Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime, Volume 7 Part 2

January 29th, 2007

Don’t forget to read the review of Part 1 of Yuri Hime, Volume 7, before you read this review, or you’ll be all confused. ;-)

Part 2 begins with a story by Hakamada Mera (of Saigo no Seifuku fame), a story called “A Giraffe’s Neck is Too Long.” Himeko tells Miki that she likes her over some cake, which gets Miki all flustered. They go to the zoo where Miki is uncommonly critical of the animals, hence the title. Quite suddenly for both Miki and myself, Himeko asks if they can have sex. Miki is stunned into silence. They go home, without Miki answering. Himeko suggests that first, maybe, they ought to kiss. Perplexlingly, the story ends there…. Typically of a Hakamada story, the characters look ten – and like they are wearing carnival heads. I’m just never gonna like the style…

Next up is the most weird chapter of “Tokimieki Mononoke Gakuen” to date. And that’s saying something, as this story has been one weirdness after another. Arare and Pero are on the run from their exceedingly angry classmates, who had all been punished severely by grump ole Rokurokubi-sensei, for their make-up skills – or more properly, Arera’s lack of them. This chapter is not for the faint of heart – if you’re squeamish or easily squicked, you might really want to skip this paragraph. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…! Arera and Pero run off and hide in a beat-up old shack, only to find a cow-girl-demon there, with exceedingly large breasts. Arare and Pero discuss how nice it would be to have really large breasts. They ask the cow-girl what she eats. She tells them that her name is Harami and she eats grass. They try this, but bleah. Harami says that what she really needs is to be milked, and asks Arare to do the honors. And, yes, she does. It’s a scene that is so awful that it’s wonderful, without being good. lol Arare is pretty squicked, but she does the deed, while Pero, not wanting to waste the milk, drinks some. At which her breasts grow enormous. Whee! Arare licks her fingers and voila! She too has gigantic boobs! The two capture some of the milk for their classmates and take their leave of a much relieved Harami. When poor Rokrokubi-sensei comes into class, she comments, and I quote, “It’s a village of breasts.” So awful… ^_^

“Spicy Sweets” was a really nice -and different – story. Yuu and Aki live together. Aki is a high school student who wants to be a baker, and Yuu…well, she has money, that’s for sure, but where does it all come from? Aki heads off for school, while Yuu lazes around, until the phone rings and she freaks. She rushes off to Aki’s school to get her, driving a high-end sports car and once Aki’s inside, she screams off, talking craziness about how they have to leave Japan – NOW. Aki, unsurprisingly, is confused. She convinces Yuu to take her home, where the source of Yuu’s anxiety is revealed as…her mother. It becomes instantly obvious that Yuu is, in fact the daughter of an old, powerful Yakuza family, and they’ve had enough of her nonsense. Aki stands up for Yuu, and we get a flashback of how they met when Yuu had originally run away from home. Yuu stands up for herself and her mother backs down. We leave the two of them to some private love-love and cake. For not being another “two schoolgirls decide they love one another” story, it’s worth it – but the art is interesting, too and the non-linear structure of the story works really well with the art. I hope we’ll see more of Neko Natsu in future issues.

More color pages reviewing a yuri-flavored game I’ll never play. lol “Katahane” art has been popping up for a few weeks on yuri image boards. This was followed by a “other yuri stuff” page with a quickie mention of, among other things, the movie Love My Life which I reviewed last week.

The Yurim fairy tale is “Little Red Riding Hood” this time with a sexy grandmother, sexy wolf and sexy hunter. No way to lose, is there?

The next, and final chapter of the second arc of “Hatsukoi Shimai” just about made the whole magazine for me. As I’ve mentioned several times, this arc has differed considerably from the original “Touko-sensei appears” version in the second Koi Shimai Drama CD. In particular, the end of that CD made me nuts, as Haruna and Chika lay in bed together (I grit my teeth as I type this) holding hands. UGH. Ughughugh.

This time, Chika runs out, not into the dark night as in the Drama CD, but into the rain, to look for the beaded ring that Haruna gave her. In this version Touko-sensei saves the day by returning it to Haruna, who slips it onto Chika’s left-hand ring finger – and don’t think for a second that they don’t notice. Chika practically explodes on contact. Haruna also confesses that the reason she was so standoffish to Chika, was that when she was a first year, she had a sempai that she liked, who was always lovey-dovey in private, but very cold in public. She saw herself in Chika and automatically tried to push her away. Meanwhile, Touko gets Akiho to admit how jealous she was of Chika and Haruna. Akiho ends up crying in Touko’s arms, not that Touko seems to mind, mind you. Touko does tell Akiho of her experience in school, with a girl she loved but never told, and Akiho still thinks she’s full of it. They do not, however, get together…yet. Back in Chika-Haruna world, they have arrived at Haruna’s secret place behind the school. The rain has stopped, the sun is coming out. Chika pulls out the ring she made and puts it on Haruna’s left-hand ring finger. And…they…kiss! Can you believe it? I was so happy. Then, just to make my joy almost complete (Touko not get Akiho, Erica still not 100% happy) Haruna FINALLY tells Chika she loves her. Finally. It’s been what, three years since that first Drama CD??? Grrr. But as an end to that arc – thumbs up. And more to come for the next issue, so there is still hope for Touko and Akiho. ^_^

Mori Natsuko has solid advice for the same three problems in her “Yuri Doujo” column.

Chi-Ran has two women who have sex! I know, you’re shocked. This time it’s a cute, little girl alien who has adopted a cute, not-so-little human. When her pet human shows some natural reluctance at sexing up a child, alien girl gets all grown up, special. The next morning she’s back to being little and, assumably, cute.

Last up is a gorgeous piece by Morishima Akiko called “Sakura-hime Hana Fubuki,” which, if you read “Ichigo-hime” in Yuri Monogatari 4, will be quite familiar. Unlike dashing and daring Ichigo-hime, who protects commoner Sakura, in this case Sakura-hime is in love with her protector Fubuki, but ultimately Fubuki returns to the flower petals that she is, while Sakura sits under the tree she’s named after and let’s the flower petals fall (Hana Fubuki). It’s a bittersweet story, beautifully drawn, as always.

Doujinshi reviews, fan letters and the usual bundle of ads brings us to the final get on this issue of Yuri Hime. A page of Yuri Hime stickers! Yes, you’re very own stickers of Ran and Julia, Ryou and Saeki, Chika, Haruna, Akiho, Letty Tsumugi, Chi-Ran characters and bunch more. I love stickers. :-D How much more do I love rare(ish) stickers of Ran and Julia….heh heh heh. I’m almost thinking of buying a few more copies of the magazine, just to have extra stickers. ^_^

So, there you have it. Yuri Hime 7, some of the best, some of the weirdest, some new, some old, and something for everyone.





Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime, Volume 7 Part 1

January 26th, 2007

I was looking forward to Volume 7 of Yuri Hime, but I admit to a teeny little bit of apprehension. Volume 6 was okay, but not terribly strong as far as stories went. Several key artists were on hiatus or had stopped drawing for the magazine, and it left last issue, I thought, just slightly flat.

I’m pleased to report that Volume 7 more than makes up for it. Yes, there’s still just slightly too many schoolgirls for my taste, but it’s not all children, and it’s not all what you’d expect, either. Sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes…. ;-)

The cover gives us a festive Valentine’s Day image of Chika from Hatsukoi Shimai, complete with love-love chocolate for Haruna. Inside, for the first time are two color posters that don’t make me wince. ^_^

The first story, complete with color pages, is the final chapter in Taishi Zaoh and Eiki Eiki’s “Little Red Riding Hood.” When we left off, Akiho had confessed her affection for Fuyuka, mostly to get a reaction from Natsuki. And react she does. The school’s female wolf goes ballistic at Akiho, screaming that Fuyuka is hers, dammit. Fuyuka screams that if Natsuki feels that way, she ought to say it clearly. The two teachers from the older “First Kiss” arc, knowingly clear everyone away so the four girls can resolve their issues in private. Natsuki tells the others that while girls were always screaming and carrying on at her, when she actually did confess her feelings to one, she was rejected. That, combined with Fuyuka’s earlier trauma, made her reluctant to say anything. But now, she and Fuyuka are ready to admit that they like each other. At which point Akiho leads Haruka off, letting the other two make up alone. She apologizes to Haruka, for the subterfuge of saying she liked Fuyuka, but Haruka says that, while she was surprised at that, she trusted Akiho implicitly. The story ends with Natsuki coming over to Fuyuka’s home once again, and this time they are on the same page with their feelings. But Fuyuka’s still got some surprises in store, as Little Red Riding Hood turns the tables on her female wolf.

This is followed by a GREAT chapter of “Strawberry Shake Sweet.” Photographer Sera-san and Ran have a nice little chat, the result of which is that they each realize that they’ve been incredibly stupid about an important woman in their lives. Ran laughs it off, but eventually realizes that she is, indeed, in love with Julia. (At which Ryou from Zlay although miles away, rhapsodizes about love as she senses Ran’s realization.) The page splits into two storylines, as Sera-san confronts her former model Rena, and Ran confesses to Julia. Neither outcome is what you’d expect, but both were great. ^_^

“Apple Day Dream” is a series of 4-panel comics that deal with employees at a fashionable clothing shop. The humor appears to mostly follow Kaoru’s interest in women’s breasts generally and Mayu’s specifically. Not my favorite story, but it had moments.

Takahashi Mako’s newest is, to date, my favorite. I almost actually *liked* it. “The Guts of a Stuffed Animal” follows the trials and tribulations of a girl who likes stuffed animals, and the girl who likes her. The characters all looked older than 4, a definitely plus for me, and no one seemed violently schizophrenic, also a plus. There were moments that I actually began to care about the protagonist, which hasn’t before happened in a Mako story.

The essay on Yuri Manga, surprisingly, deals with new series Aoi Hana rather than an older series, as usual. I think that says something important about Shimura’s series.

Fujieda Miyabi’s “new” series, “Ameiro Koucha Kandan” continues with a flashback to the day that Sarasa met Seriho for the first time. Seriho has just opened her tea house and is a little disappointed to not have had any customers. Sarasa points out that the sign on the door says “Closed.” They laugh. Haru and Hinoko wonder where Sarasa has wandered off to. Cute, sweet fluff, which sets the owner’s personality, and gives us a moment to get to know her and Sarasa. I expect more cute, fluffy-bunny moments from these two going forward.

“Mermaid Line” was, I thought, very good. Ayumi has always dreamed of being a bride. And her boyfriend, Ryuunosuke is going to make a great husband, she thinks…until he tells her that he really wants to be a woman. He breaks up with her and leaves, leaving Ayumi shocked to her very core. One day, tired of grieving, Ayumi finally begins to clean up all of Ryuu’s crap. She comes home from work to find the door open – and a woman in her apartment. Ryuu, now Aika, is apologetic for not collecting her stuff before. Ayumi and Aika talk a little, and when it becomes apparent that Aika doesn’t have anywhere to live, Ayumi tells her to stay. She admits that she still loves Ryuu, even if he is now Aika. In the end Ayumi guesses that she’ll just have to dream of being a groom, instead. It was a little pat, of course, but I really liked this story.

Color pages detailing the many bath scenes in the Simoun Playstation 2 game. If it was my thing, I might have cared.

“Winter Colored Feelings” is a harmless schoolgirl love triangle with no melodrama and a slightly bittersweet flavor. It’s not exceptionally memorable, but it wasn’t the worst I’ve ever read of the breed, either.

This is followed by Morishima Akiko’s decidedly un-bitter, slightly sentimental view of women’s professional wrestling in her “Yuri x Yuri” life column. Who knew that there was a soeur system in wrestling? Certainly not I. ^_^

“Nanami and Misuzu” continues to be wacky without being funny…this time Rina-sempai is sick, but when Nanami and Misuzu arrive, she’s *dead*???? Oh, no, she wasn’t. Ahahah. Funny nurse and sick people gags follow. I just gag.

So, here we are at halfway. I’ll stop it here, with the comment that the magazine starts REALLY strong, gets a little weaker, then gets really good (and really freaky) again. Lots more Yuri rabu-rabu to come in Part 2!





Yuri Manga: Aoi Hana, Volume 2

January 23rd, 2007

I’m a pragmatist. When I was a little kid, I had to get three allergy shots twice a week. Other kids would scream and cry and carry on, but I just went in and got them. They started using me as an example to the other children. If they left me alone for a second with the other kid, I’d always say, “Look, you might as well stop crying – they’re going to give you the shots anyway, and the longer you cry, the longer you’re going to be here.” And that’s pretty much my attitude today. Things happen, and sometimes there’s just nothing you can do to stop them. Sometimes you can see those things coming. It doesn’t make them any easier to deal with, but it makes it easier to get past them.

I think that this is an important lesson – and it’s the thing I took away from Aoi Hana, Volume 2. Fumi, for all that she is a crybaby, appears to be a pragmatist. I deeply respect that.

(For a quick overview of the characters in this series and the events of the first volume, take a look at my review of Aoi Hana, Volume 1.)

Volume 2 of Aoi Hana covers the big event, when both schools get together for their stage version of Wuthering Heights. Yasuko-sempai is extra super cool as Heathcliffe, as expected. And, unexpectedly, she seems to really be making an effort to reach Fumi as a person, not just as a girlfriend. Then the other boot drops. I saw it coming (and so, I think, did Fumi) but when it came, it came in a way that completely lacked melodrama. And that, in a nutshell, is why I like this series so much. The characters are just as unsure of themselves as any teens, but there’s a distinct lack of shrieking and threats of suicide.  In all honesty, when I read any book, part of what goes on in my mind is “Would I want to hang out with any of these people? Would I let anyone in this story come over for lunch? No one, not one character in Life would be allowed in my house – while just about everyone in Aoi Hana would.

Other stuff happens, of course. Akira remains cheerful and understanding, without ever being a sop. I don’t trust or like Kyouko, even if she seems to be a good person, for a few reasons. We meet Yasuko’s extremely interesting family, and learn Yasuko’s big secret, which isn’t one really, if you have more than one brain cell to rub together.

At the end of the volume, when everyone’s crying into their tea, I couldn’t find it in myself to be upset, or even annoyed. I felt a little lonely, maybe, but hopeful that much of what happened will be resolved in the next volume.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 8
Story – 7
Yuri – 8
Service – 1

Overall – 8

It’s drama, not melodrama.





Yuri Manga: Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl, Volume 1 (English)

January 12th, 2007

I came to a conclusion today about yuri stories being “good” or “bad.” I was listening to the third Strawberry Panic Drama CD and I realized that, if Chikaru were a guy, most people would find him creepy and – in that particular scene – disgusting. And it dawned on me that that sort of defines what makes a story “good” or “bad”. If for instance, Chikane from Kannazuki no Miko had been a male character, would anyone *ever* attempt a rationalization of his behavior, much less openly declare it to be sexy? I think not.

So, going forward, when I comment that a series is “not good” you can take that to mean that, among other things, I think that if the characters were a hetero, rather than lesbian, couple the story would be boring, trite and/or vile. It’s a simpler criteria than trying to explain good writing all the time.

Ironically, none of that really applies to today’s review, as the character starts off as a boy. ^_^ I reviewed Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl, Volume 1 in Japanese back in May 2005. Because the story has not changed at all, I will not be re-reviewing the story itself. If you are not sure whether you want to read the story, by all means, please visit that first review. I rated the Volume an overall 7, if that helps.

What I do want to talk about today is the quality of the transition into English of this story. Which is, let me be honest, very, very good.

If you are a regular reader of Okazu, you know that I am constantly disappointed in English adaptations of manga and anime that remove honorifics and cultural references.

Based on that alone, it’s fair to say that this volume of Kashimashi may well be the single best adaptation of a manga into English that I have ever seen.

Every honorific – even the silly ones…especially the silly ones – are preserved. Notes are added that make sense of the puns and cultural relics, and the reading audience is assumed to have several functioning brain cells. It was the proverbial breath of fresh air to me, let me tell you. Overall, this may well be one of the best translation/adaptations I’ve ever seen. It was a seamless reading experience for this reader of the original version – my highest compliment for a translation.

The print quality is good, and although it did not bother me in any way, you should know that the sound effects are left completely untranslated. As I’ve mentioned many times, I don’t read s/fx, indeed I hardly notice them for myself (although I pay attention for review purposes.)

The story remains yuri, although with that edge of marginalization that exists in so many current Dengeki yuri series. It retains the service, the goofball plot complications, the sad wretch of a pervtastic father, and the “I’m a girl now, so I have to do abc…” and of course the aliens, that make it hard to judge this book harshly, since it’s so obviously ridiculous.

Still not my favorite example of “Yuri”, Kashimashi (which, btw, also means a loud or rambunctious sound) makes a decent enough entry into the Yuri market – and an exceptional showing for Seven Seas. Keep up the work, guys – and get some GOOD Yuri titles, please! Ask me, and I’ll be glad to offer some suggestions.

Ratings for the story:

Art – 8
Characters – 7
Story – 5
Yuri- 9

Overall – 7

Ratings for the adaptation:

Translation: 9
Print Quality: 8 (not at all easy to do…)

Overall: 9

I’ve never read a manga in English that I didn’t personally publish that felt more like reading the Japanese original. Kudos to Seven Seas.





Top Ten Yuri Manga of 2006

December 22nd, 2006

Okay, I admit it, I didn’t think anyone ever really read these lists. ^_^ So, thanks to everyone who commented on yesterday’s Top Ten Yuri Anime of 2006 list! I’ll try not to let it go to my head. ;-)

Because this year we finally have a body of translated manga that falls under my loosest interpretation of Yuri, I’m going to split the manga list into two Top Five lists, one for translations into English and one for untranslated Japanese manga. It’s sort of restrictive, only having five and five, but I don’t want to add things that are merely okay, just because they happen to be translated. That having been said, let’s go!

Top Five English-language Yuri Manga of 2006

5. Strawberry Marshmallow/Ichigo Mashimaro – Okay, even I’m beginning to get sick of this series now. LOL But the manga, like the anime, makes me laugh, Miu is whack-tastic and clearly an EPL (Evil Psycho Lesbian) in training, and it’s just freaking cute. Okay? Let’s never mention it again. LOL

4. Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl – I haven’t had a chance to review the Seven Seas translation yet, but on first glance it seems a solid transition to English. The story still has that not-quite-Yuri feel about it for the first volume but, like the anime, by the end the gender issue isn’t, and the story remains about three girls in a love triangle. My opinion might change when the manga ends (something that really ought to be soon…) but for the moment, this remains one of the top five.

3. WORKS – Imagine this. A lesbian artist, drawing beautiful art, with stories about lesbians, for a lesbian audience. No almost yuri here – in fact, this is the only title on this year’s list that can claim that. That’s why we call it “100%” yuri. Tadeno Eriko has a classic manga style, her stories have humor, and pathos and angst and love and sex – between adult women who look and act adult. Exactly the kind of thing *I’m* looking for in yuri. While this was originally published in 2004, this year’s revised edition had mainstream book and comic store distribution, so here it is at number 3.

2. Blue – The story is not earth shaking, but for sheer excellence in transition to an English edition, Nananan Kiriko’s Blue has got to make this list. By far and away, the *best* reproduction of a manga I’ve ever seen. The English-language edition is exact to the original in every way…except that I can read it alot faster. :-)

And this year’s winner:

1. Read or Dream, Volume 1 – Not the most yuri story, not the best reproduction, but overall, one of the most *fun* things to come out this year. This alternate ROD-verse has a little something for everyone, and double that for fans of the ROD The TV anime. This will definitely be one of my “go to” books for a quick hit of chuckles time and time again. I’m thrilled to have it in English and I can’t recommend it enough. A total win for anyone who doesn’t require angst for a story to be “good.”

Top Five Japanese-language Yuri Manga of 2006

5. Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majyo to – In the beginning, I did not like Fujieda Miyabi’s art. Seriously. As my regular readers know, I am not a fan of “cute.” But over time, both story and characters really began to grow on me. By the time the story ended, I was hooked. Of course, the fact that Letty and Tsumugi’s story has continued in Drama CD form only serves to keep me hooked. :-) In the mean time, like Fujieda’s Iono-sama series, I’ve re-read MikoMajyo multiple time already and enjoyed it more every time.

4. Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou – This series is in serious contention for my “Best manga series ever ever ever” award. And, although it ended this year, it will remain in my heart forever. Sounds goopy, I know, but it’s true. Art, story, characters, were all well-crafted with subtle, delicate strokes…a veritable masterwork of manga. It ended as beautifully as ever, with exactly the right touch of Yuri. I, and other fans of Alpha and Kokone, couldn’t ask for more.

3. Kuchibiru no Tameiki Sakurairo – I’m not the only Yuri manga fan to be sad that Morinaga Milk has decided to stop drawing for Yuri Hime magazine. Like most of the stories that began in Yuri Shimai and were continued in Yuri Hime, this began as a series of semi-related one-shots that developed into an actual story somewhere along the line. I’m sorry that we’ll never get to see Nana and Hitomi grow up, move in together and live happily ever after, but we do get to see them go from friends to lovers, with beautiful art. A pleasure to read – and again, a volume I’ve already re-read several times.

2. Hayate x Blade – Hayashiya Shizuru is surely angling for “Yuri mangaka of the year” this year. Her Hayate x Blade gets a little gayer with each chapter, a little crazier, a little cooler and a little win-er. The HxB Drama CD kept the Yuri and upped the wacky. And when, every month I pick up my copy of Dengeki Daioh, its Hayate x Blade that I save for last so I can savor every moment. Hitsugi x Shizuku, Momoko x Isuzu, Hayate x Ayana x Jun, and every other pair of shinyuu at Tenchi Gakuen make this series pure gold. If only an anime…

And this year’s new champion….

1. It’s a one-two punch for Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei, with her winning combination of Julia and Ran in Strawberry Shake Sweet! (You can’t be too surprised to find three of the Yuri Hime manga volumes on this list, right?) A Yuri mangaka, who has been doing comedy Yuri manga and doujinshi for just about *ever*, all of Hayishiya’s physical humor and goofiness come together in this strangely touching and strangely hysterical and plain old strange girls’ love series. There’s about two straight female characters in the whole series. And one of them is doomed. ^_^

***

And that’s it for 2006’s Top Ten Yuri Manga. Sometime before I leave next week, I will sum the whole year up in a giant Top Ten of Yuri, but until then, don’t forget two things: scanlations do not pay artist’s bills, and comments don’t pay mine. Rent, borrow, buy – don’t download. If you love Yuri, support it in a way that pays the bills. On behalf of Yuri publishers everywhere, thanks to everyone who *has* supported Yuri by buying it from ALC and/or through the Yuricon Shop!