Okazu

Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 5 (不揃いの連理)

January 4th, 2022

Mikanuji’s Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 5 (不揃いの連理) continues as a smorgasbord of miscellaneous relationships between various couples.

In this volume, we take time to expand on a few previously established couples. A mangaka and her editor who bond in their game world, take their relationship into the real world, and it turns out it works rather well.

Two women meet in university and everything just works beautifully.

Minami has Iori now, but Shizuka remembers when they had no one else to rely on but each other. She’s not ready to move on, but Minami seems so happy now, Shizuka finds it hard to not be jealous…and she’s maybe not winning that war. The epilogue spends time with Minami and Iori and their happy life together and, finally, we see Saori reminding Shizuka that there is someone there waiting, if she cares to look.

The art here is primarily cute, emotional and sweet. The couples are living in that world where expressing one’s feelings is fraught, but the real world considerations that make that true, are absent.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 3
Yuri – 10

Overall – 8

As a light snack of happy Yuri couples in Mikanuji’s cute art style, this volume is sweet treat.

No author’s note this time, but the book came with a comic on cardstock as Shizuka has a smoke while chatting with Minami.

Posted in Mikanuji, Yuri Manga | No Comments »

Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 1 (作りたい女と食べたい女)

January 2nd, 2022

I am so excited to be able to review this particular book as my first review of 2022! Since I first read this on Comic Walker, I’ve been super excited to get it as a collected volume.

Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 1 (作りたい女と食べたい女) is what I’d like to think is the future of Yuri. Nomoto-san is a office worker who is stressed. As she sits down to eat lunch a male coworker “compliments” her lunch by commenting that she’ll make a great wife. Nomoto understandably resents the implication that her life is nothing more than practice to be useful to a man. Angry, she goes home and cooks a massive meal, far more than she can eat.

Just the day before she had seen her next door neighbor, Kasuga-san, a large women, who had come home with multiple buckets of KFC for herself. In a moment of courage, Nomoto offers some of her too-large-for-one meal to Kasuga. And so, a friendship is born.

In this first volume, Nomoto will make meal after meal, while she enjoys Kasuga’s enjoyment of the food. When Nomoto gets her period and is down with bad cramps, Kasuga realizes something is up immediately because she can’t smell any food cooking – and so she texts to see if she can do something for Nomoto. I was all in, but that simple act of kindness pinged all my *THIS IS GOOD* alarms. And indeed, Kasuga understands Nomoto’s issue, buys her pads, pain killers and they make comfort food together. It was perfect.

Kasuga offers money to Nomoto, because she rightly understands that Nomoto is spending a lot more on meals than normal. Nomoto tries to refuse, but Kasuga’s reasoning and sincerity would be too much for anyone. ^_^ At this point, Nomoto is starting to realize how much she enjoys her time with Kasuga and we can see that Kasuga agrees, when she invites Nomoto on a drive out to a farmer’s market. They shop for fresh veggies, eat ice cream and generally have a lovely time. They continue to have fun together, including making a 5 liter giant flan in a rice cooker. ^_^

The volume ends with Nomoto asking Kasuga to spend Christmas and New Year making and eating food. In an omake, Nomoto buys a brand new platter just because it would be pretty to serve something for Kasuga in. And indeed, when she serves her fried rice, it is a perfect platter. As Kasuga finishes every last grain of rice, Nomoto thinks that she is so very glad she had some courage that day.

Okay, in case you can’t tell, I LOVE this manga. Everything about it is just right. It has a woman who is not the same slim, small, fashionable working woman we keep seeing. I’ve just flipped through and I don’t think we see Kasuga working, but her work jacket has a logo is similar to that a large distributor of alcoholic beverages and she drives, so I’m going to take a leap and assume she does delivery for an alcoholic beverage distributor.

Here we get to watch adult women loving food and eating to their heart’s content without any tiresome thoughts on /insert something stupid about what women should or should not do./ This will always appeal to me. The way to my heart is through food and food manga. ^_^

I know from reading further on Comic Walker, that Nomoto’s thoughts about Kasuga will change and she will realize that she likes her, which you too can read if you pick up Volume 2. (That’s next on my to-read list.) In a Twitter conversation some months ago, it was also noted that this manga comes with a content warning for workplace sexual harassment, but unless I am missing it, I don’t see it on the book or site anymore. It’s pretty plain by Nomoto’s reaction, that she’s very uncomfortable with the man who approached her at work. Nomoto’s feeling are implicit in that one scene. I like that the story focuses on the two of them, without an external “reason” Nomoto doesn’t like men. The scene where she realizes she likes Kasuga is charming. It doesn’t need a reason, other than her affection. Update: CW has reminded me that the content warning was for Chapter 16, so I had forgotten something. My mistake.

Kasuga is a character marked with very subtle expressions. For this alone, I’d call this art amazing. Her face changes very little, but even slight shifts carry a lot of weight. Especially compared to excitable Nomoto, Kasuga almost seems to have no affect, but that’s not at all true. Nomoto and we can tell exactly what Kasuga feels with subtle, but telling shifts in her expression.

The focus on eating and mouths here is not gross, completely unlike a similar obsession in Blue is the Warmest Color movie, which I found creepy and intrusive.

In a lot of ways, I think this story is emblematic of a shift in queer story-telling overall. So much of queer work in the last century was rooted in trauma (isolation, rejection, ostracization, etc.). Now we’re seeing more positivity in our fiction and I’m all for it. I would like to see much more Yuri sitting in a place that isn’t a closed-off fantasy world but also gives no or little room to intolerance. Yes, of course, harassment and violence exist in the real world and yes, definitely there needs to be some manga that addresses that. And…there are some now and there will be more. I’m glad to see this one that is about something else entirely – two women bonding over food.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9 We don’t know much about them, but what we know is sufficient to know them
Service – Does massive platters of food count? No? Then…no.
Yuri – 2 in this volume, more to come.

Overall – 9 but only so there is somewhere to go up.

And so I start this new year with a “best of breed” and declare Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna as a harbinger of great work to come in the new year!

If you get the book, there is a QR code to download the cover art as a digital poster…and so I have. ^_^

2021 Milestones and 2022 Goals

December 31st, 2021

As this year comes to an end, I am amazed and pleased at everything we accomplished this year, which was challenging in every possible way. To finish off the year on a positive note, I wanted to share some of these things that you and I did together. Once more I thank all my Okazu Patrons for their support. Without them we would have done much less. ^_^ I’ll finish off with a new item and my 2022 Goals. ^_^

Here are our 2021 milestones for Okazu, Yuricon and me, personally. ^_^

***

Just under 300 posts for the year. That’s about 5 posts a week, here on Okazu. Which was a lot, but this year, I had a lot of help, because we…

Increased our Guest Reviews by 500% in Q3 & Q4.
Our Guest Writers are now making industry-standard rate for a review, something we’ve extended to them ahead of making our next Patreon goal, because its the right thing to do. Thanks so much to all our new and returning reviewers. I would *love* to expand coverage in 2022. If we get enough Patrons, we’ll look into adding semi-regular columns or reviewers.

We increased our direct support to another new creator. One of our microgoals on Patreon is that for every $50, we support another creator directly through their Patreon on Fanbox. When we sustainably get to $700/month, I’ll add another creator in – I have two I want to support. Right now we’re currently supporting 5 creators or creative teams. Thanks so much to you all for helping Yuri creators keep creating!

We have 10 new videos on Yuri Studio this year, well ahead of our goal of 6. Next year the goal will be 12. I already have a really cool video planned for the new year…one I’ve been saying I was going to do for a long time. So look forward to that! Thanks to my wife for her design skills and to Ashley for doing my finishing edits which is such a HUGE help.

For personal “appearances” I presented at Mechademia, CasaCon (twice this year!), HYPER JAPAN, Manga in Libraries: The LGBTQ+ Community, Anime Lockdown, and in a return to in-person events, AnimeNYC and talked about Shoujo Manga with the Japan Foundation which was really an extraordinary experience for me.

We reprised our Mechademia presentations for the Yuricon 20th Anniversary Discussion Event with James Welker and Verena Maser. This is up on Youtube and you can watch it anytime.

I was on podcast and video segments on Shoujo & Tell, Publishers Weekly, Manga Mavericks, Galactic Journey, and Third Impact, and possibly some I am forgetting. If I was on your podcast and forgot to list you here, please remind me!

I also ran a Translation Workshop with Michigan State University that was so successful, we’re running an expanded version with **8** speakers in Feb 2022! Links to sign up will be going live soon, and I’ll be sure to share them here and on other platforms. This is going to be amazing. If you are interested in doing or understanding translation, you will want to register.

I wrote my first ever review for Anime News Network. I’d been on Zac’s ANNCast, but this was fun. I got to cover Ride or Die, the Netflix movie based on Nakamura Ching’s manga GUNJO which you may remember is my favorite manga.

I finished a novelette, as Editor Ed calls it, that began as a Utena fanic 20 years ago. I can remember exactly where I was when I started it. A/CINet Case File: An Inside Job is up on Kindle for a whopping $1.99 for one more day, then it goes back to $2.99. ^_^

Finally, By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga is in penultimate edits! Next up formatting. After we’ve proofread the proof, we’ll set up pre-orders. We’re also going to do limited-time orders on some special goods, so keep your eyes peeled for those!

***

All in all, a lot of amazing stuff this year. We’ll wrap up with one new announcement:

I’ve opened up a Pixiv Fanbox for Okazu, in case Patreon goes cryptocurrency like Kickstarter. It will have all the same content at the same levels. If you prefer Pixiv, you’ll be able to start supporting us there in the new year.

This is in addition to Patreon for the moment, unless they lose their minds.

***

Now onto our 2022 Goals!

Speaking of Pixiv Fanbox, they are doing a contest, so I took a few moments and entered. ($10 gift certificate is totally worth it for like an hour’s work, right? Right?!?

I shared our 2022 goals on this attractive Ema I designed. I’ll give Inari-sama a donation to see if I can get this through to the powers that be. ^_^

The first two goals are, clearly community oriented. We are at 1400 subscribers on Yuri Studio, for which I am very grateful. I won’t be getting awards from YT anytime soon, but the fact that that many folk clicked subscribe is amazing. I’d like to – and think we can get to – 2000 subscribers for Yuri Studio in 2022.

We’ve hovered back and forth over 100 patrons/subscribers for about a year. This year, I’d love to see us get past that sustainably. It’s not about the money, although that helps so much to hire folks to do things for us(!), obviously and it increases the number of creators we can support indirectly and directly. It’s also about building a community dedicated to the sharing and support of Yuri and the folks who create and write and talk about that work. Now we have a Patreon and a Pixiv Fanbox, and I hope we’ll get past that goal!

The next goal is not entirely personal, but I won’t lie and tell you it’s wholly impersonal. Working on The Rose of Versailles was one of the greatest achievements of my life to date and so, yes, I think I deserve an Eisner award, (^_^) but also and more importantly, the whole team did amazing work and the end result is magnificent. Ikeda-sensei’s work got the treatment it deserved. So, yes, I unabashedly believe RoV deserves an Eisner Award.

Debuting a book during a pandemic is not optimum. And my health, which had been holding steady at “not great, but it’ll do,” has tanked, hard. I’m a hikkikomori now and perfectly okay with that. So while I’d love a real-world book tour for By Your Side next year (and a post-pandemic world to travel), I am resigned to virtual events for the near future. Nonetheless, while I am clapping my hands and praying, I might as well ask. And okay, I’ll admit this one is 100% ego. ^_^

The last thing is eminently doable. I really enjoy doing conventions and meeting fans, but I will not lie, I love doing professional speaking gigs – when I’m being brought in to talk about Yuri, it’s the best feeling. The good news is that I have several professional events lined up, and I’ll hope to get more after the book is released in the summer. So 6 professional speaking events for 2022 is the goal. /nod/

Thank you all once again for an amazing year. Here is to our wonderful community and all the great work we support and create and enjoy!

I’ll see you in 2022!

Posted in Okazu News, Yuricon | 2 Comments »

Okazu Top Yuri of 2021

December 30th, 2021

Table of Contents

Not Yuri…But
All The Things
Top 10 Yuri Series
Top 5 Yuri Series of 2021

For many years, I have been splitting my End of Year Yuri Lists. This year, has been so busy, and there is so…much…. that I’m switching back to one list that will cover a number of key series in a variety of media that have filled my world with much-needed joy.

This is not a countdown, but there is one series that absolutely stands above all others for this year. I bet you can guess what it is before we get there. ^_^ This is a long list, because there are a LOT of things worth rejoicing over, so settle in and let’s go! Or, use the links above to skip around. ^_^

Not Yuri…But

This year we had a couple of not Yuri (or Yuri adjacent, depending on how you wish to look at it) series that I think were very much worth mentioning.

Sailor Moon Eternal Movie, Parts 1 &2

I have joked now for years on end that if there is an end-of-year list, there will be a Sailor Moon on it. This year Sailor Moon became Netflix’s #1 watched series for a time as all three seasons of Sailor Moon Crystal were shown in preparation for the outside Japan global premier of both Sailor Moon Eternal movies. It had a disappointing theater run right in the middle of the pre-vaccine pandemic. Nonetheless, it was a delight to watch my least favorite of the 5 arcs in the super condensed format of two movies from my home, along with people worldwide. I do hope we get some version of the 5th arc. Then I want this whole story to be re-written so it makes some sense and the characters get an update…which will never happen, so I’ll just wait for the next iteration and watch it like a good girl. ^_^

Also, The Outers at the dinner table as a family and Haruka and Michiru in gowns. Nice.

Super Cub

Super Cub is not Yuri. It was a very emotional and deep look at the interior life of a young woman whose world is rooted in trauma, and the specific circumstances that change her whole existence. It was beautifully animated, intensely emotional and both frustrating and wonderful.

The reason it and the next entry are here is because we in Yuri fandom have always valued intimate emotional relationships between women portrayed with honesty. This is exactly that. In addition, as I say in my review of the series “At the heart of this tale is the power of a peer group, of fandom and of friendship – all of which make this something that the Okazu audience might find worth watching.”

As an excellent look at emotional intimacy between young women, it has a right to be on this list.

Aquatope on White Sand

Like Super Cub, this series is – in my opinion, at least – not Yuri in any romantic sense. It portrays a deep emotional connection between two women which then, delightfully, expands to become a supportive community of women. That alone makes it unusual and precious.

The animation was breathtaking, the characters (almost) all so fully fleshed out that, if asked, we could answer questions about their lives. Again, not romantic, but in every other way a story about women and the various kinds of intimate relationships that they create amongst themselves.

I would recommend this anime to anyone of any age, but for adult women, I think it will resonate strongly.

All The Things

Now we’re getting into the “All The Things!” portion of this list and y’know what, all the things are fabulous. ^_^

Western Animation

This year was punctuated with any number of western cartoons with wonderfully queer characters. Since Steven Universe shattered the shell, the world of animation this year really leaned into representation.

Not everything that was available has been reviewed here. I have yet to watch Owl House (although I have seen the asking out scene,) but I watched and mostly enjoyed Castlevania, Q Force and Arcane among others.

I’m all for western comics and cartoons embracing the world as it is and as it might be.

Okazu Patrons, Reviewers, Commenters & Readers

Every year you all have a place on this list. You are the reason this list exists. This year, when we have nearly 100 Okazu Patrons, we increased our number of Guest Reviews by about 500%, and had a post here 2 out of every 3 days all year long, there is more to thank you all for than ever. Okazu Patrons, you make all of this possible, thank you. To my Guest Reviewers, I love your work and love reading your insights and opinions!

Thank you so much to all of my readers and commenters. I appreciate your corrections, your comments and your agreements and disagreements! You all make Okazu a great community.

Thai, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese Yuri

I have only barely scratched the surface of Thai Yuri live action and comics and have barely had a chance to bookmark a Chinese Baihe novel. (Last night at the patron party we were given a link to a cool looking live-action series to watch, too.) I know of, but haven’t managed to watch any Korean Yuri, but I have read some webcomics and own my first Korean Yuri doujinshi now, thanks to James Welker. And of course there is Vietnamese Yuri about which I know nothing.

All of this is to say – there is a world of Yuri work in Asia outside Japan, and one day I’ll have time to read and watch and study it. Won’t that be fun? I love that Yuri is global and I think it’s something we all need to celebrate.

Magazines & Publishers

Every year, I take a moment to note the publishers who are putting out Yuri, but as of last year, that was practically all of them. ^_^ So I want to note a couple of key things that really were worth noting.

Galette magazine is about to celebrate it’s 5th anniversary with Volume 20. For a creator-run endeavor, that is outstanding, truly. I hope they will be able to exceed their goals for years to come.

Comic Yuri Hime has just wrapped up its 5th year of being a monthly magazine. In an industry where new trends mean things change all the time, that kind of consistency means the market is holding steady, or better.

I want to sincerely thank Seven Seas for their investment in Yuri, BL and queer manga. They’ve set high standards which means that as other companies invest in queer work, they are all reaching further and better heights. Kodansha, Yen Press and J-Novel Club have really made an impact this way as well. Good people, doing good things. Thank you all.

Top 10 Yuri Series

Now we’re getting into the series that made my year. These series gave me – and, I hope, you – near-endless entertainment and conversation across multiple platforms.

Rose of Versailles

How could I not mention this? Yes, I disclaim I worked on the manga, but the end product is the joint effort of many hands and…wow. Udon Entertainment created something beautiful enough to display on any shelf.

Now you finally have the whole stor…oh wait! There’s another volume yet to come. ^_^ The 40th anniversary stories are amazing and finish out the entire epic beautifully.

In the meantime, please also enjoy the anime editions of Rose of Versailles and Dear Brother from Discotek. They’ve never looked more crisp. We’ve come so, so far from the days of judgemental fansubs to Ikeda’s masterworks of animation and writing getting the treatment they deserve.

Otherside Picnic

Who would have guessed a science fiction/horror/paranormal series would have grabbed the Yuri zeitgeist? Everyone! We are/were *so* ready for an action story in Yuri fandom. This series hit a lot of spots in a lot of fandoms and had moments that were frightening and thrilling and tender.

We’ve had an anime streaming on Funimation, and both light novel and manga series are on-going in Japanese and in English from J-Novel Club and Square Enix respectively. I can’t wait to see where this story goes. It doesn’t matter where, particularly, it’s just that we know it will be an interesting journey.

Otona ni Nattemo / Even Though We’re Adults

I’ve long been a critic of Shimura Takako’s work, but this series is…amazing.

Yes, the premise is uncomfortable – a lesbian falls for a married woman – but as it goes on, every individual story is also uncomfortable and pretty well relatable. The characters are muddling through a complicated adult life the best they can and which of us doesn’t feel that way?

Her art has never been tighter, her narrative (which I frequently think is Shimura’s weakest element) is on point. I’ll gladly recommend this as her best work if anyone ever asks. In English from Seven Seas, this is a must-read series.

Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji

When this series hit the Yuri lists, I hoped that it might not be too bad. You can never tell with second series and Ikeda Takeshi might give us something funny, he might give us something poignant.

What we got was a delightfully silly, yet surprisingly realistic, look at two women whose lives together are full of hard work to reach goals, and fun times and intimacy that looks awfully like actual people’s lives with friends and colleagues and trials and triumphs.

I’m loving it in Japanese, and you’ll get to read it in 2022 with The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This, coming this spring from Seven Seas. Yay!

Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatteiru / Our Teachers Are Dating!

Can sex be adorable and heart warming? Yes, now that Ohi Pikachi’s sugar-sweet series about two teachers falling in love has shown us the way. Both Terano-sensei and Hayama-sensei are likeable, we can’t help but root for them as they move through uncharted waters of loving someone, doubting one’s self, and cementing that bond in a way that requires friends and family to view them as a unit.

It’s an adult series, but wholly rooted in they joy that being part of a partnership can bring. It never was a high-profile series, but I hope you will enjoy the final volume in 2022, when all 4 volumes will available in English from Seven Seas.

Top Five Yuri Series of 2021

Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau / Whisper Me a Love Song

This list is chockful of adult experiences. And yet, one of my top five series this year is definitely, positively a schoolgirl romance. Takeshima Eku’s adorable Whisper Me a Love Song is about first-year Himari who “falls in love at first sight” with cool Yori-sempai, but is it actually love? Over the course of the first three volumes they figure out that answer – and then the story keeps going!

How will the battle of the bands affect everyone? I’m on the edge of my seat! Not really, but I do love this series for it’s charm and warm-fuzzies. It’s in English from Kodansha and just. so. good.

Ride or Die on Netflix

Years ago, I said that my favorite manga ever, GUNJO, would make a poor anime, but would make a great night-time TV drama. Instead it became a super-intense Netflix movie and wow was it an interesting watch. Ride or Die is very much an adaptation of the manga, but every once in a while, the manga peeped out from within it and floored me.

The explicit nature of this story, especially in regards to the violence, works to drive home just what “Megane-san” was dealing with. The explicit sex was surprising and scenes went on longer than I expected, or wanted, which I kind of feel was also a message.

This is not a romance story. This is not an adventure story. But it is also not an object lesson. There are no morals here. Just people.

Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts / Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon

Usui Shio catapulted into my top ten with this series. Everything about it felt healing. A woman who has been living a lie in order to please others and a woman who has sacrificed most of her own life for obligation, meet one another and their lives change irrevocably. This is a gentle story that addresses the common everyday hurdles and traumas of an adult life and how devastating an effect those can have on our emotions and lives. You’re not alone. Other people feel that way too. And once you realize that, you can grow.

This is a beautiful series about adults who never had a chance to be themselves, as they find out who they really are with each other. I fully expected this is be my number one series this year, but then this year hit the accelerator. ^_^

Black & White

If you are a regular reader here on Okazu, you just nodded and said, “Ah, of course.” I never pretend my tastes are typical, or universal, as some critics do. I know what I like. I like adult women on equal footing beating the crap out of one another. Sal Jiang’s -the opposite of romance- office rivalry series is perfect.

Two women, both lesbian, both rivals for not only being the best at their job, but also most beloved in their office, are at one another, literally tooth and nail. Sex is about domination. Outside their rivalry, they are both incredibly competent, friendly and helpful to everyone around them. Furthermore, if anyone treads on their territory, they will team up to take the intruder down, but once that’s over, they are at each other again.

I loved this book so much. I just grinned and grinned. Should you want to give my world a try, Seven Seas will be releasing this in 2022 as Black & White.

At long last we are here at my Top Yuri series for the year and *surely* it cannot be that much of a surprise. I have written about it almost a dozen times just this year.

Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou. / I’m in Love With the Villainess.

It’s not often we get to watch the evolution of a story in real time. From free online webnovel only a few months ago, to a published series of illustrated light novels, with art that visibly improved from volume to volume, to a fully illustrated manga, and now on to a rebooted light novel series with art by the manga artist. Will we ever see an anime? I sure hope so. Even if we don’t, we’ve already had a pop-up shop and goods at another pop-up shop. All of this says something important – there is a market for this series. People want not just this media, but the goods associated with it. That’s the key for anime, usually.

The story begins with an isekai setting: An overworked adult woman awakens in the world of her favorite otome game in the person of the protagonist. Only this time she’s not going to play for one of the princes. This time she’s going to make the Villainess hers! Such a cute premise.

Initially we’re dealing with the stereotypical scenarios of a school setting. The festival, bullying, but with an adult’s take on such things. Then, the story turns more serious and becomes about class and money inequities, war, religion, betrayal, gender, sexuality, power, family, grief and loss. Each of these is handled overtly – there is no subtext here for important issues.

Overly queer stories are as important to the overall narrative as war and famine. As the story becomes more serious, the characters exceed their initial parameters right through the climax of the series. Volume 4 of the light novels and Volume 2 of the manga are out in English in 2022 and Volume 3 of the manga and Volume 5 of the light novels are already out in Japanese.

This is a story that take all the tropes of an isekai, and flips them on their heads to become an honest (and sometimes scathing) look at modern Japanese life, with it’s inequities and iniquities, while never forgetting that it is a feudal fantasy world with magic. It breaks all it’s own rules again and again right through a breathtaking climax that rewrites all the rules one last time.

I repeatedly likened this series to a circus, in which the seemingly-random chaos was actually being executed with precision. This series is over, but the story is ongoing as we await the final volume in English from Seven Seas.

Unabashedly queer, with epic romance and epic battles and a happy queer family. This was the series we’d all been waiting for.

I’m in Love With the Villainess is my Top Yuri Series of 2021.

What an incredible year. Here’s to a 2022 that’s even better!

Posted in Top Yuri Lists | 9 Comments »

Sailor Moon S Kaguyahime no Koibito is a Christmas Movie

December 26th, 2021

As the rest of the world deliberates whether Home Alone or Die Hard counts as a Christmas movie, I have always felt myself above such things. ^_^ But then, translator Jocelyne Allen pointed out that Sailor Moon S Movie is in actual fact a Christmas movie and I could not argue. When she reminded me that this week the Sailor Moon Musical Kaguya-hime no Koibito was available for streaming on Japan 2.5. Stage Play World, my wife and I put together an impromptu double play of a story neither of us much like. ^_^

Firstly, Sailor Moon S The Movie is streaming in dub for free on YouTube right now for US folks. We never bought the new Viz release, so I dragged out our old Pioneer (!) DVD. You can rent it on Amazon Prime or buy it for only about $5 more on Amazon, which gives you a sense of how popular it is.

The basic plot of the movie is that Luna and Artemis are on the skids. Luna, feeling sick, is found by a handsome man who is himself ill. He nurses her back to health. She learns that he is a Oozora Kakeru, a researcher who is obsessed with a comet that is approaching earth, which he has named “Kaguya-hime” after the moon being from the Taketori Monogatari. Kakeru’s lover is Himeko, a woman chosen for a space mission to study the comet. There is a little tension between them as Kakeru had also wanted to be an astronaut. Luna falls in love with Kakeru, but can do nothing when he falls ill.

As Christmas approaches, so does the comet, and with it Snow Princess Kaguya is revealed to be an alien who wants to take over the earth, naturally. The Senshi fight, are defeated and band together to defeat the enemy. Usagi grants Luna’s wish to become human for one night. She takes Kakeru to space and kisses him. She returns to Earth, and Artemis.

When the Sailor S Movie came out originally I watched it for the then-precious moments with the Outer Senshi. It was originally released in Japan in 1994, my three-disk “uncut” movie box set is from 2001, so possibly older than some of you reading this. Having Haruka and Michiru on screen sharing tea or shopping together was a big deal still.

If you still need proof that this is a Christmas movie, check in at about 21 minutes in:

Note the incongruous use of L’Chaim when Tuxedo Kamen throws a top at a snow dancer. This is wildly inappropriate – he should have said “Chag Sameach.” ^_^

Immediately after this, we fired up the Sailor Moon Musical Kaguya-hime no Koibito, starring Nogizaka46 members.

It was…not bad? Also terrible, but in the exact way I love. ^_^ To begin with here is the opening song, which was shaky but solidified up. Mercury was the weakest singer throughout, but the rest of the cast was good to great.

The bad stuff was more than one song about how much girls need guys, and until they have them are permanently unfulfilled. And Tuxedo Kamen’s final solo, about which my wife said, “This is unnecessary.” A shame too, because Riku Sorahane had a great voice. From the moment she stepped on stage we could see that she had been trained as a Takarisienne. It was in every motion she made.

Other strange bits were the Luna ballets and Himeko making a comment about being pregnant, which would definitely have kept her out of space. Also the final thanks felt like there was stuff that was supposed to have been said, and instead we have “thank you very much” shouted a us an excessive number of times, even for one of these musicals.

Speaking of excessive, they say “Starry Heavens” 8 times.

So…the good bits. Overall pretty good music. Snow Kaguya had a operatic voice that worked well. The Outers were all great. I can’t embed this, but here is a clip of the Outer Senshi actresses watching the show digest. At 1:30 they watch the bit where they arrive on stage: https://youtu.be/KBHlvUVcDnw?t=90. ^_^

The very best bit, in my opinion was when the Senshi “transform” they each have some dance moves that were adapted from their henshin sequence. I though this extremely clever.

The second best thing was that Haruka and Michiru are glued at the hip throughout the whole performance – even to the point of a small perfomative hug as they leave the stage the first time and holding hands as they leave the second time. It’s more than we ever got in the animated movie and it was overt enough that I wondered idly, if we’ll ever see them stage kiss in an official property.

Overall, it wasn’t as Christmasy as the animated movie, but it was fun. Again, I can’t embed it, but here is the show digest video, so you can get an idea of the spectacle.

Next year as everyone is waggling their Scrooged at you, don’t forget – Sailor Moon S Movie is also a Christmas movie. ^_^

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