Yuri Manga: Still Sick, Volume 2 (スティルシック)

October 16th, 2019

Looking forward to next month when Tokyopop’s English-language edition of Akashi’s Still Sick, Volume 1 hits retail shelves, I wanted to take a moment to jump back into this series.

Last spring, we met Shimizu Makoto, an office worker who has a secret life as a doujinshi-drawing otaku, and Maekawa Akane, a coworker who knows the truth. The setup was a bit worrisome. I was afraid that Maekawa was going to torture Shimizu, but nope…instead the story flipped itself over when Shimizu learns Maekawa’a even larger secret – she was once a popular manga artist! Shimizu wants very much to help Maekawa restart her career but to say that Maekawa is erratic, is a gross understatement.

In Volume 2 of Still Sick, (スティルシック) Maekawa does torture Shimizu, but not the way we expected. Shimizu, in an unguarded moment, admits that she likes Maekawa, who then reacts in the most passive-aggressive ways possible. On the one hand she forces Shimizu to admit she’s always liked women and hid it from everyone, and on the other won’t let her hang out and help, demanding she stay out of touching distance – and in between, throwing herself into Shimizu’s arms. Shimizu is hurt and confused and, above all, really wants to help Maekawa.

On a company onsen vacation, Shimizu turns to a coworker for advice and pours her heart out over ping pong (as one does,) not naming names, of course. He’s super sympathetic and offers some solid advice. As he goes to leave, he notices Maekawa standing in the shadow of the door, having obviously heard all of what was said.

Maekawa tells Shimizu that she wants to talk with her….

…in Volume 3.

What?!? Yes, we’re not going to know what Shimizu wants to say until next volume. Although, honestly, I think we can guess. ^_^ Maekawa is suffering from the same problem Shimizu was – inability to admit the truth-itis.

I don’t much care for the ham-handed way Maekawa is being handled here, her passive-aggressiveness is falling flat because the motivation is obvious and the behavioral swings are so huge without accompanying mood changes, but I really like the way Shimizu was portrayed; less dramatic, but more deeply felt.

The art is pretty tight, and adult characters look like adults, which I always appreciate. Most appreciated is that the onsen scenario is not played for service, but for emotional tension. Phew!

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 8
Story – 8
Yuri – 3, LGBTQ – 4
Service – 0 so far – even in an onsen

Overall – 8

True, Maekawa is being annoying – and worse, some of it is being played for a comedic beat, but Volume 3 should resolve some part of all of that.  In the meantime, I’m bookmarking the series over on MAGxiv, the MAG Garden comic site on Pixiv!

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Yuri Manga: Goodbye Dystopia, Volume 3 (γ‚°γƒƒγƒγ‚€γƒ»γƒ‡γ‚£γ‚Ήγƒˆγƒ”γ‚’)

October 15th, 2019

If there was one defining feature of previous volumes of Hisona’s Goodbye Dystopia that I truly loved, it was not learning a damn thing about either of the protagonists.

Yes, we got the vaguest idea that Asami travels to find things and Mizuki was running away from home in Volume 1 and in Volume 2, we learned that the world they inhabited had people in it, and that they both had past loss they weren’t thinking about.

In Goodbye Dystopia, Volume 3 (γ‚°γƒƒγƒγ‚€γƒ»γƒ‡γ‚£γ‚Ήγƒˆγƒ”γ‚’), I was desperately afraid that the story would give too much away. I am pleased to say that we know only a very little bit more.

Asami’s loss is a sister. A sister, old friend Uzuki points out, that MIzuki is taking the place of.

Mizuki lets us – and no one else – learn that she’s not running from home, but from a failed romance with a schoolmate, in which she was the only one who was serious. We had guessed as much for Mizuki and while it was news about Asami, when all of that has been pulled out and aired, we really know very little about either woman other than what we’ve seen.

Nonetheless, having had what of their dirty laundry we’ve seen laid out, both women seem lighter and more able to face what is ahead of them. As the manga draws to an end, they discover an abandoned amusement park at which they abandon the last of their worries, and head on into the unknown, together.

Ratings:

Art – 9 This is my kind of art
Story – 10 There is none. I love it.
Characters – 9
Service – 0
Yuri – 4 We learn what we already had guessed

Overall – 9

I loved this series and would have been glad to follow it for decades through dilapidated buildings and abandoned places. I loved the art, the sketchbook quality of the physical locations, Mizuki’s wind-blown hair and the unpaved tracks of the landscape. I loved that we’ll never know their full names or whole histories. I love all the things we don’t know and just enjoyed the heck out of the journey.

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Western Comic: Chronin, Volume 2: The Sword in Your Hand (English)

October 14th, 2019

If you have not already done so, you should definitely pick up Volume 1 of Alison Wilgus’ time-travel epic, Chronin (link goes to my review.) At last, I can now talk about the finale, Chronin, Volume 2: The Sword in Your Hand.

In my review of Volume 1, I go into great lengths about the uncanny parallel between Chronin and an obscure manga series I loved call Amakusa 1637. Although the stories are in no way similar and, in fact are addressing opposite ends of the same historical era, the fact that they both do this through time travel was remarkable. That they both do this with time travel and a female lead that cross dresses is extraordinary.

Where Amakausa 1637 handles the paradoxes by changing the future, in Chronin the characters decide on fixing the past. Why they must do so – and how – make for a fascinating and tensely written story that anyone can enjoy, even if history is not your best subject. In that sense, Chronin is as much historical thriller as a science fiction novel.

Part of what makes Chronin a satisfying read is the characters. They are all well-developed, fraught with their own emotions, successes and failures. Human frailty is a character unto itself in this story.

The ending is super satisfying on every level, even levels you didn’t know you were worried about. Hatsu has a half dozen amazing moments in this volume – ultimately she is my favorite character, having shown common sense, intelligence, competence, humor and a fair chunk of rage at everyone meddling gratuitously in her timeline. Even the antagonist make some really pointed comments about the hubris of time anthropologists, wandering through the past taking samples the way European explorers did with indigenous cultures. Ultimately, it was that raw honestly of the characters that really kept me turning the pages right to the very end.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 8 “Fuck Kuji” is a an actual line in the book.
Service – 3 A little light gayness
Yuri – 8 Not spoiling is pointless, there’s only two characters it could be. Mirai and Hatsu ftw.

Overall – 9

Time travel, cross-dressing samurai adventures sound fun, but Chronin reminds us that people’s lives are not just collateral damage.

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Live Action: Batwoman on CW

October 13th, 2019

It’s been said before here on Okazu, but I always feel I must disclaim before I review any DC anything – I really don’t read Batman. I don’t really like Batman. I was a Marvel collector, my wife took care of DC. So you’ll excuse me if I haven’t been following Supergirl with it’s queer storylines (and queerbaiting.) I tried. I watched like three episodes and just couldn’t do it. I’ve attempted to watch Arrow and the Flash and all of them make me feel exactly as I did as a child when everyone loved some movie or music personality and I was like… okay, nice for you. I did try though, honestly! They just didn’t hook me. But I felt an obligation to at least try and watch CW’s newest series, Batwoman, if only to review it.

After one episode, I can say that I think, maybe, I might like it. ^_^

The opening plot is loosely pattered after Batwoman: Elegy, with some fairly significant and much-needed changes. When Elegy was written, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, was the law of the land in the United States. Kate’s story was a real story, the story of Lt. Dan Choi, a man whose illustrious military career was cut short merely for being gay. In the last decade DADT was overturned and so it makes no sense that they’d keep that same scenario. Instead, Kate is busted out of military academy for violating academy rules in a scene that makes the point that the real problem is homophobia. Kate, cut off from a military career, and by her father from the career she really wants in his high-tech security firm, is angry and rootless. On top of this base, the Alice storyline from Elegy has been ported, with modification.

Batman was unable to prevent Kate’s sister Beth’s death – and – has disappeared. Gotham is without a protector, crime is rising and suddenly a new villain is terrorizing the city, Lewis Caroll-quoting, Harley Quinn-esque, manic pixie nightmare girl, Alice.  Thankfully for my sanity, the hideously obvious BIG REVEAL doesn’t make it to the end of the first episode, thus fixing the most tedious bit of writing in Elegy. Now we can settle in and see what the story might actually do.

To quote YNN Reviewer, Chris LeBlanc, Ruby Rose’s hair is 80% of this episode – I am in absolute agreement with this. It’s not that I just like angry, violent lesbians with undercuts, it’s just that I want you to tell me the last time you saw a woman in an American television series with this haircut. Take your time, I’ll wait. I’ll wait a long time, because the answer is ‘never.’ I know Batwoman will be getting her scarlet tresses, and I’m okay with that, as long as Kate gets to keep her undercut.  ^_^ The cowl did look a bit weird without something to tie into the cape.

The acting in the first episode was…all right. Everyone felt like they were trying to get a feel for the characters and their relationships, which left me a bit like I was watching a really good read-through. Ruby Rose as Kate smoulders beautifully.  Meagan Tandy as Kate’s ex, now-married to a guy, Sophie is a wild card that can be played in a number of ways – in this first ep, she’s damseled because she’s the one character in the story Kate would put herself on the line for. Both Kate’s father and Lukas are unfortunately written and I hope to heck they fix them both, because blecch. Especially Luke. I need him to stop being clumsy dorky scared boy. One of those things would be fine, but you cannot convince me that Bruce is leaving his entire billion-dollar set up to a fuckup. This and how absurdly dark the filming is, so the fight scenes are almost wholly obscured, were the weak points.

The biggest pleasant surprise of the opener in both writing and acting is Nicole Kang as Mary Hamilton, Kate’s sister by marriage. Everything about her was terrific. She way set up as a loopy-harmless-bubblehead, then given a twist that made sense and was…fun. Between this and the downplay of “the mystery of Alice’s identity,” this first episode gave me real hope for the writing. Hope for the writing is why I’ll be tuning in tonight for the next episode of Batwoman.

I can’t really rate it fairly after one episode, but it’ll give us a point of comparison later.

Ratings:

Cinematography – 4 Who can tell, it’s so dark.
Story – 6 Alice, but with some improvements, here’s hoping
Characters – 7
Service – 5 Some nice lesbian kisses

Overall – 6 with hope for improvement

I just hope like hell they don’t try and get Sophie and Kate together again. Introduce another character as a love interest, PLEASE.

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Yuri Network News – (η™Ύεˆγƒγƒƒγƒˆγƒ―γƒΌγ‚―γƒ‹γƒ₯γƒΌγ‚Ή) – October 12, 2019

October 12th, 2019

Sailor Moon News

Yesterday was National Coming Out Day here in the United States – as a result, many of my friends were musing on how coming out is a process that happens over and over in a life, coming out to many people, in many ways. For instance, every time I meet a new client and we’re discussing our lives, I end up saying “My wife and I…” at some point in the course of that discussion.

As fans of media, many of us understand that the media we love has inspired folks to come out, and has put us, both on- and offline, in the middle of discussions of queerness and representation. This sometimes leads to a call for the companies that make /distribute that media to recognize and accept the queerness of characters who we, the audience, feel have represented us.

When Sailor Moon first picked up popularity on Cartoon Network, and the characters Sailors Uranus and Neptune became known there were, predictably, some viewers who went to great pains to explain why they weren’t a couple – explanations that did not work and were dismissed by the creator who said they are lovers. Also predictably, this did not stop those people from creating even more complicated scenarios that still did not take away the fact that Uranus and Neptune were a couple.

After the anime and manga were over, the live-action musicals would periodically revive the story and every single version I have seen of these, really pushed Haruka and Michiru more openly as lovers over time. Their relationship has now been enshrined as “partners,” which is a terrific way to give people who want acknowledgement of their couplehood an adult way to refer to it.  (In pre-marriage equality societies, “Partner” was/is a popular and common choice for making a point and, as many other people have noted, “wife” and “husband” are uniquely gendered in Japan as ideograms, making even wife and wife uncomfortable for some.)  This was why the kerfuffle with Viz inexplicably changing Haruka and Michiru’s relationship from “partner” to “friend” in the Stars booklet was puzzling. It was a step backwards from where Japan had put them. Luckily Viz was on the side of right and good here and that has been fixed – they are partners once again.

In the last 25+ years, we have seen Haruka and Michiru come closer and closer to being out. In recent years, official goods have made the point of pairing them as a couple in whole lines of goods and as the usually male/female dolls for girls’ day. I’d like to think there’s someone at Sailor Moon Official just pushing them inexorably out of the closet. (I’d like to believe it’s Takeuchi-sensei herself.)

But. ^_^ You know what we have never once gotten? “Love.” Haruka and Michiru have not said they love each other on page or panel, in song or dialogue. They’ve gotten close…and in symbolic ways they have, but romantic love, “ai” ζ„›, the word that Usagi says constantly,  is not something that has been given to Haruka and Michiru.

Until now.

Sailor Moon Official has announced a new series of Sailor Moon Girls Night Out cafes in six cities. Among the offerings is this parfait, the Haruka and Michiru Night Drive Parfait, the description of which says “A parfait filled with the love of Haruka and Michiru. In the image of these two, this is a refreshing sweet with chamomile, pistachio ice cream and mint jelly.“

So, as far as I’m concerned, this is the first time we’ve seen this so openly stated by the official Sailor Moon channel. On National Coming Out Day 2019, Haruka and Michiru have come out once again, one more step out of the closet. When you remember how many people were motivated the first time they saw this partnership on their television, it’s not absurd to imagine that this, too, will have positive effect. That someone in one of those cafes will read that description and have that last wall on their own personal closet come down.

And may those comings out be sweet. ^_^

 

Also in Sailor Moon News, ANN reports on the details of the new-new-new-(echoing into the distance) Sailor Moon musical starring Nogizaka46 running this autumn. The story is starting from the beginning, as usual.

 

Other News

In other wonderful Coming Out Day x Comics news Archie Comics and It Gets Better Project partnered to create a series of genuinely lovely comic strips in which the folks of Riverdale respond to various coming out scenarios with support. Check these comic strips for Coming Out Day on Bleeding Cool, it’ll do your heart good.

 

Yuri Doujinshi

I picked up a bunch of Yuri doujinshi at Girls Love Festival last month and among them are the continuing adventures of adult women who do things like work, and eat and play. Among these are two series by Hazuki Ruri, whose art appeals to me very much. It’s very for and about adult women. These series go under the names of Wednesday and Saturday, and you can read some of the various stories in English through Lilyka, DMP’s Yuri digital doujinshi online shop. Check out Saturday – Luna Chikai’s Hands-On Yuri Company or Wednesday – Maybe I Love You among others.

(I haven’t gotten there yet, but there are a few doujinshi I picked up on that trip that I will be reviewing.)


Yuri Manga

We have a couple of new items on the Yuricon Store this week!

Kase-san and Yamada, the 6th volume of Takashima Hiromi’s Kase-san series will be hitting shelves in English this February. Kase-san and Yamada have made it to Tokyo and college life together!

At last, weve got the first volume of Sweet Blue Flowers creator Shimura Takako’s newest series about two women in a bitter(!) lesbian love story, with Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 1 (おとγͺにγͺっても).

 

Yuri Anime

Anime News Network reports on details for three upcoming anime:

The Princess Princess sequel film Princess Principal: Crown Handler now has cast, staff and delays. We have more cast info and a new trailer for Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu and details on cast and line art for Adachi to Shimamura.

 

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 all of our Okazu Patrons on Patreon, who make this report possible!

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