Bakumatsu Joshikousei – Oni to Yoake, Volume 2 (幕末女子高生 鬼と夜明け　二)

April 11th, 2025

Two girls in sailor-style Japanese school uniforms, with black hair and intense, but smiling looks at one another, cross swords.Welcome to the wrongest way to read a series, part 3. ^_^ This series began in 2023, when I was wooed by the repeated appearance of girls with swords on book covers at Japanese bookstores and eventually picked up Volume 2 of one series and Volume 1 of the spin-off. I naturally began with the Volume 1, which was the Volume 1 of a 2-part spin-off of a 3-volume series. Oni to Yoake Yuzuikyo (鬼と夜明け 夕月夜) had me up all night reading about the Bakumatsu, the civil war at the end of the Edo period in which the Shinsengumi “patriots”, supporting the Shogunate, fought the pro-Imperial Shishi “rebels”. The more I read, the more I was convinced that both sides were awful. But, as we are reading about the souls of these shitty people reborn into the bodies of high school girls and playing out the factionism and fighting on the scale of high school kendo matches and hallway bickerings, it’s no less confusing to me, but much more interesting. ^_^ Interesting enough that I picked up Bakumatsu Joshikousei – Oni to Yoake, Volume 1 (幕末女子高生 鬼と夜明け　一) to figure out what was going on.

And, here, at last, Bakumatsu Joshikousei – Oni to Yoake, Volume 2 (幕末女子高生 鬼と夜明け　二) I kind of understand. ^_^ Quite irritatingly, the beginning of the book this time was better at explaining where we are in all this, so all that work I put in previous volumes was summed up in cliff note fashion. Sakomoto (who holds the soul of Sakamato Ryouma) and Hijikata (with the soul of Hijikata Toshizou) are still in love, but the rules of the school are firm – to avoid faction fighting, no relationships are allowed. However, with each regional clan in charge of different committees in school, factions still jockey for power and then…

Yoshida-sensei (who carries the soul of Yoshida Touyou) is brutally attacked by someone at night in the library. A letter is left that states this is “divine punishment” for the school, but no one claims the act. Yoshida-sensei is technically a  Choshuu domain member, but is beloved by the students and the attack sets everyone on edge, especially Takasugi (the bearer of the soul Takasugi Shinsaku), who is, frankly devastated by the act. 

Hijikata has the nagging sensation that they all are being pushed towards the Ikedaya Incident (CW: Some serious shit went down, torture and violence, so maybe only read it if you really want to know). These souls have been through this again and again and they are tired of it. Hijikata approaches Takasugi and asks, simply, if she wants to change this school. I have never been invested in a story of the Bakamatsu as much as I am now that they are going break this stupid cycle. (See my complaints that Kairo did not destroy the Aikata System with prejudice in Galette magazine.)

This series was massively popular on Twitter and Pixiv with Japanese fans and was nominated for Pixiv web manga awards, but missed the international acclaim of other series, presumably because westerners know nothing about the Bakumatsu unless they played one of the several games with related content. But I do like Ikuta Hana’s art and her commitment to the bit. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – Now that the real Bakumatsu rears it’s very ugly head, 7
Characters – 8
Service – Not really
Yuri – 5

Overall – 8

For American readers, imagine a story where Ulysses S. Grant and his generals and Robert. E. Lee and his, are all high school girls and the battle is still real, but they are in love with one another. ^_^;

You can read the comic for free in Japanese on the Michikusa Comics page or on Pixiv. Keep Wikipedia open while you do. ^_^

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If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, Volume 5

April 10th, 2025

7 young women dressed in cute clothes with purple skirts, different blouses and accessories pose on the cover, looking at us, as if doing a photo op.In If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, Volume 5, the members of Cham Jam make it to Tokyo. And, while they do not get to perform at the Budokan…or even the other, smaller, Budokan…they are filled with a renewed sense of purpose and gain some new fans.

Eripyo is glad the group has new fans, she is no longer Maina’s only fan…but that puts her in awkward place. Yay, Maina is more popular!, but Eri’s not her one and only any more. Of course, yes, she is and Maina has eyes for no one else. Even though they manage to have an almost normal conversation over a handshake, neither Maina nor Eripyo manage to sake anything of importance, leaving everything they want to say hanging. As always.

It has been six years, *six* years, since I read this book in Japanese. And yet, the sense of desperation and obsession clings to me, still. So when I picked up this volume, I sat down to it much as one does to a meal of leftovers that were just alright the first time and won’t be better now. ^_^; Of course, I know what we’re in for and want to warn you that the next few volumes are just going to double, triple and quadruple down on Eripyo and Maina just not being able to communicate and Volume 7 is, enraging, because it is *almost an excellent volume.* And then, once out of the well*, the story starts to get better somehow.

But as I read this volume, my words from 6 years ago come back to haunt me. “The more I read this story, the more I desperately hope it’s meant to be a cutting commentary on the utterly brutal idol industry, and the equally brutal hobby of being an idol group otaku. Otherwise, it fills me with despair. (Yeah, I know, I know, I keep bringing it on myself.) The idea that this manga is getting an anime is already annoying, but it will probably be meant to be a comedy and I will just want the world to burn.” As we know, to make it a comedy, the anime removed much of the worst parts of the manga to leave us feeling as it was actually a comedy. So if you watched the anime and came to manga from that…the next few volumes are gonna be rough, I’m sorry.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – There is one, yes
Character – 8
Service – 1
Yuri – 3 I was convince when I read this the first time that there was another couple among the members of Cham Jam, I know now that, yes, there is.

Overall – 7

I’ll end with another quote from that review 6 years ago, ““Their eyes meet, they have a conversation, no plants fall and Eri doesn’t end up injured. They are practically married.”

*Many ages ago my father told me of a story in which a person was stuck in a well, with no way to get out, at which point the next chapter began, “Once out of the well…”. This parable reminds us that there is lazy writing and there is lazy writing.

 

Posted in English Manga, Hirao Auri, Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »


Otherside Picnic, Volume 12

April 9th, 2025

Two women hold hands, looking at each other as they jog forward out of the book cover frame.by Sandy Ferguson, Guest Reviewer

Otherside Picnic manga, Volume 12 concludes “The Whisper Is At-Your-Own-Risk” then launches into “About That Rush” concluding with Kozakura’s rebuttal, “Flashback To That Night”.

Another intense read, from gripping action, troubling revelations and a trip to the Otherside where Furth Kind idol Runa will discover the consequences of meeting your idol.

And then there is Toriko’s declaration of her feelings for Sorawo. The conclusion to “The Whisper Is At Your-Own-Risk” is exhausting and satisfying, there are a lot of moving parts and the artwork makes sure that you will be shocked. And then the “About That Rush” gives us a guided tour of The Mountain Ranch, the place created by Runa’s fan club to be a conduit to the Otherside.

So safe to say, there is a lot going on in this volume.

I have often explored Otherside Picnic as an exploration of trauma, of how victims try to navigate the legacy of their trauma. This volume is certainly in this case as Sorawo struggles with a critical question, can Sorawo deal with the fact that other people care for her? And that other people are even willing to risk their lives for her? This is a profound challenge for Sorawo as we are reminded that she was a victim of her own family who tried to destroy her.

So, as well as intense action, there are some intense emotions floating around.

And then to add to the pile, Sorawo also is forced to deal with the consequences of hiding stuff from people she is learning to care about, the stuff they desperately want to know. She fears the consequences of her actions, but eventually also takes ownership of them when the truth is revealed. This leads to Sorawo being confronted with a new situation, people will not abandon her.They may be mad at her but are willing to stick around to try and figure out what the hell is going on with Sorawo, because despite what Sorawo might think about herself, she is worth their care. Cue more angst from Sorawo, after all she is still figuring out what it means to care about other people and that sounds like too much work! Especially in the middle of a crisis.

And it is not just Sorawo who is going through an emotional wringer here. We see Toriko beginning to deal with her own trauma as she is confronted with a dose of reality about the gap between the Satsuki she yearns for, and what Satsuki has become.

And there are her feelings for Sorawo.

Sorawo and Torino’s relationship has mediated through the Otherside is one of a messy rebirth of 2 wounded people learning to care for themselves, one another and other people, something that is heavily illustrated in this volume.

After the intensity of the conclusion of “The Whisper Is At-Your-Own-Risk,” with an interlude where Kozakura hosts the Otherside after party we begin “About That Rush,” which focuses on the messy aftermath of the clean-up of the Farm created by Runa’s cult. There we meet a new group, Torchlight, a security group that participates in this operation. Then we are treated to an idyllic moment in the last chapter as Sorawo and Toriko explore the new possibilities of the Otherside and their growing relationship.

And then everything shifts, and we are given a heads-up that in future volumes Sorawo is going to be facing some unfinished business from her past.

In “Flashback To That Night” Kozakura provides her perspective on the events of “The Whisper Is At-Your-Own-Risk,” as she reflects on the actions of Sorawo and Toriko, and the encounter of what Satsuki has become. Kozakura gives us a glimpse of the gap between the Otherside Satsuki, and the Satsuki she knew.

Ratings:

Story– 9
Artwork– 9 The artwork is intense and vivid, something I learned while enjoying a coffee and a donut, as I followed the confrontation in the Otherside.
Character– 9, there is a lot going on with both Sorawo and Toriko in this volume.
Service– 9
Yuri – Toriko is a 10, Sorawo has some catching up to do, maybe a 8?

Overall – 9

Volume 13 is headed our way in November.

Posted in English Manga, Guest Review, Otherside Picnic, Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »


Her Kiss, My Libido Twinkles, Volume 2

April 7th, 2025

In tones of yellow, a girl with long hair, hr mouth open, leans into a girl with shorter hair, as the shorter girl pulls away. It is always fascinating to me to read a collected volume of work I have previously seen as serialized. The story seems so familar, of course, because I have already read it, but also seems very new, as if I am seeing it for the first time.

After a huge debut Kickstarter, Yorita Miyuki’s first volume of Her Kiss, My Libido Twinkles came out last year. Following that, she ran a Kickstarter for volume 2, which was even more successful, coming in at a whopping 770% funded. I reviewed Volume 1 as  part of a two-part Kickstarter review. Today I’m going to take a look at Volume 2. Although I have the Japanese volume, I apparently never got around to reviewing it. It’s not that surprising, as there is so much Yuri these days that keeping up with everything in Japanese is now impossible. ^_^ But since this arrived at my door in English, I thought I’d take a moment to talk about it.

The cover of Her Kiss, My Libido Twinkles, Volume 2, shows Sana and Akane in yet another position that establishes Akane as an aggressor…a theme carried through this volume. Having established in Volume 1, that Akane is some kinds of “broken” – ill, without family, friends and with a tendency to romantically and sexually press her dominance over Sana, without making space for feelings or conversations, wec ome to a Voume 2 where both girls are trying to reframe their relationship to fit their own needs.

Sana struggles to understand Akane who, until the end of the book seems as if she has no interest in being understood. In the final story, we see Akane take a leap to meet Sana where she is, even at the cost of some embarrassment. It is this Akane that we think might work for Sana as a girlfriend. 

What helps is a chapter in the middle from the perspective of Sana’s friend Mi-chan. Cut out of being Sana’s intimate friendship, Mi-chan struggles with jealousy, only to find at the end that she actually admires Sana and Akane as a couple, although she had no idea. Once she makes the attempt to befriend Akane, the other girl starts to warm up a bit. Socialization is very good for our unsocialized Akane.

The technicals on this volume are excellent. BPS Co, Ltd did a bang-up job on the translation and  lettering, with full retouch of the sound/fx. The paper is pleasantly thick – unusually so in these days were paper is almost miraculously thin. And the French fold on the cover always looks and feel nice.

It is nice to see such a good-looking book as a reward for a Kickstarter. The book came with an advert for an upcoming kickstarter to fund the upcoming live-action series. It will be quite interesting to see how that goes!

Ratings:

Overall – 8

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Manga: A New History of Japanese Comics

April 6th, 2025
Deep blue book cover, with a circle of brightness highlighting a classic manga baseball pitcher in mid-pitch.

Version 1.0.0

One of the best things that happens when one steps past “fandom” as an interest to “research” of that interest, is that one meets a community of people who are passionately analyzing, criticizing and rewriting the histories of those interests. The academic and independent anime, manga and comics (and larger pop culture) studies community has been one of the most welcoming group of people I have ever encountered. It has been possible for me to meet and correspond with some amazing minds from whom I have learned more than I could ever imagine. And, when I wrote my own book, their acceptance was heart-warming. So, as often as is possible, I like to return that favor and review a book you should definitely know about and read.

In 2022, it was a pleasure to read such a book,  Comics and the Origins of Manga: A Revisionist History, by Eike Exner, in which Exner painstakingly fills in the  gaps in most histories of manga from Edo-period sketches <time jump> to  manga. To quote that review, “Exner focuses on is the shift from extradiagetic narrative, i.e., blocks of text – often literally- outside the story that explain the story, to transdiagetic narrative tools like dialogue in speech balloons and sounds that both we and the characters in the story experience .”

In Manga: A New History of Japanese Comics, Exner builds a more complete history of manga from the perspective of what was happening with comic strips, then comic books, in Japan, to what we broadly categorize as “manga.” In chronological sections, the book peels away some of the accepted narrative that manga existed in it’s own uniquely Japanese vertical and was influenced only by previous Japanese art. Every section confronts an orthodoxy of thought about the creation, influences of and global spread of the manga phenomenon.

And this last piece is the main weakness of this book. I am friendly with Eike and have seen some of his struggles against these orthodoxies. I’m outside academia, so my support is relatively inconsequential, but I do support his work. Because he so clearly has struggled against being dismissed by the establishment in manga studies ( and, I presume,  Japanese cultural exceptionalism) the tone in this book is sometimes aggressive, almost angry. When arguing against strongly held, but disprovable, conceptions that are deeply entrenched in manga studies, I absolutely understand. When that same dismissive aggression gets turned upon fandom, it does feel a bit gatekeepy. Thankfully, that tone dies off quickly in the second half of the book, when he’s past much of the hidebound thinking about the creation of “manga,” (i.e., post-Tezuka).

There was so much information in this book, from the ongoing influence of western comics that has now become a dialogue between manga and comics worldwide – something I am also writing about right now for a project – to the continuds, ongoing influence of many creators and editors beyond the best-known names. I came away from this book having learned so much that I already know I’ll need to re-read this book and cement much of it in y mind. I’ve already used it as a reference in pieces for two other books and it’s not even out yet! ^_^

For a fresh, well-researched look at the history of manga, I highly recommend Manga: A New History of Japanese Comics by Eike Exner.

Ratings:

Overall -9

Many thanks to Yale Press for a review copy and a request for  blurb. I hope that will be on the book itself. ^_^

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