Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Hana ni Arashi, Volume 1 (はなにあらし)

February 25th, 2019

Nanoha and Chidori are going out, and they are keeping their relationship secret from their friends. But, in Hana ni Arashi, Volume 1 (はなにあらし), their feelings are starting to leak into the open, just a teeny bit.

Nothing much happens here in Volume 1. Nanoha is cheerful and Chidori is taciturn, but they work out their differences in real time and their friends are friends. Nanoha and Chidori go out for food, they take care of each other when they are sick, they like being with each other more than with anyone else. They call themselves lovers, but with little time to be alone, a kiss or a touch is all their can manage. 

The final “conflict” of the volume is Chidori feeling put out because she isn’t able to go to the new pancake place alone together, but ends up going with the gang. Nanoha and she promise to return together and the issue goes away. There’s only small crises here, with small resolutions. 

More interesting than the plot to me is the fact that this series by Kobachi Ruka is a Shonen Sunday comic, from Shogakukan. What does that even mean, really? Well, it means that along with the Big Comic Special manga, like My Solo Exchange Diary, the stodgiest of the big four manga companies in Japan has bought into Yuri as a genre. This is not a minor thing. We’ve seen Yuri on and off from Kodansha (we’re speaking here of the Japanese company, not the American subsidiary that is publishing Comic Yuri Hime books) and Shueisha, but Shogakukan has been slower to join the race. Having decided to engage in Yuri, I’m now seeing a pretty solid investment from them. Expect to see more Yuri from them. in coming days.

Ratings:

Art – 6 Adequate to the need
Story – 6 Quiet and sweet
Characters – we barely know them by the end of the volume, but they seem nice enough
Yuri – 3
Service – 1, mostly on principle

Overall – A nice 6

Not outstanding, but definitely erring on the side of sweet and nice. There’s 4 volumes in print in Japan (Volume 2 | Volume 3 | Volume 4) so we’ll see where the story takes us.





Yuri Manga: Now Loading…! (English)

February 14th, 2019

There’s an old chestnuty saying that “you should never meet your heroes.” In Mikan Uji’s Now Loading…! this is simultaneously true and untrue at the same time.

Takagi has scored her dream job at a small gaming company. As an independent game developer, she loves creating new stages, but has hit a plateau in downloads and ideas. Her boss, Sakaurazuki is pretty harsh, but when she learns that Sakarazuki developed her favorite game ever, Takagi is motivated to try harder. Takagi is pretty sure the boss hates her, or at least hates her work, until one day Sakarazuki kisses her suddenly.

The team they are on can see that they like each other, so while they are working overtime on the game, the team is also working overtime to set the two of them up. As the volume closes, they get it together and finally admit what literally everyone else in the office can see.

I find that I never reviewed the Japanese edition of this manga, although I know I read it. Having re-read it in English, I absolutely know why. While I acknowledge that stories, that is, fictitious works of workplace relationships can be fun, the reality is not good and boss/employee relationships are very not good….and relationships that begin with a boss suddenly kissing an employee without their consent is extremely not good. So much not-good that I find it hard to enjoy most narratives that begin that way. Worse, with “happily ever after” after that particular beginning premise.

As the anime industry is flailing with the idea of consent being a thing that everyone deserves in every single situation, this is a particularly difficult “cute” story set-up.

So, while I’d like to say that this is a cute workplace romance, which is how it is presented, it just comes off as a little tone deaf. Unless this particular situation is your boom…and then, by all means enjoy. I won’t judge, I like MURCIÉLAGO. ^_^;

Ratings:

Art – This is early for this creator so let’s give it a 7
Story – 5
Characters – 6
Service – 0 Not really
Yuri – 7 Two couples out of five characters

Overall – 5 I wanted to love this when it ran in Comic Yuri Hime. It could have been a 9 with a single change, but it was just too problematic for me to enjoy.





Yuri Manga: 2DK, G Pen, Mezamashitokei , Volume 8 (2DK、Gペン、目覚まし時計。)

February 11th, 2019

When we left Kaede and Nanami at the end of Volume 7, Kaede was confronted by the fact that she was, in fact, attracted to Nanami. As 2DK, G Pen, Mezamashitokei., Volume 8 (2DK、Gペン、目覚まし時計。) dawns, she is in full-blown avoidance of the woman she likes.

Yes, Kaede has built-in excuse for it, work has never been busier. And she’s received big news, but can’t bring herself to talk to Nanami about it. Instead she gives Nanami an expensive present and hides in her room again. Nanami has to ask Koyuki for the scoop – and finds that Kaede’s manga is being turned into a drama. Big news indeed.

But the tension between them goes on, until Nanami forces a confrontation. “It’s over” she says. She doesn’t want to stand in Kaede’s way, now that she’s reached her goal. At which point, Kaede realizes that her goal now includes Nanami and, at last, they come together as equals.

The epilogue follows some of the other characters and the lives they have chosen. We meet Ruuko’s new junior (a character who gets a story of her own in the Chocolat anthology Thanks for the correction, CW, the anthologies have all started to blur a bit. ^_^; ) and find out how married life is treating Aoi and we revisit even Mahiru, whose gotten a girlfriend of her own.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 9
Service – 0

Overall – 9

This final volume came with a copy of “Monthly Motivation” a booklet of inspirational quotes by Ruuko to keep us going. Ohsawa-sensei’s love affair with this supporting character absolutely cracks me up.

8 volumes is an incredibly solid run for this series. I’m sorry it’s over, but look forward to seeing what’s next for Ohsawa-sensei!





Yuri Manga: Atashi no Senpai (アタシのセンパイ)

February 7th, 2019

Back in the day, I used to use Yuri lists and sites to find random Yuri manga I had missed. That switched for a while to blogs and Amazon recommendations as all the old Yuri lists died. Now I’m back to using Yuri lists and sites, enhanced by Twitter feeds and digital comics news sites and I gotta say…it’s kind of awesome. ^_^ The glut of digital Yuri work coming out is impossible to keep up with, but what a great problem to have!

So I was flipping around on, I think, Comic Natalie, and saw a write-up for Atashi no Senpai (アタシのセンパイ) by Shioya Teruko. It sounded a litle old school but threw it into my Amazon JP box anyway. Well, “old school” doesn’t quite cut it. I felt instantly transported back to the early 2000s, when Yuri was so much more a fetish, not a genre. At which point I finally took a look at the actual book, which, it turns out is a YK Comic from Shonen Gahosha. Oh~~~~~~! The obi clearly states, “That Yuri is a little perilous.” That explains that.

Zukamoto is an average girl who, for no particular reason, is drawn to Okazaki-sempai  – a girl who might as well have a sign over her head that say “I am in an abusive relationship.” Zukamoto sees Okazaki with another girl in a storage closet and it’s instantly apparent that the relationship is not an equitable one. Why Yoshida is torturing Okazaki is something Zukamoto does not know, but she is torn between wanting to save Okazaki and being turned on by the sight of her being taunted.

The story, to its credit, is about the redemption of Okazaki, as Zukamoto convinces her that there’s more to love than feelings of self-loathing. When Yoshida tries to warn Zukamoto off, the younger woman bravely stands up to the school’s star, and her bravery gives Okazaki the fuel she needs to walk away from the kind-of-consensual-but-not-healthy-at-all relationship. The final chapter sees both Okazaki and Zukamoto on a date before Okazaki graduates and being, for the first time in the volume, truly happy.

Whether you consider this a happy or good Yuri story will entirely depend on your individual reaction to the premise. I was mildly put out by the abusive situation as I read, but upon flipping back at the end, I had actually made it worse in my head when I remembered it. It wasn’t okay, but the situation might have been worse, and wasn’t as exploitative as I remembered, I guess. So, is that good or not? It’ll have to be up to you to decide. Depending on how you read the story, it could well be seen as a story of triumph over self-hatred. From my perspective there is a lot left undealt with that would need to be unpacked to make it a “good” story and it wasn’t given that time or handled with the nuance it needed. 

Ratings: 

Art – 7
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Service – 6 Sexual situations, partial nudity, some light BDSM
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7

I will, as I so often do, imagine the characters working out some of that shit in future relationships. I sure hope they do, anyway. ^_^





Yagate Kimi ni Naru Koushiki Comic Anthology (やがて君になる 公式コミックアンソロジー)

February 6th, 2019

Looking back on my old Okazu posts, this is the first series-specific anthology I have reviewed here since Maria’s Wink in 2008, and that was not an official work, but a doujinshi anthology. Which makes Yagate Kimi ni Naru Koushiki Comic Anthology (やがて君になる 公式コミックアンソロジー) the first series anthology on Okazu in 11 years and the first official comic anthology…ever. We’ve come a long way in those 11 years. For one thing, let’s think about the fact that this is an official comic collection! With stories by some professional names,with a message by the original creator of the series. That’s pretty damn cool.

A number of the stories stood out for me, but when I tell you about which one, you’ll laugh, because I’m completely predictable. ^_^

I very much enjoyed Canno’s story, which followed Sayaka and Touko on a “date.” Cue lot of good Sayaka internal monologue and insight. Fukuyama Akira’s look at Yuu and Koyomi’s relationship was also absolutely delightful. No one at all would be surprised that I like Fumio Fumi’s story, which gave me a chance to admire Touko in tux, while Sayaka played musumeyaku in frilly dress.

But you have got to know that the entire time I was reading it I was thinking “There had better be a story about Riko and MIyako,” the adult lesbian couple. Ultimately there was, and I genuinely enjoyed Hiroichi’s look at their relationship. It felt completely honest and as that’s the quality I look to them most for in the series, it was nice to see it reflected here, as well. 

Ratings:

Overall – 9

Everything is variable, because it’s an anthology, obviously, but the stories are consistent with the characters we know and like which is refreshing, and the art was all good, even if there are specific styles one doesn’t care for. 

If you are a fan of Yagate Kimi ni Naru, I definitely think this official comic anthology is worth your time and money.