Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Anime Manga: Cream Lemon Escalation, Volume 2

January 29th, 2009

A few weeks ago, I regaled you with the tale of my visit to the Media Blasters store. While there, I was given this precious tome, the second volume of the anime manga of Cream Lemon Escalation (くりぃむレモン　エスカレション).

This volume is quite literally stills from the third episode of Escalation, wherein our heroine Rie, having lost Naomi-oneesama to graduation, takes out her needs on new arrival Arisa. Rie’s roommate Mari chases Arisa out, only to declare her happiness at their friendship to Rie, followed by declarations of love, of desire and, after they make love, the fact that she’s leaving Japan in the morning.

Rie receives an invitation to Naomi’s mansion, where she has Arisa for appetizers and Naomi for the main course, after which Naomi declares she’ll be leaving Japan in the morning.

…

I never really noticed that before. Maybe it’s Rie’s love-making skills, driving women away in droves. lol

In any case, we see Rie graduate, leave Arisa her picture and driving off happily to be Naomi’s love slave. Presumably.

The book flips, and becomes the first Black Cat Mansion episode about a guy, some maids and a housefire.

This little treasure of a book is something that I’ll happily add to the collection here at Yuri Central. But I think that if I want to relive this forerunner of so much Catholic schoolgirl Yuri, I’ll stick with the novel, which was howlingly funny.

Ratings:

Art – 5
Story – 4
Characters – 6 Rie really grew on me, although I have no idea why.
Yuri – 9
Service – 9

Overall – 6

A brother-not-in-law saw it on the review pile and picked it up, blushed, then put it down. “Well…,” he said. “That’s pretty explicit.”





Yuri Manga: Magie Paire, Volume 4

January 28th, 2009

In Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 of Magie Paire (マギーペール,) we met mage-in-training Maria and her powerful and beautiful onee-sama Reina. We also learned that Maria, although from a family of powerful mages, cannot use her power unless she is touching magical jujubee Unyu. We then proceeded to ignore this mystery in favor of multiple scenes of dressing and undressing.

Now we arrive at Volume 4, the final volume of this series by Takagi Nobuyuki. It’s now or never, as graduation approaches and soon Maria will lose her beloved Reina-oneesama and, presumably, her chance to become a mage.

But first…some service! A cat-demon has escaped and whatever it inhabits immediately becomes a lustful creature intent on getting a little sugar from who or whatever it admires. When it jumps from the cat to Reina, it causes all sorts of cat-eared havoc, including a kiss between possessed Reina and a not unwilling Maria.

This is followed by a challenge by Nagi for Maria’s position as Reina’s Suite. They set out on a quest, the winner of which will retain or take the position. They end up having to work together and Maria keeps her place, but Nagi vows to keep trying.

There’s still one Magie without a Suite. He possesses the power of water. All the other Magies and their Suites are betting on who he choses. When he picks Maria’s friend Yunagi, everyone is pleased.

And, finally, Maria and Reina face down the problem they’ve had since the very beginning – Maria not being able to use her magic. They conjur a magic creature that almost immediately goes out of control. When Reina is put in a dangerous position, Maria finally hears the voice of her sword, Valentine. At last she is able to access her magic and take her position as the next Magie of Flame.

Graduation day arrives and Maria asks the question she’s had in her heart since the first day they met – why her? She was completely unable to use magic, so…why chose her as Suite? Reina replies that it was simple -she fell in love with Maria at first sight. Their attempts at a romantic kiss are foiled by first Unyu, then Nagi.

Later that day, Maria steps up as the next Magie of Flame and announces that she choses Nagi as her Suite. No one is surprised except Nagi.

And, at last, as they say goodbye, Mari and Reina *finally* get in their first genuine kiss.

Takagi’s stuff isn’t high art. It’s full of random dress-up and panty shots, bathing and Yuri. And it’s full cute pinked-cheeked characters, UST (Unresolved Sexual Tension) and usually something only slightly resembling a plot. Whether you’re reading Casseiopeia Dolce or Pure Marionation, his stories are all, roughly, the same. ^_^ The setting is different, but the general sense of dressing and undressing is consistent. It’s not brain killingly bad. It’s not genius. It’s what it is. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 5
Characters – 6
Yuri – 6
Service – 7

Overall – 6

If you like your moe sweet and cute and slightly service-y without a nasty edge, Magie Paire will scratch that itch nicely.





Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime S, Volume 7

January 14th, 2009

Color pages in Comic Yuri Hime S (コミック百合姫S (エス)? Why yes! The characters of “Yuru-Yuri” are *so* excited that even the voice balloons are in color! But mostly they sit around and talk in a classroom, so it’s kind of a waste. lol Luckily, Ichinjinsha has lot of exciting things to sell tell you about, so all that color isn’t entirely blown on abstract backgrounds. There seems to be some Yuri of some kind in the story, too. Mostly in the form of fantasy and wishful thinking.

In “Flower Flower,” Shuu has something else that worries her now. I really don’t care what it is. I’m starting to think that what she really needs is some Xanax. And Nina’s on the up-side of her bipolar disorder, so Shuu can freak out about that, too.

Flashy Matsuoka is in love with wallflower Tomoko in “Kikoeru Suzunone.” Tomoko can’t really believe that Matsuoka likes her, so she concocts a low-self-esteem version of their relationship, but has to acknowledge that she’s plain old wrong when she overhears Matsuoka talking to someone else about her. Tomoko and Hiromi end up celebrating a romantic Christmas Eve together, with a solid forecast of “happily ever after.”

“Tsukiko ha Bakakawa” involved really cute girls doing cute things cutely. Sometimes they hug.

Summer – what does it mean to you? In “Natsu Toieba,” Sakura and Fumiko have a checklist of things “summer” means to them. They proceed to pound through the checklist, which includes things like somen and yukata and watermelon and fireworks and all that. At the end they are able to add the most important list item of all – “love.”

Suzuki *finally* learns that there are two Kuse sisters in “Kotohana Link.” And, she learns that one, Miyako, is a “bad girl” who is openly a lesbian playgirl. After Yoriko admits her sister’s bad behavior, Suzuki admits that she too liked a girl….

Anna’s having issues in “Cassiopeia Dolce.” She really, really, really likes Elza-sensei, but sublimates her desire for the Master in her desire to own one of her dolls – which coincidentally looks just like Elza. She gets the doll, and maybe a step closer to Elza.

In “Minus Literacy,” Matsudaira begs the Yakuza boss for Miharu to be returned, but Miharu blows her off and drives away with the boss, the car symbolically splashing Matsudaira as they spin off and leaver her on the sidewalk in the rain. Cue the violins and clarinet.

Once again, I will skip “Love Cubic.”

The Vice President of the Student Council is very cheerful and relaxed today, and goes so far as to offer sweets to go with the President’s tea in “Kaichou to Fuku-kaichou.” But her good mood crumbles when she find that her beloved President has stood next to a boy in a puricula booth. The Treasurer rubs it in, declaring that he looks like a great boyfriend, but it turns out that the Treasurer also desires the President *and* saw the VP and Pres together during orienteering. She’s determined to keep them apart. Ominous music plays as the chapter comes to a close with the Vice President’s tears.

“Beautiful Pain” is another half-sisters in love story, this time brought together by a truck accident. Sean – this one’s totally for you. Both “she got hit by a truck” and “happily ever after,” …as long as they stay inside the bedroom. Reality is so going to be a bitch.

“Nanami to Misuzu” is ‘Nanami to Misuzu”-like.

It’s a small volume compared to recent ones. The stories are so varied that surely, if you are Yuri fan, you’ll find *something* to like.





Yuri Manga: Gokujou Drops, Volume 1

January 11th, 2009

Gokujou Drops, Volume 1, (極上ドロップス) is the second of two “phone comics” put out by Ichijinsha’s Yuri Hime magazine. This volume is a collection of manga delivered by phone as an extra to Japanese readers.

I’m curious how this works because, Japanese phones, while having a decent sized screen, don’t have a huge screen. Is it delivered one panel at a time, or the whole page and the reader reads it in bits, focusing in on the part they are reading? Perhaps some of my Japanese readers could take a picture of a cell phone manga for us.

In any case, Gokujou Drops is the story of Maezono Komari who has suffered the fate of many a freshman transfer student – she has been unable to line up housing. Ah, now that brings back memories….

The unhelpful school housing person (ah, nostalgia….) suggests she go beg on hands and knees to be allowed into the most exclusive dorm on campus. Komari does and is suprised to be let in – on one condition. She must become the slave of Himemiya Yukio, the resident classic Japanese beauty. And thus, Komari heads out on an adventure of “funny” sexual harrassment by pretty much everyone in the book.

In her first days, Komari finds herself sexually harrassed by the seniors in the dorm, which has the side effect of making her realize that she’s fallen in love with (and desire for) Yukio. And she’s sexually harrassed for getting so close to Yukio by Yukio’s “fan club” at the school.

In the end of the volume it seems as if everything will be okay, because Yukio and Komari definitely want each other. I’m sure that none of us think actually that “happily ever after” will apply here, not yet at least. :-)

The Yuri here is pretty fetishy. Sexual harrassment, incest, public sex, non-con. And for that reason, I’m not really a big fan of the series. Sure, Yukio and Komari are in love, but that’s like 1/25th of the Yuri. The other 24/25ths are for people who like their Yuri mean, and nasty.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 5
Yuri – 9
Service – 8

Overall – 6

I’m torn on this series. Sometimes I find it enraging, sometimes excruciating, sometimes – like today – it’s okay. Whatever. ^_^

What do you think of it?





Yuri Manga: Sakura no Kiwa, Volume 4

January 9th, 2009

Kisses and cats. Those are the words that define Takemoto Izumi’s Sakura no Kiwa (さくらの境) series. And Volume 4 is no different. (Available on Kindle only to JP IP addresses.)

No, that’s not true. In Volume 4, there’s less cats.

(For all my reviews of the Sakura no Kiwa volumes, click the link on the categories list on the right sidebar.)

Futako spends the entirety of the book slung around Sakura’s neck. Sakura has long given up on training Futa-chan, forcing everyone around them to just get used to the idea, including Sakura’s mother and father when they suddenly come home from Brazil and just as suddenly go back. Ichiko graduates, fails to get into university, Futako and Sakura graduate, they all take the exams again, and they get into university this time. Oh – and Crazy Cat Lady Aunt Tamako has this guy who isn’t her lover, but gee it sure seems that way.

But for the other 95% of the book, Futako hangs on Sakura’s neck and kisses her frequently. Not they they are lesbians or anything. They just live together, sleep together, kiss, embrace, share a bath, probably have sexual relations at this point, live with too many cats, are completely co-dependent and in every way are a couple except for they aren’t. Or so Sakura insists.

As the series draws to a close, Ichiko proposes four possible futures for the two of them – including one in which they marry each other – but they settle on the last, in which life basically stays exactly the same with Sakura and Futako living together with Ichiko and Tamako and 12 cats.

12?

What happened to the other two…? someone asks, as the scene, and the series fades away.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 7
Service – 0

Overall – 7

For a series in which nothing happens, and the *same* nothing happens repeatedly, Sakura no Kiwa is light, fluffy entertainment. With no lesbians whatsoever.