In Volume 1 of Poor Poor Lips (プアプアLIPS), we met Okashi Nako, a young woman who is struggling with crippling poverty and Otsuka Ren, the Lesbian owner of a crystal shop at which Nako is employed.

Volume 2 starts with a slightly tiresome series of gags in which we reaffirm that Nako is so poor she has no phone, has never seen a computer and, with no TV or radio has no knowledge of the Internet. But this is not just random wallowing as we learn, because it shows us that despite her poverty, Nako is endlessly positive and is a little worried that Ren spoiling her will lead to her no longer being able to live happily.

Things come to a head when Ren invites Nako to accompany her to Nagoya for a crystal show. They stay at a top hotel and Nako really starts to worry about being able to remain comfortable with her real life. She asks Ren to stop spoiling her, which precipitates a horrible misunderstanding during which Nako goes missing. When they are reunited, Ren embraces Nako tearfully and begs her to allow her to spoil her, because she really likes Nako. Nako, finding an unexpected warmth and comfort in Ren’s arms, gives in.

Nako starts to worry about her feelings for Ren, but Ren is glad to offer whatever would make Nako happy, and so they begin to embrace in public.

In Volume 1, we also met one of Nako’s former classmates, Fukui, who runs a cake shop down the street. He likes Nako and worries that she’s being seduced by the evil lesbian. He makes himself tiresome and insulting, but Nako defends her relationship with Ren and, in any case, only likes Fukui for his cakes.

All of this becomes really important when Ren’s mother invites her home to attend a O-miai. Ren tells Nako that her mother knows that she is a lesbian but, frankly, doesn’t care. Nako offers to come with Ren and pretend to be her lover to convince her mother to back off.

Ren’s mother quizzes Nako and eventually says that, if Nako is truly a good lover for Ren, she’ll stop asking her to get married. They continue their play acting – which for Ren is getting closer and closer to being truth. Nako won’t back down even when a private eye follows her, and when Ren’s mother offers to pay off the enormous debt the death of her parents left her with (thus explaining her ongoing poverty.) When Nako remains steadfast, Ren’s mother sends them a message that she can see that they mean a lot to one another, but she really doesn’t buy that Nako’s not in it for the money – so she cuts Ren off.

Ren closes the store and moves in with Nako, and learns just what it means to be poor. What she would have fed her cat as a snack is suddenly dinner for both of them. But she also learns about Nako’s life and all the people in town who help her by saving the ends of vegetables and the crusts of bread for her.

Fukui continues to be annoying but he relents enough to hire both Nako, as a chef, and Ren, as a salesperson. And, as much as he blusters and carries on, it’s Ren that Nako looks at when she’s happy.

And it looks like we’re going to get a Volume 3.

Sorry for the long synopsis – but I think it’s really worth taking time to talk about this manga. It was a series I was very opposed to, because of the loli look to it, but the first volume very much surprised me – and Volume 2 has really blown me away.

Ren is portrayed realistically. Yes, she likes Nako, no she is not jumping her. Her feelings are real, are complex and for her, her friendship with Nako is more important than any fictitious relationship she might wish for.

Nako’s poverty explained (pretty much what I guessed) was one thing, but the whole storyline with her asking not to be spoiled, then accepting Ren when she was cut off into her life was…well, really good.

Fukui is horrible, but he represents the everyman perspective, spewing every nasty, tedious thing there is to say about lesbians, only to be shut down by Nako’s support of Ren. By the time he repeats himself the thirtieth time, he’s starting to look pretty obnoxious in the face of Ren and Nako’s friendship.

Will Volume 3 bring Mom around and put Ren and Nako back into their real lives? I really hope so. I will certainly get it because wherever the story goes, it’s sure to be surprisingly good.

Ratings:

Art – 6 for me, 8 for people who like the style
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 7
Service – 3

Overall – 9

This makes my third license request for the year – Yen, *this* is a good 4-koma. Please bring it over now, thanks.

I’ve been agonizing over the spiritual symbolism of my first post this year.

Do I pick something tried and true and beloved, knowing that it will start the year off with warm fuzzies and a comfortable frame of mind?

Do I pick something not so good, as I frequently do? Since I end the year with the best, I like to contrast that with something laughably bad to start the year off with a snort and a reminder that we’re not out of the woods yet.

Do I pick something indifferent, to attempt to not be symbolic at all and because aside from what convention says, today is just another day and not at all symbolic?

Do I pick something new to start off the New Year and Decade with a thrill at the start of a new venture?

Or do I grab something random off the pile and hope I can make some symbolism soup out of it?

How about All of the Above? :-)

Yuri Manga Anthology Comic Lily has all of the qualities listed above. It is a new venture, that treads comfortable territory and is at times good, indifferent and bad.

The anthology cover gave me no hope that it would be good but, the first two stories, while not being original in any sense, had really strong art. The third story was both good art and an okay story, after which the anthology sort of lost me in the welter of loli, maids and other things that I find less than compelling. None of it was kill-me-now terrible, but none of it was standout wow, either.

Anthologies are difficult creatures – the publisher wants to provide great stories and art, but there’s a limited pool of people who can fulfill the requirements at any given time. And what you like and what I like may be (often are) different, so a good anthology has stories that cover a wide range of tastes. That means that out of ten stories, most people will only really like one or two. It makes it hard to judge an anthology without bias.

Knowing what it takes to put an anthology together, knowing that many of the best artists in the field are already working for other collections and knowing the many – often mutually exclusive – pressures are involved in an anthology, I’m going pretty easy on this one. This is not Tsubomi, which hit the ground running with experienced and well-known names and has only just started to blossom (yes, pun intended). Comic Lily, is more like Eternal Sisters (pre-Ichijinsha) or Yuri Monogatari – a sincere collection made with love. A veritable Great Pumpkin of Yuri. ^_^

So, no, it’s not stellar, but it’s not stab-my-eyes-out horrible. It’s the first volume of what I hope will one day will grow up into a fine Yuri anthology series.

And I guess that answers my question above huh? This year starts with…hope. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 6

Thanks to Okazu Superhero George R. who took some suggestions from my Amazon JP Wish List in order to sponsor this first review of the new year!

My very first reaction upon seeing the cover of the first Yuri Shoujo anthology was to groan with disappointment at the tagline, “First Love.” Ugh. I thought. Haven’t we done that *enough?*

However, even though the stories inside really are all “Story A” with nothing to push them past that oh-so-popular “zOMG we’re in love!” non-climax, it’s still a reasonably pleasant anthology.

There aren’t too many stories in the collection that stray from the basic formula, but in most cases the art is likeable and so are the characters. The behaviors fit the ages so the one story of elementary school cute friend-love is totally un-icky and the adults in Houjo Koz’s story act like adults.

No, Yuri Shoujo breaks no new ground, nor it does not explore mature or physical relationships beyond a kiss or two. There a few fantasy stories, but most are realistic and…nice. I don’t meant to damn this with faint praise. It’s an anthology of stories of girls falling in love for the first time. It’s not the anthology’s fault that that ground has been really well-covered already. What you do get with this volume is pleasant art and stories, with a very little bit of variety.

Yuri Shoujo is warm spring day reading. On this cold, windy morning I want something more passionate, but when the weather milds up and spring is in the air, this anthology is going to be just fine. ^_^

Overall – 7

Today’s thanks once again to Okazu Superhero George R. for the care and feeding of my Amazon JP Wish List and bringing us all a pleasant day of Yuri. :-)