Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime, Volume 14, Part 1

December 16th, 2008

Comic Yuri Hime, Volume 14 starts right off with “Creo, the Crimson Crisis.” Color pages, adverts for things like the Yuri Hime calendar, Soulphage and YH collections are followed by a chapter in which Suoh remains a wet rag and her sister’s illness appears to be an advanced form of Vampirism. Important things are afoot, so Suoh is packed off to a friend’s house, where friend’s creepily friendly mother is much too nice to be trusted. Meanwhile, In Creo’s homeworld, another powerful pointy-eared warrior woman decides to become a plot complication.

New series “Girls’ Life” begins with some generic school bullying, but the victim has no intention of rolling over for the mean girls. She continues to apprach Otsu-sempai, even though the evil henchchicks disapprove. Otsu, one of the four protagonists, seems to barely notice anyone’s existance outside her own group, which includes her favorite lap pillow, Nao. When the victim du jour tells off the evil leader, Otsu, Nao and their friends are watching. Otsu offers encouragement, in a lopsidely funny way, the jealous, mean girl goes off in tears and the uncrushed victim heads off, stronger for it all. But the mean chick is determined to continue to love Otsu-sempai and runs off with ideas of shortening her skirt and not learning any lessons from her ordeal. I’m sure we’ll meet the rest of the “Girls’ Life” gang in the next chapters.

Tsukiko-chan is in love with You-chan. Another girl has noticed, but she’s in love with Tsukiko. They end up in bed together, but Tsukiko’s heart is with You-chan. The other girl offers to be a stand-in in this Hakamada Mera story, “Kono Onegai ga Kanau nara” (If this wish were fulfilled.)

And finally, we reach the end of the beloved “Strawberry Shake Sweet.” It begins a year after Ran has disappeared. Julia is almost 18, she’s cut her hair short and she continues to be a successful talent. But she has never once let go of the idea of finding Ran (to Saeki’s eternal irritation. lol) Julia tracks down Ran’s Mom, the Yuriko-lookalike whose phone call was the source of Ran’s dissapearance. Turns out she’s a famous model/actress and she did NOT want Ran in that crazy life, so she’s sent her daughter off to live with her father in the US. Julia pleads with Ran’s mother to “give Ran back!’ going so far as to say that she couldn’t care less if Ran never acted or modelled again – she wants her back in her life. Ran’s mother blows her off. But, one day she learns that Ran is back in Japan and runs off to see her. When she does, Julia threatens to kill her if she doesn’t touch her right NOW. The manga comes to an end with the two of them embracing, and a pithy little comment from Zlay’s ever-present lead singer. I’ve heard some people say that they were dissapointed by this chapter. I thought it was quite good, myself. And to be honest, I anticpate a goofy second epilogue from the collection. This is good love-comedy, with a happily-ever-after and lots of face faults. ^_^

Fujieda Miyabi’s “Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan” follows Haru and Hinoka, as they leave Sarasa and Seriho behind for their intimate chat. They talk about Sarasa’s feelings for Seriho, which prompts Hinoka to ask flat out what Haru thinks of her. Haru says she doesn’t have that kind of interest, but looks mightily put out when Hinoka says that Haru’s not her type – and then gets annoyed that she felt that way. lol

In “Yuri-Yugi” by Chi-Ran, rumor has it that the new transfer student Kotone (who came from a girls school) is weird. The protagonist watches as one of the beautiful guys in school hits on Kotone and is rebuffed. When he and the girls around him accuse her of being a “rezu” she replies by saying yes, she is a lesbian and how dare they be such utter jerks, presuming that they can just have their way with people because they think they can do anything. After telling them off, Kotone takes her leave and the protagonist follows, ultimately taking hold of Kotone’s wrist to stop her from walking away. Timdly she asks if it was all true. It was, Kotone says and yes, she has a lover, she responds when asked. The protagonist can’t figure out why her heart is pounding or why she followed Kotone, but the other girl tells her why – because she has those kinds of feelings too, doesn’t she? In any case, they can becomes friends. And thus the protagonist’s life is changed.

Which brings us to the climactic chapter of “Tokimeki Mononoke Gakuen,” in which Arare has to choose whether her desire for Kiri or her desire to remain human is more important. Arare says that she doesn’t care at all about being a human, or going home ever again, she wants Kiri, dammit. But when they touch each other and it starts to get heavy, Arare tearfully pushes Kiri away and runs off. Kiri says that she probably went too far, apologizing to the absent Arare as it begins to rain….

That takes us the second set of color pages, which give blurbs of anime popular with the Yuri crowd and to about the halfway mark! We’ll stop here, and finish it up tomorrow. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Tori Koro MW-1056

December 8th, 2008

It’s been a *loooooong* time coming, this third (and I think final) volume of Tori Koro. As I am likely to be the only person who purchased the translations of Volume 1 and Volume 2, I would not expect to see it out in English any time soon.  ^_^

Volume 1 set the tone of this story about two high school students who come to stay with a friend of their mother’s, while they attend school. The daughter of the household, Yae, is older than both Makishi and Tatami, but looks significantly younger. Which supplies the fodder for about 1/4 the jokes.

By the second volume, we’ve added a fourth girl, Niwa-chan, a rich classmate who starts out with some significant social retardation but ends up with a huge, barely hidden crush on Yae. In addition to these characters, Yae has a big fat pigeon they call “Nanase” (Yae’s family name,) as a pet and her mother Sachie as, well, her mother. That’s pretty much the cast of characters.

The manga is another slice of life 4-koma (Yen Press…you listening??) manga in which the “adventures” revolve not around school, but around life outside school. Summer doldrums and taking out the right garbage on the right day, shopping and eating, etc, etc. There is no high drama here…in fact there is no drama here at all, just a series of untranslatable puns and really small misunderstandings that allow for “heh” moments of humor. For example, the absolutely side-pounding hilarity of the girls eating all the grapes and forgetting to leave any for mom. Or when Tatami addresses Niwa-chan’s mother with an informal, unprompted and weird nickname.

Niwa-chan provides the Yuri as always and by now, she’s not really even trying to hide it. If Yae was opposed, I’m pretty sure she’d be saying no to snuggling up against her. Not gay, but undoubtedly Yuri. :-)

While I can’t say this book is laugh out loud hysterical, I rarely find 4-koma to be that funny, so it’s not surprising. I was glad to get the final volume of this series even if there’s no real story to be resolved. Basically, I just liked the comic and wanted to read more. ^_^

For them as care, this volume also came with an alternate cover choice, with Yae portrayed as a fox girl.

Ratings:

Art – 4
Story – 5
Characters – 7
Yuri – 4
Fanservice – 3 (with some small weirdness as Niwa-chan’s mother dresses in her school uniform…)

Overall – 6

Even though DrMaster did a bad job on the first two volumes, and even though this one is mostly full of not-particularly funny “jokes,” I’m kind of sad we’ll never see it in English. I’m not entirely sure why. ^_^;

 





Yuri Manga: Hanjuku Joshi, Volume 1

November 26th, 2008

Hanjuku Joshi (Half-baked Woman) is one of two collections of stories that were distributed by Yuri Hime magazine, as part of their cell phone service in Japan. Kinda neat, huh?

You know how it is. Whatever kind of body/hair/face you have, you want something else. And Yae is no different. She’s got a cute, curvaceous, feminine body, and soft, fluffy hair. She likes sewing. She’s as girly as a girl could be – and she hates it. Which is why its so vexing to be told how feminine she is all time. And even more so when tall, athletic, Chitose – who is everything Yae wishes she was, including not at all self-conscious about her body – tells her so.

Yae is still reeling from the difference from her previous co-ed schools in regards to relations between students, so she’s not really ready for the feelings she’s having for Chitose. And she’s totally not ready for Chitose to return them. And, just to make it all that much more awkward and painful, she’s not definitely not up to being teased by Hanashima Mari, the cool, beautiful upperclassman who mocks Yae and Chitose for “playing” at love, calling them “half-baked women”, right before she skips class to hit a hotel with her current beau. When, later that day, they stumble across Mari and their female homeroom teacher in a compromising position in the library, everything gets even more complicated than before.

In the end, the story is about not one, but two love relationships, about healing old wounds and finding one’s self.

On the Yuricon Mailing List, I stated that I thought that this book might well be the most perfect “Yuri” manga I’d ever seen. It’s not really a story of anyone coming out – there is some sense of identity, but not so much that it changes the story to a lesbian one. No, the focus here is on “Yuri,” in the sense of lesbian content, not lesbian identity, a classic school setting and first love…and all that “pure” and “innocent” love stuff that fanboys love so much. (Although, for people who like their Yuri “pure” and “innocent” no one ever seems to object when they end up sleeping together.)

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 9
Yuri – 9
Service – 6

Overall – 9

Hanjuku Joshi was not my absolute favorite collection from this last batch of Yuri Hime manga, but it was very enjoyable. I always enjoy Morishima’s work, and always look forward to the next one.





Yuri Manga: Papaya Gundan, Volume 1

November 20th, 2008

When you think of hostesses at Japanese clubs, the first thing you think of is…what? I’m betting that the characters that make up the “Sweet and Juicy Papaya Girls” of Papaya Gundan aren’t it. ^_^

Club Papaya is run by Hajime. Like most hostess clubs, the girls who work for him use aliases. Chieri, a popular girl with his customers, who happens to have a sex-friend relationship with one of his other girls, Mika. Mika definitely takes it way more seriously than Chieri, though and it’s causing some friction between them.

In the meantime, Hajime has fallen for one of his employees, an attractive, classic beauty who goes by the name Kyouko. Little does the owner know that Kyouko’s true passion is writing Boys’ Love doujinshi.

And then there’s Mariko who sort of adopts a younger guy she meets on the street. The next thing we know they are involved, and things are just getting plain weird between them.

The stories stand alone, but they don’t live alone – each intertwines with the other, and at least for this volume, the story of Chieri and Mika takes the lead spot.

It turns out that Mika knows Ryuu, Mariko’s adoptee boyfriend, from previous years of dancing practice. Of course when Chieri and Mariko learn about this – they want to see them dance. (Seriously – if it was your lover, wouldn’t you want to, too?) The surprise is on them when they learn that by “dance,” they meant “ballet” – and they are both damn good, as it turns out. After they finish their dance, Ryuu runs up to Mariko and confesses that he loves her, loudly, awkwardly and adorably sincerely.

In the mean time, Hajime pursues Kyouko, and upon learning that she’s called in sick, rushes over to pay her a visit with flowers and food. She’s actually called in sick to write her next doujinshi, but she can’t bring herself to tell him the truth. Nonetheless Hajime earns props, because indulgence goes a long way with winning a woman over. ^_^

One of the biggest points of contention between Chieri and Mika is the truth. Mika won’t give Chieri her real name, or tell her where she lives. One early spring day, Mika asks Chieri to meet her in town before work. Chieri is a little surprised to see Mika approach wearing a school uniform. She asks what the deal is, and is even more surprised to learn that Mika, whose real name is Kurara (oh, god, so cute! thinks Chieri) has just graduated from high school. The reason Mika never said where she lived was, because, when she turned 18 she ran away from home and is living with her brother Hajime, the club owner. Chieri forgives the deception, and takes Mika to a hotel to have a dirty weekend.

This volume wraps up with Kyouko coming in to work with a slapmark on her face, the result of her boyfriend stating that it’s either him or the doujinshi. When he comes to the club to beg her forgiveness and ask her to marry him, she responds with a chokehold of foul language and a piledriver of a middle finger. Hajime, mister cool, jumps right in to ask her to go out with him. ^_^ You really gotta love him.

This was the third of the three manga I recently purchased which surprised me by not sucking. It’s published by Fx Comics, the same company that publishes Aoi Hana, so it probably runs in a magazine for guys, but there’s a decidedly josei feel about it in art and content. If you’re looking for a josei-style story in which the women do *not* put up with abusive and assholish behavior from men, and in which the girl gets the girl to boot, you might want to give Papaya Gundan a chance. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. :-)

Ratings:

Art – 4 (I cannot stand the sex-doll lips style of josei)
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 9
Service – 4

Overall – 8

It’s, like, for grownups. About grownups. Kinda weird, huh?





Yuri Manga: Choir!, Volume 1

November 10th, 2008

Choir! was one of the manga I picked up last month that, despite my best efforts, I found I did not hate.  ^_^;

The color art on the back cover and inside really pushed my ability to tolerate and, in fact, upon revisiting this manga, I find myself repusled all over again by them. However, the manga itself is nothing at all like the color art, for which I am immensely grateful. So, should you be looking for a loli/moe school girl story about cat-ear girls, you will be disappointed by Choir!.

Choir! is a 4-koma style comic that runs in Comic Ryuu – the same magazine that gave us Nemurubaka – and is not unlike the many other 4-koma series about school girls published in magazines for men. Like Rakka Ryuusui or Tori Koro or Hidamari Sketch, 4-koma comics focus on situations that allow for wacky misinterpretation, or one cracked character saying a thing that is funny. Insert trombone, penny whistle, clown horn or kooky noise of your choice. ^_^

The premise of Choir!, such as it is, is about “Fashionable otaku girl” Mawata (a reference that made me laugh) and her friends in their day-to-day fun school lives. Because Mawara is an otaku, she does spend some time wearing cat accoutrement, and we get the inevitable Comiket chapter, as well as other typical otaku and school interests. And, of course, maid outfits.

For the purpsoses of art, Mawata is not above kissing another girl. But she’s not really the Yuri character in the series. The cover characters, Mawata’s friends, Shousei and extra moe Mayuko are. Shousei’s interest in Mayuko is evident fairly early on, and it appears that Mayuko, for all her protestations of innocence and disinterest, is being more a tease than anything. Mayuko appears to find it amusing to string Shousei along, then push her away. (Run, Shousei, run! Don’t do it!) However, in a massive reversal of all that is manga, Mayuko *admits* to jerking Shousei around and at the end of the volume is absolutely, totally Shousei’s girlfriend. Not what I expected, certainly.

There is a fair helping of service in this story. Bathing, dress up, Yuri, cat ears, general otaku drooling at their particular fetish and the like. This is another 4-koma that, should an American publisher pick up, the average creepy guy in the corner would probably like. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 4 to *me*. If you like moe-ified high schoolers, then maybe a 7 to you.
Story – 6 It’s situation comedy.
Characters – 6 Like most 4-koma, the characters have the depth of one or two gags
Yuri – 7
Service – 7

Overall – 7

Not at all what I expected. I’m not displeased to have taken a chance on Choir!.