Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime S, Part 2

July 3rd, 2007

The second half of Yuri Hime “S” is as variable as the first. What was good was really pretty good, and what was bad was exhaustingly tedious.

“Interface” by Kurogane Kenn (Shoujo Sect) was unexpected in every conceivable way. The story begins with a girl walking in on another girl drawing a stick figure on the chalkboard in a classroom. When the first girl asks “who is it?” the second replies, “There’s no one inside.” But she touches it with a blown glass heart pendant then says that the pendant is her. (Not “hers” – “her.”) She gives the first girl the pendant, then runs off and quite literally disappears. The girl (who remains nameless throughout) tries to find the girl who gave her the pendant, but is unsuccessful. She’s directed towards Kitamoto-sensei, who runs the handicrafts club, in which they might have blown glass. But Kitamoto-sensei is not only unhelpful, she’s downright rude. The girl says that she’ll come back later and ask, but the teacher just says that she’s not promising to help…which is rather odd, when the question is just “do you know whose this is?” Girl waits for the teacher, who turns out to be out the next day, and waits every day for a whole month for Kitamoto-sensei to return to school. When Kitamoto sees her waiting, she asks if the girl wants to meet the girl who gave her the pendant. The girl says yes, and they get into the teacher’s car and drive….to a cemetery. Ena, the girl who gave her the pendant, died after a protracted illness. She and Kitamoto were lovers, which explains why the teacher was so rude when she realized that Ena gave someone else the pendant. The girl suggests that by giving her the pendant, Ena is now inside her, and the story ends with all sorts of possibilities.

I can’t tell you how much I liked this story. It was original, the art was clean and Kurogane drew the adults to look like adults. It was just plain old good in every direction. Hands down, the best in the book.

This was followed immediately by a new original work by Fujieda Miyabi (Iono-sama Fanatics) called “Otome-iro Stay Tune.” Hinako and Arise work together on a radio talk show. Arise has a raging crush on Hinako, which Hinako brushes off through a variety of implausible mental gymnastics. But to thank Hina for her guidance, Arise is about to go home with her and make her some dinner…to be continued. This story was so short it felt like half a chapter. I wish the other half had been included. Much the same way the most recent “Ameiro Koucha Kandan” chapter in Yuri Hime 8 felt sort of half done. I think Fujieda’s just running out of time between all his projects.

Next up was the totally crack-tastic “Gretel” by Sudoo Kaoro (Onegai Suzune-chan). I recognized the art style immediately, which was weird because about all Sudoo is known for is pretty obscure hentai…it just happens that I own – and like – Onegai Suzune-chan. LOL Mikoshima Yuu is ecstatic to be entering into a all-girl world at St. Millefeuille Gakuen. Mariya is annoyed that she’s been assigned to show the newbie around (and she’s also the resident panty-shot recipient, for no particular reason that I can see.) But Nagi volunteers to escort her – in fact, she’s positive frantic to do so, and immediately starts to court Yuu, who is thrown off her stride when she’s so openly being pursued by a beautiful girl. But she gets used to it pretty fast, and succumbs shortly thereafter. As they kiss, a loud alarm makes them jump – okay, now hold on, because this story gets pretty weird, pretty fast – the school has been invaded/infested with “Formika,” creatures that feast on sugar and are therefore the enemies of young women everywhere. Got that? Everyone is running around like crazy; theteacher suddenly develops a GothLoli younger sister who clearly speaks in a monotone and who is tied into the school systems; Formika defense is on. Hashimoto-sensei enters the control room where an engineer-y type touch chick gives her the lowdown on the situation and the GothLoli girl monitors everything. In the meantime, Yuu’s beautiful maiden’s garden has blown up in her face and she’s sort of standing there in shock. When a gigantic Formika tears through a wall and heads towards her, she thrusts her hands in front of her and blasts it unconscious! Everyone, including Mariya of the panties, reacts with shock! Except the Teacher and the Smoking Engineer Woman who just look pleased with themselves. Mariya tells Yuu that she has “Gigantus Force” to which Yuu reasonably replies “huh?” and Nagi runs up happily to tell Yuu that she has it too! Yay! They both have “Obu” – to which Yuu reasonably replies, “Obu?” To be continued…obviously. This story was simply bizarre, so of course, I liked it. ^_^

“Apple Day Dream” is, like its Yuri Hime counterpart, primarily concerned with Kaoru’s breast obsession. In this case, because it’s summer she wants to see Mayu in a bikini. This is one of these stories in which my “Good” rule come into play. If Kauro were a guy, he’d be a boring perv. As a girl, Kaoru is a boring perv. I’m so not into this series. The art is nice, but there’s no anything – no plot, no character development, no humor – unless a girl endlessly obsessing about breasts is, in your mind, endlessly hysterical.

“Itoshii no Maid-sama” by Hakamada Mera (Saigo no Seifuku) was barely readable to me. The carnival-head art was compounded by the main character being drawn to look and be the size of a five-year old. The sight of her sexually molesting her sempai just…nope. DO NOT WANT. The story? Creepy chibi Eri wants pretty Kyouko and whines and clings until she gets her. Bleah. I didn’t even think it was possible to like Hakamada less than I did already, but yup, it’s possible.

In “Flower Flower” by Iwami Shouko (Suzunari!) Princess Nina has been sent to a foreign country to marry the prince only, she’d prefer the princess instead. Shuurei’s not sure about this – especially when Nina turns out to be more than a little cruel and sadistic. When Shuurei shows Nina kindness, Nina breaks down in her arms. The story ends with Nina being difficult again, but there should be a continuation, so we and Shuurei can enjoy more passive-aggressiveness and abuse.

Yuzuha Seiro’s story, with a title I haven’t translated and am too lazy to look up is a servant/ rich girl story with a sad ending. The art is very pretty, but the story isn’t a happy one. Suzuka-ojousama and Kotone are in love, but Suzuka has to be married to the man her family chose. Suzuka leaves Kotone a note and hopefully will not forget her true love.

The final story is all-color “Cassiopeia Dolce” by Takagi Nobuyuki(Kokoro Library.) It ought to be popular with those readers who liked Kokoro Library – you know, the kind of people who like cupid-faced girls of undetermined age dressed up as maids for no reason in an all-girl’s word that has no explanation. There’s a kiss or two and some light nudity, because of course when women all get together, we all wear our lingerie or maid outfits and eat bon-bons and try to kiss one another. It’s a compulsive behavior. In this case the maids all compete for the affection of their mistress, who seems to be on laudanum. I recognized both the art and the service. You can have both. I’ll stick with some of the earlier stories, thanks. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 7

I’ll say it again, it wasn’t all stuff I liked, but I liked way more than expected. If it keeps the hideous service to a minimum, I’ll be pleased. If it starts adding more maid costumes and panty shots and having less original ideas, I’ll drop it and save my money for better.

 





Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime S, Part 1

July 2nd, 2007

It was with a large measure of trepidation that I picked up my copy of the first issue of Yuri Hime “S”, the newest quarterly Yuri manga magazine from Ichijinsha, and the sister (maybe that should be “brother”) publication to Yuri Hime which has now been around for two years.

Based on the names of the artists alone, it seemed that the woman-centric focus of Yuri Hime was being tossed to the wind in favor of the (admittedly larger and more lucrative) FanBoy audience. I feared that the inagural issue would be filled with the usual crap that we’re (that is, women) forced to endure when the audience is guys. You know what I mean; oversized breasts in bras that offer no, or unrealistic, support, grotesque bodies, underage girls and those ever-present panty shots. My expectation was that the original mission – “Let’s do a Yuri mangazine with stories geared towards a female audience” had been changed to that of a “Let’s do a Yuri magazine with stories geared towards a male audience.”

Having read through the first volume once, I’m pleased to report that it seems much more like the prevailing thought was “Let’s have artists known for drawing Yuri for a male audience do Yuri for a female one.” Yes, there is a little service, but not too much more than any given issue of Yuri Hime. Which is not to say that I liked *everything* in the book. But I liked a lot more than I expected – and was less irritated/grossed out than I assumed I’d be. My favorite story of the magazine totally surprised the heck out of me. :-)

The cover art was drawn by Tsubaki Asu, whose story “Honey Crush” was better than I expected, based on the cover art alone.

The magazine opens with a color poster by Oshima Towa, creator of High School Girls. If you’re familiar with the characters from that series, you’ll probably think that these two girls look awfully like Ogawa and Himeji. :-)

Before the first main story we have a few pages of yuri-themed game info (SoulPhage, AoiShiro, Simoun) and a really odd one-page comic in which murderous intent is thwarted by an unexpected kiss… O_o

The first story, “Minus Literacy,” by Miyashita Miki (Maburaho) is a story of a rich kid, Matsudaira Yasumi, her maid Miharu, and a random class representative who is drawn into the melee of the rich kid’s drama. Yasumi’s family has left her a big debt and no money. After lots of screaming at the bank guys, the three girls head off to find work to pay off the debt. Miharu is the hero of the day as she manages to get a hold of a lot of money – but collapses with the effort? (I’ll be honest, twice through this story and the end still wasn’t clear to me.) It feels like it might continue, because while Miharu’s dedication to Yasumi, and Yasumi’s deep friendship, affection and indebtedness to Miharu were apparent, it wasn’t anything like anything I’d call “Yuri.”

“Honey Crush”, by Tsubaki Asu (He is my Master) was much funnier than expected. Mitsu is in love with Madoka, who doesn’t even know she exists. Mitsu’s pretty happy stalking Madoka, but is a little careless about it and, one day, she’s hit by a truck and killed. But now she can REALLY stalk Madoka – and drive away all the boys – and girls – that show any special interest in her. Woo-hoo! Plus she gets to be there when Madoka changes clothes and bathes, etc. etc. Mitsu’s pretty happy with the deal. Then transfer student Kyouko shows up, declaring that when they were kids, Madoka and she had promised to marry one another. Mitsu tries her best to scare Kyouko off, but Kyouko is actually able to see Mitsu and isn’t about to be budged. The best moment of the story comes when Kyouko asks Madoka if she ever liked a girl at her former school. Madoka has no clue what she’s talking about, of course. Kyouko writes “she didn’t even know you existed” on paper and triumphantly holds it up in Mitsu’s direction. It was a really funny scene, trust me. The two have it out which ends up with Kyouko comforting Mitsu, since it’s not easy to just stop liking someone, but Madoka makes it all moot when she shows up with a boyfriend. Bwha~wha~whaaaa~

“Fortune Ring” by Kashiwabara Mami (Sora no Manimani, but also a former Yuri Tengoku contributor) is a bittersweet story that has very pleasant art. Bracelets that one wears to declare one’s love for someone is all the rage at school. Maki has one, but she’s hiding it. Maki met Hirasaka-sempai when a teacher began to bully her because of her light colored hair. Sempai lied and said that she was on the swim team with her – the chlorine in the pool had bleached her hair. To lend verisimilitude to the lie, Sempai suggested she join the team, which Maki did. When Maki’s bracelet is discovered, Hirasaka-sempai ties it on her wrist. Maki’s feelings are all confused – worsened by the fact that she sees sempai with a bracelet of her own. Hirasaka-sempai encourages Maki to cut the “fortune ring” and break free. She shows her own unnecumbered wrist, then leaves. That night Maki cuts the bracelet, and returns to school only to see Sempai with a bracelet on her wrist again. Freed from her burden, Maki leaves both swim team and her first love behind.

“Poem ni Kaeshite” by Araki Kanao (Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru) has art that left me pretty cold. The main character, Mayu, is drawn in a way that I find irksome. Sort of the “cute little runt” style without the cute. In any case, Mayu is a sensitive type who falls in love with Ageha. After a little light stalking, they become a couple. If Mayu looked like an actual human being I might have liked the story. But she looked like a bug to me and I kept wanting to squash it.

“Suika,” by Yoshitomi Akihito (Blue Drop)) has the artist’s very recognizable style – very draftsman-like, expecially compared with the previous story. Last summer, Rin-chan and Sa-chan were suppsoed to have been studying, but they ended up spending all their time together eating wayyyy too much watermelon. Sa-chan has a weird watermelon obsession – she even says that what she’d *like* to do is bathe in watermelon, which grosses Rin-chan out a bit. Now, a year has passed and Rin shows up, with watermelon, of course, to a warm welcoming kiss from Sa-chan – and to a pool full of watermelon. Yes, they bathe in it. ^_^;

Oh goody! “Misuzu to Nanami” has followed us to this book! How wonderful. The gags this time deal with a mysterious fortuneteller (who is Ichijou-sempai, so not really mysterious) and sharp knives. Ah, this four-panel comic is always my favorite….

I’m going to leave off here, because the next story *is* my favorite and I want to start the next post off with it, because I think it will surprise you. :-)

Let me conclude this entry with this: while not every story was to my personal taste (I have that bizarre fetish of liking my humans to look human, and like adults, freak that I am) but, given the other series done by the above authors, I was mightily impressed. Considering the depth of loathing I feel for, say, He is My Master it absolutely floored me that I liked “Honey Crush” so much. I’m glad to learn that these folks can do stuff that doesn’t make my lips peel back in disgust. I concede defeat and promise to never judge a mangaka by one series again. ^_^





Yuri Manga: High School Girls, Volume 8 (English)

June 30th, 2007

Once again, it is my great pleasure to welcome Guest reviewer Sean Gaffney!

Dr Master has just put out Volume 8 of High School Girls, and it’s pretty much more of the same wackiness. If, like me, you read this to look at Towa Oshima’s wonderful facial expressions, you won’t be disappointed. Eriko, in particular, gets to express disgust, dismay, and embarrassment in a variety of amusingly drawn ways.

This volume continues the class trip to Okinawa, and Chapter 1 involves Eriko and Kouda attempting to bond with the Takarazuka pair, Nao and Sayaka, and failing miserably. Kouda is just too much of a giant freak all the time, and every time that Eriko tries to be friendly, Kouda interrupts with a new horror.

This continues throughout the book, and eventually they do get to know a little more about the pair. In fact, Nao and Sayaka have the only thing remotely approaching plot development here, as we discover that Sayaka has a secret that she’s hiding from her classmates. Once again, Towa’s expansion of the cast works well, as we get to know people beyond just the main six.

The manga has about the final third devoted to three short stories. The first has Momoko once again trying to give the girls beauty tips, with the usual results. In the second, Ayano discovers that her sister is dating Kouda’s brother, much to her horror. And in the last (and best), Eriko and her brother try to find various ways to beat the heat, and Eriko remains completely oblivious to the fact that her brother’s hit puberty by now so she shouldn’t be bathing with him anymore.

The main reason to get this, of course, is for the comedy. There is Yuri, yes, but it’s Yuri played for laughs. Nao and Sayaka sleep in the same bed, and Nao even scrubs Sayaka’s body with her hands in the bath (her skin is very sensitive, you see). Nao and Sayaka keep saying ‘please don’t misunderstand’, just to keep it vague enough for Japanese editors, but as Yuma notes, ‘It’s pretty clear what they’ve got going on there.’

We also get Kouda once again getting Eriko in compromising positions, and Yuma and Ayano acting far too close for comfort. Provided you don’t demand, you know, actual follow through in your Yuri, there’s plenty here for you.

There’s also tons of comedy, ranging from the usual embarrassment of periods and tampons to metatextual humor that breaks the fourth wall. At one point the gang are on an island trying to hunt wild animals, and Eriko tries to draw it for them. She can’t draw, so it’s basically a kid’s scribble. Lo and behold, they immediately catch a creature that looks, literally, exactly like the scribble. As Eriko notes, “This is turning into a different kind of manga…”

As for how Dr. Master did things… well, it’s still sort of schizophrenic. On the plus side, the cover is well done, the color pages are fantastic, and the reproduction is miles ahead of the earlier volumes. As for the adaptation…geh. When they don’t have to try to do Japanese culture, it’s a sturdy, well-written adaptation. When they do, either they translate it straight and don’t bother to note the joke, or they change it to an English variant that tends to jar horribly (Diff’rent Strokes references? In 2007? COME ON.) On the bright side, there’s fewer Japanese culture refs as the manga goes on, so things do improve.

Ratings:

Art: 8. Towa’s expressions get better and better, and even her SD-shorthand poses are funny.
Story: 5. There’s really no plot here at all, with the exception of finding out
Sayaka has a mysterious secret.
Characters: 7. Himeji and Ogawa are almost totally absent this volume-again – but the rest are fun and entertaining.
Yuri: 6. It’s quite a high rating for something where it’s all tease, but the tease is *so* blatant I moved it up a notch.
Service: 6. Again, I suspect any perverts who try to read this will be put off by the constant mentions of tampons, periods, and various other ‘female problems’. That said, this is fanservice-y as heck.

Overall: 7.

This is a fairly light and fluffy volume, but again, you aren’t reading this manga for the deep meaning or tragic backstory. If you like Japanese high school girls being weird, strange, and bizarre, and don’t mind a healthy dollop of service, then you’ll enjoy this.

Thanks so much Sean – my copy’s on its way and I’m looking forward to it even more. ^_^

And while I’m thinking about it – if you, dear reader, have ever wanted to try your hand at reviewing a Yuri Anime or Manga, especially one I won’t/can’t/haven’t covered, feel free to contact me and we can talk. There’s only so much time in the day and I appreciate a break once in a while. Consider your email your audition – it has to be well-written, grammatically correct, good spelling and it helps if you’re funny, too. lol

Here’s an idea. I have no intention of covering Hitohira, because I think that it’s stoopid. Send me a review of Hitohira and the best one gets posted. ^_^ Use the format I use in my reviews, with ratings at the bottom. I look forward to seeing what comes in! ^_^





Seven Seas licenses Yuri Manga "Hatsukoi Shimai" and "Voiceful"

June 30th, 2007

Anime Expo opened this weekend and Seven Seas was right out of the gate with a bunch of new announcements, including Yuri manga titles Voiceful and First Love Sisters (known here as Hatuskoi Shimai) from Ichijinsha.

I’m very pleased that 7S picked up these titles, I feel confident that they will do the very best job that can be done on the translation and adaptation.

For those who are interested in these titles, here are my reviews of the collected series:

Hatsukoi Shimai 1 and Hatsukoi Shimai 2


Voiceful

Now that they’ve picked up Ichijinsha titles, hopefully we can look forward to Strawberry Shake Sweet, Simoun and “Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majyo to in the future, along with the rest of the Yuri Shimai/Yuri Hime line up. :-)

Congrats Seven Seas – Yuri fandom is looking forward to the translations. :-)





Yuri Manga: Applause, Volume 1

June 25th, 2007

This is a title that has been on my “meaning to read” list for *ever*. Last month, completely by coincidence, as I was leaving that haven for used, obscure and hard-to-find manga, Book-Off, the title caught my eye from a shelf I never look at. Lo and behold! They had the complete set in reprint. So today’s review is dedicated to Wendy, who kept ragging on me to read it.

And here we are, at the first volume of classic Yuri manga Applause by Ariyoshi Kyouko. which is still in print and available over at Amazon JP. If you’re really into shoujo manga, you may recognize the mangaka’s name as the author of Swan, which is now out in an English-language edition.

Applause begins at St. Maria’s, a private Catholic school in Belgium. The two stars of the school are Junaque, a relative of the Belgian royal family and Shara, a Japanese transfer student. Shara is tall, athletic, boyish; while Junaque, two years her elder, is sensual and attractive. Both are tops in their classes in studies and both are a little bit mischievous. They are roommates despite the differences in their ages and it is widely known that they share a bed much of the time. They are also about to star in the school play which is supposed to be the typical annual Christmas pageant, but in secret (along with all the rest of the girls) they have been preparing another, scandalously racy play. It is the tragic love story of Manon Lescaut. It’s a pretty shocking play and all of the school, sans the teachers who are out of the loop, is excited and titillated about the kiss scenes between the two school stars.

Early on, their relationship comes under fire; from jealous schoolmates, teachers and administration. When challenged to kiss in front of everyone, Junaque launches into her lines as Manon and she and Shara, as the Chevalier Grieux, kiss. But where for Junaque it appears to be all in a day’s work, for Shara, it is clearly more.

The story, which is VERY detailed and long and which I am cruelly synopsising here, follows the two as the play approaches. We can see that Shara is very in love with Junaque, and it appears that her feelings are returned but, even though they do have a very close relationship and do share a bed, they never approach the matter that lays so heavily between them. We also learn that Junaque is affianced to her cousin Georges, who we instantly dislike because of his condescending body language, snarky comments and smoking habit.

On the day of the pageant, in front of teachers, administrators, relatives, alumna, they perform the play. Of course there is an immediate outcry, but somehow they are allowed to continue. During the performance, they rewrite the lines to more closely reflect their own true feelings of love, something that thrills and shocks the audience no end. When the play is over, Junaque approaches Shara, confesses her love and kisses her, for the first time as herself. Shara, horrified by her own feelings, rejects Junaque, shutting her friend out completely. It isn’t until Junaque withdraws into herself and stops talking to Shara that she realizes what a horrible mistake she’s made. But it is too late – Junaque won’t talk to her and Shara knows that she’s done something terrible to both of them. Junaque leaves school, and Shara, without a word. Shara sees her beloved play a concert, but can’t approach her. She collapses into hysterics.

To escape from herself and from Junaque’s absence, Shara leaves upon graduation and goes to New York City where she will become a famous dancer. (I have to admit, that seemed really weird to me – she played tennis and acted…you’d think…anyway….)

In New York she ends up with a troupe full of “colorful” people, as they say, complete with gay men Gerald and Alfie, who run a theater. Shara is attending college and dance lessons, but steadfastly refuses to join the actors, even when the leading lady goes missing and they BEG her to. She refuses flatly and the show has to refund the ticket costs and close. At one point, as they beg, she shouts that she’ll never go on stage again! – which comes a total shock to all her friends, who had no idea that she ever acted in the first place. In between many passages where Shara is mistaken for a gay boy, it turns out that someone in the audience claimed that they they didn’t refund the ticket price and the police show up. Gerald resists, and Shara punches a cop which lands them both in jail. She admits that she was on stage previously, but doesn’t tell Gerald why she won’t act anymore.

Because of bail, and the show closing, the theater loses their space and has all their equipment repossessed. They need 5000 dollars to pay it all back. 5000 dollars!?! End of volume

Okay, so bottom line – there’s two completely different stories here. One, the school arc, which ends tragically. The arc that begins in New York is like a completely different manga, with a different art style and a totally different tone. But don’t worry, the two arcs intersect again later. I admit that, when I finished the volume I was bit “huh?” and went back to see if I had missed something. Also, at this point, I was a bit apprehensive that I’d find myself wrapped up in a Claudine-like story, in which Shara goes through tragic affair after tragic affair with women. But no worries on that account – which isn’t to say that there aren’t any worries coming up. ^_^

In terms of art, I think the story suffers a bit from being shoved into A4 format. It’s really too small to make out some of the details and all the dialogue gets squished together on the page. It just tires one’s eyes out. The art is *very* classic shoujo manga, with all that entails, like “shock!!” eyes. Shara is drawn adult, masculine, girly, young, as the scene requires and Junaque is mostly drawn with Miya-sama-esque bearing and expressions. My favorite pieces of art are when they are both drawn like the young women that they are supposed to be. When we reach the end of the school arc, Shara is consistently shown as more grown up, and also more masculine, although she never once tries to “pass.” Nonetheless, as they are clearly in the Village, she ends up being mistaken for a boy all the time. Which pretty much freaks her out every time it happens. You’d think she’d get used to it.

Did I like it? Yeah, I think so. I was concerned that the story would be unremitting tragedy, without the over-the-topness that made Maya’s Funeral Procession work for me, but the story really matures as it goes along. It starts off with that oh-so-stereotypical hothouse of the Catholic school, but moves off after we hit New York into something much hipper, much more adult and more whimsical without losing the sense of drama. This series has enough angst for the emo-est of teens, but also has some moments of genuine fun – and shows some glimpses of good writing from time to time. Unlike Wendy, I don’t consider classic shoujo to be the only worthy genre, but Applause makes a much-appreciated break from the shounen fare I’ve been watching and reading recently.

Ratings:

Art – *so* shoujo – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 6
Yuri – 9
Service – 3
Overall – 7

This story is full of the usual tropes of shoujo and josei storylines and characters. It’s not original (not even for it’s time) but it is a very decent example of the breed.