-up, with a nice variety of art, although the story lines have seemed to settle back into school life more often than not. Nonetheless in my opinion, Galette is always well-worth the money I’ve spent supporting and purchasing it. This one I was pleased as punch to be able to buy at Comitia this winter, which just made it that much better. ^_^ I believe in Galette so much, in fact, that I’ve upgraded my support on the Fantia crowdfunding page for the magazine. I quite like the Gold course, as it provides me with PDF versions of the magazine and Meets. (Sorry, Erin, we won’t be next to each other in the credits anymore. :-( )

Ratings

Overall-9

As always, Galette is available digitally on JP Kindle and US Kindle. Volume 8 is available at the end of this month on Bookwalker.

 





Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime April 2019 (コミック百合姫2019年4月号)

March 26th, 2019

Comic Yuri Hime April 2019 (コミック百合姫2019年4月号) begins with a new story by Takeshima Eku, “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau” about a girl falling for an aloof schoolmate who rocks out on the guitar. Whether or not I will like it  remains to be seen, but this is a strong opening chapter with great visuals.

“Citrus+” begins this issue and May did, actually, look moderately less miserable, so that’s an improvement!

Let me be really honest with you, I’m reading this magazine for two stories right now. I read them and then go back to the beginning and see if anything else was good. The first of these is “Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatteiru,” which is like a balm to my soul. In this issue, we explore the positives and negatives of hickeys. This series is so charming and goofball lovey-dovey I can barely stand it. ^_^

Yuama’s “Ikemensugi Shiki-sempai” is not one of the two I rest my subscription upon, but it is lovely. Shiki’s earnestness is adorable.

“Uminekosou Days” had less breast jokes than typical and along with what seems to be an obvious adult romance brewing in the background, we are introduced to a school life romance in the foreground.

“Tsurezure Biyori” was, as always, sweet and kind of fluffy and life-y.

“Watashi no Yuri ha  Shigoto desu!” added a new complicating factor to Hime and Yano’s relationship. Because of course it did. ^_^;

The other series upon which my subscription rests, Hisona’s “Goodbye Dystopia,” did something I did not expect; it’s making Mizuki confront Asami’s past, which is poking her all over about her own. I always like the time-less/place-lessness of this story.

And, as always there are many other series I am reading, but not commenting upon or, simply not reading. Another solid issue and a perfect story-before-bedtime read. 

Ratings:

Overall – 8

The May issue is available and waiting for me at the bookstore. ^_^ Auugh, monthly I cannot cope with you!





Yuri Manga: Beauty and the Beast Girl (English)

March 20th, 2019

Neji’s Beauty and the Beast Girl is, exactly as it sounds, a Yuri fairytale.

A blind girl named Lily Blind meets and falls in love with a beast girl who she names Heath. Let it never be said that fairytales aren’t symbolic. Heath hides from humans in the forest and spends most of her time loathing her own form until Lily brings her out of her shell.

What follows is a gentle tale of redemption and love and growth for both Lily and Heath. As this is a fairytale and a romance, we never have any reasonable expectation that Lily and Heath will be parted, but as all good fairytales have some conflict, this does have some potential for disasters that are, of course, averted by love.

Neji-sensei is clearly a fan of non-human x humans romance, as I am simultaneously reading Volume 2 of Prisontown e Youkoso! (my review of Volume 1 can be read here,) from Comic Yuri Hime, in which a human finds herself in a supernatural town where she lives alongside fanciful creatures from myths, fairtyales and legends.  So this particular pairing is spot on for this creator’s ouvre. ^_^ The story is sweet, with more attention paid to character design than plot, which also seems typical of Neji’s stories.

The ending of this comic is very doujinshi-esque, where it ends, rather than wraps up, but it is, after all a fairytale, so “and they lived happily ever after” is acceptable. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Service – 3
Yuri – 8

Overall – 7

Commenting on Heath’s name, Lily says “I think there was another name for that flower” which, I am obliged to remind you is “Erica.” ^_^





Yuri Manga: Éclair Special Sukinano ha Onnonoko Kitao Taki Yuri Sakuhin Kessakusen (エクレアSpecial 好きなのは女の子 北尾タキ百合作品傑作選)

March 18th, 2019

It is always a special pleasure to be able to review a collection by an artist I have been following for many years. Today I will indulge in this pleasure once again by talking about Kitao Taki-sensei’s Éclair Special Sukinano ha Onnonoko Kitao Taki Yuri Sakuhin Kessakusen (エクレアSpecial 好きなのは女の子 北尾タキ百合作品傑作選) a collection from Kadokawa of 8 stories by a creator whose work has made me happy since the early 2000s.

Kitao-sensei’s stories are almost always centered around a pair of women, one of whom suffers from painful embarrassment and their lover who gently teases them because it’s so much fun. This collection also includes a few stories in which next morning jitters or poorly communicated feelings have a place in the plot but, everything generally works out.

Characters here are mostly adults, some workplace romance, some drunk sex, a few ill-considered choices, but there’s little melodrama.  There’s a lot of “this could be happily ever after, if that’s what they both want,” which works just fine for me. ^_^

The art is style that lays somewhere between loose sketchiness and tight drawing, but is neither one, nor the other. I’ve always like her style, but your mileage may vary on that, obviously.

My favorite stories in the collection are the bookmarks at the beginning and end, which follow Aki and Minami, an adorable couple, as we follow them in the morning and at night as Aki returns home from the office. Totally squee. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Stories – 8 Slice of adult life
Characters – 7 We don’t get much time with them, but they tend towards the emotional and adorable
Yuri – 9
Service – 4 There is some nudity

Overall – 8

This collection is a great opportunity to get a chance to see a less-known-than-she-ought-to-be veteran Yuri artist have free reign with her work.