Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga:Yokohama Shopping Log Volume 14

September 21st, 2006

It is not without some melancholy that I write this entry. By doing so I am writing the obituary of one of the finest manga series I’ve ever read – in a sense, acknowledging the passing of an old friend.

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (Yokohama Shopping Log to English-speaking fans) is over. I know quite a few people who got all teary-eyed as they read the final chapter. I have no intention of telling you whether I am one of them or not. ^_^

For those of you unfamiliar with Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (you poor, bereft creatures you), here is the basic idea of the story. In a near future, global weather patterns have shifted slightly, and time and tide have altered the shape of the map. In a far off-section of Musashino, an android named Alpha is left behind by her owner, to make her own life. She runs a small coffee shop off the beaten track to nowhere. In the course of the next 14 volumes, Alpha meets and befriends all sorts of people, and a few other androids, as she experiences life’s many moments of joy and sadness.

As I mentioned in my overview of the series, and in my review of Volume 12, this is not a story with loads of action or loads of…well, anything really. It’s a quiet, simple, sweet, slice-of-life series about a gun totin’ lesbian android. ^_^

Of the people and androids Alpha meets, two are rather key to this above statement. In the very beginning of the series, we and Alpha meet Kokone, who works for a messenger service. Alpha and Kokone become very close and it becomes quite obvious to everyone – even Kokone’s human coworkers – that Kokone has fallen for Alpha. It is also apparent to Maruko, another android who has a thing for Kokone. Maruko loses, because Kokone’s heart is Alpha’s.

This final volume of the manga is full of good-byes. Time is spent with old friends; Maki and Takahiro are adults and out in the world, but not gone from Alpha’s life. Relaxing days are filled with doing nothing particular, and a few key special moments. Time is the only pressure we feel, as the world keeps slowing down, the shifting sands continue to obscure the roads, fewer people populate the towns, and more and more the only “people” to enjoy the world are the androids humans created to keep them company.

It is a twilight world, a world growing increasing silent and slow, but no less beautiful.

Alpha moves through life with joy, doing the things she has done since the very beginning of the series – visiting Yokohama to buy supplies for the shop, swimming, riding on her scooter. Although she cannot age, there is no doubt at all that she has changed from the first few volumes, when her owner was still a presence in her life, and a person for whose return she waited. She may not have aged, but she has most definitely matured.

Which brings me to what I think was the hardest chapter of the entire series to read. Alpha meets up with the doctor, an older woman who had originally met Alpha after she had been hit by lightning. Alpha and the sensei had become quite close through the series. In this volume they meet for what may well be the last time. The chapter, to me, expresses everything beautiful and sorrowful about the series as a whole. No matter how much we may wish to, we simply can’t stay in the same place forever.

The last chapter was, for most of the yuri fans of this series, crucial. We waited, quite breathlessly (apart from the sobs and sniffs) to see if it would end as we hoped, as we dreamed. It is my pleasure to report that…it does.

Do not expect high drama. Expect a quiet, soft moment that says everything.

And expect Kokone and Alpha to move forward into the future, together.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 6
Service – 1

Overall – 9





Yuri Manga: Voiceful

September 13th, 2006

I really, really like Voiceful by nawoko.

This was not originally so, when the first nawoko stories ran in the then Yuri Shimai magazine. I found them a little too vaguely Yuri-ish, and had to turn the Yuri googles up and stare hard to really get any vibe from them. I didn’t object to the art – or the stories, really – but the fact that they fed in, IMHO, to the idea that any story with two women standing next to one another must therefore be Yuri.

But my opinion changed when nawoko’s story “Voice” ran in Yuri Hime. When it became a series, “Voiceful”, I liked it even better. And now, I’m thrilled to have it, and the other nawoko stories as a collected volume. Together, they all work much better than they do as stand-alones.

One of the common threads in nawoko’s work is music. It is music that ties these stories together, even more than intense emotional connections between women – which also stand out more in the collected volume, than they did as separate pieces.

“Voiceful,” the title series, is the story of shut-in Kanae (right on the cover above) and her transformation as she accidentally runs into, and subsequently befriends, her “goddess,” an independent singer who releases her music on the internet, Hina (left on the cover above). This story of two emotionally damaged women who find strength to make each other strong – and thus become strong for themseleves – is really, really nice.

The other stories in the collection also show people from the point of view of their weaknesses, but not in any gruesomely obnoxious way. Most of the stories are quiet, little slice-of-life pieces in which fear and hope and music intertwine to make a melody of life…and sometimes love.

Ratings:

Art – a loose, scratchy sort of nice – 6
Story – stronger as a sum of their parts, but nothing objectionable in any case – 7
Characters – ranging from an annoying 4 to a lovely 8 depending
Yuri – 6
Service – an underwear shot for the very, VERY desperate – 2

Overall – a pleasant, not earthshaking 6

Another solidly put together volume from Ichijinsha, with extra color page not included with any of the original stories.





Yuri Manga:Ameriro Koucha Kandan stories

September 5th, 2006

I’m cheating today. This is not a collection of manga I’m writing about, it’s two different stories in four different places, and two are cameos, which all happen to star the same characters. Because it *will* be a new series starting in the next Comic Yuri Hime magazine  I thought it would be fun to tell you the story as it exists currently.

The story in question tells of the women of the Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan (飴色紅茶館歓談). It begins in the book pictured above, [es] Eternal Sisters 2 anthology. On the cover are the two principles of the story, Seriho (left) and Sarasa (right.) In the ES collection, we meet Seriho who is the owner of the Ameiro Kouchakan, (loosely, the Amber Tea Pavilion.) Sarasa is a local high school student who spends an inordinate amount of time at the cafe, and asks, quite cutely if she can just work there. But Sarasa’s motive is not money – she’s in love with Seriho. Seriho reciprocates the emotion, and Sarasa comes to work at the cafe. In this story we also meet regular customers Haru – who runs some kind of freaky fortune website, and her friend/partner in mischief Hinoko. Hinoko is the obligatory goth-loli girl that one always finds in Fujieda Miyabi’s work.

The second “chapter” of this story takes was published in the extra comic inserted in the August 2006 volume of Yuri Hime. In this little omake, we are given character profiles in which we learn that Seriho, despite her youthful looks is 25, and Sarasa is 17. Huh. How ’bout that.

Tanabata is fast approaching and Seriho wants to something extra special for the cafe. They come up with a special blend of tea that they pour in a long stream (evocative of the milky way, which features in the Tanabata story.) Haru and Hinoko join the staff for the day and the four women have a successful and lively day full of customers. To thank them for their assistance Seriho offer to treate everyone for dinner. Haru and Hinoko leave first, while the others remain. Seriho tells Sarasa that, long before today, she had planned to close the cafe. Sarasa reacts strongly, protesting that people – she – loves the cafe. Seriho and Sarasa have an emotional scene, but Sarasa is successful and the cafe remains open. Phew.

The third appearance of the ladies of the Ameiro Kouchakan is Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodma no Majyo to manga. In this volume, Letty, having newly freed Tsumugi from her confinement in the shrine, takes the miko to her favorite watering hole. The big scandal here was when Tsumugi – assumably unfamiliar with ways of the outside world – expresses her love for Letty firmly and loudly. Poor Seriho almost dies of embarrassment…

And the fourth, but not at all final, appearance of the Ameriro Kouchakan is the MikoMajyo Drama CD (the one packaged with the manga in the deluxe set), in which Letty and Tsumugi once again visit, this time accompanied by the errant mountain god who has run away. Shrine guardian Isuzu is forced to drag the wayward deity back to her shrine bodily. Tsumugi’s request for Letty to open up and say “ahhh” forces Letty to confront her inner femme, and inspires Hinoko to fluster cool Haru by doing the same.

Now, to be honest – these four appearances are the ones I have, or have noticed. I have no doubt that somewhere along the line there’s some crossover with Fujieda’s other series, especially the ones I’m less familar with.

But what does exist is cute enough that I though it warranted a mention. And I bet that, once the story begins running in Yuri Hime we’ll get a collection that includes both of the first two chapters.

Here’s hoping, anyway.

No ratings, since it’s not *yet* a collection, but overall – even more adorable Yuri from Fujieda Miyabi!

BTW – Happy Birthday me. Older, as my mother says, but not at all wiser. If you’re moved to send a present, buy a book from ALC Publishing or t-shirt or mug or something from the Yuricon Shop. That’s all the present I need. ^_^





Yuri Manga: Tori Koro, Volume 1 (English)

August 29th, 2006

Tori Koro, by hai ran, is another one of those series that rattled around forever on Japanese Yuri lists and sites, but I had never had a chance to look into it. Conveniently for me, DrMaster picked up the license to it and last year released volumes one and two.

Tori Koro, according to the comic itself, stands for “Tricolor.” The cover states, “tricolor-sisters +1 girl / nanase family’s 4-panel comics” Not very helpful I know, but it will make more sense in a second. ^_^ Tori Koro is yet another Dengeki Daioh series and one that I read monthly in that magazine. But…there’s a catch. I’ll get to that later.

First, the plot is a simple one. Nanase Yae, high school 1st-year, is informed rather suddenly by her mother, that two daughters of friends are coming to live with them. Sachie (Mom) wants the house to be lively again, as it was when Yae was younger and her husband was alive. Yae naturally is shocked – she hardly has time to get used to the idea before the two girls, Makishi (from Osaka) and Tatami (from Hiroshima) arrive. They immediately look at her cute, little body and think “yay, little sister” only to be amazed that Yae’s the same age they are.

The entire comic is slice of life “4-panel” strips, so there isn’t really a plot. The gags are mild, light-hearted and slightly goofy. They are also often based on cultural differences between regions of Japan. For instance, Makishi arrives with a takoyaki plate and Tatami brings a hot plate, to represent their local stereotypical cuisine. (Like, oh, someone from the South of the US bringing a deep fryer when they move.) Other gags are personality clashes and bad puns and some general stupidity. For example, when the postman arrives to deliver a package, he comments that he thought Mrs. Nanase only had one daughter. Sachie says that recently, she was reunited with her late husband’s two illegitimate daughters. Yae flips out at such an inappropriate joke. Of course, she also got burned by being put last on the family register at the front door, even though she’s the oldest of the three – and the only natural daughter….

And there is the catch. Between Makishi’s and Tatami’s accents and the silly gags, I find it nigh on impossible to comfortably read this comic in Japanese. Sometimes I can make the gag out, but often I really can’t without alot more work that I currently have time for. So I was *very* glad to see it in English. Tori Koro is not laugh-out-loud, gut-grabbing hysterical, but it’s cute and good for a smile. I haven’t seen any sign of Volume three from DRMaster, but if sales are good, then they may go ahead and put it out. So follow the links above and buy copies. Buy several. I want Volume 3+. :-)

Okay, so. The question you probably have is – where’s the yuri? And indeed, when I began to read this, I also had this question. I kind of assumed it would be fanservice yuri – misunderstandings between the new “sisters”, etc. Right at the beginning Makishi is talking to the person giving her a ride to the Nanase’s and she mentions that there’s a daughter and how she hopes she’ll get along with her. The driver comments that in cases like this, sometimes marriages come out of the situation…Makishi responds, “I said it was a girl!” and I thought, okay, that’s the kind of Yuri we’re likely to get. Fine.

Well, no. Wrong again, Erica. ^_^ I’m glad to report that, in this case, I just hadn’t been patient enough.

A few chapters in, a new character is introduced. Niwatazumi Keiko (“Niwa-chan”) sits in front of Yae, is very cool and very intimidating. And, it turns out, has a raging huge crush on Yae. A crush which she does not much to hide and everything to promote.

As far as technical issues go, the book has some good and some bad. Reproduced color pages look very spiffy. Sound effects are written in next to Japanese, which doesn’t bother me, although “bill and coo” for “betabeta” was just a weird choice. Using a 1930 dictionary are we? ^_^. It does look a little strange, especially when the S/fx could have been cleaned up. There’s consistency issues – in some case the page was retouched, in some cases not, Tatami’s name completely miswritten in an intro panel and honorifics are left intact in some cases but translated in others, which is very disconcerting. Even with editors and proofreaders, things slip through the cracks. But they probably should have stuck with either American or Japanese honorifics, not flip-flopped between them…in the same panel….

Ultimately, none of these issues make it difficult to enjoy the comics. Niwa’s crush is cute, Tatami and Makishi’s treatment of Yae is always good for a laugh, Sachie’s a nutball and as “wackiness ensues” type stories, this one is not at all taxing on mind or spirit. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 4
Story – 6
Character – 7
Yuri – 5
Service- 1

Overall – 6

Tori Koro is perfect for an enjoyable rainy afternoon reading. ^_^

 





Yaoi Manga: Lover’s Kiss

August 24th, 2006

I’ve been holding on to the classic manga, Lover’s Kiss, for a while, meaning to review it eventually. After reviewing Audition, I thought it might fit in nicely this week. :-)

Written by Yoshida Akimi in 1999, Lover’s Kiss is best known as a Boys Love high school drama. (Yoshida is probably best known here in the west for Banana Fish.) But towards the end of the story is a Yuri narrative that is not without interest.

The narrative as a whole involves six students at one high school in a complex love polygon, which I will attempt to summarize. (I do so under protest…I tried to find a good synopsis to steal quote, but no one has written one that I could find in 45 seconds of searching. So here we go:

In a seaside town, Rikako (female) has fallen in love with Tomoaki (male). Tomoaki is also the object of desire for Sagizawa (male), who is the object of Oosaka’s (male) desire. Oosaka is best friends with Eriko (female) who is in love with her sister Rikako’s best friend Miki (female)…who is in love with Rikako. You got all that? That’s only the “love” part of the equation – the “hate” part just complicates things. :-)

One of my favorite moments in the manga is when Eriko draws a little mental relationship chart in her head and wonders “What’s *with* this school?” ^_^

Just over half the story focuses on the awkard relationships between the guys in segments refered to as “Boy Meets Boy” and just under a half covers Eriko’s story in “Girl Meets Girl.”

In order to do this review I sat down yesterday and re-read chunks of the manga and you know, it’s pretty damn good. There’s just about no histrionics or hysterical denials in the BL arc – very unlike the typical BL story, from my perspective. The art lacks many of the more annoying qualities of Yaoi manga, as well. It’s much more just guys trying to deal with various difficult relationships, while still functioning in their school and in society. TheYuri arc reads much the same – a perfectly natural set of crushes and unrequited loves that don’t come with more shrieking than necessary.

Eriko’s love for Miki becomes painful when she realizes that Miki is in love with her older sister, a sister that she herself cannot stand. Eriko’s confession, rejection and ultimate understanding of both Miki and Rikako make good drama – while almost completely lacking in melodrama. In other words – it’s a damn good story.

Ratings:

Art – Classic, but you know, I don’t really like it – 5

Story – Realistic, tense without being annoying – 7

Characters – Soap opera-esque interconnections, but that’s the handwave – 7

Yuri – None of the girls get the girl, but I don’t think any of the boys get the boy, either. And the one girl doesn’t get the guy, so it’s evenly distributed misery. ^_^ – 6

Service – None. Nada. The kisses are staid and age-appropriate. 0

Overall – 7

In 2003 a live-action film version was made of Lover’s Kiss. It apparently keeps to the manga pretty closely, with a slight emphasis on Eriko’s story over the boys’ (Because it’s easier to sell movies where girls kiss than boys?) I have not had a chance to watch it, but you can be sure that if I do, I will report back.