Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Read or Dream, Volume 1

November 30th, 2006

Wow, two English translations in one week!

I originally reviewed the first volume of Read or Dream on February 4, 2004. That review gives a quickie overview of the whole R.O.D. continuity to that point and ends with a short review of the manga.

Now that an English translation of this enjoyable series is out, I wanted to take a look at it, of course.

In general Viz did a decent job of the translation. Of course they lost the honorifics, replacing “Ma-nee” “Mi-nee” with Mags and Mich…which totally has the opposite effect of the names with the honorifics (Anita is being both casual and respectful with her nicknames, highlighting their sibling relationships – something that is crucial to the story in later volumes – while in the English version the nicknames are merely causal,) but in most other respects they left the names and story intact. The final chapter, with the “kiss scene” conversation and the sexual tension between Maggie and Faye wasn’t changed at all, so thumbs up from this Yuri fan for that. ^_^

Visually, I thought the English version lacked some of the style of the original. The color pages of the original were not reproduced, nor was the dust jacket which covered an cute alternate universe story that was originally printed directly on the book cover. Instead, the story is reproduced in the back of the book on standard black and white pages. There’s nothing wrong with the way it was done – it just doesn’t have any pizazz.

Also. I wonder again about the ratings given to manga. I know why *I* give certain ratings to ALC manga. I wonder why this book, with inappropriate behaviors all over it, a strong current of yuri and shota – and an interview with manga writers and artists in the back that was conducted in an openly declared state of inebriation – is considered appropriate for young teens. I have no problem with it, and any kid I’d give it to would certainly be able to handle the content, but as a parent, I think I’d probabaly question the choice. Maybe Brigid at Mangablog might have an opinion about this? We talked a bit about this kind of thing at Manganext and neither of us were really able to come to a conclusion about they whys and wherefores of ratings by most of the companies. (My mistake: I checked the rating a little later to find that it’s “Older Teen” which I think is pretty appropriate. So forget all that for this book specifically, but the comment still applies generally. )

Is Read or Dream, Volume 1 worth getting?

Yes. In any language. (At the Yuricon Shop, you can find it in English or Japanese as you prefer.)

This first volume is a bit “wackiness ensues” but it sets many of the characters for later chapters and is easy and fun to read. There’s definitely added enjoyment if you know the Paper Sisters from the appearance in the ROD The TV anime, but it’s certainly easy enough to follow if you haven’t.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 8

This definitely would make a nice offbeat gift for the tomboy/babydyke/Yuri fan in the family. ^_^





Yuri Manga Anthology "Yuri Monogatari 4" to Premiere at Comiket

November 30th, 2006

ALC Publishing, the world’s only publisher of 100% yuri will be premiering yuri manga anthology, Yuri Monogatari 4, at the world’s largest comic market, Comiket, in Tokyo on December 31, in West Hall, Row “Yo” Table 37a. This is ALC Publishing’s fifth appearance at Comiket – the only American manga publishing company to have a table at this event.

Yuri Monogatari 4, which is available online at the Yuricon shop and for pre-order on Amazon.com, features stories by Akiko Morishima, Althea Keaton, Kristina Kolhi, and Tomomi Nakasora. And we’re proud to announce the English-language debut of the sequel to Rica Takashima’s best-selling title, “Rica ‘tte Kanji!?,” “More Rica ‘tte Kanji!?” Rica Takashima will be at the “Yuricon” table for autographs.

ALC Publishing was founded in 2003 to create and disseminate high-quality yuri manga to the worldwide English speaking audience. ALC is a division of Yuricon, a celebration of yuri and shoujoai in anime and manga.

For more information on ALC Publishing’s 100% yuri publications or on Yuricon, please visit our website at http://www.anilesbocon.com or email us at [email protected]





Yuri Manga: Ninin ga Shinobuden, Volume 1

November 28th, 2006

At a rough guess, I figure I’ve reviewed about 150 yuri manga titles on Okazu. Of these, about a dozen have been in English, a number which includes the 100% Yuri manga titles from ALC Publishing. And of those, about half weren’t even reviewed by me, but by guest reviewer Sean Gaffney (who owes me a review, which is why I am mentioning him by name to shame him into action. ^_^)

So it still feels weird to me to do reviews of manga translated into English. ^_^

As you may remember, last week when I was able, at last, to see one of the books I slaved and sweated over on an actual bookstore bookshelf, I also picked up a copy of the first volume of the 2×2=Shinobuden manga.

It got points with me right off the bat for having the original cover. The Japanese title Ninin ga Shinobuden is featured prominently across the right half of the cover. The translation is in the upper left corner where it says in English 2×2=Shinobuden The Nonsense Kunoichi Fiction. I realize that I’m waaaaaaayyyyyyyyy in the minority on such things, but I really do prefer things to be changed as little as possible. I really am one of those old fogeys who remembers the day when you had to watch a nth generation VHS raw with a typed out translation. I’m not saying everyone should have to suffer for their art, but I like when the translators remain as transparent and non-intrusive as possible.

(I have just learned that some people are watching the newly released Marimite OVA with *my* notes in place of the typed out translation, which feels kind of weird, somehow… lol)

Here’s my obligatory honorific rant: Barring insanely popular series like Naruto, who, exactly, do the publishing companies think *buys* manga? Is some random 10-year old really likely to pick up Shinobuden, or Read or Dream?? I mean really. As far as I know, ALC Publishing is the only manga publisher out there that always-always-always keeps the honorifics intact. It’s true that there may be people buying our books who do not know what “-san,” “-chan,” and “-kun” mean, (in fact, more of a chance, I think than with most manga, since the larger G/L/B/T community is unlikely to know of these and other cultural relics) but I look at it as an opportunity to educate and entertain. And, dammit, the honorifics are so much more precise at placing people in relationship to one another! Please, Viz, Tokyopop, Seven Seas, Dark Horse, and everyone else – leave the honorifics in!! There just is no freaking reason to not call Shinobu “Shinobu-chan.” There just isn’t. There’s notes all over the book, and you’ve left the technique names in Japanese – why not just add one more thing?

Okay, rant over.

The first volume of the Shinobuden manga will be instantly familiar to anyone who has watched the anime,  Ninja Nonsense.) It begins with naive female ninja-in-training Shinobu on a important training mission to retreive underwear from high school girls. Her first target is Kaede Shiranui, who she immediately befriends, and quickly falls for. Shinobu’s sweet, kind of sad attempts at getting closer to Kaede are hampered by three things – 1) her own social dysfunction; 2) her master and fellow ninja’s intrusive perversion, and; 3)Kaede’s just not interested.

Kaede remains the only one in the book with three brain cells to rub together, and the main plot complication is “wackiness ensues”, but it was an amusing read for an otherwise unencumbered evening.

Technically, I think Infinity Studios did a pretty good job with the book. It’s an A4 size – the same size we use at ALC Publishing, with no color pages, but good overall reproduction. There are copious notes throughout, often crammed into teeny spaces which made them hard to read, as various cultural and series-specific things are explained/described. But, seriously – you’ll take space to define “shuriken” but not leave in and explain “-chan”? I’m just never going to understand that…sigh.

None of the sound effects were translated at all. This does not bother me in the least, as I never notice them. (I received a complaint about the untranslated s/fx in our first printing of WORKS, but honestly, I never figured anyone would care – I never, ever notice them. That was corrected for the second printing, so if you get a copy now, it has translated s/fx.)

One thing they really managed well, was the various “voices” of all the characters. It’s not that easy to do, and it comes across well here how different Shinobu and Kaede are, as well as how different they are from the other characters.

There are, at least as far as I can tell, no changes or edits from the original – this still remains a fairly pervtastic book, that mocks the FanBoy even as it caters to him. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6 Cute in that Mediaworks kind of way. Not my taste, but not really bad.
Story – 6 Depends if you like physical comedy or not, mostly
Characters – 7 Somehow, despite her cluelessness, or maybe because of it, Shinobu is awfully cute
Yuri – 4- Shinobu is, undoutedly interested in Kaede, but for this volume at least, there’s no return on investment.
Service – 6 Not really high enough to be a turnoff, but still vaguely irritating

Overall – 6

If you like wacky ninja comedy, this is definitely worth a read. If you’re looking for something more on the romantic or serious side, give Shinobuden a miss.





Yuri Manga: WORKS in the Bookstore

November 20th, 2006

Sometimes, you get that one small victory that makes it all worthwhile.

This weekend, the wife and I went to a Borders bookstore to look for some books (well duh.) The manga section was labeled “Manga” and was reasonably extensive. A far cry from just two years ago when Manga, when you could find it at all, were lumped in with “Graphic Novels” and buried under an avalanche of DC and Marvel derivatives.

This particular bookstore happened to not have any of the four titles I was looking to get, but that was besides the point. Nor were there any 100% Yuri Manga titles from ALC. I looked at the shelves and thought, “You know what I’d like to see, just once? I’d like to come into a Borders and see WORKS right there on the shelf.”

The wife realized that she had picked up a book she already had, so the very next day we were back at the bookstore – our local Borders, this time.

I walked over to the Manga section. Still no Torikoro 2, or Ichigo Mashimaro 1 or Read or Dream 1, but there was Ninin ga Shinobuden Volume 1, so I picked that up – review to come. Then I did my walk around the whole section, just to see what they had.

I saw it from about 10 feet away, because of the color. I took a crappy picture with my phone, because…well, because. And I walked over to the wife with a strange look, because yeah, I was getting all choked up.

I *almost* bought the book, just to ensure it got sold. Instead I put it, as you see above, hoping that someone would be intrigued and buy it.

I imagine that I’m preaching to the choir here when I tell you this, but – if you don’t see 100% Yuri from ALC on *your* bookstore shelves, tell them to order some! It’s not like every bookstore in America automatically orders 10 of every title. And especially in the case of something like Yuri – there needs to be a demand before there will be a supply.

Yuri Monogatari 4 will be out in the bookstores in the spring. If you prefer to buy in person, not online, ask your local comic book, G/L/B/T or chain bookstore to order some. Or *they won’t know anyone wants them*.

In any case, I wanted to share my little victory with you, because considering what we’ve gone through to get Yuri recognized as a legitimate genre, it’s not a small victory at all. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Maria-sama ga Miteru, Volume 6

November 16th, 2006

Maria-sama ga Miteru, Volume 6, Valentine’s Gift, Last Part, is simply chock-full of Yuri love-love, as it covers the second half of the Valentine’s Day arc. This includes all three of the half day dates with the bouton, and the creepy, yet pity-worthy Sachiko stalker, Mafuyu’s, story. The manga much more closely follows the novels which means, thankfully, no stupid fake cliffhanger as Yumi loses sight of Sachiko for a millisecond, and much more lovey-dovey ends to all the dates.

The manga begin with a replay of the “Surprise Chocolate” scene from the end of the first half of the arc, at the end of which Yumi and Sachiko agree to go on a half day date. Having agreed to that, Yumi is now completely at loose ends on where to go and what to do. Once that’s settled, we turn to the trials and tribulations of ace cameraman Tsutako and newspaper club president Minako, as they try to snag a good story and photo.

Yumi and Sachiko have a painfully cute date. We get to watch them wooja-wooja at each other as Sachiko talks about not ever fitting in, and enjoy Yumi raging at how unfair it is that Onee-sama is richer, taller, skinnier and more beautiful than she is. Most enjoyably, we can watch Yumi overheat at the thought of Sachiko undressing on the other side of that changing room curtain. ^_^ Yumi hangs on Sachiko romantically as Yoshino shouts “go go!” from behind, as she did in the novel. (Big grin from me on that.)

Next up, we follow Yoshino, as she stalks Rei and Chisato on their date. I am rapidly coming to find Yoshino so adorable that I’m in danger of exploding when she pouts. ^_^ When Chisato pays her a visit and admits that she’s insanely jealous of Yoshino and acknowledges that Rei called her “Yoshino” 5 times, Yoshino really shows how decent a person she is.

Shimako’s date begins at the end of Valentine’s Day, as she and Sei walk out of Lillian together, and Sei thanks her for the cake. Shimako is unaccountably shy about it; Sei takes her hand. Shizuka, at the beginning of the date seems a little cool and far off, but when she gazes at Shimako intimately and says she wants to get to know more about her, Shimako, and this reader’s, heart pounds just a bit. ^_^ Their date is, of all of them, I think the most interesting. But that could be because I find Shizuka a fascinating character. The day ends as Shimako breaks down, for the last time, in Sei’s arms and we get to see her be “big sister like.” Because of the way the characters were portrayed in the anime, this relationship is the hardest to get a bead on, but looking back now, its easy to see that of all the soeur relationships we see in the Rose Mansion, Sei and Shimako are very much like real sisters.

The last story covers Mafuyu, the girl who has admired Sachiko since kindergarten and follows her as she hides the red card for the Valentine’s Day treasure hunt. Mafuyu is much less a creepy stalker in the manga than she is in the anime and WAY less creepy than in the novel, where she was downright creepy. ^_^ The whole story reads more like a tragic love from afar than anything else.

I just started reading the 17th novel of the series last night, so stepping this far back to the 6th novel was well…novel. Watching how unsure Yumi is “back then,” knowing how much more confident she is “now,” is interesting. And kind of charming. Yoshino is da bomb, and Shimako remains the most mysterious character – and a fitting companion for both Sei and Shizuka, in this volume.

Of the Maria-sama ga Miteru manga volumes, this one has most closely followed the novels. And, as a result, I’ve liked it best. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6 (Everyone is drawn cute in a downward aged way and I honestly don’t like Sachiko’s character design at all)
Story – 8
Character – 8
Yuri – 5
Service – 1

Overall – 7