“I’m in Love With the Villainess” Translation Controversy – What Does it Mean For Readers?

March 19th, 2021

UPDATE: Seven Seas has responded to this issue:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Those portions of the text were removed during the editorial process at the time, but we have since changed how we edit these books to make sure important lines are not lost. We’ll be revising the ebook within the next few weeks to add the cut portions back into the book, and the revision will also be reflected in all future printings of the paperback.

Thanks to everyone who wrote them politely.

SECOND UPDATE: Someone on ANN Forums asked a couple of questions about this post. I have clarified those comments on that forum, if you are interested.

THIRD UPDATE: Setting aside editorial choice for the moment – typographic errors are not a personal attack. There are a lot of moving parts in publishing. There’s no rational basis for assuming either that a company cannot be trusted because a typo occurred OR than there was intent. I read three books this week. I found three typos. I wrote one company and privately told them about the typo, in case it can be fixed. One was in a Japanese book – they have typos, too, and the third was not important enough to care about. I have found errors in books for which I know absolutely more than5 pairs of eyes went over the copy. Typos happen. Being angry about them is just not healthy for either you, or fandom.

****

What a day! I woke up this morning ready to face an AMA on reddit as part of a Women’s Month celebration with my publisher (the thread is ongoing, feel free to drop in). I had a review lined up. 

I almost instantly found myself facing links to a thread on the J-Novel Club Forum, about a potential problem with Seven Seas’ I’m in Love With the Villainess, Volume 1. I’m not quoting the thread here, because after some conversation, the OP calmed down a lot, so I don’t want to make it seem like they are still spitting angry. You can click the link if you want specifics.  The thread title is a fanwank, Seven Seas is not in trouble. I am aware there was a recent issue with a translation that they did and human nature being aligned to pattern-recognition, caused some readers to recognize a pattern. (I’m of the belief that you need three things to form a pattern, but that’s me.) So instead of a review, we’re going to talk about this.

To summarize, there is a passage in Volume 1, where Rae speaks about internalized homophobia from LGBTQ representation in Japanese media, and, as a result, overplayed her love for Claire as hyperbolic comedy.  It was a good passage, and the OP was incensed that it had been deleted. Of course, whenever a fan shouts “censorship!” there’s always a mob of people ready to pull out pitchforks and torches.

I’ve written to Seven Seas to see if they would like to have an official, on the record, response to this, but in the meantime I have a few thoughts I want to share. These are in reverse order to their appearance in my responses on that same forum thread, with some thoughts from Twitter interspersed. Before we talk about appropriate responses to this issue, let us understand the issue itself. Since I never read Volumes 1 or 2 in Japanese, I am coming to this the same as you are.

The OP was comparing the Japanese Volume 1 with the English Volume 1. I pointed out that we, the readers cannot truly know where the disconnect was. It may have been Seven Seas who deleted the scene – which frankly makes no sense to me. GL Bunko may also have sent Seven Seas a bowdlerized copy with that scene deleted, as there has been a serious crackdown on Japanese media freedoms and, while it is hard to imagine that the Abe government would care about a US published edition of a web novel-based light novel, maybe someone at GL Bunko thought it sensible to remove the line.

Secondly, we do not know what decisions were made at Sevens Seas or why. The passage seemed to me to clearly be discussing “representation” like Hard Gay, which was hyperbolic and extreme. If one wasn’t familiar with that sort of “comedy” the passage could be misunderstood. It might have been removed to avoid confusion – if indeed it was removed by Seven Seas.

To be clear – I hope this was a fixable mistake. I thought the missing passage made sense and clarified some of Rae’s early choices…and I genuinely enjoy every glimpse we get of Ohashi Rei in the story. But we may never know what happened, because we may never be able to know. Being fans of a series does not grant us access to the contracts. Unless we are involved in making this particular sausage, we might never know what goes into it. 

We may not know why this happened, but there are something that are 100% under our control. We can always control our response to the controversy. Here I am going to quote from my own comment on the thread:

…ascribing any changes to malicious intent is not all right. Of course you are welcome to not read anything they sell, but what good does that do? Then you don’t get to enjoy the rest of these wonderful books. Tantrums are not the way adults handle problems. Hateful rhetoric leads to hateful behavior…we do not want someone taking their frustration to a KyoAni level. We cannot allow that.

Take moment and write Seven Seas a polite, firmly worded email expressing the problem. Ask them to restore deleted passages. If they get enough feedback, they might (probably will) change their position. There’s no guarantee, but there’s a much better chance than if you rant on a forum. When Viz made some decisions that in aggregate seemed very trans- and homophobic, I and a lot of folks wrote them and asked for the decisions to be fixed…and they were. They even fixed an issue that had hurt someone for decades, when their deadname had not been removed from a credit. THAT is how we make change, not harmful rhetoric. We know where that leads.

There is no place in Yuri fandom for hate of any kind.

So I’m asking you all, as another fan of ILV, don’t speak of this as an attack on you or on fandom. It’s a very unhealthy way to think of anything. We don’t need to be angry. We can be disappointed and let Seven Seas know.

Yuri fandom must remain a friendly, welcoming and intelligent place. If I have to physically wrangle individuals back from a ledge, I will. ^_^

Additionally, some well-meaning person tagged the creator on Twitter and dragged them into this mess. Please don’t tag creators when you’re posting about unpleasant stuff. It’s so hard being a creator, it’s a terrible feeling to have someone dump some problem you can’t do anything about in your lap. I hate getting a notification that says, “Hey @OkazuYuri, what do you think about this?” What do I think? I think the person who tagged me is a jerk, frankly. Is it my problem to have an opinion on? Can I do anything about it? Do you do this in real life? Why? Are you 12? “Hey, Jim, what do you think about the argument two other people are having in the bar?” Don’t do this.

Lastly, please consider this:

We can and should approach media critically, not with an angry, entitled attitude.

So, what does this deletion mean for us, fans and readers of I’m in Love With the Villainess? It means, we have the opportunity to show ourselves as the best, most thoughtful, kind and loving fandom. We can write Seven Seas, politely, thank them for their LGBTQ content and express disappointment and concern that some content was left out of Volume 1 and if at all possible, ask if it can be restored in the Kindle version and future printings.

That is what we can – if you feel strongly about it, should – do, whenever you feel that there is an issue.

 

Posted in I'm in Love With the Villainess, Now This Is Only My Opinion | 23 Comments »


Magnum Lily, 1 & 2

March 18th, 2021

I have decades-long deep and abiding love for original doujinshi, however, I don’t often review doujinshi here as a standalone review on Okazu. It was generally frustrating to review something most people could never see except through illegal distribution and I respect the artists too much to encourage that.  Now that Lilyka and Irodori Sakura are bringing out Yuri doujinshi in English, other reviewers are covering those titles, and while I don’t mind adding my two cents, it’s still hard to have a substantive conversation about part of a story, or an ongoing series that will come out 32 pages at a time once a year at an event!

All that said, when Lilyka announced Rei Abe’s Magnum Lily, 1 & 2, I thought it would be worth mentioning. I’m pretty sure I picked at least one issue of this up somewhere on my last trip to Japan.

Magnum Lily is a boxing doujinshi. Higuchi Yuri is a 15-year old with no interests, no hobbies, nothing she cares about to make life interesting. By sheer coincidence she meets a professional boxer, Windy Armstrong, and is turned on to the thrill of boxing. Yuri heads to the gym and although she is unable to land a single punch in her first sparring match – she’s hooked on the sport.  The story continues for more chapters after the second issue, and is available by points in Japanese on Shonen Magazine‘s digital comic site. Update from CW, this manga is continued on the mangaka’s Pixiv where it currently goes through #10, and is supported by their Pixiv Fanbox. Thank you kindly for the additional info. ^_^

This story has almost everything I want in a sports manga – actual sports, which is a plus; blood, tears, guts, effort, goals and heartache.  Additionally, the main characters are likable, the potential rival is honorable and the bouts actually look like boxing. No weirdly contorting bodies for the sake of service here….just weirdly contorting expressions because a punch has landed.

There’s only one thing missing from this otherwise perfect sport Yuri doujinshi, in fact. Thus far – 2 issues of what looks to be 5 – beyond the lead character’s name, there’s no Yuri. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think there is any Yuri romance in this series. The Japanese description leads me to believe it’s about Yuri’s passion for boxing. BUT.  Don’t let that keep you from reading this story.

What Magnum Lily does have is a genuine, non-creepy or service-y appreciation for athletic women’s bodies, accomplishments and achievements, which something that is too often left out in the all-schmaltz editions of women’s sports manga. Tears, fine, but blood and sweat and hitting the gold sometimes, too, thank you.

I purchased both volumes directly on Lilyka, which I am mentioning because Lilyka offers a variety of formats to download in, from mobi to epub. No need to use an awkwardly designed reader, you can just directly download the doujinshi and read it on the reader of your choice.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Character – 8
Story – 8
Service – 7 athletic, muscled women’s bodies
Yuri – 0

Overall – 7

If you are looking for something that centers sport over pathos and abs over backstory, Magnum Lily is a refreshing change of pace.

Now, if I can just get this with a torrid lesbian love affair, it would be absolutely perfect. So far, “FRIDAY IS THE DAY” by Hayashiya Shizuru for Yuritora Jump, Volume 2 still comes closest.

Posted in Yuri Doujinshi | 6 Comments »


Alter Ego by Ana C. Sánchez

March 17th, 2021

Noel is in love with her best friend, Elena. Or is she? She’s jealous when Elena spends time withe her boyfriend and now she’s going to have a new rival for Elena’s attention, June. Frustrated and feeling alone, Noel blurts out her feelings to a complete stranger. When Elena finally introduces her to June…you guessed it, she was the complete stranger.

Noel tries to keep her feelings about Elena front and center, and put distance between herself and this older woman, but “circumstances” keep bringing them together. The more about June she learns, the harder it is to keep distance between them. Noel struggles with conflicting feelings, until she’s forced to admit the truth.

There are a lot of things to like about Alter Ego, Ana C. Sánchez‘s manga-inspired comic from Tokyopop’s LOVE x LOVE imprint. I especially liked Elena, as we quickly realize she is neither clueless…nor without agency. June is an interesting character, as well. We’re told she’s older and indeed, her perspective does seem more mature than Noel’s in some ways, but not in others.

The weakest element of the book is Noel herself. Her behavior is not just immature, it’s often selfish, manipulative and, IMHO, quite toxic. I frequently sent mental waves to both Elena and June to tell her to shape the fuck up or get out of their lives. I will give Sánchez credit – she makes passive-aggressive behavior exactly as unpleasant as it actually is and doesn’t pretend it’s “cute.” I was also a little surprised that there is no mention of queer identity in this comic, but it wasn’t a point against, as clearly this is meant to be read as a “Yuri manga.”

The art is solid – it suffered, I think, when the artist was attempting to draw “a manga” rather than just draw her story, but this improves as the story continues. Overall, this is a fine one-volume story, that has a lot of the strengths and weaknesses of one-volume stories. If you’re looking for a one-shot Yuri romance that won’t ask too much of you but also won’t break any new ground, Alter Ego by Ana C. Sánchez is available from Tokyopop in Print and Digital in English and Planeta Cómic in Spanish right now.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – Noel was a 5, everyone else a 7
Service – 2ish?
Yuri – 7

Overall – a solid 7

Thank you very kindly to Tokyopop for the  review copy!

 

Posted in Western Comic/Comix, Yuri Manga | 5 Comments »


Yuricon Store Update and Yuriten Walkthrough on Discord

March 16th, 2021

We have two wholly unrelated pieces of news today that have only one thing in common.  ^_^

We are doing a spring cleaning at the Yuricon Store! This is a work in progress as we update categories, reset broken links, fix tags, and otherwise tidy up for what will be an eventual move to a new theme, but do drop by – the pages are linked to Yuri anime, manga, LNs, VNs, apparel and more!
 

On the other side of the world is the Yuriten Exhibition and we’re going to be doing a walk through”tour” on the Voice channel on the  Okazu Discord on March 20, 1PM EST US time. I’ll be paging through the exhibition and we can chat about the pretty art. This is a low-key get together, just for fun. Joins us if you can!

 

Posted in Events, Yuricon | No Comments »


Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou. Volume 4 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。)

March 15th, 2021

Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 4 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) is a wild ride of a novel that has more twists and turns than the newest roller coaster at your local amusement park. It was awesome.

At the end of Volume 3, we left Rae and Claire in the Nur Kindgom, having made a heck of an impression on the despotic rule of Nur, Queen Dorothea, in a battle against the Demon Rulers. They also made an impression on the Demons.  Both of these are understood to be ambiguous in nature and will surely come to a head. But first, we have some much more important stuff to deal with….

…including an Iron Chef-like cooking contest between the greatest chefs of Nur, and Rae and Claire’s 6-year old daughter Aleah. And a formal ball. Also a act of incredible magical skill handled by their other 6-year old daughter, Mei. Rae and Claire help foment rebellion, change the diet of the entire army, solve a murder mystery and three other mysteries, only one of which was in the least predictable. Then a kidnapping. And then, about 2/3 of the way through this book, the story slams down on us with a vengeance.

Inori carefully weaves their way through the various plotlines and pulls out exactly the right ending for the book. It could not have been handled better without making concessions to what we knew of everyone.

This felt like a long book, and we had a number of new characters, several of which are undoubtedly going to be key in Volume 5. It was no surprise that I like Hilde, the hyper-competent bureaucrat with a monocle, but almost despite myself, I also like Frida, the Princess’s “Merikan” friend.  This story still remains wholly queer and deeply rooted in social and political activism. This volume takes some time to get there, but when it does, it does.

Every single one of my questions from Volume 3 were answered, save one, and that clearly is going to be a plot in Volume 5. There are a lot of loose ends yet to be tied up. I’m constantly fighting with myself whether to read the chapters on inori’s Pixiv Fanbox or not but I have chosen to not do so, and hope you will respect that by not spoiling anything for me, as I have tried to not overly spoil this for others. Thank you. ^_^ I still have hope that two of the things left undone will be done by the end of the series and one other new thing also gets followed through with, but I admit that this last is simply because I really like Dorothea and want to see more of her.

The art was the best so far of the series. I’ll never adore moe-fication of characters like Dorothea, but I felt that everything in this book was way more finished and solid than in previous books and a few of these were extra lovely. (I did mention the formal ball, yes?) ^_^

Volume 3 is slated for a July release in English, which feels so far away, and Volume 5 is not yet listed in Japan, but I remind you that Volume 3 and Volume 4 are available in Japanese on US Kindle. They are so worth it.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 10
Service – Yes. Still perfectly okay.
Yuri – 10
Queer – 10

Overall – 10

Oh, the boot I kept waiting to drop in V3? It dropped in V4. And it wasn’t a main plot point, just one more crazy arc that lead somewhere else entirely and was even worse and better than I imagined.

If you’d like spoilers or have read it and want to shout with me about it, please join me on the Okazu Discord. ^_^

Posted in I'm in Love With the Villainess, inori, LGBTQ, Light Novel, Light Novels | 1 Comment »