Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Nobara no Mori no Otome-tachi, Volume 2 （野ばらの森の乙女たち）

March 22nd, 2011

Welcome back to the melodramatic world of Nobara no Mori no Otome-tachi! （野ばらの森の乙女たち）In Volume 1, we met heroine Hatsumi, her best friend Sakura, who enter a prestigous girl’s school together where they meet the Top Star couple of the school, boyish Izumi and her partner, perhaps lover, Mayuko.

Hatsumi has developed strong feelings for Izumi and, after Mayuko leaves Izumi at the party, is spending a lot more time with the charming, otokoyaku-ish Izumi as Volume 2 dawns.

But something is not right here at Otoha Girls Academy. Students who were previously pleasant to Hatsumi, or ignored her as another first-year, are starting to pick on her. And the bullying is getting bad, rather quickly. Izumi rescues her from some of it, but that makes it all the worse. Sakura rescues Hatsumi as well but, when Hatsumi tells Sakura that she’s in love with Izumi, Sakura yells at her, saying that she’s grossed out by it all and runs off. Not only does she stop talking to Hatsumi, she moves out of their room, leaving Hatsumi open to even more bullying.

The bullying stops when the girls all report back to Mayuko, how they’ve taken revenge on Hatsumi for stealing Izumi away from her and Mayuko tells them off. But this is only because Mayuko has other plans…. Mayuko convinces Sakura to help her.

That night, in a somewhat convoluted scene, Mayuko tries to seduce Izumi into making a formal promise in the chapel, but is rejected because, Izumi says, Mayuko rejected her when she asked previously. Izumi can see that this is some kind of set-up and sure enough, Sakura and Hatsumi were there to see it. Izumi tells Mayuko that if she’s going to make a vow with anyone, it’ll be Hatsumi, and Mayuko, in what was a stellar moment of bad judgement, throws herself out the window…which is only one story up, so instead of killing herself, she breaks an ankle.

Hatsumi is still seeing Izumi and trying to get a clue about Sakura so, she decides to have it out with Mayuko…which she does. Big time. Mayuko throws stuff at her and she hauls off and slaps the upperclassman across the chops, instantly rising in my esteem.

Back at school, Hatsumi appears to have clued in finally and decides that the one she wants is Sakura, while Mayuko and Izumi reunite and make up, along with protestations of love all around. The End… Only, it’s not!

There’s an omake chapter about Mayuko and Izumi’s childhood together which was both annoying and funny and a second chapter, which leads into the story that will be collected in the third volume.

The series has been moved to Nakayoshi Lovely, the seasonal special, but a third collected volume has been given the go sign. This time we will be following “cool” (distant, unfriendly(?)) Fujitani-san and a mysterious beauty. Whoo~~

When you read this series, read it slowly, no more than a chapter every few days. Weekly would be better. Savor the melodrama, the tears, the slaps, the sensuality of the scenes, the thrill of Izumi in glasses, etc. etc. It’s a silly story, still very much the child of Yuri that has gone before. To all the little girls who are reading this series and thinking that Izumi is pretty hot – welcome to the club, kid, have a seat I’ll pour you an orange juice. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 8
Story – 9
Yuri – 10
Service – 4

Overall – 9

I have to admit to a teeny bit of squeeing over this series, because the idea of a whole new (really new!) generation of Yuri fans makes me very happy.





Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime,(コミック百合姫) March 2011

March 21st, 2011

Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫),Volume 2 gets off to a smart start with cover art from “Rapunzel,” this issue’s short story written by Fukami Makoto, illustrated by Kazuaki. The story is quite literally a tale about a girl trapped in a tower while an evil “witch” does experiments using her as a guinea pig – as a form of torture in order to get information on the whereabouts of the girl’s sister. Ultimately, the fifth artificial human caretaker she’s had, Chanel (number 5, yes, yes) helps her escape. This can only be described as a “really creepy story.”

This volume’s wacky column from the editors trains you in how to be a “Yuri Sommelier” and make suggestions of series based on people’s tastes. As you may know, I have avoided doing this for many reasons, but here is the primary one: When people recommend things to me, 95% of the time I don’t find them as wonderful as they did, and therefore assume that it will be the same for you if I recommend something for you. In fact, there are only two people I know who can recommend manga to me and only one who can recommend books.

“Wakka Hane-Hane” introduces us to aggressively clueless Yuka who shows up and moves in with Saka-chan and then is aggressively clueless until they both decide they like it that way. I never did come around to that way of thinking.

Hayase’s employment is the topic of discussion in “Fu~Fu” and so is the dynamic between her and Komugi. This leads into a little furry play on Kina’s part, and then a morning after hasty explanation in the hallway. A goofy interlude, with some serious implications about relationship dynamics, but again, presented in a way that slides the important stuff under otaku radar.

A woman falls for a married woman in “Suwako-san to Uchyuu Ryokou.”

Arisu and Saki contemplate marriage and “playing house” together in “Renai Joshikka.” This chapter was stellar. There’s a bit of awkwardness and miscommunication, as there is in real-life, but these are the first steps toward *after* happily ever after and I’m beyond thrilled that Morishima-sensei is the one leading the way! Everyone – follow her!!

Skipping “Kokoro Renjou” because I’ve kind of had it with the Black Cat Mansion stories. Fans of twincest will like this chapter.

“Hime Cafe” this issue is a somewhat informal chat about…stuff…with Namori-sensei, creator of Yuru Yuri. This is followed by editor’s recommendations and picks and comments, including the same kind of “everything old is new again” phenomenon we’re experiencing here. No surprise, you gotta figure every generation needs to rediscover the classics for themselves. (And what sells well never dies, so they’ll reissue things as long as people shell out for them!)

Rokuichi’s “Kimi-Watashi” is a slightly melancholic story about two women who can’t seem to let go of one another. This is followed by a sneak peek at the artist’s collection, Kuchibiru ni Sakete Orange, which I have previously reviewed.

“Yuru Yuri” was short. But don’t worry – it’ll be back.

Otsu Hiyori plumbs the depths of the moment between confession and answer, from the perspective of the one confessed to. Of course we all know the feelings of the confessor and the many tortures we/they go through, but what does the confessee feel? I’m not sure this story really convinced me – it was a little too close to “sympathy love” for my taste.

“Utsutsu no Itoshii Hito” by Takemiya Jin continues the saga of two sisters with radically different approaches to love.

When I saw that Uso Kurata was going to be doing something called “Yuri Danshi” I was not filled with joy, but neither was I running off panicking. I trusted Kurata-sensei to not turn in something that sucked. And so, I read the first pages with reserve. We meet Hanadera Keisuke, a secret Yuri Fanboy, with a stash of Comic Yuri Hime magazines under his bed and an overactive imagination. And a grin-making name. Even my wife laughed at that. Keisuke has a little crush on the Yamato Nadesico of the class, Fujigatani Saori. But when new student Miyajima Akane transfers in and immediately glomps her childhood friend Saori, a new obsession is born. Keisuke is *absolutely positive* that they must be a Yuri couple! All excited to see a real one, Keisuke begins to follow them when he comes to the sudden, sobering conclusion that, if they are really a couple – they would not want him around. There it is folks. The THREAT. If they are lesbian couple he is unneeded, unwanted – an annoyance. What mental hoops will Keisuke create for himself and jump through next time? Tune in to find out!

The short story by Miyamoto Ayako wasn’t all that good, IMHO.

“Juliet and Juliet” by Oimoro Jiroh was exactly what it sounds like.

Kurokiri Misao’s “Kokoro no Pendant” was a misunderstanding wrapped around a pendant, but everything works out in the end.

“Reversal” by Imura Ei was unique for several reasons. The art was all scratchy and sketchy, which sort of fit the tone of the story, which followed a girl involved with, let’s face it, it was prostitution. When she is hired by another girl for a little humiliation, she ends up turning the tables on just which of them is in control of the relationship.

Skipping a couple of stories which didn’t make a mark on me, the volume wraps up with a sneak peek of Rikachi’s Ibara no Namida. The sneak peek follows three female college students and the love triangle that has them orbiting around each other. It instantly caught my attention for the clean art and realistic behaviors. I’ve got the volume sitting here and I’ve bumped it up on the too-read pile.

So, overall, still loads to like for just about anyone, and maybe even getting better, bit by bit. I love the new wacky column in the beginning of the volume. Starting off with some goofball humor coming off the stress-y Fukami stories is a good way to get us all to relax and have a little fun while we read.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Before I wrap up, I want to answer one more question that was asked at the UBC lecture the other day that I didn’t have time to answer. The questions was, in short – whether men who like Yuri identify more with the seme or the uke (which only applies in *some* stories, but we’ll use it for the moment, because neither is the answer anyway) in a Yuri couple. Of course I cannot answer for every man who is a Yuri fan (or every woman who is, for that matter) but here’s what I’ve seen in the majority of the Yuri fans – we identify with the couple. In my many, many discussions with Yuri fans over the years the issue is not that we want to be Haruka, or date Haruka…we want Haruka to be with Michiru. Remember my interview with Fujieda Miyabi-sensei when he said that when he creates a couple together, that’s when he’s happiest. I have had so many people tell me that this goes for them, too. I also feel this way. When the couple is happy, so am I. Therefore, I will generalize and say that Yuri fans do not identify with either pursuer or pursued, but with an established, hopefully functional, couple. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Octave, Volume 6

March 15th, 2011

Before I get on a pedestal and start declaiming the wonderfulness of Octave, Volume 6, (オクターヴ), I hope you’ll indulge me. I promise not to name names or rip anyone specific up, but I really need to get this off my chest.

I write reviews here for several reasons. To share good titles with you, to give you all links to places to buy these good titles, to motivate you to learn a little Japanese, for entertainment and, obviously, because it pleases me to do so – that’s the entertainment I get from it.

So, when I saw a forum post recently written by a long-time reader of Okazu that linked to a review here with the comment, “Ooh, I can’t wait to read the scans!” it made me sad. Because that person feels its okay to take the hard work of the artists, writers, their assistants, editors, and printers and basically not care that all that is not worth anything more to them than what they can get for free.

I know this does not apply to all of you, or even to most of you. I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again – I think I have the *greatest readers in the world.* But for those who do think that way, let me assure you that that is not why I write Okazu. I do not do it for those of you who would rather construct rationalizations about why you just can not support people who do this for a living. I do it for the many of you who do buy the manga, the magazines, the DVDs, the novels, etc. To all of you who support the industry, I do it for you. Thank you.

So, when I write today about how great Octave is, what I *hope* is that you’ll finally be motivated to buy it, to sacrifice some of your time and learn a little Japanese, to show support in the only way that has any meaning in our world – with your money. That’s why I write Okazu and I very much hope that’s why you read Okazu – to be motivated.

Let me sum up by saying this to those long time readers – had you started learning Japanese when you started reading this blog, you’d be able to read Octave in the original by now.

Now, on to our regularly scheduled review:

Octave is the story I have always wanted to read. Octave has the ending I’ve always wanted to read. Octave is…just right. (Read that as you might Goldilocks talking about the middle bed.)

It’s about two adult women who fall in love with one another and have to navigate a very complicated path in between coworkers, friends, family and, trickiest of all, their own expectations.

Yukino in this final volume is still Yukino. She has not radically altered. No magic power has granted her the ability to handle things without getting hurt. She’s had to figure out what to do on her own, even sometimes ignoring perfectly sound advice by people who love her, in order to become the woman she wants to be.

Setsuko in the final volume is not quite the Setsuko we first met. She’s more serious now, she has something to lose. But it has given her a depth she lacked and a perspective that now keeps one eye on the future.

They are both flawed, sometimes annoying because they are realistic, but I’d gladly have them over for lunch anytime.

Yukino and Setsuko go shopping for food. They buy home goods together. They walk down the street holding hands. They say things like “I’m so happy, I could die,” and “Don’t say that, not even as a joke.” They live, they love.

This story does not end happily ever after in a fairytale way. It ends with a realistic, rather stressful situation ahead, that they’ll face together.

This is, absolutely, the evolution of Yuri I have been waiting for and have been working for – a story about two adult women in love with one another, living their lives. The only thing that could make it better would be more chapters about those lives.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Yuri/Lesbian – 10
Service – 2

Overall – 10

I still hope that one day DMP decides to bite the bullet and license a real Yuri series. This is the one I’d suggest for them.





Yuri Manga: Sasamekikoto, Volume 8 (ささめきこと)

March 11th, 2011

Here we are at Volume 8 of Sasamekikoto (ささめきこと). And we are just about as far from where we started as we can be. Instead of layering Yuri tropes and riffing on fan expectations, Volume 8 is a straightforward look at what happens when two people decide to be more honest with their feelings, with the strong subtext of “taking responsibility.”

We left Sumi on the cusp of running for Student Council President and facing a smear campaign about her sexuality. To counter this, she is set up on a date with Akemiya-kun as a beard, but when he shows up as Akemi-chan, the more important message becomes one of personal responsibility for one’s choices. This is brought front and center when Mayu punches out a classmate for her unkind words and Sumi, as Karate team captain has to bear the responsibility. Ultimately, to save the Karate team from being disbanded, Sumi pulls herself from the election…only to have Ushio step in to replace her. Ushio, determined to be as responsible a member of the Student Body as Sumi is, wins. The Karate team remains intact, and Ushio does not back down from her own new responsibilities.

Throughout this volume, Ushio’s brother is being pressured by their grandmother to take responsibility for his own future and for Ushio. After she falls and is injured, he bites the bullet and confronts Kinuta-san about his responsibility to his grandmother and Ushio. The scene where he asks Kinuta to marry him was, IMHO, one of the funniest, most realistic scenes we’ve had in the series (and the reactions of the people around them remind me strongly of a night in a restaurant in England during which everyone in the room was visibly listening in on a breakup at a table in the center of the room.)

And then there’s Sumika. Sumi has been under a tremendous amount of stress recently. She’s pulled herself from the election, but had attention focused on her personal life in a rather unnerving way. Then she had to deal with Mayu’s situation. But what pushes her to the point of breaking is Ushio saying that she’s leaving to go take care of her grandmother. Smear her, blame her, make her the brunt of what you will…the one thing Sumika cannot tolerate is the loss of Ushio.

And that brings us to the end of a very excellent volume of a manga that is not what we could have expected, but has become everything it could be.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 7
Service – 1

Overall – 9

Where will Volume 9 lead us? I don’t know, but I can’t wait to find out!





Yuri Manga: Strawberry Panic Omnibus (English)

March 3rd, 2011

91Bt+QH8+zL It’s been practically an eon since I first encountered Strawberry Panic! in the pages of Dengeki G’s magazine as stand-alone scenarios of Yuri couples. Since then, both I and the series itself have changed a few times. The series underwent an adaptation to manga, in which the initial pairs were expanded to an entire cast, and adapted into an anime, which reached deep into Yuri memes and roots and pulled out a love story with a satisfactory ending. The Light Novels, with their melodramatic stylings, served to complete the unfinished manga in an over-the-top way.

For my part, I began with pretty much nothing but loathing for the series which wallowed and pandered in a way that completely turned me off. There was nothing in the original stories that was created with me in mind and the manga was decidedly shaped for the lowest common denominator. As the anime shifted from “stolen meme of the week, which we present with a straight face and no real desire to tell a story” to “stolen meme of the week, which we present with a wink and a nod and –  we can’t help ourselves –  a bit of character development and plot, too” my opinion began to change. (I consider this a positive quality in myself, even if fans have a somewhat difficult time accepting that. I still get angry letters about reviews I wrote 7 years ago.)  And then I read the novels.

I have to say, very frankly, anyone who cannot “hear” the overt campiness of the novels, the hyper-melodramatic tone in which they were written, is really, honestly missing the point. In my review of the first LN in English, I tried to illustrate this with a few of the quoted passages. My comments were not me being snarky, but me commenting on the snark embedded within the lines of the novel. Of these, this passage really stood out as a tell:

Of course, most of the young ladies used their judgment when they heard those legends. But there were some who really believed them. …And yet those same young ladies grew into fine women.

Really read that, please, and note the subtext which (for those of you who cannot see the flashing lights,) says, “DO NOT TAKE THIS STORY SERIOUSLY.”

At the moment I read that line in the Japanese edition of the Light Novel, I ceased to take any of Strawberry Panic seriously and was, at last, able to find affection for it in my heart.

This week I found myself re-reading the manga as the Strawberry Panic Omnibus, put out recently by Seven Seas (who are now more active on Twitter. Go say hello.). My primary emotion upon completing it was that I was a little sad that it ended so soon. There were so many good bits yet to come and at least one helicopter would surely have been included! But no, this story was terminated at the equivalent of the end of the first novel.

Technically, the omnibus looks good. The translation is as it was; the translation notes are short, but enough. I like the size of the book, which is A5 – this gives it the feel of a typical seinen manga. It feels good in my hand and isn’t going to break a foot if I drop it, as Cardcaptor Sakura might. The one thing I will continue to say about Seven Seas is that they really do a great job of giving us, the readers, an authentic manga reading experience.

The story is very Yuri. There is nothing else to be said about that – there are multiple pairings in this manga but, of them, there are two entirely romantic romances (which almost no fans cared about, instead focusing on the hopeless losers in the rivalries…which has got to be some kind of commentary on something, don’t you think?)

This we can say about Strawberry Panic in all its iterations: Shizuma is queen-like, a veritable goddess on earth who is inexplicably (even to herself) attracted to a humble, down-to-earth energetic, cheerful girl, Nagisa. And Amane is a Prince-like being who is inexplicably (especially to herself) attracted to humble, angelic, cry-baby Hikari. And those two romances fill the pages of this collection with melodrama, tears and kisses.

Love it or hate it, Strawberry Panic was a gateway Yuri series for a generation of fans last decade. If you have not already picked up a copy of this omnibus, please do. And get an extra for your library, to spread the love of Yuri love to the next generation.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 9
Service – 10

Overall – 8

Foreshadowing: I have had the opportunity to see the Strawberry Panic Light Novel Omnibus and it is also quite good. More than it being good, though, you need to read it to get the end of the story! If you liked/loved/tolerated the manga and 1) want to know what happened or 2) really, really want to read about the helicopters, get it! I have to say, I laughed through the novels all over again as I read them. The language is breathtakingly campy in places.

Postscript: Today we have the genuine pleasure of thanking our own candidate for Etoile, Okazu Superhero Eric P., for his sponsorship of today’s review! As always, Eric, thank you kindly for your generosity. If you’d like to become an Okazu Hero, just click on the Yuri Wish List links on Amazon and Amazon JP on the right-hand sidebar and purchase something for review and you’ll be a Hero to Okazu readers world-wide!