MURCIÉLAGO -ムルシエラゴ- BYPRODUCT -アラーニァ- Arania, Volume 2

April 8th, 2020

MURCIÉLAGO has been a favorite of mine since Volume 1 hit shelves in Japan in 2014. And I loved that we got a side story about crazy-eyed sniper Reiko in 2018. It kind of ended and I forgot about it. Imagine my surprise, then to find that not only had I fallen behind on the main MURCIÉLAGO manga, but that there were like 5 more volumes of Reiko’s adventures in the underworld!  D’oh!

So here we are at MURCIÉLAGO -ムルシエラゴ- BYPRODUCT -アラーニァ- Arania, Volume 2 and Reiko is still corpse-deep in a Chinese mafia gang war. But, don’t worry, she’s cool. She is hired by one of the sides, which spell sdoom for the other side, and I wonder if you get shot like that, specifically, if your eyeball would hang out of your head like it does here. When I read this series, I end up wondering a lot of things like that, far more than I ever question the plot.

Reiko’s domestic idyll with her nice girlfriend is now permanently interrupted by the presence of a former Chinese mafia girl who likes to sleep naked and who fantasizes about Reiko.

Ratings:

Art – 7 Extra bloody and gutsy
Story – 7 Ditto
Characters – … … … What do you want me to say, really?
Service – 7
Yuri – 5

Overall – 7

I mean, who can blame her.

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Yuri to Koe to Kaze Matoi, Volume 2 (百合と声と風纏い)

April 6th, 2020

In Volume 1, we met Matoi, a high school senior who is a talented songwriter who doesn’t understand love. She meets Yuriko, older by a few years, attractive, cool…and suddenly, Matoi is starting to figure it out. As attractive as Yuriko is, Matoi isn’t sure what she wants, and Yuriko seems clear about what she doesn’t want.

In Volume 2 of Yuri to Koe to Kaze Matoi (百合と声と風纏い), Matoi and Yuriko wrestle quietly with themselves, becoming closer friends until Matoi is off to college in Tokyo.

Once in the big city, Matoi is befriended by Rio, who introduces her to concepts like demisexual, nonsexual, and people like lesbian friends of hers who have been a couple for three years. Rio likes Matoi and makes no bones about it, but when Matoi says no, there’s no drama, they can be friends. And she helps Matoi to understand her feelings for Yuriko better.

In the meantime, Matoi’s younger sister confronts Yuriko, forcing her to deal with her own feelings.  Yuriko heads to Tokyo to see Matoi. As the volume comes to a close, Matoi will come face to face with Yuriko’s secret.

This series is quietly outstanding. With discussion of LGBTQ sexuality as a fixture in the conversations, this is one of the queerest manga I’ve discovered in the past few years. I like that it’s part of the normal conversation in normal circs that a young human might actually encounter during their time at college.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 3
LGBTQ – 7

Overall – 8

It’s a joy to watch Matoi on her journey….and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens now that Matoi and Yuriko will have to confront the things that are holding them back.

Posted in Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »


Yagate Kimi ni Naru Saeki Sayaka ni Tsuite, Volume 3 (やがて君になる 佐伯沙弥香について)

April 5th, 2020

Saeki Sayaka, very serious, prone to overthinking things, has met someone who will change her life. Edamoto Haru, first year in college has confessed to liking Sayaka, and now she needs to decide what to do about it.

In Yagate Kimi ni Naru Saeki Sayaka ni Tsuite, Volume 3 (やがて君になる 佐伯沙弥香について), we get to ride along as Sayaka overthinks the whole thing in the most lesbian ways possible. ^_^ Haru, who tends toward being bright and energetic, in exactly the way Sayaka isn’t, is honest about her feelings. And, thankfully for us, patient as Sayaka works her way through what exactly her response ought to be.

I’m not going to spoil any of this for you because, although we may or may not get a print version of Volume 2 in time for June, we are likely to get the digital version. Instead of spoiling this ending with a detailed synopsis, I’m just going to call out a few things that I really particularly enjoyed. You’ll get to read it when it comes out in English and you can squirm through every lesbian thing Sayaka does – or doesn’t – do. 

Haru quickly takes to telling Sayaka to call her ‘Haru,’as one might expect. On brand for her, Sayaka continues to call her ‘Edamoto-san’ well into their relationship. It’s kind of a joke, kind of being an asshat, and kind of endearing…and, as I say, very on brand for Sayaka. My favorite scene in the book might well be when Haru pushes the point and Sayaka calls her “Edamoto” without the honorific. ^_^;

I loved the moment when Sayaka, standing alone in her room just stops and says out loud, “I have a girlfriend.” Squee.

As we know from Volume 8 of the manga, Sayaka meets Yuu while with Haru, and she kind of expected Yuu to tell Touko. Yuu stands her ground and tells Sayaka that it’s her responsibility, not Yuu’s. The conversation that Sayaka really has to have with Touko does happen here. I was so relieved, honestly.

Iruma Hitoma did an exceptional job of writing for this series. For an author I’ve found to be inconsistent, every one of these three volumes absolutely hit the mark for Sayaka’s voice and personality. Of course the art was on point, as well, given that the character creator was doing the art, but something more than that was apparent here. For one thing, every scene that ought to have been illustrated was. That’s unique for light novels, which so often emphasize irrelevancies in the art. And, in every image, the two characters were shown exactly the way we know them to be. I’m not sure I can explain this correctly, but you’ll see when you read it. Sayaka’s composed, staid way of holding herself, Haru’s more mobile expressions and body language…and the final picture, the satisfaction on Sayaka’s face, all were perfect.

Ratings:

Art – 10
Story – 9 A solid relationship story from the perspective of a young lesbian
Character – 10
Service – 3 A couple of small things and a big thing
Yuri – 9 A solid relationship story from the perspective of a young lesbian

Overall – 9

A better end to the Bloom Into You / Yagate Kimi ni Naru series than I could have ever imagined back in 2016, when I reviewed the first volume of the manga. A very satisfactory ending for Sayaka. I wish her and Haru (and Yuu and Touko) well.

Oh! I forgot to mention….I grinned throughout this book. It was really just that spot on. ^_^

Posted in Bloom Into You / Yagate Kimi ni Naru, Light Novel, Nakatani Nio | 5 Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – April 4, 2020

April 4th, 2020

No cutesy headlines today. Let’s start by talking honestly about some of the shakeups that are happening in the industry right now. Print schedules are effectively canceled until further notice. But companies are still working on digital releases…although on a slower schedule. Since a lot of manga printing was done in China and even aside from that, distribution has been disrupted globally, I hope we’ll all be patient and supportive of the people putting out our entertainment.

Publisher News

Via ANN, Yen announces delays on print through September, as does Dark Horse. Diamond comics distribution is delaying shipments. According to the ANN article, Viz says they are moving ahead with print through Simon and Schuster, but I have some questions about that, as S&S is up for sale right now.

Seven Seas suggests print will be delayed, but digital is still going forward, which is a good thing, because when June comes you *will* want the third Sayaka novel. I will review it tomorrow, but suffice it to say, I smiled through it. ^_^

Kodansha Comics have also delayed print titles, but will be going ahead with digital releases.

On Twitter last week I suggested that if I were a manga publisher now, I would make Volume 1 of every series free on digital, to encourage folks to start series they’d put off. Unsurprisingly, some publishers are doing something just like that.

Hentai publisher FAKKU has made subscription hentai free for two weeks (starting March 29.) They do have a Yuri tag, which does not fall under the subscription, and it includes a Yuri anthology I never reviewed here, because it was a porn anthology and I’m reviewing those rarely now, unless there’s a specific motivation to do so. You can find When Budding Lilies Blossom, doujinshi by Yurism and other Yuri and Yuri-sh hentai on their site.

Tokyopop has made some of their manga free, with new titles being unlocked every week. Breath of Flowers is available free, and Still Sick will be made available this week.

Viz always has free chapters of manga available through their app, primarily their Shonen Jump stories, but consider asking them to add their Yuri titles, too. ^_^ I will, when I get this post done.

Comixology is running a 99 cent sale on all their Originals, which includes Kodansha titles, including Yuri is My Job, Volume 1.

J-Novel Club is partnering with Global Bookwalker to offer more than 50 volumes free, in what they have cleverly titiled  I Couldn’t Go Outsude so I Just Stayed in and Read Light Novels All Day! This promo includes the creepy cool Yuri Otherside Picnic series.

In Japan, Jump+ is also releasing a bunch of manga for free on limited time basis, including, from Kishi Torajirou’s twitter account, Otome no Teikoku!

Creator Nakamura Ching is posting pages from chapters of her masterwork, GUNJO in English and Japanese on her ChingTV page on Note. Chapter 1 is free, you can buy the full chapters for a few bucks each. ALC Publishing is working with Nakamura-sensei on the translation and I can tell for certain that we are very excited about this!

 

Become an Okazu Patron by April 7 and get early access
to an all-new article from the Big Book o’Yuri,
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HIDIVE has a free 30 day trial (not really different than their usual, but hey, you’ll have the time!) for anime and they have the Sentai collection, so you’ll get access to Bloom Into You, Revue Starlight and Kase-san and Morning Glories.

RetroCrush TV is a brand new all-free ad-supported streaming app that is showing anime of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Tom Speelman wrote about the timelessness of classic anime for Funimation’s blog in Astro Boy, Speed Racer and the Value of Watching Classic Anime.

And, of course, Crunchyroll is still free, ad-supported streaming anime.

This is everything I’ve cobbled together, but if you know about more publisher or streaming news, don’t hesitate to write and let us know!

Before we move on, though, let me also suggest that – IF you can do so – if you have a local comic or book store that can’t ship or do pickup right now, if you have orders or pull-lists with them, consider paying them upfront so they have some operating cash during this time. Big companies can get bailouts, but little guys often can’t. Comics companies are laying off a lot of folks right now. The comics industry has not ever managed to forge itself into something resilient, in fact, it has become increasingly fragile over the last few years. So support your fave artists and check out their sites and feeds for creator-owned material that you can purchase.

I know it’s a punchline to the rest of the world, but the US really doesn’t have anything like national healthcare and comics artists are freelancers, so they don’t qualify for unemployment benefits in most states. They are going to need the crowds who say they love their work to support them.

 

Yuri Doujinshi

Irodori is another new company seeking to launch a line of translated legally licensed Yuri Doujinshi, Irodori Sakura. They want your thoughts about the kind of doujinshi you want and the creators you want it from. Fill out their survey and let them know you get your Yuri News from Okazu!

This means that, along with Lilyka, we’ll have a plethora of new original Yuri doujinshi in translation.

Twa on Twitter, is a doujinshi creator whose doujinshi Between She and Her is available on Lilyka, tweeted that a friend is also translating her comic Shiori and Yuki. Both links will give you some pages in English to read!

This is entirely self-serving, but this week I learned that Hayate x Blade creator Hayashiya Shizuru is doing a Yanki x food doujinshi (ヤン恋食堂　A定食) and if anyone who lives in Japan wants to get me a copy, I will love you forever…or until I need the next issue. ^_^

 

Yuri Visual Novels

And while we’re all sitting around and filling out surveys, you ought also to go to Studio Élan and fill out their survey about what you want to see in upcoming Yuri Visual Novels!

 

Other News

From YNN Correspondent Jeyl, we have the utterly delightful news that April 6th at 2PM, the cast of Legend of Korra will be doing a live-reading of the Turf Wars comics, which start with Asami and Korra on a romantic vacation in the Spirit Wolrd…and, if you recall, them coming out to Korra’s family. They will make a free digital edition of the comic available before the live stream so you can read along and there will be giveaways during the reading.

Kim Morrisy on ANN reports that Toranoana and Melonbooks are donating all proceeds from sales of the Comiket catalog to the Comiket comittee, for future events. The committee asked people to buy the catalog for the canceled event to defray costs, which spiked briefly it to the top seller in Amazon JP rankings.

Also from Kim on ANN, Onnakatsu (女活) a new womens’ life anthology is being launched by a number of popular Jousei artists. And on that hopeful note, we’ll wrap up. ^_^

 

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to – thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network! Special thanks to Okazu Patrons for being an essential part of the team!

Posted in Yuri Network News | No Comments »


If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die

April 2nd, 2020

And so, If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, streaming on Funimation, has wrapped up and I thought I ought to share a few thoughts about it.

This story, of the life of an idol group fan; a fan of the least popular girl in a small, not well-known, provincial idol group was, in turns frustrating and hopeful. The anime had the advantage of being short, and extremely well-voiced. So folks who watch the anime were able to skip some of the more prolonged agony of the manga. I’m pleased for you. ^_^

I’ve written in my manga reviews about how miserable this series has made me feel about the exploitation of the idol industry on all sides. I always felt that the idols were exploited, but I never understood how exploited the fans were, as well. I find it hard to enjoy any real -life group, when I read about the sentimentality porn of “graduations” and the endless number of young women and men leaving for health reasons. There’s no other conclusion to draw but that the entire industry is a “family friendly”  form of human trafficking. And this series made me question it even further, when it uncovers the kind of obsessive indentured servitude fans are presupposed to engage in.

Surely I *cannot* be the only one in the world who thinks not being allowed to like (or let your fave know you like) more than one person or group is bat shit crazy? Fans, like whomever the fuck you want! Your oshi does not own you! You do not own them! This is not a life, it isn’t even a virtual life…it’s a job and fans are paying for the pleasure of working. That’s not healthy. The whole thing is a shared delusion and no one but their production companies win.

And, so, most of you will have watched this series with hearts in your eyes, hoping that Eri will finally be able to communicate with Maina, and that Maki and Yumeri will be happy together. I can’t tell you if they will, only that 6 volumes into this series, they haven’t yet… As the entire series is about lives in suspended animation, that seems fitting.

At least the anime left us with hope, with tears, with gambaru, and with teamwork. Because that’s what it is (supposed to be ) all about, right? We’ll keep trying hard and someday…!!!

And so we’ll keep following our faves and hoping that they make it to the Budokan. Rawr!

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – Shockingly positive 7
Character – Likeable 8
Yuri – 10 and 0 as only Hirao-sensei can manage it.
Service – Overall, 5 tiresome more than offensive

Overall – I still don’t know, really. If I watched the anime with no knowledge of the manga, 7, 8, maybe?

Ai Farouz deserves a fucking trophy for her portrayal of Eripyo. She was the reason I kept watching.

Posted in English Anime, Hirao Auri, Yuri Anime | 3 Comments »