Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Uchyuu no Stellvia, Volume 2

April 30th, 2005

I spent *alot* of time and money buying new and used Dengeki Comics in Tokyo. I had a few older series to catch up on, and some new ones to pick up. I’d been looking for this one used for a while, and was able to finally get it in Nakano. Yay me.

The first volume of the manga is pretty much a straightfoward repeat of the anime. The art is even cuter-faced than the anime, but the story was pretty much exactly the same as the first two DVDs or so of the anime. Which means not so much Ayaka and Yayoi. Hence the lack of review.

Volume 2 starts with a very nice picture of our two Yuri poster girls, which I have scanned for your viewing pleasure:

You are welcome. ;-)

As Volume 2 is about as far as the manga seems to have gone, the story ends with the Great Mission, and the last few chapters speed through a lot of the plot complications. Sadly that means Jojo, Akira and the two teachers all get shafted of their lovely little love affairs. However, nearly a whole chapter is turned over to Yayoi and Ayaka, while Shima and Kouta get about three pages total…so I think it’s a good read all around. :-) And let’s face it – the Great Mission wasn’t that exciting anyway. Did we *really* think that the world was going to be destroyed when we have cherub-faced and pink cheeked heroes and heroines to save it? Nah.

We learn early on in the manga that Ayaka flies her Katie with a picture of Yayoi from before her accident…we are allowed to see that the picture was originally of the two of them arm embracing happily. Ayaka has cut herself out of the picture and taped Yayoi onto her dashboard.

In the manga while Yayoi’s accident (which was caused by Ayaka in both anime and manga) did stem from jealousy, it wasn’t the same level of homicidal pathology that characterized the anime Ayaka. And she didn’t repeat the murder attempt with Shima. In this case, as in the anime, Shima and Rina take stupid risks on the joust and happen to simulate a situation similar to Yayoi’s and Ayaka’s.

In an attempt to absolve herself of her sin, Ayaka had developed a program that she uploads to Shima, which allows her to save Rina. The event forces Ayaka and Yayoi to confront their past and their feelings for one another. While it wasn’t *quite* a cool as coming out in front of the whole world, their moment is very emotional, full of tears, and embraces and promises to never leave one another’s side.

But, at the end, when Ayaka unbends and joins the rest of the Big 4 for their ritual meal around a bubbling nabe, she looks *awfully* perky and happy all of a sudden. We have a name for that look around my house…”the freshly fucked look” is what we call it. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 7
Character – 7
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7

The biggest problem with the manga? It ends too soon.





The End of an Era: Kaguya-hime Manga, Vols. 26 & 27

April 27th, 2005

Wow. I never honestly thought that this series would end.

For a refresher course in the utter weirdness that is this series, try this synopsis from 2004.

But if you haven’t read all 27 volumes, it won’t really help. ^_^

Okay, when we last left Akira and her gaggle of obsessives, crackpots, aliens, mythical beings and assorted other psychotic hangers-on, we’d basically determined that her father was the source of all evil on the planet, as well as being incestuously obsessed with Akira. His name is Kashiwagi, so we never really expected much from him in the way of being good. ^_^

And to his credit, since Akira slept with her foster mother and sister, we really can’t blame her foster father for falling prey to the same urges….I guess….

Yui and Midori and Akira are still embroiled in a passionate, yet hopeless, three-way love triangle, while Mayu (who has, after dozens of suicide attempts has come to realize that her foster sister will never again sleep with her) has finally let go of Akira.

Sutton and Miller (who, due to taking over his clone’s body, is now the crown Prince of England) almost finally get together, but in a bizarro-world ending, *don’t*. Of all of the non-couples, this one bugged me the most.

Because…after Yui finally kills Kashiwagi and revenges himself for all the crap he has put the world through, and after an hugely emotional scene in which Akira and Yui restore the world’s peace from outer space…Yui leaves and Akira marries Miller.

Huh?

Yes, after all the Yuri and BL and incest and violence and clones and strange science and dinosaurs and Tennyo, Akira and Miller just get married and live happily ever after.

However, as Akira lays dying after a long life (but not having aged a day) like Kaguya-hime of the legend, the Tennyo – in this case, Yui – comes and takes Akira back to her rightful place at his side on, presumably, the moon. Or something.

So the ending, while filled with the same level of violence and sex and weirdness that makes the story so damn cool, gets all unbent. The boys all marry the girls, Sutton goes back to his wife (well…his clone’s wife, anyway) and poor Mayu is :*completely* forgotten about. I insist that she remained in China with Shunran and lived happily ever after in as normal a lesbian relationship as one could have in a mythological feudal Chinese kindgom surrounded by people who are obsessively in love with one’s foster-sister. For this story, that *would* be a relatively normal relationship.

Ratings:

Art – 10
Story – 9, but it’s love it or hate it
Characters – 9, again, you either love them, or…
Yuri – 0

Overall – I don’t regret a single moment spent with this series. But I sure as heck want to start over from the beginning and re-read all the bits where Akira’s foster mother, sister,and her servant Shunran, sleep with her. Not for any particular reason, I guess it’s just that those were the moments I disliked Akira least.





Yuri Manga: Bakuretsu Tenshi, Volume 1

April 26th, 2005

If you like gonzo stories about two women who travel around from place to place, always on the wrong side of the law, never enough money, lives full of violence and non-paying jobs helping people out, but gosh, they have each other…then Bakaretsu Tenshi, Angels’ Adolescence is just the ticket.

And that about covers it. :-)

I didn’t review the anime for Bakuretsu Tenshi/Burst Angel, because the yuri was pretty thin. In fact, the anime worked pretty hard to wipe out any love-love between Meg and Jo, going so far as to spend nearly an entire episode dedicated to Meg pining for a guy in a way that was totally unconvincing.

However, the manga seems a little less coy. Not that we get Jo and Meg sucking face or anything, but still, it’s an improvement. In this incarnation, Meg fantasizes several times about getting closer to Jo, driving off in a sports car with her, having an intimate moment for two with her, etc. etc.

All this in between Jo blowing people away with her big-ass gun (TM) and looking cool, of course.

Even the “schlub boy” character isn’t really annoying or offensive and his fanservice quotient is very low, which is a welcome relief to this burnt-out and increasingly cynical fan girl.

Is it a *good* story? Depends on what you like. As sick as I am of loli and moe, I am ready to admit that I cling to this manga like a drowning woman to a life preserver. LOL

Ratings:
Art – 8
Character – 7
Story – 6
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7, but here’s hoping for an increase in story and Yuri ratings.

Girls x Guns x Gonzo = Sounds good to me.  ^_^





Yuri Manga: Pure Marionation, Volume 2

March 30th, 2005

All’s well that ends well, in Pure Marionation, another too-cute-for-words Yuri from the folks at Dengeki/Mediaworks.

Back in December 2004 I wrote a review of the first volume, which was fairly lukewarm. This is certainly a Yuri story – with a happy ending and everything, and after reading it, I can now definitely suggest it to those who like the “cute and sweet” kind of Yuri.

If you remember, Pure Marionation is the story of Anon, a “marionette” or android cute girl. Ostensibly, she is enrolled in Waffle High (no, seriously, that’s the name) to test out her AI, codenamed ALIS. Immediately, Anon’s secret is discovered by classmate Miamo, who is sworn to secrecy and determines to protect Anon from…I’m not sure what.

Anon meets and befriends Aina, and the story, what there is of it, begins. The entire second volume is given over to their growing love for one another. The crises they face are small, and seem to involved an inordinate amount of undressing. But mostly, it’s all about Aina becoming more and more aware that she doesn’t just love Anon as a friend, but wants to do things with her which one doesn’t do with other girls.

I’m going to make two small comments before I get to the good part. One: the setup with Anon’s ALIS being tested sort of fall apart when it turns out that there are like a gazillion marionettes already at Waffle HS. So…what are we “testing” if the system already works so well that we’ve got half a dozen of these things walking around without being discovered? And the introduction of an even *cuter* next generation ALIS to be Anon’s little sister did not make me happy. It was Usagi and Chibi-Usa all over again. The new marionette falls for, of course Aina, and a war of affection ensues, which was at least resolved quickly.

My second comment…so often, when guys tell me that a story is a “cute” Yuri story I see a lolicon story…and I wonder why they don’t see that. It worries me, it really does. These characters are 15-16, but they are drawn to look way younger and it just really, honestly creeps me out. I think that 15-16 is way too freakin’ young as it is. Give me 25 and I’ll be a happy person.

Second and a half complaint, erm, comment – Dengeki also does quite a bit of “not quite real Yuri” with girls who are not human or not really girls. Yes, its still Yuri, because the character who falls in love with the protagonist is still in love with a girl…but for some bizarro reason, probably because I’m a lesbian, I’d really much rather see two girls (preferably women, thank you) who are both actual girls (or women) fall in love with each other. I appear to be in a minority in the manga world. Maybe real women just aren’t cute enough.

Okay, all that having been whined, Pure Marionation DOES have a really romantic and happy ending! :-)

Anon comes to realize that she is really in love with Aina. She decides to confess to Aina that she is a marionette and, that she is in love with her. At which point Aina pulls away from the object of her desire completely. The school festival is coming up – Aina is on the organizing committee, which affords her a gazillion excuses to avoid Anon. Anon’s little marionette heart breaks and she chalks it up to the heartbreak of first love, but she’s one unhappy little AI.

Meanwhile, every single other girl in the school is rooting for Anon and Aina to get together, which is kinda nice. They seem to be planning something, but have the good graces to not be obvious.

The school festival finally arrives – the highlight of the which is going to be a fashion show of wedding dresses (can you see where this is going?) and Anon and Aina are both supposed to be in the show.

Anon is all kitted out, but Aina is nowhere to be found. JUST as Anon is supposed to go out, Aina comes in late, is shoved into a tux(!) just in time to walk out on Anon’s arm.

From out of nowhere a girl dressed like a nun shows up and performs a marriage ceremony and tells the two to kiss…which they do. The entire school bursts into “Waaaah” and applause for them.

Okay, despite my earlier complaints, this was a *really* cute ending.

The epilogue tapers away in a small bout of painfully happy embarrassment and the promise of a future together.

So, yes this is Yuri – Aina is human and she definitely falls in love with a person she thinks is a girl – and she physically desires her, so there is no question about the nature of their love. And Anon is a female marionette, so it’s not like she was a guy or partly a guy or anything, even if she isn’t really human.

If either loli-ish, moe art or the not-entirely-human-girl thing bothers you, then this is probably not your cup of tea (and I would recommend avoiding Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl and most other current Dengeki Yuri, as well.)

I did enjoy Pure Marionation, but it doesn’t stop me from wishing that Dengeki went back to the old Battle Athletes model of high-school love, with girls who look older, rather than younger, than their ages.

Ratings:

Art – 7 well done, just not to my taste
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 9
Yuri – 10

Overall – 8, but your mileage may vary.





Yuri Manga: Passion Fruit, Vol. 1: Sweat and Honey

March 28th, 2005

From the only publisher who has really attempted to market Josei manga, Tokyopop, comes the first volume of an intriguing collection, Passion Fruit: Sweat and Honey. I say “intriguing” because while it had some definite merit, and I’m glad I read it, I’m not entirely sure I *enjoyed* it.

Special thanks to faithful reader and beloved sycophant Sean Gaffney for pointing me in the direction of this volume. ^_^

Folks who read Cookie magazine will be familiar with the artist of this particular anthology, and you’ll see the familiar style of Okazaki Mari, who was also a contributor to Yuri Shimai magazine. Clearly a “friend of Yuri’s.”

(Wouldn’t that be a fun new code to use? Everyone knows the old “friend of Dorothy”. right? Yuri fans could say that we’re “friends of Yuriko”. LOL)

This collection had several stories that included some Yuri-ish interaction, but none of the stories end with the girl getting the girl…in fact, in most cases that was a relief. As with most short story anthologies, the characters were rather more dysfunctional than usual and the endings tended towards pat. But that’s a fault with short stories in general and shouldn’t put you off this particular collection.

The first story, “After Sex A Boy’s Sweat Smells Like Honey,” is an ambiguous tale of two female cousins. One of them is initially repulsed by the other’s fragility, but in comparison to the men she is seeing, comes to find her more and more appealing.

“About Kusako” was, to me, a very disturbing story. Moeko finds a girl growing out of the ground, like grass, as she walks her dog. (Hence the name, “Kusako,” which would mean “grass girl”.) Kusako is incapable of moving, so Moeko waters her and shields her from the hot sun and generally grows fond of Kusako. Moeko returns to the field after a prolonged period of time to find Kusako withered and dying, but small Kusakos everywhere. If this kind of stuff lived in my head, I’d be creeped out.

“Sister” was my favorite story. A young woman’s older neighbor passes out nearly every night on her doorstep. Out of duty and kindness, she drags the woman in and tucks her into bed. Eventually, she confronts the neighbor about her miserable life, only to learn that she knows *nothing* about her…except that she loves this “old hag”. I won’t give away the ending, because I really liked it. :-) No, it isn’t Yuri, but it was pretty great.

“The Land Where Rain Starts To fall” has a *very* similar feel to the “Shibuya” series Okazaki-sensei wrote for Cookie. It’s a vignette of an apparently dysfunctional couple – Kaya, who refuses to come to school and Kumi, who seems appallingly low self-esteemy-y. They engage in some sexual play, ostensibly to seduce or annoy Kaya’s older brother. The vibe off of Kaya is heavily incestuous, Kumi seems more like a plaything. But she’s actually completely aware of Kaya’s machinations, and goes along with them willingly. In the end, the girl does not get the girl, but this series has, perhaps, the happiest ending in the volume.

The last story was written by Hiratsuka Mari, and is a bittersweet nostalgic look at boys in school and their too-sexy-for-her-own-good teacher. It was cute and fluffy.

I’m still not sure I’m comfortable with her art or her storytelling. The art is too loose for me to find appealing, while the stories are too tense…but those are the very qualities that make her stories, even the short ones, work.

Ratings would be variable, so let’s call it an overall 7.

No, it isn’t the 100% yuri we all long for, nor is it happy, really, but I definitely think Passion Fruit Volume 1 is definitely worth getting. Support Josei manga, support Yuri themes in Tokyopop manga and cough up a few bucks for Sweat and Honey.