Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Love My Life

March 11th, 2004

The Perfect Yuri Manga

Although I’ve already reviewed some titles by this author, I’ve been saving this particular title for a special occasion.

Love My Life – Yamaji Ebine

Why do I call this the “perfect Yuri manga?” because it is written by an out lesbian, about a young lesbian, for an audience of women. By my standards, that makes it about as 100% yuri as possible.

Love My Life is the story of Ichiko, a college student who lives with her father, a translator. Ichiko’s mother passed away when she was very young, but she and her father have always been very close.

The story starts as she tells her father what every father fears to hear – that she has a lover. Her father’s reaction is cool, and when she follows the information up with the fact that her lover is another woman, after an initial moment of surprise, Dad is fine. In fact, he has something *he* wants to share with Ichiko, and he’s glad to be able to at last tell her that he’s gay…and so was her mother. They met, became friends, and although they weren’t interested in each other as lovers, did conceive Ichiko together. And, although they raised Ichiko as husband and wife, they took outside lovers for themselves. But mostly they loved each other and her very much.

As the story progresses, Ichiko introduces her father to her lover, Eri, and meets her father’s younger lover. She talks over her confusion about the revelation that her mother and father were gay with Eri, but it’s not until she meets her mother’s former lover that she pretty much decides it doesn’t make any real difference.

This story has no high drama – the concerns of Ichiko and her friends are small, personal and intimate. There’s a relaxed pace about this book that makes the reader feel happy and comfortable in Ichiko’s world, with no real need for melodrama or angst. Which doesn’t mean nothing happens.

We’re drawn in as Ichiko deals with her parents’ secret, a small crisis with and separation from Eri, and a gay friend. Take’s, search for a boyfriend. There’s no suicide attempts here, but there is a sense of personal involvement in a life that feels much more *real* than most manga.

Like other Yamaji Ebine manga, Love My Life relies on minimalist art, a background of jazz music and good literature, and characters that live in a real world, rather than a staged one. And while there are some intimate scenes between Eri and Ichiko, the story is hardly drawn simply to frame lesbian sex. It’s just part of Ichiko’s life…just as it is part of anyone’s life, in reality.

Ultimately though, the strongest point of Love My Life is reflected in the title – Ichiko, and by extension we, the readers, do indeed love her life. Every time I read this manga, I finish it with a smile on my face – in fact, thinking about the ending as I type now, I’m smiling. It’s just that nice.





Yuri Manga: Himitsu no Hanazono

March 5th, 2004

Himitsu no Hanazono (The Secret Garden) – Fujii Mihona, 1999

This wonderful shoujo manga was, for a long time, a standard Yuricon auction item, and we often give it away as prizes for our various contests. Why? Because it’s so damn cute! Who doesn’t like a Cinderella story where the handsome prince literally sweeps Cinderella off her feet?

Misono is a high school student who sings well and is cute – and happens to be a champion long-distance runner. This very year she’s the anchor for her region’s relay team – a very great honor. She’s training incredibly hard to be worthy of it. The problem is, she’s developed a minor injury in her foot that bothers her all the time. Nonetheless, she’s persevering, at least in part to make her stepmother proud.

One day as Misono is practicing, she comes across a secret gazebo covered in roses. Intrigued by them, and by the angelic voice she can hear singing among them, she wanders over to the garden. She sits down on the bench for a short rest and falls asleep, surrounded by roses and song. The beauty of the moment and the turmoil within causes her to cry. When she awakens, she’s startled to find that she isn’t alone. A handsome boy, the singer whose song she heard, has stumbled across her crying on the bench. He comforts her, wipes the tears from her eyes and generally is charming and romantic. Misono falls pretty hard, pretty fast. Little by little she learns more about Sakuya, the boy from the rose garden, and more and more she wants to be with him.

Thus begins a love story about a handsome prince, a beautiful princess, an evil stepmother, a jealous rival, a long distance race and a very wonderful, happy ending under the roses. But, let’s be real, I wouldn’t be writing about this manga if there weren’t Yuri in it. The thing is – I don’t want to give it away. ^_^ But tough, I’m going to anyway!

On the night of the ball, erm, a party for Sakuya’s grandfather, Misono learns that Sakuya already has a girlfriend, Himeko. Himeko isn’t a stupid child – she realizes exactly what’s going on between Sakuya and Misono. She sends poor Misono packing, in tears. Sakuya realizes what’s happened and runs after Misono. After a tense scene in which Misono learns that Sakuya is a love-child, they end up in Sakuya’s room, talking about their personal lives, and how they feel about each other. Just as things are about to progress past a kiss, Sakuya asks if Misono wants to know his secret…

Himeko learns that the two are together and practically breaks down the door to get into Sakuya’s room. When the door opens, Sakuya is looking a little ruffled, but Misono is dressed only in a single sheet wound around her body. Himeko throws a tantrum and screams at Misono that she thinks she loves Sakuya, but she can’t, because Sakuya’s a girl! Misono, with great dignity and charm, dressed only in the sheet, looks at Himeko, smiles, and tells her that she knows. (As an aside, I was pretty impressed with Sakuya – not too many guys in shoujo manga get as far as she did…you know what I mean?)

The story doesn’t end there, though. Sakuya and Misono still have all sorts of obstacles – their families objections, Himeko’s rivalry and Misono’s injury. In the end, however, the prince/ss quite literally sweeps her princess off her feet and they end up underneath the rose arbor where they met. All in all, one of the best early romantic Yuri shoujo manga out there.

Check out used bookstores to get your own copy of this wonderful love story. 2019 Update: You can read this adorable manga as an ebook now on Amazon JP or Bookwalker Global!

Ratings:

Art: 9, typical, but well-drawn shoujo fare.
Story – 7, this is Cinderella, folks, there’s no surprises here.
Yuri – 9
Characters – 9

Overall: 9 It’s not perfect, but it’s way lots o’fun





Yuri Manga: Kaguyahime

March 4th, 2004

Shounen, Shoujo, Let’s Call The Whole Thing Odd

After you’ve been reading manga for a while, you start to realize that there are definite patterns in the way magazines are marketed to the public. Ribon and Nakayoshi, for instance, are pretty clearly for the 8-11 year-old-girl crowd. Shonen Jump for early teens in the male populace. There may be crossover, especially in the case of a really popular series, but for the most part magazines are pretty consistent in who they are trying to attract. Knowing this, it becomes obvious after a short while that Hana to Yume is for the creepy, weird, sci-fi, action-oriented girl otaku out there. Many of my favorite series, such as Sukeban Deka, which I reviewed yesterday, are Hana to Yume titles. So is today’s title – and this one takes the prize on weird shoujo.

Kaguyahime – Shimizu Reiko

This series has been running for what seems like forever. In fact, it began in 1994 and is showing no signs of ever ending which is kinda cool, even if it’s only coming out at the rate of one tankubon a year or so. (Update: In fact, the series ended in 2005.)

There is *no* way to simply describe the plot of Kaguyahime, but let me try and get the main points across. Expect to be very confused:

The story begins as two mysterious boys (who look like girls) kidnap our heroine, butchy and cool Akira (who looks like a guy) from the home of her foster mother (who is her lover) and her foster sister, who is in love with her.

She accompanies the two boys, Midori and Yui, to a mysterious island, where all but twelve of her companions die from a mysterious disease. When Akira’s foster sister arrives on the island, having killed her mother in a jealous rage over Akira – you just *know* this is going to be one weirdo ride.

As the story progresses, we add in bizarre science (Akira, Midori, Yui and the other boys all are clones created to be replacement parts for really wealthy, rich people who keep dying from some mysterious disease, probably caused by the piece of moon rock they own, but when the clones’ bodies are used, *their* personalities take over and now they are powerful and rich) , mythology (1) the clones were created to: feed Kaguyahime, who comes from the moon and; 2) the fantasy Chinese feudal kingdom that Akira now rules as the replacement clone and; 3) Yui, who also appears to be from the moon) and an amazing amount of violence and sex. (Mayu, Akira’s suicidal/homicidal foster sister is raped no less than three times, Akira sleeps with *everyone,* including her foster mother, foster sister, the girl in the feudal Chinese kingdom, Yui, the guy from the feudal kingdom and probably, eventually, her foster father – who looks like he’s the real bad guy in this series.)

There’s just tons and tons of same-sex overt and covert storyline. Several of “the boys” (my name for the other clones) are gaga over each other, but those are implied, or played with, while Midori and Yui have definietely slept together, and Akira’s above Yuri forays. Despite this, the main love interest is supposed to be Yui and Akira, and they are obviously in love, but I live in hope that Yui will die or have to go back to the moon, or something – I don’t like him much.

This is not an easy read, and it’s coming out slowly, but wow, it just gets stranger and stranger with every volume.

If you like a challenge, strange sci-fi, conspiracies, pretty boys, hunky girls, angst, fantasy, absolutely ravishing art, and a TON of BL and Yuri, you need to read this manga.

Let me just stop and say this – the art in this series is absolutely stunning. Shimizu Reiko is one of the most genuinely talented artists out there drawing right now. It’s complex, yet easy to follow, detailed and the clothes and settings are luscious. She uses minimalism when it’s called for and some of the most gasp-making frames have the least in them. It’s really worth it just for some of the color pictures of Akira dressed as the queen of the fantasy Chinese feudal kingdom.

Ratings:

Art – 10
Characters – 9
Story – 9, either you like this kind of strange, or you don’t. I love it.
Yuri – 8

Overall – 9





Yuri Manga/Yuri Anime: Sukeban Deka

March 3rd, 2004

Does it really matter whether Yuri is shounen or shoujo? Depends on what you like. If you like something with action, implausible fanservice and gratuitous Yuri scenarios, you might want to stick with the shounen stuff. You want angsty emotion, and perhaps a fleeting kiss, then shoujo’s got your number.

But what, you ask, if I like shoujo manga, but I also like sex and guns and violence, and sex? Well, obviously, I wouldn’t have brought this up without an answer, would I? ^_^

Sometimes mangaka just write whatever they feel like – and frequently, that *whatever* makes for shoujo manga that’ll appeal to the shounen fan. Here’s one classic example:

Sukeban Deka – Wada Shinji, 1973-1983, Hana to Yume Comics

This series screams *1970s* in a way few things can. Between the art, the clothes, and the casual hedonism of the characters on their off time, Sukeban Deka really is an icon of the “me” generation.

In short, a high school delinquent by the name of Asamiya Saki is offered an unrefusable deal – escape from prison and we’ll make you a high school detective, with police powers. She declines, so the police blackmail her by threatening to execute her mother, who is on Death Row for killing her father. Reluctantly, Saki agrees, but only because she actually cares about her mother (something which will bite her in the ass over and over again…) To escape her prison, she enlists the help of all the girls in her cellblock – including poor Kaoru, who has the unsavory job of seducing the lesbian warden. (Great scene – we see Kaoru making up to the warden, who leads her into the office, hand on ass…the next scene has Kaoru gargling in the bathroom.)

The Sukeban Deka OVA is a great, short intro to the series, with a very strong Yuri subtext between Saki and Junko – it’s only two episodes and well worth the money. Saki’s adventures in the anime closely shadow those of the first arc of the manga, as she frees her old high school from the threat of three insane sisters. In the longer, 22-volume manga, the arcs take us to various schools filled with corruption and vice, several juvie prisons – each weirder than the last, right up to the last one where the warden raises giant snakes – and even to the shores of America, twice. East and West Coasts.

This is not a series for the faint of heart – there is a *ton* of violence, with blood and everything, and many of the main characters die. Sukeban Deka is no girly, wimpy series where everyone is always all right in the end – I mean they DIE. In fact, it’s safe to say that *all* the main characters die by the end of the series. (It’s also safe to say that by the end of the story, the mangaka was stone sick of this story and killed everyone off, so no one would *ever* ask for a sequel. ^_^)

One of the more delightful relics of the 70s is the less restrictive atmosphere of the story – Saki smokes and drinks with abandon, despite her extremely underage-ness (she’s 16.) in fact one of my absolute favorite pictures of Saki is her smoking, with a lowball in hand. I love that picture. :-) At least twice, she drinks herself insensate – you won’t be seeing *that* anytime soon in a shoujo manga these days.

Does it, “got Yuri?” Well, yes and no. There is, as I said, a TON of subtext between Junko (the first victm, erm, friend) and Saki, especially in the anime, and during the course of the story Saki gets and gives many a same-sex kiss. Some of them are real, too, not just goofy pecks. Late in the manga, as yet another character dies in Saki’s arms, she confesses that she’s loved Saki all along and plants one on her, but good. Of course, because Saki is so goddamn cool, she’s got more than her share of adoring fangirls everywhere she goes. And, lastly, practically every evil nemesis, of which there are many, obsesses about Saki in a way that is just this side of sexual.

So, yes, there’s plenty o’Yuri, except….

The best couple in the story is straight. The love of Saki’s life (and vice versa) is her mentor, Jin Kyouichiro. And let me tell you – I was rooting pretty hard for them to get together by the end. They are absolutely perfect for each other. In fact, right now, they hold the number one place in my heart as “fave straight couple”. Jin is tall and cool and Eurasian and packs a gun. He’s the perfect foil for Saki and they look really good together. So, despite my love of Yuri, the real love here is straight. But it doesn’t take away from the fun-service for a second. :-)

The Live Action Sukeban Deka, TV series and movies seem to go off on a tangent, rewriting most of the story, but keeping the basic idea. Seasons two and three create whole new characters and lose Saki altogether. Nonetheless, this show can be seen as the origin of the whole girl-gang madness that filled the 1980s (in manga and in real-life) that later gave rise to such wonderful series as Hana no Asuka-gumi and YajiKita Gakuen Dochuuki, both of which I’ve mentioned in this blog before, but am too lazy to find – look through the archives. Both Asuka and YajiKita have new versions out right now, too, so maybe we’ll see Saki ressurected, after all. LOL

Because it ran in Hana to Yume, we know that Sukeban Deka is technically shoujo, but the actual story has so much violence and…more violence, some of a sexual nature – and is written by a man – that we’d be hard pressed to see it as a typical shoujo. Is it worth watching/reading? Hell, yes – if you don’t mind seeing major characters die extremely violent and bloody deaths. And giant snakes.

Ratings:
Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 10
Yuri – 5

Overall – 8





Yuri Manga: Air Master

February 26th, 2004

Okay, I’m a little tired of talking about shoujo Yuri titles, so I thought I’d cover a few shounen Yuri series of note.

Air Master

I’ve talked about this one before, I know, but it bears repeating. The basic plot is…well, there isn’t really a plot. It’s about an ex-gymnastics champion turned street fighter. Her gymnastics skill manifest as a distinctly unique fighting style which involves seriously BIG air. Hence the name, “Air Master.”

Aikawa Maki is a great heroine. Competent and cool in her millieu, sort of dorky and insecure outside it, she’s surprisingly human and likable. Her friends are quirky and funny, and her enemies even quirkier and, in many cases, funnier. Of these, the best, by far and away is Sakiyama Kaori, who may possibly be the funniest, most imaginative and most likeable psychotic to ever grace a manga or anime.

The Yuri comes in right at the start, as Maki’s new friend Mina develops a raging crush on Maki, which quickly develops into a raging lust for her. In the anime, this is seriously minimalized, but in the manga, there’s some terrific scenes as we get to see what Mina’s actually thinking (hoping/wishing/fantasizing ) about in regards to Maki.

There’s a few downsides to this series – for one thing, the manga art is *seriously,* distractingly ugly.  There’s some intense fighting violence (which I quite like) and some serious sexual violence, as well (which I don’t.) Episode 24 of the anime is one of the single most violent 20 minutes I’ve ever seen animated that didn’t involve guns or mutating things. The little old lady who sat next to me on the plane while I watched it on my computer, almost had a heart attack, poor thing. And there is unneeded and egregious, yet expected service.

On the good side, you have great characters – I mean REALLY great. With the exception of one or two characters, even Maki’s opponents are engaging and fun. In the tradition of shounen fighting anime, most defeated opponents become allies, so it’s nice to have them stick and around and keep coming back. Rematches with defeated opponents are actually better than the original fights, as Maki’s skills keep improving over the series.

Ratings

(Manga) Art – 2
(Anime) Art – 6
Characters – 9
Story – 7
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8